ACADEMY OF CANINE BEHAVIOR
Apprentice Program Questionnaire
Name….. Address……… Home Phone… Alternate Phone
_________________________ Christopher Santucci _________________________ 24202 57th Ave W Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 _________________________ _________________________ 425-293-6575 _________________________
I.
What sort of background in dogs and/or other animals do you have? You may include information on your own pets, knowledge from classes and/or personal reading, etc.(Remember AOCB does not require any previous training experience in order to enter the Apprentice Program.)
__________________________________________________________ Firstly, I have always had a dog since I could remember and I would not have it any other way! Currently __________________________________________________________ I have a German Shepherd that I am training and a Chihuahua that likes to pretend she is untrainable. __________________________________________________________ My dog training experience comes from 5 years as a military working dog handler in the United States __________________________________________________________ narcotic Navy. I personally trained 4 separate dogs, 1 Lab, 1 GSD, and 2 Belgian Malinois in explosive detection, __________________________________________________________ detection, patrol work, and advanced obedience. I became the lead trainer for my Kennel of 24 dogs for __________________________________________________________ a year and a half before I became lead trainer at my next command. During my time, I got one of my dogs, __________________________________________________________ handler Cherry, to the highest certification attainable for patrol work and advanced obedience and was the only Navy __________________________________________________________ in the Europe/Middle East region to be invited to attend the K9 Trials in San Antonio, Texas. I have knowledge of __________________________________________________________ traditional compulsion training, Clear Signal Training (all-positive), detection, and behavior modification. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
II. There are many career options for one who is interested in working with animals. Why does dog training interest you over, for example, a career as a groomer, pet sitter, veterinary technician, or veterinarian?
__________________________________________________________ I love dog training. I enjoy that there is not one particular way of training a dog and every dog is different. __________________________________________________________ I also enjoy the relationship between handlers/trainers in that a 20-year dog trainer can still learn a new __________________________________________________________ method from someone who has only been training for a year. I love that the field is constantly evolving __________________________________________________________ and I love seeing the product of hard work manifest itself into such a tangible way as a dog will show. __________________________________________________________ I enjoy immensely helping build a better bond between handler/owner and dog and seeing that relationship __________________________________________________________ develop and change. There is simply no other field like it. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
The Academy of Canine Behavior, P. O. Box 1409 Bothell, WA 98041 (425) 486-9567 (revised 02/00) Page 1 of 4
III.
How will a dog training apprenticeship serve your personal and career goals? Why are you willing to devote 3 ½ months to learn dog behavior and training?
(Please be thoughtful and honest, this is not a sales pitch.)
__________________________________________________________ I enjoy and have always enjoyed training dogs. If I need to apprentice, I will. But I also see the field as __________________________________________________________ a never-ending apprenticeship because no one trainer knows everything about dogs. There are always __________________________________________________________ new training methods and techniques to be absorbed and "added to your tool box." If I could find a successful __________________________________________________________ career in dog training, well that would be a dream job. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
IV. What qualities and skills do you believe make you a good candidate for the Apprentice Program? Why do you think you should be accepted over other qualified candidates?
__________________________________________________________ While I only have 5 years experience in dog training, that dog training was in a military background where __________________________________________________________ "experience" is relative because I was a dog trainer for 5 years, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, with no __________________________________________________________ holidays. Getting called in at 3:00am on an off day to help the night shift train was not abnormal. I have deployed __________________________________________________________ ordinary with my dog and still maintained training and even exceeded training standards. Simply put, I am not your __________________________________________________________ dog trainer and my work ethic and passion for dog training is unmatched. I am always open to knew ideas __________________________________________________________ of how to train or modify behavior and I also have some solid training techniques in my back pocket. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
V. What personal limitations do you anticipate you will have to manage/overcome in order to succeed in this program? (Please do not tell us you have none – we all have limitations!)
__________________________________________________________ My limitation is that I have to remember that not all dogs are military dogs and people sometimes do not __________________________________________________________ desire that level of dog. Sometimes I have to remind myself that these are pets and not working dogs __________________________________________________________ and that I may have to lower my standards of obedience and training somewhat to fit the needs and __________________________________________________________ training commitment of the owner. Lastly, I find it difficult, even though I am able to, to maintain proper __________________________________________________________ bearing when I see someone blaming the dog's behavior on the dog when it is clearly the owner that is __________________________________________________________ at fault and then not following through with training the dog themselves so that the dog reverts back to old __________________________________________________________ habits. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
The Academy of Canine Behavior, P. O. Box 1409 Bothell, WA 98041 (425) 486-9567
(revised 02/00)
Page 2 of 4
VI.
Please answer the following questions. Rank your answers in order on Question a, then choose one answer for the rest. Feel free to explain any answers you give and/or add any other information you feel is pertinent to better help us understand you.
a. I learn better by:
(Please rank in order.)
___ watching 2
3 ___ listening
___ reading 4
___doing 1
Explain your rankings:
________________________________________________ I am a doer. I find a lot of training is through trial and error. If ________________________________________________ something doesn't work, then try something different. I also gather much information through watching another trainer work and putting ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ that in my tool box. Listening and reading have their place but I do ________________________________________________ not learn nearly as effectively as the other two
b. I work better:
___ independently at first, then with supervision ___ with supervision at first, then independently x
c. I prefer to work:
___ as a team player ___ mostly on my own x x
d. I respond to coaching:
x ___ thoughtfully
___ skeptically ___ easily ___ depends x
e. I like questions answered: ___ on the spot x
___ later
___ depends
f. When people watch me work, I:
___ get nervous
x ___ excel
___ freeze ___ depends
g. My experience working with the public is:
x ___ extensive
___ moderate
___ limited ___ zero
h. With the public, I am:
___ inexperienced
___ uncomfortable
___ skilled x
i. Speaking in public, I am:
___ inexperienced
___ uncomfortable
x ___ skilled
j. My overall physical condition is:
___ very good x
___ average
___ limited
The Academy of Canine Behavior, P. O. Box 1409 Bothell, WA 98041 (425) 486-9567
(revised 02/00)
Page 3 of 4
VII.
What do you imagine is the most ideal environment in which you could work that would help you to reach your personal goals? What would inspire you? What would drive you crazy?
__________________________________________________________ The most ideal environment is to be around passionate people that all have the mindset that we can __________________________________________________________ learn from each other and train dogs together because it is fun AND we are getting paid to do it. __________________________________________________________ Complacency, negative attitude towards training dogs, and bringing personal issues into the work place __________________________________________________________ will drive me insane. If the trainer or handler is lazy/angry/complacent/sad, the dog can tell and will not __________________________________________________________ listen or absorb what is being asked of it and this hurts the dog's training. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
IX. AOCB asks for a commitment of 20 hours per week for the 3 ½ month program, with at least some consecutive days during the week. Business hours applicable to the program are M- F, 9am – 6pm. Please give us two possible schedules below that will work for you.
__________________________________________________________ I would like a full time position. Currently I work part time as a Security Officer at Swedish Medical Center __________________________________________________________ downtown Seattle on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If I get a full time position, I would hand in my two weeks __________________________________________________________ notice that day. If I get an apprenticeship, Monday-Thursday is absolutely doable. __________________________________________________________
The Academy of Canine Behavior, P. O. Box 1409 Bothell, WA 98041 (425) 486-9567
(revised 02/00)
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