The Humane Society of Morocco is currently building a nationwide network of experienced dog trainers, providing high-quality, welfare-friendly dog training instruction during our fun, educational classes. These knowledgeable Dog School Coaches will be delivering short courses for puppies, adolescents, rescue dogs, and adults, teaching valuable skills that enable dogs and owners to live together happily, such as walking nicely on lead, coming back when called, settling at quiet times, being polite around people and food and being examined when necessary.

As a regulatory body, we will maintain registers of animal trainers throughout Morocco fulfilling accreditation criteria and belonging to approved member associations.

The first thing to do whenever you see any changes in your dog’s behavior, or behavior that concerns you, is to have your dog examined by a vet.

A range of different medical conditions might affect the way a dog behaves, so sometimes a behavior change can actually be a sign that your dog is unwell or is in pain or discomfort even though you might not be able to find anything wrong. Because medical factors might either cause problematic behavior or contribute to it, it’s important to rule these out or to ensure your dog is being treated for any illness or injury, as sometimes treatment results in a difference in their behavior right away.

Your vet can then refer you to a behaviorist and provide them with your dog’s medical history so they can take any medical factors into account when investigating your dog’s worrying behavior. For example, suffering from sore ears in the past might be an important consideration for a dog who has recently started to growl when being stroked on the head or having a lead clipped onto their collar by their ears.

Behaviorists will investigate all the relevant aspects of your dog’s life to decide the most suitable approach to helping them feel and behave better.

Inappropriate or outdated advice or methods might adversely affect your dog’s welfare and might even make the problem behavior worse in the long term. Because anybody can use the title ‘behaviorist’, even without qualifications or experience, it’s important to check that they belong to an organization where members are required to have good standards of education, qualification, and experience. This will ensure that they will have the right up-to-date knowledge, skills, and ability to help your dog.

Registered behaviorists at the level of Certified or Clinical Animal Behaviorist must hold an approved qualification at a degree level or higher and have undertaken an extensive period of supervised training in order to build up a portfolio of casework. They will only work on veterinary referral, ensuring that any underlying illness, injury, or pain is being treated in conjunction with the behavioral support being given.

Similarly, veterinarians must hold Advanced Practitioner or Specialist Status in Animal Behavior.

When you have located a behaviorist in your local area, it’s always worth checking what their qualifications mean as well as the types of methods they use to address behavioral problems. It’s important to feel comfortable working with your behaviorist and be confident that your dog’s welfare is always prioritized.

Some behavioral support might be covered by pet insurance, so if your dog is insured it is worth checking the terms and conditions of your policy.