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 This Associate in Science degree program is designed to prepare students for a career as a professional dog trainer, family dog training instructor and caregiver counselor in private practice or as a staff member of an animal-related facility such as a veterinary practice, dog training center, animal control facility, animal shelter, animal sanctuary, boarding kennel, dog day care center and alike.
This is a professional certification track program that satisfies the theoretical and practical requirements for board certification as a board certified Canine Behavior Counselor (CBC) awarded by the Board of Professional Certification of the Association of Companion Animal Behavior Counselors, a non-profit peer-reviewed U.S. and international professional membership organization. See www.animalbehaviorcounselors.org for more information.
 This Associate in Science degree program is not an unsupervised home study or correspondence course. All ACAS instructors hold PhD, DVM and/or Master's degree credentials in their respecive fields including some who are Board Certified Companion Animal Behaviorists (BCCAB) or Board Certifed Behavior Analysts (BCBA and BCBA-D). We also have a board certified veterinary behaviorist available for consultations on academic issues. Core and general education courses are facilitated by faculty in online classrooms on the college Virtual Campus at at www.amcollege.net. Course are delivered asynchronously (login anytime 24/7/365) to watch instructor video lectures with PowerPoint, standard PowerPoint, videos and other instructional materials. Most courses also contain a live (real-time) videoconference class meetings component via video conferencing software where students can see and speak with class members and the instructor, ask questions and view instructor presentations. A Web cam is required for using this component.
The program also includes a 5-day academic residency lab course with animals that meets at the ACAS Dream Pond Science Field Station and Reserve in Crescent City, FL (near Orlando/Daytona Beach); a field study practicum course that is often an applied animal behavior change project usually completed in the student's community; and two 12-week externship practicum capstone courses in animal husbandry and care and canine behavior and training, usually completed in a real-world facility in the student's community.
All ACAS animal behvaior programs are founded in applied behavior analysis (ABA). This program focuses on methodology that is humane and motivationally based. It utilized Gentle Leader head collars and clicker signaling devices while discouraging any form of physical punishment. ACAS subscribes to the Delta Society’s Professional Standard’s for Dog Trainers.
 
This program typically takes 24 months to complete. Online semesters begin in the spring, summer, fall, and winter of each year.
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