How to Make Your Dog Training More Accessible with Shelly Phillips and Jennifer Kolar
Webinar Description
We know to train the dog in front of us, but what about the person? Our human clients, like their pets, bring a variety of abilities and skills to the table. We often think that people with disabilities are training their dog for service work, but many pet dog parents – your clients – may be disabled. In your work with the human end of the leash, have you considered:
- How to talk about disability and accommodations
- How would you adjust your training plans and lessons to the needs of people with disabilities?
- How would you coach a client who may not be able to use a traditional clicker or other training tools or move in the same way that you do?
- How can we make it so that everyone can train?Through this presentation, we aim to answer the question of how dog trainers can improve accessibility and accommodations for everyone — be they pet dog owners, sports enthusiasts or service dog handlers. We begin by diving into different types of disabilities and medical conditions that you may encounter as a trainer and appropriate etiquette when interacting with people with disabilities. We explore accommodations, action plans, and tools for adaptive training to have in mind. Through exercises and scenarios, you will develop skills to help you work with people with a variety of accessibility needs in creative and innovative ways. You learn how to meet a client where they are, recognize what a non-disabled trainer may take for granted, and discover how to use positive reinforcement in ways you haven’t considered. With some creativity and an open mind, we can create a more inclusive community, and support people with disabilities as they train their dogs!
Learning Objectives
- Explore the various environments service dog training may occur in and their potential challenges for someone with a disability.
- Explore different disabilities and how they may affect an individual.
- Discuss ways to adapt training styles to make them more accessible.
- Discuss ways to set up a training session to accommodate different disabilities.
- Discuss specific tasks related to a disability.
Your Presenters – Jennifer Kolar & Shelly Phillips
Jennifer has been surrounded by animals and active in their training and rehabilitation since she was a child. Just as she’s seen many a stray or shelter dog through fear and reactivity issues, they have seen her through hard times too.
Jennifer recognizes that working with service dog teams is at least as much about the person as about their animal. She is deeply committed to positive, ethical treatment of both dogs and people. She is excited to be a co-founder of Atlas Assistance Dogs and to redefine the notion of service dog training to benefit as many people as possible.
Jennifer has worked as a leader in technology firms for over 20 years and is Vice President of Engineering at her current company. She has volunteered with environmental, animal, and human rights organizations throughout her life. She is a volunteer at the Seattle Animal Shelter. She has more than 10 years’ experience as a professional service dog trainer and instructor.
Jennifer has a BS in Applied Mathematics in Engineering and an MS in Astrophysical, Planetary and Atmospheric Sciences. She is a Karen Pryor Certified Training Partner, Certified Behavioral Adjustment Training Instructor, Atlas Certified Trainer, Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA).
Shelly has always had a love for animals. She owned and operated a horse farm for ten years, training horses. She worked with dolphins and seals at Theater By the Sea. And has always had dogs and cats.
In 2010 Shelly volunteered with a service dog organization and trained her own dog, Goose, to be a psychiatric assistance dog. Goose traveled from Washington, DC to the Florida Keys for four years, bringing awareness about PTS, TBI and other psychiatric disorders. The more talks Goose and Shelly did the more she realized how great the need was for qualified service dog trainers.
Shelly joined Atlas in 2018 in hopes of making a significant impact in the lives of people who wanted to train and certify their own dogs. One year later, she completed the Atlas Service Dog courses and feels extremely blessed to be working with people with disabilities.
Shelly is a certified Atlas Assistance Dog Trainer, Canine Fitness Coach and Fear Free Professional.
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