Everything is connected. It’s difficult to truly understand how the many different aspects of behavior fit together without spending a lot of time with the material. That’s why this course exists – to take all the different pieces of information related to stress and resilience and put them all into one cohesive, in-depth narrative. This one course will cover everything you need to know about the impacts of stress and how we can cultivate the development of resilience in our animals. I am SO excited to teach this course – and I know you’ll love it too!
Registration opens December 17, 2025.
The next course will begin on February 4th, 2026*.
Lectures – Wednesdays at 6:30 pm ET^ (also recorded)
Discussion – Wednesdays at 7:30 pm ET^ (full students only, live attendance required)
*There is no class on April 22nd. The last class day will be May 27th.
^Note that there is a time zone change in the US in March which may change the course time for international students. To convert to your time zone click here.
16 weeks
CCPDT – 21 for full students, 16 for auditors; IAABC – 25 for full students, 16 for auditors
$1260* for full students; payment plan available, 6 monthly payments of $210
$780 for auditors; payment plan, 6 monthly payments of $130
*Discounts available for Research Bites members.
FREE informational sessions:
Zoom info for informational sessions:
Meeting ID: 872 7685 1383
Passcode: 749523
Auditors will have one hour of lecture each week, in addition to periodic readings which may be up to an additional hour per week.
Full students need to attend the lecture or watch the recording and attend the weekly discussion. In addition, there are weekly forum discussions and periodic readings and assignments. Previous students report spending 3 – 5 hours on the course each week (including lecture and discussion).
You have two options. First, you can register now as an auditor. That will give you access to the live and recorded lectures. Then, if you choose to enroll as a full student within 18 months of the start of the class, you can register for a full student spot without paying the auditor price. In other words, if the full student spot is $1260 and you paid $780 for the auditor spot, then you only need to pay the difference of $480 to enroll as a full student. Again, this option is only available if you enroll within 18 months of the start of your course.
Your second option is to sign up for our Unlocking Resilience mailing list so you can be notified the next time the course opens.
Currently, the course is offered twice a year. The spring session typically starts in February and is offered on Wednesday evenings (ET) and the fall session typically starts in August and runs on Mondays (lecture) and Wednesdays (discussions) at 12 pm ET. Lectures are live and recorded, discussions are live only.
We want the learning experience to be accessible, enjoyable, and beneficial to everyone. Dr. Spaulding is always happy to speak with students to help clarify the material. In addition, you have the opportunity to ask questions during the lectures – and full students have ample opportunity to in discussion to ask questions. Full students also have access to the community where they can ask questions and share their thoughts. This is an excellent opportunity to further your learning by discussing course material with other professionals. Dr. Spaulding monitors the community as well and will jump in as needed to answer questions and clear up any confusion.
Finally, several students have opted to take the course first as an auditor, and then as a full student. This question [link to question before this one regarding not being ready to commit as a full student] has more information on how to take the course as a full student after auditing.
Yes! This class is absolutely 100% applicable to other populations of dogs. I have had students who work with a wide variety of populations including shelter dogs, guide dogs, pet dogs, and performance dogs and all have found many ways in which this material applies to those populations.
If you work with another species, this course can be helpful as well! This is particularly true for mammals, as the information on stress, emotion, and resilience is widely generalizable across mammals. It will also generalize, to a lesser degree, to non-mammals. I’ve had students who work with parrots, horses, reptiles, and cats. Be aware that the focus of the course is on dogs, but much of the science can still be applied to other species.
Students have access to course materials for 18 months. During this time, you will have free auditor access to future course sessions and are welcome to attend the live lectures.
If you’d like to attend the live discussions, you will need to register as a full student – you will need to pay the difference between the full student cost and the auditing cost. For example, if the full student cost is $1260 and the auditor cost is $780, then the cost to attend the discussions is $480. This discount is only available in the 18 months following the start of your course. After that time, you will need to pay full price if you’d like to retake the course. Please e-mail sciencerocks@sciencemattersllc.com to obtain a discount code.
Yes! There are two options for Unlocking Resilience graduates to continue learning: 1) The UR graduate membership and 2) Science in Action. The membership meets twice a month on Thursdays at 3 pm ET and Science in Action is a more intensive 6 week course that is run 3 times a year. In Science in Action we focus on new research related to resilience. Both options focus on applying the science to animal training and behavior.
