Dog Trainer Certifications

Many conscientious owners looking for help with their dog are a bit perplexed by "certifications" held by many canine professionals. It's easy to see why. Working with dogs in terms of training or behavior is mostly an unregulated industry. While many groups have been working very hard in recent years to develop certifications, there is no authority that mandates standardization. For this reason, you'll find "certified professionals" with widely varying backgrounds in education, experience, and philosophy. In general, dog trainers start their service careers one of several ways...

Many decades ago, most trainers probably started out learning from established professionals. Dog training was seen as a "trade", and trainers learned this trade by working for and/or with an established trainer. This hands-on approach to learning was very practical and effective. These "apprenticeships" were often lengthy, and a lot of hard work. The student learned from an established master that ran a successful business. But in today's mobile world, this method of learning is becoming rare for a variety of reasons.

A trending approach to dog trainer education is online schools. Most of these courses are primarily reading and testing of posted web material. There's generally no "hands-on " instruction, or directly observed work with a student and their dog (the student may not even be working with a dog). There may be some "in person" observation/testing at the end of a course, where a prior graduate may evaluates the course attendee. Some programs use clients to send evaluations of a trainer, to assess the person's ability to train. In short, there are probably dozens of ways online courses are administered, but it's far afield from the early tradesman approach. These programs may have little (or no) hands-on work with dogs, and brief evaluations by people other than long-established, successful trainers.

The option I chose involved attending a professional school, approved by The Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools. This "technical school" was 10 hrs/day, 6 days a week, for 6 weeks. It included classroom study AND practical work with an untrained dog throughout the course. All student work was directly observed, tested, and coached by trainers with decades of experience. There were mid-term and final exams, each taking a day, and each having written and practical sections. At the end of the course, untrained student dogs had to be reliable in off leash obedience, agility, scenting/tracking, and handicap-assistance work. It was a grueling 6 weeks for me and my dog, but it was great! And it was likely far different than any online, correspondence course.

I also find it important to mention that there are MANY "dog trainers" that have absolutely NO certification(s) whatsoever. Remember, there's no mandate for certifications. As a result, someone who reads a book, watches TV, "loves dogs", or thinks they "understand training", etc. - can set up shop. Fallout from our information society.

So what's this mean for owners? Well, things aren't bleak. It simply means that a conscientious owner will need to do a little homework before hiring someone to work with their dog. They should ask not only whether they hold any certificates, but what those certificates mean and who certified them. Ask about their approaches to working with dogs, and find out exactly what they needed to do to get their papers. Any reputable professional will be eager to give you straight answers.

Have a great dog day!