Last week, when I was walking my mid-sized dog in a local park, we encountered a couple on the path with a much larger dog. It looked like a German Shepard/Alsatian. This dog was 3-4 times the size of my guy. My dog is more goofy than threatening, plus he gets along well with others unless they’re aggressive.

But the big dog was really scared of my dog for some reason. He backed away, hiding behind his owners, and made whining noises. My dog and I did nothing more threatening than walking along our side of the path.

To Sniff or Not to Sniff

Some dog owners let their pets socialize. Others pull back their dogs and don’t let them meet mine. He is rather scruffy and dark black; maybe some of them are doggie racists. Generally, when someone pulls back their dog, you know that either it is an ill-tempered dog or else the owners just don’t want to deal with the sniffing and any potential doggie disagreements.

My dog likes to sniff other dogs. But this big dog definitely had some emotional issues, so we were keeping our distance.

And as we passed by them on the path, the big dog had a breakdown of some sort. The whining turned to coughing and the dog vomited on the path.

Poor guy. Some dogs are adopted from shelters after having been in abusive situations. The vomiting dog clearly had some issues. Seeing a smaller dog on the same path should not trigger that kind of response. Why this dog was so upset, I don’t know, but it was sad rather than funny.

As my dog and I continued up the path, I could hear the big dog’s owners discussing whether and how to clean up the vomit. That was funnier.

This situation reminded me that there is a dog therapist’s office next to one of my favorite restaurants. According to the sign in the window, it’s the psychology kind of therapy, not the physical kind. Clearly, there is a need for this vocation, because the vomiting dog was not the first one of these I’ve seen. My dog and I once saw a retriever of some sort having a panic attack for no apparent reason, also on a walking path after it had encountered another dog (10 minutes later, when we came back again, its owner was still trying to comfort it and calm the dog's wheezing attacks). And of course, there are many dogs that display aggression and probably have all kinds of neurotic problems.

Perhaps some of the purebreds are just over-bred. The rest could benefit from seeing a shrink.

Then I started wondering what type of training or experience is needed for a person to become a pet psychologist. How does one become a doggie therapist? So I went online for the answers.

Dog Psychology Certification

To my great delight, it seems that (any)one can earn a Dog Psychology Diploma online. If you want a Dip.Dog.Psy after your name, Open College in the United Kingdom can help. And don’t laugh, because this curriculum is used for the British Police Force’s Dog Handling Unit.

For a one-time cost (currently on sale for 190 British pounds), you can get all course materials necessary to earn the diploma. You also receive certificates that identify you as an alternative therapist of sorts.

But if you’d prefer to have the ISCP.Dip.Canine.Prac after your name, then the International School for Canine Psychology and Behavior has you covered. This organization has multiple levels of its diploma, including basic, intermediate, and the full version; these range in price from 150-999 British pounds.

You also can take a course from Coursera, the curriculum for which comes from Duke University. Coursera’s class covers “Dog Emotion and Cognition”. Upon completing it, you receive a certificate in that subject. You can take most of the course for free before they tell you how much it costs, and I have not gotten far enough yet to determine the actual price.

There are others also. ACS in Australia has a course in Dog Psychology and Training. Universal Course may have the cheapest one, coming in at just $50 for the course or $75 with a certificate. Real university degrees in related fields, not to mention veterinary backgrounds, probably help also. But if you’re a genuine dog whisperer type who appreciates what’s going on in an animal’s mind behind the behavior, then this could be a career for you, degrees or not. It might help to set yourself up in a rich community where people are not living paycheck to paycheck, since not everyone has a doggie psychologist’s fees in their household budget.

And if you can treat vomiting dogs, you’ll have a niche.

References:

Universal Class Dog Psych 101: https://www.universalclass.com/i/course/dog-psychology-101.htm

International School for Canine Psychology and Behavior: http://theiscp.com/behaviour-courses/

Coursera/Duke University: https://www.coursera.org/learn/dog-emotion-and-cognition

ACS Dog Psychology and Training (Australia): http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/dog-psychology-and-training-615.aspx

Median Salary for Pet Psychologists: http://work.chron.com/median-salary-pet-psychologists-23349.html

All images are public domain from Pixabay except for the vomiting pumpkin, which is Creative Commons licensed via Flickr by JD Hancock.