The Manikin Has a Fan Club. It’s Not Who You’d Expect.
Written by Stephanie Austin — Owner & Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | Last reviewed: May 2026 | Next review: May 2027
The Manikin Has a Fan Club. It’s Not Who You’d Expect.
I’ve delivered training in a lot of places. Care homes, community centres, theatres, pubs, offices, and living rooms. After 25 years in health and social care, I thought I’d seen most of what a session could throw at me.
Then came the dog.
I was delivering first aid training in a client’s home. Personal health budget client, their PAs, and their living room with the furniture pushed back to make space for the manikin. Completely normal setup as home sessions go. We got started, ran through the theory, and moved on to the practical work.
That’s when he appeared.
Small dog. Fluffy. The kind of dog that usually trots in, clocks the strangers, and trots straight back out again. Not this one. This one walked directly up to the manikin, sat down about six inches from its face, and stared at it. Completely still. Completely focused. Like he’d been waiting for this moment his entire life.
The delegates lost it. I nearly did too.
He stayed there for a solid few minutes, occasionally breaking concentration to lean forward and lick the manikin’s face (yes, we thoroughly cleaned poor manikin after). Checking for signs of life, I can only assume. Then he went straight back to staring. Vigilant. Thorough. Better eye contact than some delegates I’ve trained over the years, honestly.
We got the photo. No regrets.
Then There Was the Cat
Different client. Different home. Same general energy.
This one decided within about thirty seconds of my arrival that I was her person now. She sat on my handouts. She investigated the manikin with the kind of thoroughness that would impress a CQC inspector. She climbed onto a delegate who had made the mistake of looking approachable and settled in as she owned him.
At one point, she just followed me in slow, deliberate circles around the room as I moved about. A very small, very fluffy shadow who had appointed herself deputy trainer.
She settled herself nicely right next to my laptop, and that is where she stayed for the rest of the course.
Why home training is different. And why that’s a good thing.
Delivering training in someone’s home is different from a classroom or a hired venue. The kettle goes on. The dog has strong opinions about the manikin. The cat considers herself senior management. There’s a realness to it that you don’t get in a conference suite, and that realness actually matters.
Because the people being trained are going to be using these skills in exactly that environment. Not a sterile training room. Someone’s living room. Someone’s bedroom. A real home, with real distractions, and sometimes a real animal who has decided the recovery position needs closer inspection.
When the training environment matches where the skills will actually be used, things click differently. The practical work stops being abstract. It becomes real. I’ve seen that shift happen in home sessions in a way that doesn’t always happen in a formal venue, and after 15+ years, I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Home-based training is a regular part of what Prima Cura does. We work with personal health budget holders, personal assistants, family members supporting people with complex care needs, and organisations that arrange care in people’s homes. We come to you, work around the space you’ve got, and deliver training that fits the actual setting people are working in.
The animals are entirely optional. But so far, they’ve had a perfect attendance record.
If you’d like to talk about training for your home care team or PA support, get in touch.
Call 0333 999 8783 or email info@primacuratraining.co.uk.
