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Canine Behavior and Outreach Trainer

Schedule

The working schedule for this position is Sunday - Thursday, 8AM - 4:30PM with Friday and Saturday off.

Who We Are

ACC is one of the nation’s largest open-admission animal shelters, whose mission is to End Animal Homelessness in NYC. We touch the lives of nearly 30,000 animals each year. ACC is more than an animal shelter; we are a resource to the community, always seeking ways to keep the human-animal bond intact. With a 90% placement rate, our progressive, life-saving initiatives contribute to the successful placement of our animals.

We strive to find loving homes for homeless and abandoned cats, dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits, both by adopting animals directly to the public and by partnering with more than 200 dedicated animal placement organizations (our New Hope partners). We also help keep NYC communities safe and rescue animals in need, responding to emergencies that involve animals as well as keeping our doors open 24/7 for people and animals in need.

Summary

The Behavior Outreach Trainer is a member of the Canine Behavior Team who focuses on creating training plans and running daily behavior modification sessions for dogs in Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC)’s care. You will also be designing and providing low-stress handling training to staff and volunteers, and conducting training sessions for our staff, volunteers, fosters, and adopters to learn how to gently modify challenging behaviors. ACC uses only force-free, reward-based training methods.

ACC’s Behavior Program provides environmental enrichment and socialization for all cats and dogs in our care as well as thorough behavior assessments in order to make successful adoption matches. We strive to provide the highest possible quality of life for our pets during their stay. To that end, we are adding a training and behavior modification element to the Behavior Department, and we are looking for experienced canine trainers to help create, launch, and oversee this program.

Our ideal candidate is an experienced behavior modification trainer, CPDT-certified, and excited to take on the unique challenges and rewards of working with shelter dogs. You also enjoy sharing your skill and knowledge with others in order to improve quality of care in the shelter, decrease stress, and help keep dogs in their homes. You are self-motivated and able to work independently. You are passionate about animal welfare and improving the quality of life for sheltered animals, and you are excited to be part of a progressive shelter enrichment program.

Required Qualifications:

+ Bachelor’s degree or comparable work experience required.

+ CPDT-KA (or certification in progress) required.

+ 6 months experience with and/or knowledge of creating training plans to address a range of behavior challenges required.

+ Must be able to lift and move up to 50 pounds.

Benefits

ACC values work/life balance and offers a generous paid-time-off (PTO) package that includes vacation time, birthdays off, personal days and sick pay. We also value physical and mental health by offering a great open access Cigna medical, dental and vision insurance at a low premium to our employees as well as 401K and Pension, Life Insurance. We also have on-the-job training for 2-4 weeks, periodic all staff trainings to include safety, DEI, cross training, and other growth opportunities.

Because ACC is a nonprofit, employees may be eligible for loan forgiveness, cancellation, and/or consolidation under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF). Created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, PSLF allows borrowers who work full time for nonprofits and government agencies to have their outstanding debt forgiven tax-free on Federal Direct Loans, after making 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan.

Please use this link for more details on our benefits package.

Essential Job Functions:

+ C reate and conduct behavior and handling trainings for staff, volunteers, and fosters.

+ Design training plans for specific dogs in our care.

+ Assist foster parents, adopters and surrender prevention clients with problem solving behavior modifications.

Other Responsibilities:

+ Create and conduct seminars on problem behaviors and behavior modification for staff, volunteers, fosters, and adopters.

+ Conduct one-on-one training sessions with dogs in our care.

+ Train the trainers: instruct staff members and volunteers on individualized training sessions.

+ Assess need, oversee the dog training schedule, and assign individual sessions for all dogs in the care center.

+ Work with the Canine Behavior Team to schedule sessions into the current enrichment schedule.

+ Provide low-stress handling training and assistance for staff and volunteers.

+ Assist with canine behavior assessments as needed and help with overall behavior determinations for all dogs in our care.

+ Assist various other departments with additional tasks as directed.

+ Assist foster parents with problem solving and behavior modification for ACC dogs in foster homes.

+ Communicate with adopters post-adoption to address behavior challenges in the new home.

+ Work toward providing behavior seminars for adopters and other community members.

+ Track and provide metrics for the dog training program; maintain accurate records of daily tasks.

+ Daily meetings with the Assessor and the Enrichment Coordinator to discuss individual dogs.

+ Fear Free certification within 30 days of hire.

+ Complete other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Preferred Qualification:

+ Familiarity with and ability to provide low-stress handling and force-free training.

+ A thorough understanding of positive reinforcement and a training methodology rooted in a scientific understanding of how dogs learn.

+ Ability to make sound judgments and work independently in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple competing tasks and demands.

+ Ability to foster a cooperative, encouraging and positive work environment with staff as well as volunteers.

+ Strong communication skills.

+ The ability to remain pleasant, calm and objective in all situations.

Work Environment

At ACC it's all hands-on deck. We work together as a team, which means you may be asked to help with tasks that involve working outside in all sorts of weather. As a busy animal shelter in one of the biggest cities in the world it can get noisy inside. Employees should have the ability to remain calm yet professional in stressful situations involving animals and/or members of the public. ACC houses hundreds of animals in its facilities at any given time and with that comes fur, odors and other airborne particles in abundance.

ACC offers many low-cost services to pets and people in need. This includes compassionate end-of-life services for people who cannot afford to go to a private veterinary office but still want to provide a professional and peaceful transition for their beloved pet.

Reports To: Behavior & Enrichment Assistant Manager

Overtime: This is a non-union position and is eligible for overtime.