What exactly is a "CERTIFIED" dog trainer - Page 3

That is an insane amount of money to spend on a dog training certification( a piece of paper)!!! I guess I  am lucky and found the right place to work at and didn't have to pay a thing but got paid to learn how ot train dogs from some of the best trainers.I don't think there is any better place. IMO

I've been wondering the same thing for years. My favorite is "Master Trainer."
Says who?

What ever registry real or fake. I'd say Master trainer is a person who trained others to be trainers and they succeded as such.
 Prager Hans

Master Trainer is a valid title ONLY for police and/or military dog trainers. There is no such thing as a civilian Master Trainer.

Melissa

Certifications are not always BS.  Often they are a sign of professionalism and interest in connecting with colleagues and keeping up to date on continuing education.  I am a CPDT (Certified Professional Dog Trainer- Knowledge Assesed), from the website you mentioned.  If you see the website, it goes over some of the criteria for joining:

"indicates that a dog trainer has a minimum of 300 hours of experience; references from a veterinarian, client, and colleague; and has passed a comprehensive, psychometrically sound examination testing the dog trainer’s knowledge of learning theory, canine ethology, animal husbandry, classroom management, teaching techniques, and more."  You also sign a code of ethics- professional ethics in dealing with clients, their personal info, not using abusive techniques, etc.  For ex. you would lose your certification for something like helicoptering a dog or abuse.  Some of the questions on the test are about learning theory, some are about health and teaching concerns, etc.  You also must have a high school diploma and have continuing education credits by attending seminars of your choice.  There's also a dog trainer search on the website, so it may help trainers get clients who are searching for certified trainers.  Certified doesn't mean they're a good trainer by any means, but it's just one of many things to look for and weigh in the decision of who to hire.

So, certifications through CCPDT are not a scam, it is a legitimate organization.  Does it mean all the trainers are good?  NO.  But it is just one thing to show professionalism and minimum criteria, in a field where there is no regulations.  Anyone can call themselves dog trainer.

There are other certifying bodies for dog trainers, one is through IACP, another is NADOI, for that one you send in a video, too.  Both you can call yourself "certified", but it matters whos doing the certifying.  None of this has anything to do with attending a dog training school.  A dog training school would be "Certified by the xxxx school".  I have never seen a really good dog training school program, btw.  I would not want to go to Tom Rose school.

A minimal of 300 hours......sorry buddy but I'd say I have way more than that even at my age (21), and I don't go around with a title saying I'm a "professional" dog trainer.  A professional anything takes years and years to achieve, not a 300 hour course and some book studies.   I've learned how to read dogs very well over the past few years, and have worked with quite a few for other peoples dogs, but in no way would I say professional.  Even those who have done this for 20 years will tell you.....you always learn something new, and there is always room to improve.  A piece of paper (title)  means nothing other than a false sense of security for naive people.

Professional means you do it for a living, it's not just a hobby, it's a full-time career and you have certain standards of conduct, often you have education behind it, that's what professional is.  It doesn't have to do with how many hours you have.  (Although I agree, 300 is very minimal.)  Why you would put someone down for joining a professional organization and pledging to do coninuing education credits is beyond me.  I'd rather choose a trainer who had some type of professional affiliations and a code of ethics and confidentiality rather than someone who only does it for a weekend hobby.

And Melissa, I don't know where you get the idea that a civilian can't be a master trainer.  There are PLENTY of civilian trainers who have been doing it 20+ years as a career and can train to high levels in all venues, and they may call themselves master trainer.  Sure it's a self-appointed title, but there are some who deserve to be called Master Trainer... they have mastered the science, art, and skills of dog training.  They may also be teaching new trainers.  This is waaay different than places like the Tom Rose school giving out "Master Trainer" certificates because you took a few months of training courses.

What is a "professional"
From wikipedia:
"The term professional is used more generally to denote a white collar working person, or a person who performs commercially in a field typically reserved for hobbyists or amateurs.... the term commonly describes highly educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work.  Less technically, it may also refer to a person having impressive competence in a particular activity.

The professional owes a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to pay or remunerate the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interest of the client ahead of his own interests.


Because of the personal and confidential nature of many professional services and thus the necessity to place a great deal of trust in them, most professionals are held up to strict ethical and moral regulations."

So the definition isn't exact, and I don't know if I'd consider dog trainer to be necessarily white collar or highly educated (at least not academically credentialed), but Bottom line-- Certified doesn't automatically equal good, but there's nothing wrong with organizations trying to bring some professionalism into the unregulated field of dog training and behavior modification.

A self appointed title is just that. You don't go around saying my dog is Sch1,2,3 etc if he has never been on the field.

LE and Military are the only venues that can be a "certified" master trainer. That title is appointed by the government or police work dog associations after thousands of hours training.

I agree, there are many excellent trainers who deserve to be called Master Trainer but technically they can not hold that title. There are also many quack fly by night trainers who call themselves "master trainers" and that's a load of BS.

Certifications are good, but only as good as the organization giving them. The certification that you hold should be called a proficiency test. The same goes for when I test in Arson. I, as a civilian, can not get a certification as an Arson handler. The test is the best out there, but unless you train with someone they only thing they can say is yes, the dog did this on this day.

300 hours is just a drop in the bucket, you should have to have many, many more then that to call yourself "certified".

Dog training is unregulated which is why word of mouth is your best reference. Common sense, which many people seem to be lacking these days would go very far to keep people from being duped.

Melissa

I'm a certified professional dog trainer. I have been training dogs for over thirty years. I began training dogs using the Koehler Method of dog training and was quite successful. I spent quite a bit of time making fun of cookie tossers! When "The Culture Clash" came out, I read it. It changed how I looked at dogs and my relationship with them. I threw away my choke collars and emptied my tool box of aversive training methods. I started all over again and rebuilt my knowledge base. It was quite fun for a learner like me, because I wanted to be a better trainer than before.

I now use a combination of positive reinforcement and negative punishment, though I certainly use a strong word to stop a behavior when needed (like when my border collie grabbed one of our chicks yesterday). I rarely use gentle leaders (they are aversive to many dogs), but use front connection harnesses with many puppies and adolescent dogs. I haven't ever needed to put a prong collar on a dog for training.

In addition to my dog training business, I am a teacher, with a couple of credentials. I love the science of learning. I am delighted that ethologists are finally taking a good look at dogs, how dogs see and interpret the world and their body language. 

I took the CPDT exam because it saddens me to see so many people claiming to be dog trainers when they can't explain simple questions about why a dog is doing something or come up with five different ways to change a behavior. I decided to put my money where my mouth was.

The CPDT exam is an attempt to raise the standard for all dog trainers. The exam is heavily science-based, in that if you haven't been paying attention to research done in the past twenty years, you may have some trouble passing the test. I did well, partly because I stay current in my field and partly because I'm a good test taker.

In addition to my dog training business and my teaching career, I volunteer at two different animal shelters. This gives me hands-on experience with many different dogs and an opportunity to educate volunteers and the community. I feel fortunate to have two jobs I love and grateful to be able to give back to the community.

The other certified professional dog trainers I've met are very much like me. They are driven to be the best at what they do. Many of them compete with their own dogs and others are heavily involved in shelter work or some other aspect of rescue.

I will apologize for the typos or errors on the website. The CCPDT is run by a volunteer organization of people who believe that this certification process is important. Perhaps I should volunteer to edit for them! The plusses of having credentials and certifications - I can multitask.
Respectfully,
Teach

I'm too late again...the site is closed and under maintenance now.  Must have read these posts.  LOL