COURSE HANDBOOK – 2019
What Will I Learn in this Course?
This course is designed to give you a complete introduction to working in the animal care industry and kick-start your career.
Here’s a list of the subjects you’ll study:
Animal Restraint & Transport
Handling Animals is a entire subject devoted to the correct handling and restraint of the animals in our care. Although a large focus is on dogs and cats – rabbits, guinea pigs and birds are also covered. Providing safe and low stress animal handling is a vital skill for any animal care worker. Students will also learn the basics of reading animal body language.
Working Safely in Animal Care
Health and safety are vital aspects of working in any animal care workplace. We’ll introduce you to Work Health and Safety legislation and how it applies to employees, and teach you the basics of risk management and controls. We’ll also show you how to deal with sharps, allergies, noise, dangerous chemicals and drugs, emergencies, biological hazards and zoonoses. Then we’ll finish off with a closer look at animal hazards and manual handling when it comes to animal care workplaces and how you can minimise injury.
Animal Care & Husbandry
Part of any job in the animal care industry is monitoring the animals under your care for signs of ill health. It ensures animals get veterinary treatment quickly, and that any potentially infectious diseases are halted before they spread to other animals close by. You’ll learn how to monitor animal health and provide animal husbandry requirements to promote healthy animals.
Infection Control in Animal Care
This is a vital element in animal care facility – you’ll learn how to set up and use an isolation facility, how to handle potentially infectious animals, how to assemble and maintain an Infectious Disease Control Kit, plus notifiable diseases and procedures for notifying government departments of infection.
Sustainable Work Practices
This short subject aims to increase awareness sustainable work practices and is a government requirement. It takes a look at the resources you’re likely to use each day and how to minimise the impact on our environment. You’ll take a practical ‘audit’ of a workplace to see what resources are used and how to implement measures that reduce waste.
This short subject will equip you with vital workplace communication skills so you can talk ‘shop’ with your colleagues, then switch to client friendly terms. It also helps ensure you can communicate your point clearly as clear communication is vital for great team work.
Nutrition & Feeding Plans
Animals need correct nutrition for optimal health, so we’ll teach you the basics on nutrition and animal digestive systems. You’ll be able to advise owners on how to keep their pets in tip top shape and select appropriate foods for those animals you care for. After completing this subject you’ll understand exactly what makes up a nutritious diet, how to feed for particular life stages, how to read pet labels, the diseases that are influenced by nutrition, and how to calculate how much food to feed.
Hydrobath and Groom Animals
Many animal care facilities have hydrobathing facilities, either because they offer grooming services, or they use for the animals under their care. This subject will take you through what a hydrobath is, the various setups available, how to set up, use, clean and maintain, and of course, how to bath and dry animals correctly.