Animal Sciences

Your at-home learning program consists of 11 Instruction Sets designed to take you step-by-step through the techniques and skills you’ll employ in your new career in Animal Sciences. Your first Instruction Set will be sent to you as soon as your enrolment has been accepted. Other Instruction Sets will follow as you complete your exams, so that you will always have training materials to work with.

Here is an overview of what you’ll learn and the order in which you’ll receive your lessons:

Instruction Set 1

• Learning Strategies
  • The advantages of learning at home; types of study materials; types of examinations; accessing and using the features of our website; determining what kind of learner you are; establishing a study schedule; using study tips; preparing for and taking examinations.
• Introduction to Animal Care
  • Career opportunities in animal care; certification; animal care skills.

Instruction Set 2

• Behaviour
  • Types of animal behavior; behavior counseling; and common animal behavior problems.
• Handling and Restraint
  • Handling and restraint of dogs, cats, birds, horses, and other animals; transporting animals.

Instruction Set 3

• Veterinary Practice and Administration
  • Veterinary staff roles; procedure and personnel manuals; facility cleanliness and safety; inventory and supplies; records and logs; admission and discharge; records retrieval and protection; basic filing systems and equipment; screening and processing mail.
• Interpersonal Communication
  • Basic elements of communication; essential personality traits; professional interactions with clients; prejudice, insensitivity, and discrimination; barriers to effective communication; improving your speech; stress and defense mechanisms.

Instruction Set 4

• Written Communication 1
• Parts of speech; sentence structure; sentence sense; common grammatical problems; punctuation; capitalization.
• Written Communication 2
• Qualities of effective correspondence; writing with style; shaping paragraphs; conveying an impression; kinds of business correspondence; parts of a letter; letter styles; selecting and addressing envelopes; common business letters; reports; checking your work.
• Written Communication 3
• The importance of a good vocabulary; developing your reading recognition vocabulary; developing your writing and speaking vocabularies; making nouns plural; making nouns possessive; using a spell checker; homonyms as misspelled words.
• Learning Aid: Dictionary

Instruction Set 5

• Small Animal Care — Student Assignment Booklet
• Textbook: Small Animal Care

Instruction Set 6

• Filing Techniques
  • Alphabetical and numerical filing systems; confidential files; financial files; filing equipment.
• Math for the Office Professional
  • Whole numbers, fractions, decimals; percents and percentages; calculating income; gross pay versus net pay; hourly wages.
• General Accounting Practices
  • Fee collection procedures; banking; accounts payable; computerized accounting.

Instruction Set 7

• Veterinary Medical Terminology — Student Assignment Booklet
  • Anatomy of a medical term; the skeletal system; the digestive system; the cardiovascular system; the respiratory system; the adrenal system; the endocrine and reproductive systems; the nervous system; the hematologic system; common anatomic terms.
• Textbook: An Illustrated Guide to Veterinary Medical Terminology
• Supplement: Your Guide to Medical Terminology

Instruction Set 8

• Nutrition
  • Nutrients; animal foods; methods of feeding; developing the diet for different species; managing the anorexic animal; nutrition and therapy.
• Emergency Care
  • Triage and readiness; common emergency presentations; chemical and physical disorders; client communication and grief management.
• Wound Care and Management
  • Types of wounds and wound healing; wound care; bandages and bandaging techniques; special bandages; casts and slings; caring for bandages, casts and slings.
• Laboratory Animal Procedures
  • Importance of animals in biomedical research; the animal care worker’s role in biomedical research; laws, regulations and guidelines governing animal use in biomedical research; animals that contribute to biomedical research; surgery; animal facility operations.

Instruction Set 9

• Veterinary Pharmacology
  • History of veterinary pharmacology; routes and techniques of drug administration; systems of measurement in veterinary pharmacology; dose calculations; anti-infectives, anticancer, corticosteroid veterinary drugs; vaccines; gastrointestinal and respiratory drugs; cardiovascular drugs, diuretics and fluid therapy; hormonal, reproductive and growth drugs; drugs affecting the central nervous system; drugs affecting muscle function and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents.
• Surgical and Anesthetic Preparation
  • Commonly performed surgeries; preparing for surgery; assisting in the operating room; anesthetic procedures and equipment; anesthetic drugs; monitoring anesthesia; anesthetic emergencies and recovery; postsurgical procedure

Instruction Set 10

• Dog Shows and Training
  • Dog shows; buying a puppy to show; caring for your new puppy; training your puppy; your puppy’s first show.
• Kennel Management
  • Ethical dog breeding; canine genetics; breeding your bitch; growth and development; essentials of kennel management.
• Cat Shows and Training
  • Cat shows; getting ready for your cat show; training your show cat; your cat’s first show; traveling with your cat; at the show.
• Breeding and Cattery Management
  • Responsible versus irresponsible cat breeders; basic genetics; understanding breeding theory; making breeding arrangements; mating and pregnancy; the birth; growth and development; cattery management.

Instruction Set 11

• Horse Breeds
  • Horse classifications and breed registries; light horse breeds; draft horse breeds; pony breeds; finding a horse; selecting a horse; purchasing and owning a horse.
• Horse Shows and Training
  • How horse shows operate; English horse shows; western horse shows; other types of horse shows; selecting and caring for a show horse; training a show horse; participating in horse shows.
• Stable Management
  • Horse breeding; basic genetics; reproductive anatomy and physiology; stable management; types of farms and stables; the business of stable management; stable requirements and routines; diet and nutrition; maintaining health and combating disease.
• DVD: Horse Shows and Training

Online Library and Librarian
Students in ICS Canada have access to an online library for use during their studies. Students can use this library to do the required research in the courses they complete or can use it for general reference and links to valuable resources. The library contains helpful research assistance, articles, databases, books, and Web links. A librarian is available to answer questions on general research-related topics via email and assist students in research activities during their studies with ICS Canada.

We reserve the right to change program content and materials when it becomes necessary.