Requirement Description
At the College for Dog Trainers we have a rigid trainer requirement process. In order to certify as a trainer through the College for dog Trainers, you must show exceptional ability as a dog trainer. The United States has no set standard as to what qualifications a person must have in order to claim to be a professional dog trainer. Most schools don’t have any actual training requirements. There are even online courses to certify from home. Good dog training can not be taught from books, seminars, videos, or lectures alone. You must have supervised, hands on instruction!
There are nationally recognized training tests in America for nearly every discipline of dog training. The AKC, UKC, and the many Schutzhund groups have held standardized testing for over 30 years. These are set levels of testing accepted nationwide by the top trainers in the country. This is why we have chosen to set our graduation requirements using these tests. When you graduate from the College for Dog Trainers, anyone in the industry will recognize your accomplishments whether they are familiar with the College for Dog Trainers or not.
Basically, our requirements show that you are not passing an institutions made-up test that makes you sound good. You are passing industry standard tests!
In an effort to reduce stress on both dogs and handlers, we put no time restrictions on requirement completion. Although the core requirements must be completed at our facility, trainers can always return to test these or complete them at sanctioned events.
At the request of many graduates of other schools that fulfill the College for Dog Trainers certification requirements, we have made them eligible for College for Dog Trainers certification. A request form and copies of sanctioned event scores are required.
