Join our Instructors in Training team!
We are not currently taking any new instructors in training. Please check back soon.
Being an Instructor in Training is an excellent way to learn to become a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. We offer a structured way to achieve the goal of sharing our passion about dog training with the people who come to Dogs in the Park to learn! Instructors in Training can be found taking classes with their own dogs, assisting in classes and private lessons, handling student dogs, and learning more about the science of dog behaviour and Applied Behaviour Analysis. The process at Dogs in the Park is 1000 hours long, and usually takes three to five years to complete. At the end of your training period you will be ready to take the Certificate of Professional Dog Training examination and pass your CPDT-KA. This industry designation is the new standard in dog training all over the world. If you think a career in dog training might be for you, visit www.ccpdt.org/certification/dog-trainer-certification/about-the-examination/ to learn more about this designation.
Pre-requisites to becoming an instructor in training
Instructors in Training are selected from students who have either graduated a dog from the Good Dog program or who have passed Level 3 with a dog of their own. Our goal is to create a consistent philosophy and culture in our classroom and thus we do not accept equivalents from outside of our school. if you have already trained your dog, and you wish to become an Instructor in Training, you are welcome to join our Levels program and demonstrate your skills with your dog over a minimum of six months.
The academic component of the Instructor in Training program is very rigorous, and we require a minimum of a high school diploma to apply. There will be significant amounts of reading and participation in a lecture style course where you will be expected to learn, share, debate, discuss, contrast and compare information during your program. It is not uncommon for Instructors in Training to read several text book chapters each week when participating in our lecture series. An understanding of basic graphing, and basic algebra will also be required.
If this program sounds like it might be a fit for you, please email sue@dogsinthepark.ca for details on how to apply. Sue will contact you to arrange an interview where you can explore the program further with her.
Instructor in Training candidates
Instructor in Training candidates are people who are interested in becoming an Instructor in Training but who have not yet been accepted into the program. Instructor in Training candidates spend 8 weeks continuing to train their own dogs, and attending one puppy class each week without a dog. During this time, the Instructor in Training candidate will learn more about how Dogs in the Park operates and what we do to deliver the top quality programs we offer.
At the end of 8 weeks, the Instructor in Training candidate will sit down with Sue and decide if the program is something they are still interested in pursuing. If both Dogs in the Park and the Instructor in Training Candidate decide that this is a good fit, you will be accepted into the program.