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Wildlife damage management is a growing industry. Visit any city and you can see a variety of birds flocking to parks and bodies of water.

Animals adapt to our urban sprawls but are sometimes considered nuisance animals by those who are running pristine resorts, golf courses, airports, college campuses, and other industrial businesses.

In most cases the birds are creating the most concerns but raccoons and other animals can be a problem.

A whole industry has arisen around nuisance animals and there are lists to help you find wildlife control operators and even people who specialize in training “goose dogs” to help out.

Usually other animals avoid humans but the birds acclimate and congregate in large numbers creating undesirable conditions by leaving lots of bird droppings on the ground and creating other health hazards.

Barbara Ray (Ligon) a breeder and trainer of Border collies estimates that there are over 400 Border collies doing wildlife control work on golf courses, estates, and corporate properties nationwide.

One way to control the birds is to use dogs who have been through precision training. The canines persuade geese to vacate the premises through natural behaviors that are controlled through verbal cues and specific whistles.

Border collies are one of the most popular workers in this field. They are genetically fine-tuned for the job and those that are best for the job are the pups who are friendly and well socialized and who lack noise phobias or other fears.

Nuisance bird control dogs usually begin training when they are a year old and are ready for the job by the time they mature usually about two or three years of age.

Training includes traditional efforts of herding sheep but also includes special training to train the dogs to go into the water and working in it.

The Border collie is a popular choice because of the dog’s natural tendency to herd and the good temperaments and enthusiasm of the breed.

If not trained properly the breed’s instinct can become an obsession where the animal strives to control and herd the most prevalent animal around.

In general it is thought, that the best dogs for the job are those dogs who do not get frustrated when their charges take off in flight.

You can even hire in a goose management team which is just one of the options to managing nuisance geese.

Is this type of career up your alley?

Above: Photo of Dog Receiving Canine Acupuncture

Acupuncture is considered an newer alternative health practice and is becoming more popular for furry family members. But acupuncture has been around a long, long time.

I’ve written on this topic before and you can read my article about pet acupuncture but I got a question specific to dogs and thought I’d tackle the topic again.

Acupuncture is based on the belief that energy, known as chi, flows through the body but can be upset or get out of balance due to injury or disease.

To restore the healthy flow of chi acupuncture needles are placed at points on energy pathways known as meridians.

Ancient Chinese acupuncture is thought to have originated in about 1,000 BC but scientists in 1991 found Otzi and the iceman’s therapeutic tattoos are believed to have been applied in 3,200 BC.

You might find it interesting to know that one of the earliest records of veterinary acupuncture involved treating elephants some 3000 years ago in India.

To become a canine acupuncturist takes years of training and a good investment of time and money.

In most cases, people train for human acupuncture and then get additional specialty training and special certification.

I was asked about the Animal Acupuncture Academy based out of Australia which is registered to David Gilchirst a veterinary surgeon. The site has been up since 2001 so it hasn’t been around a long time.

Since the Animal Acupuncture Academy it is not an accredited program and doesn’t have any background history available, I’d encourage seeking education from one of the sources I list below instead.

For instance, the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society which begins new sessions in San Diego, California and Atlanta, Georgia this October (2008) is a good choice.

If you are in Colorado this September you might check them out by attending the 34th Annual Congress on Veterinary Acupuncture. Thirty-four years in exisitence is a good sign.

Time investment needed to become a dog acupuncturist? Four to eight years.

Each state has different certification requirements which can be located through an Acupuncture Society Standards Board in your area or the the American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture.

In addition, it would be a good idea to get some business training because running a practice requires record keeping and other skills.

Specialty training can be obtained through:

• The Tai Sophia Institute in Columbia, Maryland.
• Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine offers an introductory course.
• Colorado State University offers alternative programs read more on animal acupuncture.
• Again, investigate the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society for post graduate certification.

An average treatment session may be as long as ten minutes up to thirty minutes depending how cooperative the dog remains. Fees for treatment start from around $50 and go up from there.

The field is growing…remember when I mentioned SimDog?

If not, I wrote about this teaching aid to help acupuncture students learn the proper needle meridian points back in March 2008 when Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences introduced the first simulated canine with a virtual reality interface.

There are two views about studying for an animal career–be a generalist or be a specialist.

I am a product of the generalist approach which has worked wonders because of my broad background, training and hands-on experience.

However, specialty fields of practice are becoming more advantageous due to increased demands and vast advances in certain areas that can be hard to keep up with if you are a generalist.

So, specializing in canine acupuncture would be a very specialist practice instead of attempting to treat various species but either way the field is growing.

Canines also seem to be the animal many courses focus on…although I’ve come across some horse acupuncture charts and even a cat acupuncture video.

Acupuncture has been effective for pain reduction but some skeptics still question the effectiveness on other issues.

Whatever.

My thoughts? I see alternative services such as canine acupuncturist as a fast growing unusual animal career.

Additional Reading:

Pets Get the Point

Medical Acupunture for Veterinarians

Acupuncture for Pets from Pet Connection 

Olivia wrote, “I want to be an animal behaviorist or specialist. Can you please tell me the difference between the two? Also I would like to know if there are any jobs out there that hire this kind of career to travel around the world and meet these animals up in person.”

An animal behaviorist (just a note–the term is not behavioralist)  is someone who works with (or studies) animal behavior.

Most people think of the familiar situation where the person helps people solve problems with pets but there are those that work with wild animals, too. You can read a short summary about animal behavior careers in my Unusual Animal Career series.

In most cases, a specialist is someone who has an area of specialty. Usually this means their work is focused on a specific species or perhaps an area of behavior such as psychopharmacology.

In other situations, it could be an area of specialty interest and expertise but not the main focus of the individual’s career.

As far as traveling around the world and meeting animals–I am not sure what you mean. I’d need to have a clearer sense of what your second question concerns.

Usually animal behavior field work does not include animal interactions as it interferes with the outcome of the study.

When you see human-animal interactions it usually found in conjunction with other types of efforts such as animal rescue, relocation, data collection, or similar activities.

You can always travel and get involved with studies or programs after you are in your career. Some zoos will send their specialists on educational safaris or exchanges that allows them to get up close and personal with specific species and allows them to work with experts in other countries.

Travel may be included if you are working for a specific agency or group but isn’t all that common. In many cases the researchers or specialists have to come up with grants or other sources of funding to pay for the trip.

I found it entertaining to find researchers longing for a career like mine when I attended a primatology conference–they shared that they were always searching for funding and never knew if they projects would continue due to the instability.

Meanwhile, I was thinking how interesting it would be invigorating to go out into the field and participate in ground breaking studies.

It seemed funny that we were thinking the same things about our different career paths.

Anyway, I hope this has answered your question Olivia. Thanks for writing in.

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