Pet Professional Guild Launches New Book Club: The Positive Bookworm

The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) has launched a free book club for its members called the Positive Bookworm (PBW). This new program is intended to support PPG's belief that competency is critical to the expansion of positive, humane approaches to animal training and pet care. The PBW book club will be a place for PPG members to learn together, support each other, network and have fun, while also supporting the published works of PPG members.

The PBW will feature two different reading groups—one will read books and the other will read academic papers. The PBW book-reading group will read four books per year, and the academic paper–reading group will read one paper per month. PPG members will be free to participate in either or both groups as often as they wish. Enrollment for the book-reading group will open four times per year, in January, April, July and October, and for the academic paper–reading group once per month, as available. The books and academic papers selected for reading must be relevant to the animal training and pet care industry. Ideally, selected books will be authored by a member of PPG and available as audiobooks. The PBW book club will meet either weekly or biweekly, and the academic paper–reading group will meet once per month.

Both groups will meet via Zoom to discuss reading assignments, and participants will be encouraged to submit questions for discussion prior to the meetings. When possible, authors of the selected books and academic papers will attend meetings to discuss their works, explain difficult concepts and answer participants' questions. PPG members who participate in the book-reading group can earn continuing education units (CEUs) for credentials awarded via the Pet Professional Accreditation Board.

To help ensure that all participants achieve a high level of comprehension and enjoyment, the PBW will offer support for participants with learning disabilities or who may need help navigating and progressing through academic texts. Participants who feel it would benefit their comprehension will be paired with reading partners, and Closed Captioning will be turned on during the Zoom meetings.

"We are excited to roll out a new PPG membership benefit that provides a supportive learning and networking opportunity for PPG members," said Niki Tudge, PPG president. "Personally, I am also pleased to be able to support PPG members who are published authors and those helping to advance our educational mission."

The inaugural Positive Bookworm book-reading series will commence in January 2023, and the selected book is Puppy Socialization: What It Is and How to Do It, by Marge Rogers and Eileen Anderson. For this reading series, the club will meet weekly from January 16 to March 27, 2023, to discuss the assigned chapter content.

About The Pet Professional Guild

The Pet Professional Guild (www.petprofessionalguild.com) is a 501(c)6 member-based organization founded on the principles of force-free training and pet care. Its membership represents pet industry professionals who are committed to science-based, humane training and pet care philosophies, practices and methods. Pet Professional Guild members understand force-free to mean that shock, choke, prong, pain, force and fear are never employed to train or care for a pet. PPG members are professionals who are "Informed by Science, Guided by Empathy, Governed by EthicsTM."