Dog trainer to guide dog instructor
A dog trainer already meets 59% of what the guide dog instructor role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
44.7/ 100
1 How much of what a guide dog instructor is expected to do is already part of a dog trainer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the guide dog instructor role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A guide dog instructor role treats 10 of its required skills as things a dog trainer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise customers on appropriate pet care
- animal welfare legislation
- assess the compatibility of individuals and animals to work together
- create animal records
- dog behaviour
- evaluate dogs
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A guide dog instructor role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a dog trainer background worth leading with.
- already held dog behaviour natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held evaluate dogs handling and moving
- already held assess the compatibility of individuals and animals to work together management skills
- already held train animals and individuals to work together handling and moving
- already held provide animal training handling and moving
- already held protect health and safety when handling animals assisting and caring
All 20 carried skills, including the 10 the guide dog instructor role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 16 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn assist social service users with physical disabilities required
- still to learn deal with challenging people required
- optional, not held support individuals to adjust to physical disability optional
- still to learn communicate with customers required
- optional, not held instruct on animal care optional
- optional, not held interview people optional
- optional, not held stay alert optional
- still to learn control animal movement required
- optional, not held design training programmes for animals optional
- still to learn visual disability required
- optional, not held assistive instruments optional
- still to learn guide dog training methods required
- optional, not held manage a small-to-medium business optional
- optional, not held tolerate stress optional
- optional, not held administer appointments optional
- optional, not held maintain professional administration optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a guide dog instructor role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 guide dog training methods study this
- 02 control animal movement practise this
- 03 assist social service users with physical disabilities practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 20 skills that carry over
- already held advise customers on appropriate pet care skill
- already held animal welfare legislation knowledge
- already held assess the compatibility of individuals and animals to work together skill
- already held create animal records skill
- already held dog behaviour knowledge
- already held evaluate dogs skill
- already held implement exercise activities for animals skill
- already held protect health and safety when handling animals skill
- already held provide animal training skill
- already held train animals and individuals to work together skill
- already held advise on animal purchase skill
- already held anatomy of animals knowledge
- already held animal welfare knowledge
- already held assist in transportation of animals skill
- already held maintain animal accommodation hygienic skill
- already held physiology of animals knowledge
- already held provide an enriching environment for animals skill
- already held provide first aid to animals skill
- already held provide nutrition to animals skill
- already held work with veterinarians skill
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held design training programmes for animals optional
- optional, not held instruct on animal care optional
- optional, not held interview people optional
- optional, not held manage a small-to-medium business optional
- optional, not held support individuals to adjust to physical disability optional
- optional, not held tolerate stress optional
- optional, not held administer appointments optional
- optional, not held assistive instruments optional
- optional, not held maintain professional administration optional
- optional, not held stay alert optional
16 held skills the guide dog instructor role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise on animal welfare skill
- not needed by the target role advise on care products for pets skill
- not needed by the target role animal behaviour knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply animal hygiene practices skill
- not needed by the target role assess animal behaviour skill
- not needed by the target role assess animal's condition skill
- not needed by the target role bathe dogs skill
- not needed by the target role biosecurity related to animals knowledge
- not needed by the target role design plans to address undesirable behaviour in animals skill
- not needed by the target role design training programmes for individuals and animals skill
- not needed by the target role develop an animal handling strategy skill
- not needed by the target role make decisions regarding the animal's welfare skill
- not needed by the target role monitor the welfare of animals skill
- not needed by the target role select therapy animals skill
- not needed by the target role signs of animal illness knowledge
- not needed by the target role treat animals ethically skill
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn guide dog training methods required
- still to learn visual disability required
- optional, not held assistive instruments optional
Common questions about this move
Can a dog trainer become a guide dog instructor?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A dog trainer already covers 59% of what a guide dog instructor is expected to do: 20 skills carry over, 10 of which the guide dog instructor role treats as required.
What skills does a dog trainer need to become a guide dog instructor?
6 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is guide dog training methods.
How hard is the move from dog trainer to guide dog instructor?
Its learning distance is 44.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.