You love dogs and would love to work with dogs, but it’s hard to build up the experience needed to become well versed in the field of animal rescue, animal training and behaviour.

Dogtown prides itself on not only having the capabilities of presenting world-class training in South Africa through our IMDT workshops.

But we can also provide our interns with a wealth of experience. We work daily with dogs covering a full spectrum of behaviour and medical challenges. During your internship, you will get to follow a dogs progress as they work through their behaviour programmes developed by our internationally certified trainers & behaviourists.

Dogtown offers a variety of internship opportunities for school leavers, college students, professionals and others interested in gaining experience in the field of animal welfare. Due to the level of studies that you need to complete, interns will need to have completed their matric.

The rescue centre is more than just a place for dogs who need help though, it’s a refuge where animals can find safety in it’s one of a kind quality of life rescue centre, and even have the opportunity to meet their new forever family.

The programme is 12 months long, with in-depth studies done with dogs and cats. “We want our interns to immerse themselves into the work of a rescue centre, so that once their internship is complete they will have a good understanding of where they would like to focus their future career journey.

For 6 months they will be an integral part of the Dogtown team while completing their international training & behaviour diploma through IMDT.

After 6 months at Dogtown and once they have completed their diploma successfully, they will move on and work with one of the BarkingMad network rescue centres for another 6 months, gaining even more invaluable experience, while assisting and implementing your new skills and programmes with the BarkingMad network partner rescue.

Despite the hard work and intensive programme, or perhaps because of it, Dogtown and the BarkingMad network partners hope to retain some of the interns that excel and bring them into their Teams once the internship has been completed. Those who don’t find full-time employment with their rescue will leave with a wealth of knowledge to go back and assist animals in their areas.

The detailed programme is geared towards those who are “interested in a hands-on experience with animals in a rescue centre environment, but who are also interested in a career in animal care and training.”

At the end of the programme, each intern will be tested and receive a certificate of completion, along with their IMDT Diploma. These can help open doors to positions that will further their animal-focused careers. It will set our current BarkingMad rescue partners up for success by providing them with dedicated and certified staff.

Dogtown’s internship programmes are available throughout the year, although there are a limited number of spots available. To apply for one of the internships email intern@dogtownsa.org