Let’s Chat: Organizational behaviour – with service dogs

By LINDA TOOTH on August 2, 2023.

Have you noticed there are more people with service dogs in the community?

Service Dogs Canada estimates that there are more than 55,00 trained service dogs in Canada. The average cost of a service dog depends on the breed, the training they have received and what organization you are working with. People, including children, utilize these dogs to aid with physical and medical issues, hearing and sight impairments, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.

I have had a few students who have certified dogs and they have brought them to class, but starting Aug. 1, I will have more than 20 dogs in my class at one time.

Medicine Hat College started the first ever Service Dog and Canine Studies Management diploma program in Canada. It began in the fall of 2023 and is preparing students for careers in kennel business operations, training service dogs to assist people in need, and anything else dog related. At the end of the program the dogs are then placed with people who need help in functioning and living daily. What a fabulous idea.

The course I am teaching is MGMT 263 – Organizational Behaviour. This course takes students into the world of business and how we function with individual differences, emotional intelligence, conflict and negotiation, team dynamics, and organizational culture and change all within the workplace.

The one thing these topics all have in common is that they rely on how people communicate. You must be a good communicator to survive in a business environment that is always evolving. Sometimes that is easier said than done. You must be living under a rock if you have not noticed that different cultures, ages and ideologies are prevalent in today’s work world. We must make every person aware that when you are beginning a new career you will be met with different ideas and it’s OK to do things differently if it meets the goals of satisfaction for both the employee and employer.

Now you may be questioning how a Devoted Feline Enthusiast (Crazy Cat Lady) can be in a classroom full of dogs? I have a dog and a communication background so I feel I can handle this. I am worried about how cute these dogs are and the distractions I will be met with. I asked another instructor who has had these dogs in his classroom if he had any advice for me, and the only thing he said to be aware of flatulence.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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