Professional dog trainer Nicole Wilde is coming to Cochrane to host dog-training seminars for the Cochrane and Area Humane Society (CAHS) in June.
“She’s somebody that we really respect in the field and we’re really excited to have her,” said Tracy Keith, executive director at CAHS.
The two-day event from June 10 to 11 will cover separate topics each day, such as the management of fearful dogs – including signals, causes and prevention – separation anxiety and poor dog-to-dog interaction.
“She has lots of experience with fearful dogs, which is something we see a lot of here,” said Keith.
Based out of California, Wilde has more than 15 years of experience training dogs and wolves and has won awards for her lectures and literature on behavioural dog training, publishing various books such as So You Want to be a Dog Trainer.
Keith has previously attended Wilde’s speeches and has been impressed by her ability to “break things down,” and being “easy to understand.”
“She’s just a very approachable kind of person and puts things in layman terms, if you will,” said Keith.
“That is really appealing when you’re trying to (cater) to a larger group of people.”
The CAHS houses several certified professional dog trainers that require recertification every three years, a process that normally requires out of town travel to attend the programs.
With a newly installed space, the society reached out to Wilde about visiting Cochrane and providing the lessons locally.
“We saw it as an opportunity with our new expansion of the facility.
“It’s the perfect place to hold that sort of thing,” said Keith.
Registration for the event is open to the public, from shelter workers to dog owners that just want to learn.
“It allows trainers in the region to go to an educational seminar and it’s also really great for everyday people out there,” said Keith.
This seminar is planned to be the first of many, covering a wider range of topics such as learning body language and helping pets adjust to new members of the family.
“Now that we have that venue, we would like to host more seminars annually.
“Introducing more afternoon seminars for the general public on different dog info sessions,” said Keith.
Private consultations for pet owners to receive additional, more direct lessons are also available.
“Some people, they’re sort of at their wit’s end.
“We know how important it is to have access to this information,” said Keith.
Early bird prices for the event are listed at $275 until April 7, rising to $299 afterwards.
More can be found at www.cochranehumane.ca/programs/animal-training.
