Learn How to Enjoy More Success with Your Virtual or Live Training Programs by Implementing Motivational Interviewing and Commitment Strategies. Presented by Niki Tudge

CEUs: PPAB 1.5, CCPDT 1.5, IAABC 1.5, KPA 1.5

Behavior change for clients is a game we continue to play without always getting reliable results. How many times do clients drop out of programs, not rebook sessions, or ask to be referred to an alternative trainer?

One of the most stated reasons by professional trainers for a failure to perform successful services in pet training is that the client was not committed, or was noncompliant. Clients, just like all human beings, make choices that do not always align with their goals and may, at times, lack self-control. However, commitment to a training program can be resolved by unmasking and addressing ambivalence. Consequently, compliance can be sought through the implementation of commitment strategies.

As professional trainers, we may feel intense pressure to quickly prove to our clients the efficacy and effectiveness of our approach and methods. As individuals advocating for humane, effective approaches, we strive to stand out amongst the competition. Lacking speedy results, we may fear the abandonment of clients moving towards quick-fix solutions and electronic devices, many of which leave pets in peril.

While professional pet trainers are armed with the relevant academic knowledge and skills needed to train pets, their success as people trainers is predicated on changing their clients’ personal behavior in their interactions with their pets. What the pet trainer needs and what has been provided through their education is not the same. They also need up-to-date, evidence-based and innovative approaches to changing human behavior, not only for their individual case success, but also to promote the humane and ethical side of pet training.

In this webinar, Niki will introduce the concept of Motivational Interviewing and Commitment Strategies. Learn how these can be used to harness a client’s ambivalence and then use this ambivalence to provide motivation for effective behavior change. She will also discuss various types of commitment strategies that can be used to hold clients accountable for their own words and goals.

About Your Presenter    

Niki Tudge

Niki Tudge MBA PCBC-A CABC CDBC is the founder and president of the Pet Professional Guild, DogNostics Education and The DogSmith. She has substantial leadership experience in business management and administration, particularly in the nonprofit sector, which encompasses her role as the president of Doggone Safe, a nonprofit educational organization. She has published numerous articles, which have been featured in publications such as the New York Times. She has also authored five books; her most recent project, Pet Training and Behavior Consulting: A Model for Raising the bar to Protect Professionals, Pets and Their People, which she co-authored, was published in 2019.

Before following her passion into small business and nonprofit management, she enjoyed a distinguished career in the hospitality industry, holding executive positions all over the world. Her real passion in her corporate role was the identification and development of female talent in the workplace. She enjoyed managing and coaching her team through both their personal and professional development and loved watching the process of female empowerment and growth at a high level of management.

Along with her business degrees from Oxford Brookes University in the U.K., her professional credentials include ISSA certified fitness trainer, ISSA certified transformation specialist and ISSA elite trainer. Niki is also Six Sigma Black Belt certified, specializing in data analysis and process improvement and is an International Training Board (HCITB) certified people trainer at levels TS1, TS2 & TS3, and a certified facilitator and project manager. In addition, she was recognized for her outstanding contribution to the business community and honored with a Fortune 500 Company Leadership Award for her accomplishments.