Starts April 15th, 2021!
Register now!
Course description and objectives
If you’ve already got a super solid foundation in learning theory (and even if you don’t!), ethology is the next step on your quest for the deepest possible understanding of dogs. Ethology is the study of animal behavior and its evolution. In other words, how do animals come to be who they are behaviorally? And what does this mean for how they behave? The exploration of these questions will forever change how you think about the animals we live with.
This course is a full-on science & behavior geek-out. We’ll be looking at:
- Evolution and its role in animal behavior
- Domestication and its role in animal behavior
- Motivation—what drives dogs to do what they do and how we can use it
- What forces come together to form an animal’s personality
- What we know about animal cognition (and how it’s similar to and different from ours)
- Animal social behavior, including the wonder of animal-human relationships
Get ready for some serious a-ha moments. This is one of those classes that will drive all your conversations for months. You’ll never be without a compelling conversation starter again!
Approach
I believe that the most effective learning occurs when students are not only provided with the facts, but also provided ample opportunity to use the information in concrete ways, engage in challenging activities, interact with others and receive frequent feedback on their progress.
Therefore, this course will be taught using an approach that encourages collaboration and active learning. While there will be time spent lecturing, time in class will be also be spent working on interactive activities and completing brief assignments.
I began my teaching career by teaching at a university and I hold students in my online courses to the same standards. I have high expectations for engagement and quality of work. However, I also strongly feel that if I am going to set a high bar, that I need to step up and make sure my students can reach it. This means that I hold myself to a very high standard as well and I love it when students reach out if they are struggling with the material in any way. I am happy to help. If you haven’t taken a college course before, but are willing to put in the work and reach out for help if needed, then you should do well in this course.
Prerequisites
None! Open to everyone with an interest in geeking out about dog behavior.
Course syllabus
Course features & tuition
How long we’ll hang out
4 weeks
What we’ll do
- Weekly live sessions
- Lecture, discussion, interactive application activities & short in-class assignments
- Quizzes to cement your knowledge & gain your CEUs
CEUs
CCPDT: Auditors: 4 behavior consultant hours; Full students: 8 behavior consultant hours
IAABC: Auditors: 4 hours, Full students: 9.5 hours
Your tuition
$330 for students
(Includes 4 hours of instruction, 4 hours of discussion and application activities, course quizzes)
$200 for auditors
(Includes 4 hours of instruction)
The next course will start on Thursday, April 15th. It runs for four weeks: 4/15, 4/22, 4/29, and 5/6.
- For all students: There will be a lecture at 6 pm Eastern time each Thursday. Class runs for about an hour. Each lecture will be conducted live and will include some interactive discussion. Lectures will also be recorded for students that are not able to attend live.
- For full students:
- Discussion sessions: There will be a discussion section at about 7 pm Eastern time each week (immediately following lecture),. This session will run about an hour and we will use the time to further explore the concepts in a variety of ways. For particularly tricky content, students will participate in exercises to solidify and practice the information presented during lecture. In addition, students will have practice at applying course material directly to working with dogs. Discussions use a team-based learning format where students will be presented with a challenge then given an opportunity to discuss the challenge with their team and agree on an answer. We will then discuss the answer as a group and I will provide additional information on applications and connections to other concepts. The discussion sections are designed to create deep, transformative, and lasting learning related to course material.
- Course assessments: Full students will also receive in-class assignments and 1 – 2 quizzes to assess their understanding of course material.
If you are interested in taking this course as a full student, but cannot attend live at the currently scheduled time, please e-mail info@smartdogtrainingandbehavior.com with your preferred times. If I get enough requests for other time slots, I will open additional sections.
Register
Click here to register!
Cancellation Policies
- Refunds, minus a $10 processing fee, will be granted if requested up to 2 days before the start of class. After that, 50% refunds will be granted.
- Refunds are not available after the start of class.
- Refunds will not be granted if you are unable to attend class and therefore unable to complete the required work. Excused absences will be granted in case of emergencies and illness (with proper documentation).