Vacancy - Level 2 Animal Care Apprentice

Job Description

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Autism Dogs Charity, based in Congleton, Cheshire.

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30 hours/week for the duration of the apprenticeship. 8am - 2pm, Monday to Friday.

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Are you looking for a career and qualification in animal care focused around working with dogs? We are currently seeking a caring, committed and hard-working individual to join our Animal Care team at our base in Congleton!

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The Opportunity

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Our team provides a high standard of animal care for all of our Assistance Dogs in Training, as well as our breeding dogs, on site. The successful candidate will work within our animal care team to assist with the daily cleaning and animal welfare duties to ensure the health and happiness of all of our dogs.

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You will help to care for, and ensure the welfare of, the dogs at the farm. The role will include a variety of duties, which include but are not limited to: helping with all general cleaning duties at the farm (indoor and outdoor), washing and grooming the dogs, administering first aid to the dogs, cuddling and petting each of the dogs, ensuring the dogs have access to clean water and bedding, and exercising the dogs.

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You will be provided with training for all of the duties required, and will learn about a variety of canine-related tasks and subjects both through ourselves and the apprenticeship provider, Haddon Training.

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Essentials for the role

• Aged 16 or over.
• Within a reasonable travelling distance of Congleton.

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Desirables for the role

• Dog handling experience.
• Knowledge about Assistance Dogs.
• Knowledge about autism.

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About us

Autism Dogs Charity is driven and motivated by our love of dogs and our passion for helping autistic people.

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Autism is a spectrum condition meaning that although autistic people share common difficulties, these are experienced in different ways. All autistic people have difficulties in social interaction, social communication, and social imagination. Autistic people can also face difficulties in sensory sensitivities, high anxiety, and restrictive and repetitive behaviours. By adding the wonderful benefits of a highly-trained dog into the life of an autistic person, we hope to improve their independence, and enable them to develop new skills and gain greater social confidence.

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We are a unique, charitable company that provides Assistance Dogs for autistic children and adults. We are the first and only Assistance Dog Programme accredited by the National Autistic Society, a member of Assistance Dogs International and Assistance Dogs UK, a full member of the aaii and SCAS, supporting member of the ABTC, a Disability Confident Employer, and a pre-approved training school for Assistance Dog for British Airways. One of our Founders and Training Director, Andrew Preston, is 1 of only 4 Kennel Club Accredited Instructors for Assistance Dogs in the UK.

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Through this role, you would gain amazing experience working with dogs and learning more about animal welfare, as well as gaining understanding about autism and how our Assistance Dogs help their handlers!

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How to apply

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Please email us at abigailshort@autismdogs.co.uk for an application form!

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Applications close on Friday 1st September 2023.