Arianna Tomassoli

Dip. CBST, Psychology degree, Behavior Technician.
I’m in love with learning, behavior and dogs. My goal is to help people understand that
there’s no need to use coercion when training animals.

It all started when I met a trainer who used coercion. My dog was sweet, intelligent and loved to cooperate. Was coercion necessary? Why using it? I know why. It was because that trainer didn’t have an alternative. That was the only way he knew to interact with dogs.

Later I found another trainer who had a totally different point of view… it was such a relief!

That was the beginning of my journey. After this experience I discovered the world of clicker training and I found it fascinating! How was it possible to teach a dog so many behaviors with just the help of a little sound? It is possible if you study the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis!

The first step for me was gaining a Diploma of Canine Behavior Science and Technology at the Companion Animal Sciences Institute. Then a person told me that a good trainer had to know a bit of psychology… I did more, I got a degree in Developmental Psychology!

In the meantime I attended courses with Kay Laurence, Alexa Capra and Tromplo (yes, I was a student here and I learnt a lot!).

Also, I became a Behavior Technician and now I work with autistic children and still use Applied Behavior Analysis principles.

My new project is becoming an animal osteopath. I'm still a student but I can’t wait to help dogs from a different perspective :)

At the moment I’m sharing my life with Québec, my toy poodle, and Camelot, a Shetland Sheepdog. Having said that, I’ll never forget my previous dogs who taught me so much about dog training.