Considering an Animal Care Course?
Choosing a career path can be hard. It’s important to find an area that suits your skills and interests. So, if you prefer felines to finance and would rather work in stables than with servers, an animal care course could be the perfect choice for you. There’s a host of options currently online. Whether you chose a 3rd Level intensive programme or a part-time introductory course, animal care courses are your first step towards a vocation involving creatures big and small.
Areas of Study
The areas of study within animal care are broad and no two courses are alike. This means it’s all the more important to find a course that suits your needs. These can cover anything from Animal Anatomy, Physiology, Nutrition, Animal Handling, Veterinary Assisting Skills, Health and Safety, Behaviours, Mathematics, Animal Welfare, Bee Keeping, Work Experience, Communications, Biology, to Animal Husbandry.
Overwhelmed? Don’t be – we have you covered. When selecting your animal care course, it’s important to consider your ultimate aim and then work backward. Do you just want to be a responsible pet owner? A part-time/evening course on the topic would certainly help. If your goal is to become a vet, a short course might be the first step, but you’re in for a whole lot more training until you’re qualified. Looking to start your own dog grooming business? Then you’ll need to make sure you cover best practices in health and safety, marketing and administration.
Be Realistic
Getting paid to play with puppies certainly sounds like a dream job, but no matter where you end up, animal care isn’t entirely fluff and fun. It’s important that you go into your chosen course and, hopefully on to your career, as informed as possible. There’s nothing worse than investing time, money and future plans, to find out something isn’t suited you.
The remedy for this is simple. Research. Research. Research. Take the time to speak to your potential course provider about what you’ll be learning day-to-day. Reach out to a person currently working in the position you want. Don’t be afraid either, most people are approachable and happy to talk about what they do. When doing due diligence, you will undoubtedly come across factors you never considered.
Lots of jobs in animal care related industries require studies in science, math, and biology. While most roles will see you dealing daily with paperwork and administration – sometimes extensively. Sure, working with the animals might be right up your alley, but what about humans? Customer care and focus is a pillar in many potential careers.
Find animal care training near you in Course.ie’s course finder
Animal Welfare
At the very end of the day, no matter where you end up, it’s all about the animals themselves and their welfare. It’s so vitally important that you learn what to do in emergency situations. It’s so important for you to stay on top of vaccinations, and be able to recognise signs of illness. For instance, parvovirus is deadly and can spread fast through a group of animals. Knowledge is the best way to protect you and your charges from harm. But prepare yourself emotionally; those events can sometimes happen anyway, and it’s devastating.
Possible Careers
Back to nicer topics. Your future options are so plentiful. Can you see yourself working in an animal sanctuary, pet shop, cattery/dog kennel or even a veterinary clinic? Or is yours the life of a beekeeper, stable worker, handler, groomer, zoo keeper or animal trainer? See the bottom of this page for a list of courses and book your place today. Don’t be sheepish when reaching for your dream job.
If you’re serious about your education, visit our next free Education Expo event and speak to course providers directly.
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