At the Heart of Canine Aquatics
LEVEL TWO
A Training Program
Offered by Cindy Horsfall at La Paw Spa
Important: This is a sample itinerary.
Please also be aware that this itinerary is the intention of my class, however everything is subject to change as schedules come together. Course content will remain basically intact.
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WEDNESDAY DAY 1
Arrive into Sequim, Washington and check yourself into your lodging for the week. Get yourself situation and comfortable and we’ll be going over some ideas for good places to shop, eat out and beaches to hang out on.
Sequim is located between the majestic mountains and the salt water edges of our country. It’s a perfect location to ponder the bigger picture of your life. I urge you to take advantage while you are here of our vast horizons and allow yourself to let go all that concerns or thoughts that don’t serve you and open your heart and mind to the week to come.
7pm – We’ll meet up at LA PAW SPA in Sequim for our first night together
La Paw Spa
By the time you have made it through our intense Level One training, you will have become aware of the bigger picture of canine water therapy… you will have felt the power of water first hand and have secured a safe way to introduce a dog in the water… you will have learned various holds to use while the dog is resting from swimming or receiving bodywork and you will have become comfortable with a basic recipe for a basic session. You will have been introduced to basic anatomy, gait analysis, massage, fascia, orthopedic surgeries and options. You will have learned about buoyancy and footwork in water and have become comfortable in water with dogs and with yourself…
Level Two has a smaller class size and you will be spending more one on one time with Cindy in the water with dogs. We will be seeing more difficult dogs and will begin to talk about treatment work and diagnostic skills. You will be doing your own private sessions, including the paperwork and file maintenance.
A large part of Level Two Training is building your intuition skills. When we receive a dog for water therapy, there are many options to consider when thinking of a treatment plan or how to handle the session. Does this dog need swimming? Massage? Is this case more about the person on deck? Do they just need us to listen and help hold the space? This is when we need to often toss out the recipe and instead flow with the facts as they present themselves… so this class will begin to ignite your intuition.
Additionally – and along the same lines as intuition, we will begin to explore YOUR unique gifts to the work. The key with heart centered work like this is to do what resonates with your soul – to market what you do best and to create a business where your service is congruent with your true self. You will be most successful if you honestly assess your own unique gifts to the work and then create a service and a business in line with this higher calling…. This is where you will be the happiest and most effective. We will be doing exercises in level 2 to help you target and own these gifts, to know yourself better so that you can be responsible for yourself and get yourself out of the way when necessary.
In Level Two – you will be given a journal and I encourage you to use it! Journal how you are feeling – draw pictures of your perfect life – seek out the vast horizons and fresh air that the Olympic Peninsula is famous for and explore deeply within yourself – what makes you tick – what do you love. What kind of dogs do you want to come and see you? What kind of people do you envision supporting you? This is your life and before you can create it – you first need to identify what it is you want.
You will be doing many private and shared sessions this week – where people who have never experienced water therapy will be coming to see you. You will need to explain what water therapy is and be present with their needs so that you can create a safe experience for them.
You will have your photos taken during 2 different private session times – photos that you can later use in your brochures and marketing materials as you present to the world WHO YOU ARE…… and your unique gifts to this work. On the last day of class, you will get a chance to stand up and show us your photos – speak out to us about who you are, what your gifts are and what you are creating in this world… and we get to clap and cheer !!! ?
I promise this first night together will be an easy evening as some of you may be tired from the journey to class. We will enjoy introductions and talk about the week ahead. I’ll give you each a fun beach bag of goodies to take back to your sleeping quarters tonight to enjoy and we’ll meet back tomorrow morning at 9AM.
THURSDAY DAY 2
Meet up at the spa at 9AM
This morning we’ll be first going over the basics of level one for those who haven’t had their paws wet for a while….
BREAK FOR LUNCH FROM 12:30pm-2:30pm
2:30 PM – Meet back at LA PAW SPA for an afternoon of DOGS DOGS and more DOGS in water… We will quickly move into the more difficult dogs and first time dogs as this is where most therapists fail when they get home.
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MONDAY – DAY 3
Meet up at the SPA by 9AM – – TIME FOR YOUR REPORTS !!!!!
Bones – Joints – Gait – Muscles – Rehab techniques – Surgical Solutions – Protocols and File Notes – – – and more…
We’ll start at the nose and travel to the tail in our slow exploration of the canine body and its moving parts. Each of you have prepared a report/talk on a joint in the body. We’ll let the conversation flow as we explore the reasons why dogs seek water therapy and how we can help.
BREAK FOR LUNCH FROM 12:30pm-2:30pm
2:30 pm – Meet back at LA PAW SPA for a fun afternoon of new and harder dogs in water. Harder dogs and harder clients today! ! I want to cover some of the surgeries and protocols that we discussed this morning and how we can help them in water. We will be learning new holds and stretches and ways to support the unique needs of our clients.
We’ll be all wrapped up by 7:00 pm – have a wonderful evening!!
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SATURDAY DAY 4
Meet up at the spa at 9AM and enjoy a wonderful class with Laurence…
9:30AM-12:30PM – THE TAO OF LISTENING with Laurence Cole
Laurence has been a listening and communications coach for years and will be sharing with us a class that you will put to use every day. Being an active listener can be the key to your successful business. We’ll be doing listening skits tomorrow and also get a chance to practice these skills during this week.
I have seen very talented therapists fail in their business because of a lack of listening skills. A common mistake is that we’re so eager to help – and so we listen with our answers running or eagerly jump in with solutions to our client’s problems before they are ready to hear them.
We are striving to be the best we can be and to create an atmosphere so that healing can truly occur… we will be improving our techniques with dogs this week but the other half of the picture is that person who is on the other end of the leash – and they need to also feel inspired, renewed and motivated to continue to do their part in helping the canine friend.
BREAK FOR LUNCH FROM 12:30pm-2:30pm
2:30 pm – Meet back at LA PAW SPA for a fun afternoon of applied massage techniques and how to keep SOAP notes with Cindy Ericksen.
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SUNDAY DAY 5
Meet up at the spa at 9AM
This afternoon we’ll be doing our first set of private session work. We will go over the files this morning and prepare and then we’ll all jump back into the pool to work with a few dogs who are brand new to the spa.
EEK!
BREAK FOR LUNCH FROM 12:30pm-2:30pm
2:30 pm – Meet back at LA PAW SPA for PRIVATE SESSION !
The LA PAW SPA facility is perfect for this experience as you will be meeting your client in the front room – offering them a drink and going over their file. When its time and the prior client is out of the pool – you will bring your client up to the pool and continue into your water work.
When you feel your session is complete, you will move down into the transition drying room and complete your experience.
Your client will be asked to fill out a report on their experience and will turn it into the front desk for you to see later.
Once you are through, there will be ample time to do your client files which we’ll review later , continue to journal as you become clearer and clearer of your gifts and your unique vision.
There will be one set privates this afternoon at the spa – one for each of you.
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MONDAY DAY 6
Meet up at the spa at 9AM
We will enjoy this last day together with a full day of private session work. There will be a new client for each of you in our morning session and another in our afternoon session. Enjoy – do your paperwork and then we can all sit back after a long day and celebrate……….
Dinner will be Catered to our SPA by 6:30PM – We’ll enjoy a final meal together and each get a chance to share our plans from this point … the gifts and strengths we’ve each discovered in ourselves and what we each envision our businesses to look like….
We have explored many aspects of ourselves and this work together – so we’ll wrap up this evening with a short speech from each of you !!! You will get a chance to stand up and share your new expanding vision of yourself, your gifts and your vision of how you will bring your work forth to the world…
We’ll let this evening flow, covering answers any dangling questions and enjoying our final time together.
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As a graduate of Level Two, You will be able to enjoy this LOGO in your advertising.
GRADUATES OF LA PAW SPA’s ACADEMY OF CANINE AQUATICS – LEVEL TWO
Please also remember that I am committed to you and your adventures in this line of service. please don’t hesitate to email me with questions as you venture down your own unique path.
It has been an honor to work with you.