Dog Trainers-Certified or Not

THE TRUTH ABOUT LICENSED AND CERTIFIED DOG TRAINERS

There are only two types of licensed dog trainers. They
are: Guide dog trainers, who train Seeing Eye dogs and Sentry dog trainers who train Police dogs. Only these two types of dog trainers are licensed by the state. ALL other trainers are not licensed. A certified dog trainer is a bit ambiguous at this time. By this, I mean that there are many trainers who just decided to become a dog trainer, who have little or a lot of experience, and who went to a school and got certified. Since there are no requirements to become a pet dog trainer, the field is wide open to anyone who feels they have some knowledge of dog training to call themselves a trainer.

The schools that offer certification programs to become a dog trainer have no requirements or licensing to become a certified training school. The schools and trainers that tout the title behind their name, i.e. CCPDT, IACP, are schools that have come up in the last 14 years. They are not licensed or registered with the state, they are indeed a group of dog trainers who gathered together to form their organization and developed a test for trainers to take and then offer these titles next to their name. The testing requirements are a set of standards that these trainers came up with based on their ideas and education. While this is a good attempt to regulate the field of dog trainers, it is not the end all in qualified dog trainers. I am in favor of these organizations in their attempt to try to have some standards in dog training etiquette, yet, I must remind you that these are memebership (dues paying member organizations) and don’t endorse or follow up on any of their members. Given the fact that these membership organizations came to be in the last 14 years, one might ask about all the trainers who have been training longer than this. There are many trainers with tantamount experience who are very qualified trainers, yet will not and do not need to go to these organizations to become certified, as many of them could write the test. These organizations clearly state that although they may have a referral list of certified dog trainers, that they do not endorse these trainers, only refer them. This should tell you something.

Please keep an open mind and ask the trainer if you can come and observe and also ask around in your community and your veterinarians if they have any recommendations for you. When looking at schools to become a dog trainer, the same applies. The years of experience may far outweigh any title behind a name and the education you get from these trainers can be far superior.

Listen to your gut, and ask yourself, do you want to be a stamped out trainer that works for Petco or Petsmart, teaching obedience only, or do you want a more in depth study and understanding of dogs and their behavior. If so, then seek out what you are looking for and ask a lot of questions, to the trainer, not the secretary, who is answering the phone.