April 2023 KPA CTP of the Month
Stephanie Perkins, KPA CTP, is the Director of Animal Therapy (AT) at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. A lifelong animal lover, she marvels at what positive reinforcement can accomplish in learning, in contrast to force and intimidation. While completing many local training classes and attending seminars recommended to her by people who share her views about animal training, Stephanie learned about the KPA Dog Trainer Professional (DTP) program.
As her professional responsibilities require her to assess, train, and evaluate thousands of AT teams, Stephanie was looking to elevate her skills to better support handlers who wanted to train specific behaviors, change behaviors that were not suitable for therapy work, or work through other difficulties with their animals. She says, “I was not confident that I had the knowledge or skills to help all of these handlers prior to completing the DTP program.”
Stephanie also hoped that what she learned from the program would also improve her communication and relationships with her own animals, including dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and rabbits. “When I adopted my first dog as an adult, there were only three local trainers who didn’t use prong collars, leash corrections, or worse.” Because Stephanie did not want her dog to experience physical or psychological pain from her training methods, she befriended those trainers and learned as much as she could from them. One trainer friend introduced Stephanie to clicker training and shaping. “I was amazed at all the cool stuff I could teach my dog—and at how eager and happy she was to learn.”
That amazement from clicker training success coupled with her eagerness to expand her professional skills led Stephanie to commit to and benefit from the KPA DTP program. She completed the KPA DTP National program with Lindsay Wood Brown, with a final assessment in Richmond, Virginia, during the summer of 2018.
The DTP program helped Stephanie identify and balance her strengths and weaknesses as a trainer. “I am usually the limiting factor to what the dogs can learn, and that’s humbling.” Stephanie reports that her struggle with patience has improved since she completed the course, acknowledging that “patience is a huge contributor to successful training with people and animals.” She also believes that the confidence she gained from the DTP program helped improve her communication with volunteers and led to a greater understanding of the learner’s point of view. “I can now convey more difficult training concepts in clear, concise language.” Stephanie is happy with the results of her growth as a trainer: “more successful handlers and animal-therapy teams serving our community.”
The DTP program helped Stephanie identify and balance her strengths and weaknesses as a trainer.
Stephanie says that the shaping plans and data-collection methods she learned during the DTP program have helped her organize training sessions and training goals. Thanks to clicker training, she has honed her observation skills and can problem-solve more easily and more quickly. “I communicate more clearly to volunteer handlers how they can set up their animals for success and train necessary behaviors to fluency, including loose-lead walking and polite greetings.”
After completing the DTP program, Stephanie joined the board of the International Association of Human Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO). “IAHAIO has developed best practices for working in human/animal interaction fields that include humane training methods. My experiences as both a volunteer and a trainer contribute significantly to this effort.”
As the Director of AT at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, works with pediatric patients at a pediatric outpatient rehab clinic. Her teams work directly with therapists and patients on individual treatment goals. ”We are routinely contacted to develop creative ways to incorporate therapy dogs into patients’ treatment plans. We use cueing and shaping exercises that ensure that patient goals are met.”
Reiterating her growth in patience and understanding, and crediting the positive training philosophy of KPA, Stephanie strives to demonstrate empathy toward people who make different choices than she does, including those who opt for different types of training. She considers herself a keen observer of human and animal behavior across all parts of her life. Stephanie notes that “what I’ve learned from the DTP program, and from ClickerExpo presenters, has given me the tools to help my own pets with reactivity and other challenging behaviors, too."
Since becoming a KPA CTP, Stephanie has successfully completed the KPA Puppy Start Right for Instructors course. “I attend ClickerExpo annually as well as many other workshops, seminars, and classes.” A self-described lifelong learner, her plan is to become a Certified Control Unleashed Instructor, “as I see many people and dogs struggling with reactivity.” Clicker training is sure to play a part in Stephanie’s future goals. “When I retire from my current dream job, I may open a facility that would provide clicker training to more people in our community and help new trainers find their way to clicker training!” More lightheartedly, Stephanie reports that another goal is to “clicker train my husband to do more chores, but that’s a work-in-progress, long-term shaping plan!”