Trust & transparency
How we verify trainers and certify credentials
Dog training is an unregulated industry — so instead of repeating what a trainer says about themselves, we check it. Here are the two marks you’ll see and exactly what each one means.
There is no license, no required exam, no board — anyone can call themselves a dog trainer today and start charging tomorrow. So we do two separate checks: we confirm the business is real and claimed, and we confirm any credentials are real against the issuing body. Most directories repeat whatever a business says about itself. We don’t.
The two marks
The business is real and claimed. The trainer has claimed their GetDogSchool profile and we’ve confirmed they’re a genuine, contactable local training business that works with us. It says nothing about credentials on its own — it’s about who you’re dealing with.
A specific credential is real. We found this exact certification in the issuing body’s public registry, and we show the date we checked and a link to the entry.
The two are independent: a trainer can be Certified without having claimed their profile, and Verified without holding a formal certification. Many excellent trainers have one and not the other.
How we certify credentials
When a trainer’s profile lists a certification, we look it up in the issuing body’s own public registry — the certifying organizations publish searchable lists of everyone they’ve certified, precisely so claims can be checked. We currently check against:
- CCPDT — Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA, CPDT-KSA, CBCC-KA)
- KPA — Karen Pryor Academy (KPA-CTP)
- IAABC — International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants
- APDT — Association of Professional Dog Trainers
- IACP — International Association of Canine Professionals
- AKC — American Kennel Club (CGC Evaluators)
If we find the trainer in the registry, the credential is marked ✓ Certified on their profile, with the date we checked and a direct link to the registry entry — so you don’t have to take our word for it either.
Credential labels
We found this exact credential in the certifying body’s public registry on the date shown, and we link to the entry.
The trainer or their website claims this credential, but we haven’t confirmed it in a registry yet. Where a public registry exists, we link it so you can check directly.
Many working trainers hold no formal certification; in an unregulated field that’s common and not by itself a red flag. It simply means there’s nothing for us to check.
What the Certified mark does — and doesn’t — mean
A certified credential tells you the trainer invested in formal education, passed an independent assessment, and is accountable to a certifying body’s standards and ethics code. It is not a quality rating. A certificate doesn’t guarantee the right fit for your dog, and its absence doesn’t make someone a bad trainer. Use it the way you’d use any strong signal: alongside reviews, a conversation, and how the trainer answers your questions. (Our 10 questions to ask any dog trainer is built for exactly that.)
Certifications can also lapse, which is why every certified mark shows when we last checked — and why we re-check periodically rather than confirming once and assuming forever.
For trainers
Want the ✓ Verified mark? Claim your profile — we confirm you’re a real, established local business and mark your listing Verified. And if a credential shows as self-reported, just tell us and we’ll check the registry and mark it ✓ Certified. Certification is free — we never charge to confirm a credential and never will; a trust mark you can buy isn’t a trust mark.
Find a trainer you can trust
Browse local trainers, see certified credentials and real reviews, and compare them in one place.