Animal Centred Education
Animal Centred Education (ACE) is a unique approach to animal education and behaviour modification.
It combines a series of fun and rewarding activities to enhance our understanding and relationship with the only canine experts that exist.
ACE Observations, ACE Free Work, and gentle handling are at the heart of all we teach. Anatomy and physiology is woven through all the courses giving you a greater understanding of how your dog moves, and learns.
Important life skills are taught at a pace to suit each individual animal building on a familiar framework.
ACE gives animals choice and a voice.
Sarah Fisher
Sarah Fisher is a canine and equine behaviour advisor and educator. She has worked with animals for over twenty five years, and is the founder of Animal Centred Education.
Sarah teaches ACE and organises courses for trainers, behaviourists, groomers, veterinary nurses, physiotherapists and animal guardians (owners) who wish to broaden their knowledge by exploring detailed ACE Observations, ACE Free Work, anatomy and physiology, and gentle handlling including ACE bodywork and TTouch bodywork.
Sarah is a published author and has participated in numerous television and radio programmes over the years, including Nightmare Pets SOS for BBC1.
ACE Observations
Observations are at the centre of ACE. Learning to see your dog with new eyes and knowing a little anatomy and physiology, can give you a deeper understanding of your dog's movement and behaviour.
Coat patterns and habitual postural patterns such as the set of the ears and the tail and how your dog organises his body when at rest and on the move, can give you important feedback regarding your dog's emotional and physical wellbeing.
ACE Free Work
Free Work gives the dog the opportunity to engage in rewarding activities that influence all the senses, including vestibular balance and proprioception.
ACE Free Work provides a calm foundation on which further learning can be built, and helps to improve physical and emotional wellbeing.
ACE Free Work can also highlight smaller threads that weave together to create the more obvious behaviour and postural patterns.
This unique approach to canine education enables caregivers to improve the posture of the dog, and modify behaviour through increased observations and by shaping the Free Work set up to help develop more efficient movement, and by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system.
Further Learning
ACE Free Work, gentle body contact, ACE bodywork and TTouch body work, are introduced at a pace to suit each individual dog.
Engaging activities are introduced within a familar framework of ACE Free Work which can then be transfered outside or taken into novel environments. ACE techniques help dogs to reset, rebalance, and release.
ACE techniques are of value for dogs of all ages, including dogs in family homes, working dogs, and dogs in the care of animal welfare organisations.
The ACE Approach
ACE Training Programme
Every ACE course is an opportunity to gain ACE credits. The number of ACE credits available will vary from course to course, and course tutor.
Animal educators worldwide are discovering the benefits of integrating ACE techniques and an ACE approach with their existing skills.
All our online courses are backed up with additional learning in a dedicated FB grouup, and live Zoom meetings. Some of our ACE modules include dedicated one to one support online, or practical workshops at Tilley Farm near Bath.
ACE can answer questions you didn't know you'd asked.
ACE Courses
ACE courses are designed to add more layers to your existing skills whether you are working in the world of canine education and welfare, or simply want to learn more techniques to support your canine friend.
You can also join the ACE Training Programme if you would like to become a certified ACE Trainer.