• Students will be paired with several dogs for the semester to provide consistent interaction and be able to track the efficacy of the program.
• Weekly interaction with dogs will focus on four areas:
  • Condition stock dogs to the tasks asked of them during teaching labs 
  • Train dogs on leash-walking and other simple commands (e.g., sit, stand, down)
  • Enhance enrichment of stock dogs by increased human contact and activity
  • Promote behavioral modification and humane handling techniques

• Students must attend large-group and hands-on orientation sessions that provide a framework for the Canine College objectives and positive reinforcement-based training approach, an overview of the regulatory environment, and an introduction to biosecurity and the health and safety factors associated with working with animals. 
• Each intern will work on a semester long project, which may serve as potential future research opportunities with their assigned dogs. 
• Each intern will also complete a case report on a dog of their choosing.
  • Each student will be responsible for creating a case report as a means to summarize their interactions with their dogs.

Spring and Fall Semesters:

• Interns are required to complete a minimum of one session per week. Each session is about 1.5 hours in length including time to park, change into appropriate uniform, and time spent with the dog.
• Canine College hours are 9:00am-2:00pm Monday-Friday. 
• Internship shifts are flexible to a student’s individual schedule within the time frame of established LAR hours of operation.
• Students will check in with Canine College staff before starting sessions. Students must stay up to date with Canine College communications before starting shift.

Previous Canine College Projects

Previous Canine College interns have utilized behavioral and retrospective data to create projects that include the following:

• “Lab Animal Research Study- Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?”: The Canine College interns Fall of 2023 and Spring 2024 learned about laboratory animal medicine, its importance, factors of canine enrichment, and learned research principles to explore how responsive purpose-bred research beagles and hound canines were to training based upon different factors.
• New data analysis: creating a real time data display of dog and student interactions, progression, and behavior to be used to update members on canine college performance, as well as provide a foundation for overall program efficacy evaluation.   
• Previous data analysis: organizing and analyzing data from previous program years for key metrics of program efficacy, canine performance and adaptability, and student participation. 
• Creating a Canine College newsletter: establishing a framework for club communications, university communications, and LAR communications regarding canine college progress and updating key stakeholders at appropriate intervals throughout the semester.
• Dog identification catalog: creating a PowerPoint presentation of canine college dogs with each slide containing a picture of the dog in question, their name, and a brief blurb to serve as a tool for dog identification. The blurb will contain historical training data, training motivators (pets, treats, praise), and current training state.