copyright Frania Shelley-Grielen

You can help PetCenterEd open because both people and pets deserve a higher standard of training and services:   

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copyright Frania Shelley-Grielen 

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Contact us: info@Petcentered.org

Who's watching/grooming/walking your pet today?  With no educational requirements and no guarantee that applied training is welfare based, pet care workers rely on trial and error and guesswork.  PetCenterEd offers people and pets a higher standard from which to learn and serve. 

There are three private “brick and mortar” career schools in NYC with animal centered programs.  A  dog trainer school which takes six weeks to complete, a dog grooming school with either a six week basic program or a  ten week advanced program and a private pet care technician program available only to those with disabilities and referred by the NYS Education Department office of ACCES with a duration of six months.  The most popular methods of dog training instruction offered are those using punishment, even as research shows that dogs typically exhibit fear based behaviors around trainers and owners who use force which can lead to more problem behaviors.  Dog groomers who have completed a brief 2 or 3 month training course at a dog grooming school may not be properly prepared to groom due to the short time span of the training and lack of instruction on stress free restraint and handling methods.  Over reliance on restraint such as muzzles, ties and stressful handling may cause a dog to submit to a grooming session but will cause more defensive resistance on the next grooming sessions.  These approaches to dog training and grooming are incredibly stressful for pets.

There are multiple online courses available each with a different interpretation of how animals learn and how to handle them and each without hands on instruction. In these courses; learners are referred to usually one single practical internship to complete the "applied” portion of training.  There is no consistency as to standards applied at the internship they will work at or if the training will be correct. When training under licensed professionals, internships are traditionally where applied skills are most effectively developed. 

The PetCenterEd difference integrates conceptual theory, foundational knowledge and applied skills under one roof with the overall focus on animal welfare science to provide the most effectively humane pet services.  PetCenterEd will operate a training facility where professionals offer humane animal care services and students develop applied skills in dog grooming, handling, training, etc., under the same oversight of the licensed Masters and Phd level professionals that are instructing them under the curriculum.

The PetCenterEd program will span six months to give students the appropriate time to acquire sufficient knowledge and develop technical skills contrasted with the existing norm, of having a pet's needs addressed by either someone working with scissor and electric clippers after only a few months, or who considers painful aversive devices such as shock collars a good idea for basic training.  Students will attend lectures on foundational theory and concepts and learn the hands on application of these theories and concepts as they relate to animal welfare and care in the same facility.

What that means is that the doggy day care at PetCenterEd will be attended to by enough learners to understand how human body language affects dogs along with learning dog body language and how to manage that while safely monitoring and interacting with all dogs.  It means that groomers in training will learn canine relaxation message techniques and low stress, force free methods for working with dogs who have had negative grooming experiences.  It means that handlers in the cat center will learn force free, low stress approaches specifically for caring for cats.  And that all learners, including future trainers, get to learn how animals learn and how science shows us that force free methods are the most effective ones when it comes to results.

There are an estimated 1.1 million cats and dogs in New York City alone.  Spending on pet care services is 1.5 billion dollars per year in this city.  Spending on science based welfare focused training and services for people and pets is invaluable.

We need angels to help us open our doors for higher standards of animal care providers and better services for our companion animals. Your donation helps a student become a better handler, walker, trainer or groomer for every animal they work with, maybe even yours.



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