Medical Alert Dog
Instructor Course
Here at Adolescent Dogs, we work with thousands of owner-trained assistance dog teams across the UK—many of whom require support with medical alert training for a wide range of disabilities.
This specialist training is often hard to access, with many owners facing long waiting lists through charities.
Our Medical Alert Instructor Seminars aim to change that—making life-changing training more accessible by equipping professional trainers with the skills to help.
Led by Head Instructor Mike Newland, who has years of experience in scent detection and assistance dog training, these seminars are designed to help you deepen your expertise, expand your services, and confidently guide owners through the process of training their dogs for reliable medical detection and alert work.
medical alert instructor course
Our comprehensive seminar will guide you through every stage of the medical alert training process, including:
🔍 Medical Conditions & Alerts
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Understanding the range of medical conditions dogs can support, including:
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Blood pressure changes
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Heart rate abnormalities
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Seizures (epileptic and non-epileptic)
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Blood sugar fluctuations
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Migraines
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Allergies and more
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Recognising the behavioural and scent-based indicators involved
🧪 Scent Collection & Storage
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How to safely and ethically collect, store, and handle scent samples
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Creating consistent and reliable scent training setups
🐶 Training the Dog
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Imprinting medical scents and teaching dogs to detect them
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Chaining behaviours
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Building reliability and generalisation across environments
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Teaching a variety of alert behaviours, including:
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Nose nudge
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Pawing
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Object retrieval
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👥 Coaching Owners
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How to guide owner-trained teams with step-by-step instruction
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Supporting handlers through troubleshooting, setbacks, and progress tracking
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Ensuring welfare, motivation, and consistency in long-term training
👥 Instructing skills
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Improve your instructing skills for a class and one to one environment
🧠 Troubleshooting & Problem Solving
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What to do when alerts stop working
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Understanding false positives
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Adjusting training plans to meet individual needs
👥 Assistance Dogs and the Law
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Understanding Access Rights in the UK (dogs do not need to be trained by an ADUK/ADI charity to have legal access rights in the UK
🎓 Who It’s For:
This seminar is ideal for professional dog trainers, behaviourists, and instructors wanting to specialise in medical alert work or support assistance dog clients more effectively.
course dates
Our only 2025 seminar will be running on Saturday 13th September 9am to 2pm at Merrist Wood College in Guildford, Surrey.
This includes both theory and practical training. Seminars are run 9am to 2pm and includes learning theory and practical training.
You'll be equipped with the skills and knowledge to support the training of owner trained assistance dog teams via one to one lessons or classes.
Prices:
Seminar cost: £499 (payment plans available)
Maximum 8 dog & handler spaces
Includes:
📍5 hour seminar with lunch break
📍Training booklet
📍Certification of completion
📍Affiliate signup to earn 20% commission from your clients utilising our Online Assistance Dog Programme
Book here
