{"id":25244,"date":"2026-08-06T16:59:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/?page_id=25244"},"modified":"2026-08-06T20:21:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T18:21:56","slug":"professional-training","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/beroepsopleidingen-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Professional education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Therapiedier vzw offers two comprehensive professional programmes for people who want to work safely and responsibly with therapy animals: Therapy Animal Practitioner\u00ae and Therapy Animal &amp; Assistance Dog Trainer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both pathways connect current knowledge about animal behavior, animal welfare, and Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) with practical experience, personal guidance, and professional responsibility. The training programs are offered by Therapiedier vzw in collaboration with partner Toscanzahoeve.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which training program suits you?<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong><a href=\"\/en\/professional-training\/opleiding-therapiedierbegeleider\/\">Therapy Animal Practitioner\u00ae<\/a>:<\/strong> You learn to work goal-directed with an active therapy animal, together with children, adults, the elderly, clients, students, teams, or residents.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"\/en\/professional-training\/therapiediertrainer\/\">Therapy Animal Trainer<\/a>:<\/strong> you learn to select, prepare, and train therapy animals and supervise the sustainable cooperation between human and animal. This includes both active and passive therapy animals.<\/li><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/en\/professional-training\/opleiding-therapiedierbegeleider\/\">View Therapy Animal Practitioner\u00ae<\/a><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/en\/professional-training\/therapiediertrainer\/\">View Therapy Animal Trainer<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Professional Education: Therapy Animal Practitioner\u00ae<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Become a professional animal-assisted practitioner \u2013 at your own pace and with attention to your work context.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you want to work professionally with a therapy dog, classroom dog, reading dog, visitation dog, office dog, or another suitable animal species? In this training program, you will learn how to deploy an active therapy animal with high quality within care, welfare, education, coaching, businesses, and other professional environments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The emphasis is not on treating or diagnosing people, but on expertly guiding animal-assisted activities and interventions within your own scope of authority. You will learn to work purposefully, collaborate with other professionals, and safeguard the boundaries of your role.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do you learn?<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>the basic principles and application forms of AAI;<\/li><li>behavior, body language, learning processes, and stress signals in animals;<\/li><li>prepare activities and interventions with clear goals;<\/li><li>working safely and respectfully with diverse target groups;<\/li><li>safeguarding the resilience, freedom of choice and welfare of the animal;<\/li><li>observe, report, evaluate, and communicate professionally;<\/li><li>collaboration with healthcare providers, teachers, coaches and organizations;<\/li><li>risk analysis, hygiene, ethics, insurance and professional boundaries;<\/li><li>responsibly develop your own practice or professional offer.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Possible work contexts<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on your background and specialization, you can work in residential care centers, hospitals, schools, libraries, practices, welfare organizations, companies, judicial contexts, and individual guidance, among others. You can specialize in classroom dog, reading dog, visiting dog, coaching dog, or office dog handling.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For whom?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training program is aimed at people who want to professionally utilize the connection between humans and animals. A medical or academic background is not necessary, but participants must be willing to learn thoroughly, build practical experience, and work within their own area of expertise. Even those who do not yet have their own animal can start the training program.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your own therapy animal<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who wish to work with their own animal undergo an appropriate behavioral and welfare evaluation. Medical suitability, temperament, resilience, motivation, and the ability to perform context-driven tasks are monitored. An animal is never merely an instrument: welfare and voluntary participation remain decisive at every stage.<\/p>\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Professional Education: Therapy Animal Trainer<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Learn to select, train, and guide therapy animals with a focus on behavior, context, and a sustainable human-animal relationship.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The therapy animal trainer trains animals and human-animal combinations for a clearly defined task and living or working context. You learn to work with active therapy animals that perform AAI together with their handler, and with passive therapy animals that support the self-reliance and daily well-being of one specific person.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not every animal is suited for this role. That is why careful selection is essential before training begins. The training program teaches you to objectively assess behavior, set realistic expectations, and tailor a training plan to both the animal and the person.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do you learn?<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>ethology, body language, and the basics of learning and behavior processes;<\/li><li>assess temperament, motivation, sensory processing, and recovery capacity;<\/li><li>selecting suitable animals and human-animal combinations;<\/li><li>develop an individual and context-oriented training plan;<\/li><li>teaching skills and tasks step-by-step, animal-friendly, and reliably;<\/li><li>tailor training to the family, organization, target audience, and work environment;<\/li><li>coaching people in communication, expectations, and daily collaboration;<\/li><li>recognize stress, overload, relapse, and well-being risks in a timely manner;<\/li><li>documenting, evaluating, and adjusting pathways where necessary;<\/li><li>professional entrepreneurship and clear communication with clients and partners.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Active and passive therapy animals<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Active therapy animal<\/strong> works together with a trained animal-assisted intervention handler and is deployed for AAI with other people, usually on location.<\/li><li><strong>Passive therapy animal<\/strong> lives and works with one designated person and helps increase that person\u2019s self-reliance, structure, safety or psychosocial well-being. Examples include a buddy dog, an autism-focused therapy dog, a well-being dog or a psychosocial therapy animal.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For whom?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This training program is suitable for those who want to professionally train therapy animals, guide families or organizations, or further specialize in selection, behavioral evaluation, and sustainable follow-up. Much attention is paid to both animal behavior and communication with people.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Structure and evaluation<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The programs are practical and modular. Online learning is combined with physical classes, exercises, case studies, internships, and personal feedback. You can spread out modules according to your available time and budget.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>substantive and practical modules;<\/li><li>ongoing evaluation and reflection;<\/li><li>internship and demonstrable practical experience;<\/li><li>a final project or thesis;<\/li><li>evaluation of professional competencies;<\/li><li>where applicable: assessment of the animal and the human-animal combination.<\/li><\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the complete trajectory and the achievement of the established competencies, the participant receives the corresponding certificate. Continuous professional development, peer review, reassessment, and wellbeing monitoring support the quality after the training.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collaboration between Therapiedier vzw and Toscanzahoeve<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therapiedier vzw organizes and supervises these professional training courses. Toscanzahoeve is a content and practice-oriented partner for, among other things, animal behavior, training, coaching, and the guidance of human-animal combinations. In this way, we connect professional AAI knowledge with years of practical experience.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.toscanzahoeve.be\/event\/\">View training dates in the calendar<\/a><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/en\/contactgegevens\/\">Request information about the study programs<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Therapiedier vzw offers two comprehensive professional training programs for those who wish to work with therapy animals in a professional, safe, and responsible manner: Therapiedier Facilitator\u00ae and Therapiedier Trainer. Both programs combine up-to-date knowledge of animal behavior, animal welfare, and Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) with practical experience, personalized guidance, and professional responsibility. The programs are offered by Therapiedier vzw in collaboration with its partner, Toscanzahoeve. Which program is right for \u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-25244","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25244"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25402,"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25244\/revisions\/25402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapiedier.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25244"}],"curies":[{"name":"WP","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}