Wounded Warriors Canada invites Service Dog Providers to join our growing team.
The following are the qualifications
1. Standards: Ability to meet the published National Standards for all WWC Service Dog Providers irrespective of location;
2. Instructors: A commitment to meet the Standards for PTSD Service Dog Instructors (attached);
3. Governance: Demonstration of a history of sound Governance including financials; and
4. Cooperation: A commitment to operate collegially and cooperatively with other WWC Service Dog Providers and WWC Staff.
Should a program meet the qualifications above, the final decision to accept a Service Dog Provider rests solely with Wounded Warriors Canada. Before a positive decision is finalized, an inspection and site visit by the WWC Service Dog Advisor (aka “The Dogfather”) and the WWC National Program Director will take place.
Standards for PTSD Service Dog Instructors – March 5, 2019
Recommended time to complete these requirements: minimum 2 years
REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAINER CERTIFICATION – DOG
- Behavioral Theory Course (including but not limited to: Operant Conditioning/Behaviorism principles)
- Dog Behavior Theory Course (including but not limited to: dog body language knowledge, humane hierarchy)
- Dog Health and Management Course (body mass index, cooperative care, etc.)
- Pet First Aid Course
- Minimum Three (3) times :
- 1. Observe
- 2. Then Lead (supervised)
- 3. Then Lead (unsupervised)
- Dog
- Dog training (basics, intermediate, advanced obedience)
- Public Access Training
- PTSD Task/Alert training
- Human
- Intake (applications, interviews, etc.)
- Home Visits
- Team
- Dog Pairing/Matching
- Team Training
- Consisting of minimum 70 hours of direct client interactions Graduate training/after-care
- Complete examination (85% score equals a pass)
REQUIREMENTS FOR TRAINER CERTIFICATION – HUMANS
Knowledge requirements
- Human First Aid Certificate
- Suicide Intervention Training Certificate
- Trauma Informed Training or Mental Health First Aid Certificate
- Training in comorbidities, substance use (minimum 8 hours)
- Knowledge of PTSD (symptoms, triggers, environmental sensitivity, etc.) (minimum 8 hours)
- Communicating with clients with PTSD (minimum 8 hours)
- Knowledge of local resources (911, crisis call lines, client support persons) and how/when to access them
- Minimum 10 hours one-on-one counselling sessions with a Masters Level Clinical Practitioner regarding working with PTSD clients
- Complete examination (85% score equals a pass)