For Maryam Kamali, spending her days working with animals seemed like
nothing more than a dream. Her career was in real estate and she
was quite good at it. But when her schedule became too crazy for
her to even find time to volunteer at the local animal shelter, Kamali
knew it was time for a drastic lifestyle change.
Kamali says,
"It just hit me that I wanted to work with dogs and real estate did not
leave me with any free time." So Kamali did some research on what
it would take to qualify herself as an animal behaviorist so she could
begin making a difference in the lives of dogs.
She discovered that behavior issues were the number one cause of death
in young, healthy dogs (because they are surrendered to animal shelters
or owners choose to euthanize them). And that the only cure
was through training the dogs and guiding their families.
Kamali
says, "I found out about the Animal Behavior College where I could
study on-line to pass the exams, then meet with their trainers for
hands-on work." This program will take Kamali 5 - 6 months of 10
hours of study time each week.
Buddy with Maryam Kamali
In the meantime, Kamali learned about Trish King, the Director of Behavior and Training at the Marin Humane Society (MHS) who offers a program for people interested in becoming professional dog trainers called Canine Behavior Academy.
The
program runs for 12 weeks and costs $650. Kamali enrolled and now
travels to MHS from Belmont each week to train under King learning
about the ethology of dogs (animal behavior), their body language,
breeds and their characteristics. King suggests that students use
their own dogs as well as shelter dogs to practice training techniques.
One of the biggest surprises Kamali has discovered is how
smart her own rescued dog Buddy is. "He learns so fast. It
only takes him two tries to learn a cue such as 'find it.'"
Because Buddy is a young, energetic dog, having him learn how to focus
on Kamali has helped their quality of life especially while at dog
parks.
Kamali says, "Now Buddy doesn't even turn away
from me when I tell him 'find it.' If I need him to come to me, I
give him the command and he doesn't get distracted."
Kamali's
dedication to animals was evident on a recent weekend when she and her
husband Navid drove to Fresno to provide transportation for a litter of
nine puppies and their mother. The Kamali's were volunteering on
behalf of Pound Puppy Rescue a non-profit organization in Mountain View. See Video.
Next: Inside an animal behavior class with Kamali and Buddy.
Later: Kamalis job search, paid and volunteer.
Shelley Frost has served in both executive and volunteer positions at animal shelters. A co-author of Your Adopted Dog, she also produces documentaries about animal issues.
