Dog trainer certification professional#

“For example, if the dog is digging in the trash, can we put a lid on it or under the sink? If the dog is eating shoes, can we put them in a closet or out of their sight?” he said. Next, Foster has to find antecedent arrangement, which he says is how you can manage the environment to work with the behavior. LIMA starts with detecting any physical or mental issues a dog may have like a missing limb or a mental condition that requires medication first. He said he follows the current science as he trains, which is called Least Intrusive Minimally Aversive training (LIMA). A lot of dogs thrive on pets and praise.” “Now, the science shows that positive reinforcement is the best way to train a dog, so using treats, toys, and whatever you can motivate them with will help. “Training in the past was a lot more aversive, like using shock collars, prong collars, and other corrective equipment like that,” Foster said. In the modern day, dog training is much more humane than it was in the past.

He noted teaching a dog is easier because treats are a powerful motivator. He can teach the owner in all three ways by explaining what he’s going to do, demonstrating his tactics, or by having them practice with the dog themselves. “(I have to) give them the skills they need to be able to work with their dog.”įoster said that finding the way a person learns is the best way for him to teach them, which is broken down into audio, visual and kinesthetic learners. “I always joked with people that 90% of my job is actually training people,” he said. While training dogs, the owners play an important role in their success as well, Foster said. He worked as a trainer at Petco for three years and trained for about 40 hours a month to get his certification. To become certified, Foster had to complete over 300 hours of training and pass a comprehensive test of about 200 questions.

Dog trainer certification professional#

Read more about types of certifications here.Sebastian Rubino / resident Stephen Foster recently earned a certification as a professional dog trainer from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. The truth is that the value of any dog trainer certification depends upon the criteria and assessment processes in place by the entity granting the certification to the trainer as well as the guiding principles and reputation of the certifying entity. While this classification can sometimes be as valuable as the paper used to designate the certification, the dog-owning public continues to place varying degrees of importance on the label of being ‘certified.’ Just as almost anyone can refer to themselves as a professional dog trainer, almost any entity can currently state that it ‘certifies’ its members or graduates to be a certain level of dog training professional. Those working as experienced dog trainers regularly hear stories about well-meaning dog owners trusting supposedly competent dog trainers to help them and their dogs, yet finding out (often after much damage has unfortunately already been done) that the so-called dog trainer was actually not qualified to provide the help needed.Īlthough some countries are beginning to explore the idea of government licensing of the dog training profession, until such regulation becomes the norm, those in need of a quality professional dog trainer will continue to rely on word of mouth, referral and recommendations, and the various dog trainer certifications currently available in most municipalities. Almost anyone can call themselves a dog trainer, so the bar is currently very low for anyone to ‘hang a shingle’ and begin taking money in return for offering dog training services. What can sometimes make this a challenging endeavor for dog owners is the fact that the field of dog training remains a relatively unregulated industry around the world.

When searching for a good dog trainer, one of the factors dog owners often consider is whether or not the dog trainers being considered are certified.