Sit. Study. Fetch a bachelor’s degree in dog training.

In this May 7, 2019 photo, student Jessie Show works with Luna, a springer spaniel whom she has trained to sniff out a fungus sample placed in a scent box at the State University of New York, Cobleskill, in Cobleskill, N.Y. Cobleskill’s canine program was a major deciding factor in choosing a college, said Show, who grew up near Scranton, Pennsylvania. She said she plans to train service dogs for people with physical handicaps. (AP Photo/Mary Esch

From Mary Esch, Associated Press via FoxNews.

COBLESKILL, N.Y. – The State University of New York at Cobleskill is launching a new four-year program in “canine training and management” amid a surge in demand for specially trained dogs to detect threats and assist veterans in the wake of 9/11.

While several institutions hand out training certificates and at least one small private college awards a bachelor’s in dog handling, the program at Cobleskill is more ambitious in its scope.

Professor Stephen Mackenzie says he developed Cobleskill’s Bachelor of Technology degree partly in response to a heightened demand for dogs capable of sniffing out explosives in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

The need for service dogs trained to assist those with post-traumatic stress disorder or reduced mobility has also expanded as veterans started returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Program Highlights

• • • The only combined, comprehensive canine training and management curriculum in SUNY.

    • Learn to design effective canine training programs, interpret program results, and make necessary adjustments based on practice and theory.

    • Train domestic and working dogs using practical, hands-on applications of behavioral theory taught in courses including Therapy Dog Teams, Detector Dog Teams, and Sporting Dogs.

    • Cross-collaboration with academic program and departments including Animal Science, Wildlife Management, and Early Childhood.

    • Earn certifications and accelerate student-learning to acquire professional credentials throughout the course of undergraduate study.

    • Instruction from expert faculty with specialization in areas including canine training, therapy, law, behavior, tracking and handling, nutrition, and veterinary medicine.

    • Learn to work collaboratively with owners, trainers, kennel managers, nutritionists and veterinarians.

    • Open doors to a broad range of professional opportunities in animal industry and K9 security in a job market nationally seeking an increased number of trained professionals.