My younger sister is really gifted with dogs and has been active with them her whole life. She can train them to do amazing things but I don't think she does it any "professional way" meaning I think she does whatever works. She makes up hand signals too which are different from the one's I've seen in videos and shows, but the dogs comply nonetheless.

All she wants to do with her life is dog training. She wants to be a professional dog trainer. I told her to get certified or liscened or whatever: go to school for it.

She said there isn't any school for it! Is this true? She said that there isn't even any "real" certification. She said there are so-called "schools" on the internet but that they're bogus.

I saw one for a school called ABC that seem real but then again, it's the internet.

Then it dawned on me that tons of you guys are professional trainers!!

SO how'd you do it? Is there a school? How do you give your clients confidence that you know what you're doing if there is no real certification process?

Any links to good schools, if there are any, would be appreciated. If no schools, then good books?

Thanks!

Sara, it's sad to see that no one as made an effort to give you some link on dog trainers school.I know that there are certifications , like our helpers need to be certified in order to be helpers in trials, I am sure that there are the same things for people who call themselves professional trainers.You should look in to Schutzhund USA to see if there are any certification seminar your sister could attend or even e-mail them , they might know of some.What about AKC have you looked into their web site, they might have certification seminars or know of any school that she can physically attend.I don't know how anyone can call themselves dog trainers by learning off the web.I have been in Schutzhund for over 6 years and I have titled my dogs myself,attended seminars,workshop,trials but I certainly would never call myself a K9 Trainer, I can give advise from what I have learned and accomplished.Funny that some of the "K9 trainers" that visit this board haven't popped up to help, hummmm

I'm not a professional trainer, but I'm in the process of learning (aren't we all? ), 4 days a week decoying sport and police dogs for a local trainer who teaches me everything he knows. There are a few "schools" out there who are worth a damn, but being a good trainer has less to do with certification and more to do with finding a (good) trainer willing to teach you what they know n build up experience. What type of training does she want to do? There is a huge difference between your run of the mill obedience trainer and someone training protection dogs, search & rescue dogs, detection dogs etc. The techniques also vary considerably between purposes. It's all about experience more than any certification or schooling, you're never gonna learn as much in a "official style" school as you are from someone who can show you how they handle and train 500 "real world" dogs belonging to customers.

You don't have to be certified, and sometimes it's better to not be certified, than to be certified by the wrong people, to be a "professional trainer". For example, I would run away as fast as I could if someone told me they were certified by PetSmart as an obedience trainer

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

. For example, I would run away as fast as I could if someone told me they were certified by PetSmart as an obedience trainer

Yes, skip that trainer,Mike I like your advise , I also think that going to seminars and workshops and going to k9 clubs is very helpful.I believe that a good trainer comes from having done a lot of training with his own dog perhaps for a k9 sport , competing ect..Trainers are not made over night, patience and lots of dedication in the training is a plus.

Really? There are actual "schools?" I thought there weren't. Or maybe you mean for Shutzhund which would make more sense since I'm kind of Shutzhund-dumb. For obedience, I didn't think there was a school--I looked into it a few years ago and couldn't find any. Good idea, really, if done right.

Sara, I've been training dogs since I was 19. I know what you mean about having a certification or liscense to give customers confidence, because many people don't know that there IS no liscense and they think you're lying when you tell them that.

BUT experience really is better than paper, and I have many references, including obedience judges that have seen dogs that I've worked with. I only do intermediate obedience, and I'm about ready to learn more advanced work. For that, I plan on getting a mentor.

Hope that helps. Good topic. There do seem to be a zillion trainers on here...ones that do it professionally, I mean. How did everyone else get into it?

I think somewhere in Ed's articles he mentions the Tom Rose school of dog training: http://www.tomrose.com/

There is the IACP http://www.dogpro.org which offers membership to canine professionals, but it's a professional organization, not training.

Yes there are some schools for it, but legally speaking, I think, anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a dog trainer.

Usually when I visit a trainer's website or talk about one with other dog owners, we look for the credentials. Not so much "certificates" which probably don't mean anything since you can get them off the internet (or petsmart!! haha), but I look for their personal accomplishments.
How many dogs have they trained, titled, competed with? What were their results? And of course, before committing to a trainer, I would certainly request to see him working his own dogs and interview him to make sure I agree with his philosophy. If I like what I see, I'll go with it.

For example, Angelique may not be a certified trainer, but after reading all she has to say and how well she does with her dogs, I'd hire her for my dogs!! No hesitation!

Maybe your sister can start "small" by helping a few dog owners with their dogs and hopefully use them as references when looking for new clients? If she can start getting titles and winning competitions with the dogs she trains, I'm sure her reputation will grow and clients will come.

 Quote: amber morgan

Really? There are actual "schools?" I thought there weren't. Or maybe you mean for Shutzhund which would make more sense since I'm kind of Shutzhund-dumb.

I don't know any schools for Schutzhund, usually you learn by going to seminars and workshops and studying under an accomplished trainer to learn the ropes. But there are schools for protection/police dog training out there. Don't know about Obedience schools, but I'm sure they exist, whether they are worth anything is a different question. I like sport obedience training though, or competition obedience... I don't like the non-competition "pet" OB trainers, their methods are often very questionable. Aim high, learn from the best

Competition heeling is my personal fav. It is so much fun.

We've covered this subject many, many, times ( the search function is your friend, by the way... ) on the forum previously.

There are two, and only two school for becoming a dog trainer that are worth paying for:

The Tom Rose Dog Training Academy
http://www.tomrose.com/

Triple Crown Dog Academy
http://www.triplecrowndogs.com/

No other school is worth paying for, and almost all the rest are outright scams designed to remove you from your money and give you a worthless "certification" without the skills to back it up. The ABC school is a prime example of that crap.

There are also tons of totally unqualified trainers with zero skills that have started to charge for "apprentices" and have no business doing so. Their ethics suck and border on criminal.

And I have also yet to have seen any "organization" that means anything in dog training. The ADPT and IACP are prime examples of these and we've discussed them in depth before - it'd be worth your time to view those threads before money is wasted getting a meaningless "certification" from those types of organizations.

Dog training schools are a big concentration of some of the most unethical people in the dog world. Be very careful before you spend a cent......research *thoroughly* first.