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Welcome to COAPE

Why Study With COAPE?
Whether you are interested in learning more about your own pet's behaviour, or planning to pursue or develop a professional role working with animals, COAPE can offer you a fascinating, challenging and appropriate study course.

COAPE correspondence and residential courses in canine and feline behaviour run from Foundation Level to Advanced Diploma and beyond and present a fully co-ordinated study and career path. Teaching encompasses a variety of up-to-the-minute approaches to treating behaviour problems including the acclaimed EMRA™ approach developed and pioneered by COAPE.

While all of our courses require commitment on your part, they are as enjoyable as they are educational! We continually update and expand our wide range of courses with the very latest scientific knowledge in the field of companion animal behaviour, veterinary ethology, animal training and behaviour therapy.

FACT: No organisations, professional bodies or qualifications exist in the United Kingdom that restrict, protect or bestow the legal right to practise pet behaviour therapy.

FACT: Hence there is no one specific route to follow or qualification to study in order to become a successful professional pet behaviour therapist.

At COAPE we therefore strive to offer the best possible academic study and practical pre- and post-qualification support and training to everyone who is interested in pursuing a career in this fascinating field and to help them develop and maintain their knowledge and skills.

COAPE was founded in 1993 and has always been at the forefront in offering 'education for all' in the field of companion animal behaviour and behaviour therapy. We exclude no-one from the joy of studying and sharing knowledge about companion animal behaviour and behaviour therapy.

Why is COAPE Different to other Animal Behaviour Education Providers? Here are 6 good reasons...

1. Course Tutors
Our courses are written and tutored by internationally recognised practical, academic and practising authorities. Please Click Here to check out their credentials.

2. Accreditation
COAPE has been approved by the National Open College Network (NOCN) as a Centre recognised to deliver accredited learning, meeting national quality standards. To ensure the highest standards of quality, COAPE has a fully qualified Internal Verifier (Val Strong MSc) who reviews each of the COAPE courses, and also courses run by other providers, as part of the NOCN's accreditation standardisation and quality assurance procedures. We would strongly recommend that for any 'accredited' course you decide to take you check the credentials of the awarding body to make sure that the accreditation they offer meets the recognised national quality standards. Please Click Here for more information about the NOCN.

COAPE is an Accredited Course Provider for the British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) as part
of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Partners Scheme.

Please Click Here for more information about the BVNA
and their CDP Partners Scheme.

3. On-line marking and student liaison facilities
COAPE is an environmentally responsible organisation and we try to reduce the amount of paper waste we are generating. All our correspondence course notes are delivered electronically via the internet, and all our courses can be completed on-line. We supply you with a specially designed ‘template’ on-line to assist you in writing your coursework using your own computer and preferred word processing software. There are great benefits to running our planet-friendly courses this way, including:

1. Speed, reliability and efficiency: At the simple 'click of a button' you receive your course notes, complete your assignment and submit it for marking. It is marked by your tutor and returned back to you. No chance of valuable assignments being lost in the post!
2. Liaison with COAPE and your tutor: Internet course management means that you have easy and reliable access to COAPE tutors, wherever they are in the world!
3. On-line Student Resource Centre: For more information about the COAPE Student Resource Centre, see 4. below.
4. Up-to-date course notes and other materials: All our courses are under constant review and we update and refine our course material as new information becomes available... impossible with printed course notes!

4. On-line Student Resource Centre
All students of most COAPE courses above Foundation Level are provided with password-protected access to a dedicated on-line Resource Centre. The Resource Centre gives you access to a range of rich media content to complement the formal course notes, including video, sound, graphics and pictures, web links, and of course additional written content. In addition, students studying the Advanced Diploma also have access to a dedicated password-protected Student on-line user group where they can discuss the course, behaviour matters and help each other with their studies.

5. CPD Opportunities
We are constantly developing new theoretical and practical courses both for hands-on petcare professionals and pet owners alike, and are committed to providing Continuing Professional Education opportunities for our Advanced Diploma and other COAPE course graduates.

6. Animal Welfare Awareness
COAPE keeps constantly abreast of current thinking in animal welfare and changes in animal protection law and how this affects pets and their owners, and those involved professionally with companion animals. Please Click Here for further information.

Many pet behaviour course providers send a certificate to graduating students and then abandon them. At COAPE, we uniquely provide lots of ongoing career development advice and courses, see COAPE suggested Career Paths, and practical support at all stages of all courses and thereafter.

Advanced Diploma graduates automatically gain membership of the COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers and can promote their practices and services to pet owners seeking help for a particular behaviour problem or training problem for their pet.

Click here for the
COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers

Advanced Diploma graduates also have ongoing access to a wealth of expertise and support via a Members Association internet user group, and to lots of other regularly updated information and resources about companion animal behaviour.

Affiliates can also go on to become accredited COAPE Behaviour Practitioners.

The Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE) is delighted to announce that its renowned Advanced Diploma in Practical Aspects of Companion Animal Behaviour and Training (DipCABT) has been upgraded by the course’s independent awarding and accreditation body, The Open College Network. From September 2010 the Diploma will be accredited and recognised at Level 4, equivalent to university study at First Year Degree level. COAPE now offers a two-stage Diploma programme:

YEAR 1: Stage 1 of the COAPE Advanced Diploma in Practical Aspects of Companion Animal Behaviour and Training is the core component of the qualification. It is a residential course taught over one academic year. Each student must attend all four weekend teaching modules and complete the written course assignments, workbooks and final practical case study. Earning 60 credits at Level 4, this is an important recognition of achievement at a university-level of study. Over 350 students have successfully graduated from this constantly updated, comprehensive course since 1997. Stage 1 will continue to be offered to all eligible students and at exactly the same price as for the past two years despite the upgrade to Level 4.

YEAR 2: Stage 2 is the COAPE Advanced Diploma (Honours). This new Honours component is only available to successful students from Stage 1 and provides further opportunity for study and practical career development. Students will be required to demonstrate the ability to engage in practical companion animal behaviour therapy through approaching organised complex case studies and completing a research project. Earning a further 60 credits at Level 4, successful students will then have gained 120 credits at an independently accredited university-level of study and be perfectly placed to pursue an independent career in companion animal behaviour therapy.

CDP COAPE DipCABT ADVANCED DIPLOMA: STAGE 1

CDPH COAPE DipCABT ADVANCED DIPLOMA (HONOURS): STAGE 2

CPD51 THE MEXICO CITY DUMP...
An Island Paradise of Dogs.
A fresh view of an old relationship.
Seminar on DVD
Professor Ray Coppinger: Recorded on 24th April, 2010 at The Medieval Hall, Cathedral Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire