Professional Development & Training
Animal Management Officer/Dog Bite Prevention Workshop
This is a full day workshop developed by Dr Tracey Henderson and Tracy Irons and is offered online, scheduled monthly.
The workshop is also offered as a private on-site workshop if numbers allow.
This workshop has been designed specifically for council Animal Management Officers/Rangers or anyone that comes into contact with unfamiliar dogs.
The following is the basic guideline of the workshop:
Session 1: Dog Behaviour
Session 2: Dog body language in detail
Session 3: Approaching, handling and transporting dogs
Session 4: Reducing stress and improving welfare for the dog
Session 5: Dealing with different scenario’s
Session 6: Escaping and barking dogs
Session 7: Dangerous dog program
Session 8: Dog Behaviour assessments.
Workshop Presented by Tracy Irons (Cert IV Companion Animal Training and Co-Director at AVBS)
Click here for the information flyer
Dog bite prevention workshop
AVBS are currently developing an online short course on Dog Bite Prevention.
Watch this space!!!
Dangerous Dog Orders
How to refer a dog for a ‘dangerous dog consultation’
- Please fill out the Dangerous Dog 'referral form' and send back to us asap.
- Give the owner AVBS details and ask them to contact us for more information regarding a consultation.
- It is up to the referring council to ensure the dog owner follows up on the consultation process.
- We will advise you when the owner has booked a consultation.
- The referring council will be sent a copy of the behaviour report after the initial consultation, and a letter following the three visits.
- We recommend the referring council officer to attend one or more of the consultations.
Important notes before putting a Dangerous Dog Order on a dog:
- There is no ‘cure’ for aggression.
- These cases will not attend the three consultations and then be ‘cured’.
- The consultation is aimed at diagnosing the underlying motivation for the aggression, enabling the owner to understand their dogs behaviour. We then design a behaviour modification program to help improve the dog's behaviour. Environmental management is also important in preventing further aggressive incidents occurring.
- Compliance is the most important factor regarding ‘Dangerous dogs’. If the owner compliance is poor, then the safety for the dog and the community is also poor – these cases need to thought about very carefully when deciding what Order to choose.
Dog Behaviour Assessments
Behaviour assessments are requested by councils when considering what Order to place on a dog, generally after an aggressive incident. Both and AVBS Vet and Trainer attend to conduct the assessment, providing a comprehensive assessment and a detailed report on their findings.
It is important to understand that a behaviour assessment is an assessment of the dog on that particular day and in that particular environment that the assessment was undertaken – this assessment therefore may not support or correlate well to the incident in question.
For that reason, we also encourage the council to forward us the incident report and ask the owner to fill out a detailed questionnaire. This then gives us as much information to make an informed assessment.
The council then make the final decision for the dog, not AVBS.
Please contact us for more information regarding dog behaviour assessments.