Dog Trainer Titles – Pros, Amateurs and Pro/Amateurs


Amateurs

As I walked Angel off lead, in the morning in at a nearby park, I had her sit calmly for senior citizen approaching us. “You must be a professional dog trainer? She sure is a well-trained dog!”, the woman exclaims. She continues, “I’ve watched you train her in the field many times.”

I’d been thinking about our pass at the Master Amateur Invitational as we approached, so I automatically reply, “No mam. I’m just an amateur.”  She stops petting Angel, smiles and says with a chuckle, “Well you should be, most of these nitwits running around here could use some training!”  This exchange is not uncommon for many dog trainers who train retrievers.

Definition

What constitutes a professional dog trainer is clear as mud to people. For some people, a trainer who can teach Rover to sit, stay, come and play dead at PetSmart or Petco is an accomplished professional. So, when they see advanced retriever training, they have a good reason to be confused when told the trainer is not a Pro.

After all, the tasks observed appear to be just as complex as anything seen on Caesar Milan’s The Dog Whisper TV show. Nearly everyone would agree Caesar is an accomplished professional trainer.

However, when it comes to AKC Retriever Field Trials and Hunt Tests regulations & rules, Caesar would be classified as just an “Amateur” trainer. So, there’s a good reason for the public to be confused about those called “amateurs” based upon what they see in action.

Classification

To clear up this confusion we need to look at the American Kennel Club, AKC Rules & Regulations. A professional retriever trainer is one who accepts money or some or compensation to train retrievers to participate in the hunt test, field trials or hunting activities. Thus, the term amateur in this situation doesn’t have anything to do with the trainer’s ability of or skill level.  It’s all about the money exchanging hands for direct retriever training.

In fact, some of the very best professional trainers have retired from “training dogs for hire” and now run the retriever field trial circuit as amateurs. Quite often they are returning to where the started many years before as a competent amateur. Beware of the new pro who just hung a shingle on his kennel and doesn’t have any amateur experience. i.e., documented track record.

Final note

An amateur retriever trainer may show dogs or provide obedience training professionally because the activity doesn’t involve training dogs for retriever trials, test or hunting. Naturally, many of the obedience retriever training techniques can be used successfully on non-retrievers.  So, don’t let titles confuse you when it comes to seeking out “professional” help.  Caesar would be classified as an amateur in the retriever world, even though he’s a professional dog trainer