Things have gone to the dogs at the Kelowna campus of The Centre for Arts and Technology. This past Thursday one group of Veterinary Hospital Assistant students was treated to a special guest speaker; Brad Pattison of “At The End Of My Leash” notoriety visited the Pet Psychology class and spoke to the students. Overall the Pet Psychology class is designed to give the students an understanding of the emotional and psychological behaviors of small animals, in particular canine and feline psychology. This class prepares the students to be able to identify and respond to the different behaviors of animals in a veterinary clinic setting. They will also learn the importance of socialization in puppies and kittens and the physical and emotional aspects of pet ownership and recognizing common behavioral problems seen in cats and dogs. Brad paid the first of many visits to our campus to lend his expertise to the conversation and elevate the students for success. It appeared that both dogs and their student owners were having a fun and informative first visit with Brad.
In addition to the in-class visit, students went on location with Brad, Veterinary Hospital Assistant instructor Kari Lesick and all their pooches to the Knox Mountain dog park. In a flurry of fur and excitement Brad and Kari took the students through some best practices for socializing their dogs with other four-legged friends as well as human interactions with familiar and new-found canine friends. In this outing, Brad promoted the appropriate way to approach a new dog, allowing us as humans to interact while staying safe. Some proper leash-holding methods were discussed, as well as how to expose your dog to new sights, sounds, smells and other stimuli that might be encountered on an average walk with your dog.
This visit is to be the first of many and promises to be a great working relationship for both the Centre for Arts and Technology Kelowna, Brad and our community at large. One of the Veterinary Hospital Assistant program managers; Victor Poirier, has spearheaded an initiative to film these visits and produce a one-of-a-kind collaborative video collection representing the knowledge that Brad is sharing with us at CAT and the world-over. These short video segments will cover a different area of pet psychology every week and will feature Brad Pattison, instructor Kari Lesick, our students and some different furry guests delving into topics ranging from behavioral control strategies in a veterinary clinic setting to leash control and dealing with anxiety in dogs and cats. Thanks to some students from the Digital Video Fusion Production program for filming all the furry fun and making this whole project possible.These informational segments will be viewable on our website and YouTube One channel for all of our two and four-legged friends to enjoy.
For more photos and to see the first video please visit our Facebook Page.