What is a CAPDT Trainer?
Professional Trainers Committed to High Standards
A CAPDT Trainer is a professional dog trainer who is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers (CAPDT) and has committed to CAPDT’s professional and ethical expectations.
Dog training is not consistently regulated across Canada, meaning individuals may offer dog training services without standardized education or oversight. CAPDT helps strengthen the profession by connecting trainers with education, professional resources, ethical standards, and a national community committed to responsible dog training.
CAPDT membership itself is not a certification or professional designation. Trainers may hold additional credentials, certifications, and specialized education that reflect their individual qualifications and areas of expertise.
A Profession with Many Specialties
Professional dog trainers work with dogs and their people across a wide range of training needs and specialties. This may include puppy socialization and obedience classes, family manners, public access training, dog sports, behaviour consulting, and service dog training.
Some trainers specialize in working with dogs who are fearful, have separation anxiety, have bitten, or demonstrate other challenging behaviours. In these cases, trainers may also work alongside or recommend a veterinarian or veterinary behaviour specialist to support the dog with appropriate medication and management when needed.
Other trainers specialize in service dog training and specific tasks, such as diabetic alerts, medication reminders, hearing assistance, and other skills that support their handlers.
Whatever their area of practice, professional trainers should be prepared to communicate clearly, answer questions about their methods, and continue educating themselves about dog behaviour, health, and training throughout their careers.
How our CAPDT Members Train
Our CAPDT Members are committed to taking continuing education each year and following the Humane Hierarchy and Least Intrusive Minimally Aversive (LIMA) Principles. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association suggests choosing reward-based methods and avoiding associating yourself and behaviours with things the dog finds unpleasant – see more here.
Following these principles and the CVMA guidelines means that members do not use positive punishment (adding things dog’s want to avoid in order to decrease behaviour) as a starting point in any training plan.
This means, for example, puppies are taught to sit for the first time by using positive reinforcement and not because they receive a positively punishing yank on a choke chain if they don’t.
Generally, CAPDT members believe in humane, effective, and evidence-based training that supports both learning and animal welfare.
This includes teaching dogs through the reinforcement of desired behaviours and working to avoid training methods that cause pain, discomfort, or fear. Trainers also consider the dog’s overall ability to learn, including their health, exercise, nutrition, sleep, environment, and individual needs.
CAPDT trainers also recognize that our understanding of dog behaviour continues to evolve. For example, members tend to avoid using “dominance” as a general explanation for behaviours such as human-directed aggression. Fear, conflict, environment, learning history, and other factors may provide a more useful understanding of why a behaviour is occurring.
Through continuing education and a commitment to humane, evidence-informed practice, CAPDT members work to keep their knowledge current while supporting the welfare of dogs and the people who care for them.
CAPDT Membership
CAPDT membership supports professional engagement, continuing education, community involvement, and connection to the broader dog training profession.
Membership alone does not represent certification or professional qualification. Education, demonstrated competence, ethical practice, and accountability remain the foundation of professional dog training.
Aspiring trainers are encouraged to consider CAPDT membership as part of their professional development and connection to the national dog training community.