Advanced Animal Training Scholarships

Thank you for considering my application. I live in Cleveland, Ohio in the USA. My background is in science (PhD in Genetics). I have three parrots that started me on this journey into the fascinating world of animal behavior and, of course, they would directly benefit from the knowledge I gain from this course. My interest in behavior has lead me to my role as the behavior/training admin of a very large facebook parrot group (almost 35,000 members currently, whose parrots will indirectly benefit from my knowledge). Parrots can be very difficult to live with and are frequently rehomed and/or abandoned because their families sometimes don’t have the skills to deal with common problems such as excessive screaming and biting. In our group, my goal is to advise our members and to gently lead them away from punitive interactions. It’s a volunteer position but incredibly rewarding and intellectually stimulating. My teaching is within this group where I share videos and educational posts. This class would, of course, impact my understanding of behavior, but even more importantly impact my skill at communicating this information to others. My hope is that I can have some impact on the lives of captive parrots by convincing their owners that the best ways to deal with birds that scream and bite is behavior modification through positive reinforcement rather than through punishment and wing clipping.

Hello, I am Inesa, currently living in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, but soon we will move to a village away from the cities.

I am the owner of two dogs-one of them is highly sensitive, but of course both of them will benefit from my knowledge. I am working as a dog trainer, mostly concentrating on behavior issues and prevention, so I meet hundreds of dogs a year. I also really want to reach even more people with more accessible resources, so I provide them with articles about dogs and life with them.

I also have a growing Instagram account where I work on spreading the word about ethical and animal-oriented training, being fair to them first. At the time we move to the village, I have a dream to help rehabilitate sensitive dogs by being able to provide them with a safe space and environment where they could grow, find a home, or return to their families when they are ready.

If I were able to attend the Advanced Animal Training course, it would help me understand animals more deeply. I could share this knowledge with my students and the people who read my articles. I also strongly believe that informative explanations of animal behavior for clients and readers would help their dogs live the best life possible and help me support the most sensitive ones even better.

Thank You

I live in rural South-West England, an area where rural communities can be small and isolated (many are without reliable internet and phone service, or even transport).

It’s hard to quantify how many animals would benefit from my taking the course as (in addition to my own dog) I now assist predominantly rescues, mainly ex-racing Thoroughbreds struggling to settle into leisure homes, and retired racing greyhounds / rescued sighthounds rehomed through charities, and dogs unclaimed through local authority kennels.

I am a qualified professional trainer in the Equine industry but those qualifications supplied relatively little detail about training modalities for animals. I am now disabled and am very limited with what I can do physically, but I still enjoy offering my assistance virtually to owners in the owner support groups I participate in on social media. I do this for free, as paid assistance is frequently out of reach for many of the owners who care for these rescues.

I would love to update and expand my knowledge base as that learning would be put directly to use in better assisting those animals (and owners) who are in need of improved communication and behaviours.
If I was lucky enough to be awarded admission to the Advanced course, it would literally mean the difference between life and death for many of these lovely but struggling animals.

Thank you, Karolina, for offering this opportunity.

1. I’m Maggy from Yorkshire, UK.
2. Through my small business, I work with guardians of reactive and anxious dogs. As my knowledge and confidence grows I’m creating a free online space that already has 375 members, where that support can reach far beyond my local area. Every member represents at least one dog whose daily experience could be transformed. Those dogs get a different life because their human gets real knowledge, genuine understanding, and the reassurance they’re not alone.
3. I teach people how to see their dog differently and to treat themselves with kindness. I went to university later in life, completing an MSc research project exploring how reactivity affected attachment, bonding, and wellbeing within the dyad. I learned just how many reactive dog guardians experience significant anxiety.
4. I created my online community because the people who love these dogs most and desperately want to keep them in their family are often the ones suffering most quietly. I want them to feel heard. But I also want to give them real knowledge, not just validation. I continue to learn as much as I possibly can because I want to be someone people can genuinely trust with the hard stuff. That’s where advanced training becomes so valuable. The deeper my understanding of animal behaviour, the more I can genuinely educate those people. Trauma-informed approaches shape how I hold the human side and advanced training science would let me hold the animal side with the same depth and confidence.

Hello Karolina, my name is Yvonne and I live in Greece.
I’m a dog trainer volunteering in shelters and I work with a variety of mammals such as dogs, cats, horses, pigs and sheep.
I also work with clients and their pets so many animals would benefit from me taking this course.

I teach animals with positive reinforcement for the last year after I finished school.

The reason I would love to take this course is honestly because of you. After graduating dog training school I will admit that I have all the right information in my brain but it’s all a bit tangled up. I’ve been watching your last 3 masterclasses and you have a magic way of untangling and putting in place all the loose threads in my brain and I just crave more exposure to your teaching. I know that my heart is in the right place and I want to help as many animals as possible so I promise to put this course to a good use.
Thank you once again for the opportunity of this scholarship.
Kind Regards

Where do you live?
I live in Safety Bay, Western Australia.

How many animals would directly or indirectly benefit from your taking the course?
Through my volunteer work as Head Instructor and committee leader at Rockingham Dog Club, I support a large and diverse population of dogs every year. Across group classes, puppy programs, behaviour support, and general member guidance, I directly assist around 150–250 dogs annually. Indirectly, the impact is far wider: each dog influences a household, a neighbourhood, and often other dogs they interact with. Improving my skills would therefore benefit hundreds of animals in my community each year.

Do you do any animal-related teaching?
I am actively involved in animal‑related teaching. I volunteer as an instructor at the club, mentoring new trainers, running group classes, and helping handlers understand their dogs’ behaviour.

If admission to the Advanced Animal Training course landed in your lap, how would it help you, the animals in your care or your community? What difference would it make to you and the animals and people around you?
Admission to the Advanced Animal Training course would significantly elevate the quality of support I can offer. Many of the dogs I work with struggle with fear, reactivity, over‑arousal, or communication challenges. Advanced knowledge would allow me to help these dogs more effectively and guide their handlers with greater confidence and clarity. For the club, it would bring higher‑level expertise into a volunteer‑run organisation, improving our curriculum and strengthening instructor development. For the wider community, it would contribute to safer public spaces, fewer behaviour‑related surrenders, and more harmonious human–animal relationships. This opportunity would amplify the work I already do and meaningfully improve outcomes for both dogs and people.

Hi!
I’m from a small town in Croatia. I have 2 dogs who are the reason I wake up each morning. I compete in agility and I love it so much because of the connection I have with my dog when running, it feels like we understand each other and are aligned perfectly. I think it is a sport where really good dog training is necessary and obvious to see, especially in the small details. I teach agility classes with about 15 dogs training there and it is one of my favourite things to do. I really love seeing dogs with different personalities and different problems overcome them. It is SO beautiful and fulfilling to see an insecure dog open up and start having fun.
Still, sometimes I find myself struggling to understand why some dogs act the way they do. Not just in agility, I feel a bit lost when I don’t know why a dog did something. I want to be able to know what is the reason a dog is acting a certain this way because if I don’t, I can’t be prepared to confidently act appropriately and I could end up making my dog more insecure or confused which is one of the worst things I could do, in my opinion.
I believe that if I understood the dog and dog training concepts better, I could help dogs be more confident and ready to learn, which is why I am ready to learn more:)

I live in Florida in the U.S. I’ve been training my own, friends and family dogs for over 35 years. I am a biologist and teacher, so I have a background in animal anatomy/physiology but not animal behavior.

Fifteen years ago I adopted a rescue dog that was beyond my abilities with human fear aggression- not with us, just everyone else. He’s the one I couldn’t fix! My vet asked why we kept him and my answer was simple- I made a commitment to him. He lived long a wonderful life with us. Since then, I started agility with my current rescue dogs and foster dogs for a local rescue. I see it all too often – dogs are abandoned or surrendered because of behavioral issues. Rescues are overwhelmed with the amount of dogs surrendered. My long term goal is to become a professional dog trainer to help these dogs and train their humans so they don’t end up in a shelter.

My retirement plan is to create a non-profit organization that would hold basic obedience and eventually basic agility classes (for pay) in order to fund specialized behavioral and training classes for rescues, recently adopted rescue dogs with issues, and shelters. This scholarship and class would allow me to gain the behavioral education I need to help so many dogs that find themselves in a bad situation. Please help me help dogs in need by awarding a scholarship for this class.

Hi!
I live in Eastern Finland, and I have two dogs. I am a teacher, and last year I had the opportunity to study animal-assisted teaching in a free course organized by our city for teachers and assistants. Now I am training my younger dog to work at school.

I have a co-worker who also has two dogs working at our school, and I occasionally work with them as well.

People who took part in the course last year work in different school and now have an online community and a WhatsApp group. We are planning to get more education and training in animal-assisted teaching and dog training.

My older dog is what you might call reactive. He is sensitive and has fears. He is a quick learner, but it can be quite challenging to work with him. He has already taught me a lot, but I feel that I still need to learn more so I can help him live a more relaxed life.

I have studied positive training methods and how to work with reactive dogs, but I feel that something is still missing, and I am eager to learn more.

Hello everyone,

I would love to receive a scholarship as I work in Berlin Germany as a trainer but mostly as a behavioral consultant for rescue dogs from Romania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

I do about 50 percent of my work pro bono as many of my clients are in financially difficult situations such as refugees or climate migrants or other disadvantaged people.

I believe it would help countless animals I work with every year. I’m always eager and keen to learn and share more with other pet and behavior pros.

I teach others to become dog trainers and I also teach people how to be good foster familes to all of our rescues. I think your knowledge from this course would greatly benefit all of us.

I am Neurodiverse and also specialize in helping clients on the spectrum learn how to be the best humans in ways that are unique to neuro diverse individuals.

Thanks for your time

Hi Klaudia,
I am Mária from Slovakia.

Right now, one dog would benefit directly – my own. She’s a fearful, sensitive dog navigating a world that often feels too loud and unpredictable. Living with her changed how I see animal behavior. It stopped being “obedience” and became communication, context, and trust. Indirectly, many more dogs and their people could benefit as I grow and share what I learn.

I don’t formally teach, but I naturally translate. I help friends and other dog owners see “stubborn” or “bad” behavior differently – with more understanding and less frustration. I also share our journey on Instagram, where I want to educate people about fearful dogs, show what progress really looks like, and normalize an individual, compassionate approach. (https://www.instagram.com/z_dennika_psej_matere/)

I’m a copywriter by profession, but this is no longer just a side interest. It’s the direction I’m moving toward. So far, I’ve been learning through books and webinars, but I’ve reached the point where I need structure, depth, and expert guidance.

This scholarship would remove a real barrier and allow me to step into proper education. It would help me make better decisions for my own dog – less guesswork, more clarity – and over time, support other dogs who don’t fit into standard training boxes.

For dogs like mine, being understood can change everything.

Thank you very much 🙂

Hej from Skåne!

Next year I will be getting a Shiba Inu puppy, and what started out as general research to ensure I’m prepared to raise a puppy has led me down a force free training rabbit hole that developed into a full blown obsession with all things canine. The books are piling up, from anatomy, healthcare, grooming and breed history to behaviour, training and research papers – I can’t possible nerd out hard enough.

When I moved from Ireland to Sweden, I removed myself from a ten year career as a medical transcriptionist and was left wondering what truly calls to me. Work is limited here in Båstad, so my finances certainly cannot stretch to this course. However I believe my future lies somewhere in animal care, as preparing for this puppy has awoken a dormant lifelong dream to work with animals. I don’t know what shape that will take as of yet, but for now I am learning as much as possible with a hunger that cannot be sated.

I thoroughly enjoyed this peek into your masterclasses (especially video 2!) and would love the opportunity to learn from you and begin building towards my new future.

I live in Tampere, Finland. A country that has improved the animal welfare law but still has a lot of old-school trainers which focus on compliance and obedience, instead of understanding the needs of the animal and individual. I am an animal trainer, working within my own small company. The animals benefitting from my learned knowledge are my own three dogs, all with their own behavioural issues, and the clients I work with. My work with individual clients is all about educating the owners, a therapist mentality “make myself useless”. I love doing webinars, also for free, so indirectly the information I gain would benefit the dogs of the listeners as well. I feel I am still a small unknown trainer, so the certificate of this level of education, would help me stand out and get more audience, to get the modern information out there. I have issues with feeling like I am not good enough to share my knowledge, so this course would help me feel secure about my deeper knowledge, enough to share it more widely in my country and community. I have studied in the animal emotions course, and this course would help me get my core values herd: animal emotions matters and I can help you train your dog with compassion and expertise. The emotional aspect of the animal behaviour is still too unknown, and I would love to be able to bring this to the open, by webinars, courses and education for other trainers.

I live in NSW Australia.

I cannot put a number on the animals that will benefit but it is always many, through the ripple that comes from helping one to many, the effects transfer on to others.
I see the difference I make with helping people look at animals, including the human kind, from a different perspective and the constructive change it creates, and more thought-provoking interactions that come from it. I also learn from all of those interactions. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and things I am learning with all people.

I work with humans and their animals privately through pet care, enrichment and training. I offer puppy and adult dog group classes at the local Girl Guide Hall.

This course would help me gain deeper knowledge, and create reflection on all learnings and teachings. Admission through scholarship would help me financially as well. I immerse myself in learning to gain more of the theory and nerd side of animal training and I have been wanting to do this course since I came across it last year.
This knowledge would give me more confidence and better understanding to share with others, giving animals agency, letting them be who they are. Being able to think critically and consider the learning and life journey from the animals perspective is important for everyone and being able to further my knowledge will help me to guide people to consider how they interact, train and relate to their own animals and others.

I live in Denmark. I am a dog trainer and behaviorist. Any dog getting in my hands would get benefit of me learning more about advanced animal training program. For me the money is small so getting a scholarship would mean the world to me❤️

I live in Spearfish, South Dakota, where access to professional dog training resources is limited. As a dog groomer, I work with up to 30 dogs a day and regularly assist with rescues and fostering.

In my current role, I already support pet owners with guidance on health, nutrition, skin care, and holistic care. However, I want to deepen my training knowledge so I can better serve both dogs and their owners in my community. My goal is to help dogs become more adoptable and remain successfully in their homes, reducing the need for rehoming.

This is especially important in my area, where many dogs come from nearby reservations. These dogs often have behavioral challenges that can make placement more difficult without proper training support. In my previous shelter work, I have helped rehabilitate dogs who were at risk of euthanasia, but I recognize that my current training knowledge is limited and largely foundational.

With advanced training education, I would be able to work more effectively with these dogs, support adopters, and even improve the grooming experience by helping dogs feel calmer and more secure.

There is a clear need for skilled, compassionate dog training in rural communities like mine. I am committed to filling that gap and making a meaningful difference.

Thank you so much for this opportunity!