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International Academy of Canine Trainers

The only hands-on school for Dog Trainers in British Columbia. 

The International Academy of Canine Trainers is dedicated to providing quality education based on current scientific knowledge of learning and behaviour to students wanting to become pet dog trainers or to work within the pet groomers and animal care industry.

All course curricula are derived from over 20 years and 16,000 hours of experience working with all different types of dogs in various aspects of obedience and behaviour training. The Academy follows positive reinforcement principles, as well as desensitizing, counter conditioning, classical conditioning, luring and extinction to achieve and teach appropriate behaviours in dogs. 

The Academy's goal is to provide the most comprehensive education for our students and to enhance the lives of dogs and their owners. Students will work with client dogs and shelter dogs, teaching basic obedience and proper behaviour. This practice gives the student a broad exposure to different training challenges and scenarios.

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Our Instructors

About Amber

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The owner, director and chief training instructor, Amber Cottle, has been in business for over 20 years and has over 16,000 hours experience in dog behavior and training.  

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In 2002, after completing her certification, Amber started her business giving puppy classes in the local tennis courts.  She had a shoestring marketing budget, no website or Facebook.  Amber operated a full-service dog training facility with several part-time employees for over 16 years. During this time, the training center offered classes 6 days a week ranging from puppy socializing and obedience, recreational agility, intermediate and advanced obedience, and behavior consultations.  Additionally, there were workshops and seminars always taking place.  Over the course of Amber's career, she has trained over 6000 dogs and their owners!

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Amber has extensive experience dealing with challenging behavior issues from her countless hours spent rehabilitating shelter dogs.  She continues to consult for the Delta Community Animal Shelter  

offering behavior modification training and temperament assessments. Amber has fostered excellent relationships with many of the local veterinarians and runs training clinics for Shelter and vet hospital staff. She has devoted hundreds of volunteer hours training and rehabilitating canine behavior problems at the BCSPCA  and the Delta Community Animal Shelter.  She served as an elected member of the Community Advisory Committee and as Regional Councilor for the BCSPCA.  In 2004, Amber founded the Delta Humane Society where she served as Director of Training and Rehabilitation, Executive Director and then as President for the Board of Directors. In 2005, Amber founded the International Academy of Canine Trainers, which is a government-registered school for professional pet dog trainers and professional dog walkers. 

Amber continues her community work by helping to assess and rehabilitate behavior problems for dogs at DCAS

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Amber is one of the most knowledgable teachers I have met. She is caring and I would highly recommend her to anyone who really wants to learn about training. I really enjoyed this course and can't wait until Level 2.

Bonnie McDonald

Commendations

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