Become a Confident, Competent Dog Trainer

Build Outstanding Training Skills. Understand the Science. Change Lives.

Great dog training is about far more than knowing how to teach a collection of behaviors.

It means understanding how and why learning occurs, developing excellent practical training skills, observing the individual learner, evaluating what is happening from one trial to the next, and knowing when and how to adjust your training plan.

The DogNostics Apprentice Dog Training Course brings the science and the practical skills together.

Whether you're an aspiring professional dog trainer, an experienced pet care professional looking to strengthen your knowledge and skills, or a dedicated dog guardian who wants to understand dogs and learning at a much deeper level, the Apprentice Course provides a comprehensive foundation in evidence-informed, force-free dog training.

The Apprentice Course can be completed as a standalone program or as the first level of the DogNostics Dog Trainer Certificate (DN-DTC) Program.

Learn the Science. Apply It in Practice.

Understanding learning theory matters—but knowing the terminology isn't enough.

Throughout the Apprentice Course, you'll learn to connect behavioral science with the practical decisions you make every time you train.

You'll explore topics including:

• Respondent and operant conditioning
• Antecedents, behavior, and consequences
• Reinforcement and punishment
• Negative reinforcement, escape, and avoidance
• Cues and stimulus control
• Bridging stimuli
• Differential reinforcement
• Training mechanics and reinforcement delivery
• Luring, targeting, capturing, shaping, and micro-shaping
• Constructional training
• Errorless learning
• The Train-Test-Train Method
• Canine communication and body language
• Exercise, fitness, enrichment, and socialization
• Nutrition and professional scope of practice
• Ethics, welfare, choice, and professional decision-making

Most importantly, you'll learn to use this knowledge to make thoughtful training decisions based on the behavior and needs of the individual learner—not myths, labels, outdated methods, or guesswork.

More Than Recorded Lessons

This is not a course where you simply watch videos and move on.

The Apprentice Course combines different forms of learning to help you understand, apply, revisit, and consolidate important concepts.

Throughout the five core modules, you'll find:

🎥 Recorded Lessons
Detailed presentations and practical demonstrations that progressively build your knowledge and training skills.

📘 Lesson Notes – How & Why
Comprehensive written notes accompany the core lessons, helping you revisit important concepts and understand the reasoning behind what you're learning.

🧠 Additional ABA Notes – The Science Behind It
Where appropriate, additional Applied Behavior Analysis notes take you deeper into the behavioral science and terminology underpinning your training decisions.

💼 Professional Practice – Working With Real Clients
Where appropriate, we move beyond theory to consider how you can apply what you're learning when working professionally with dogs and their guardians.

📚 Research & Supplementary Learning
Additional professional resources, research papers, position statements, training protocols, and further learning opportunities allow you to explore key subjects in greater depth.

Learn. Practice. Refine. Succeed.

Exceptional trainers don't simply understand how dogs learn. They develop the practical ability to apply that knowledge with skill, precision, empathy, thoughtful planning, and excellent timing.

Throughout the Apprentice Course, you'll put theory into practice as you develop a wide range of foundation training skills.

You'll work on practical applications including reinforcement and treat-delivery mechanics, bridging-stimulus timing, luring, targeting, duration behaviors, release cues, stimulus control, shaping and micro-shaping, mat work, loose-leash walking foundations, send-aways, and much more.

Each module builds upon previous learning, allowing your scientific understanding and practical abilities to develop together.

Learn With Personalized Instructor Feedback

Knowledge grows through study. Training skills develop through practice, observation, evaluation, and feedback.

The Apprentice Course includes 14 practical skill submissions across the five core modules.

You'll practice your training, submit videos of specified skills, and receive personalized instructor feedback on your work.

Feedback recognizes what you're doing well while also identifying opportunities to refine your mechanics, timing, criteria, reinforcement delivery, planning, and overall training strategy.

Our goal isn't simply to help you complete a course.

It's to help you develop into a thoughtful, skilled and knowledgeable trainer who understands both what they're doing and why they're doing it.

Demonstrate What You Know

Your learning is assessed throughout the program.

To earn your Apprentice Course Attendance Certificate, you'll need to:

• Complete the lessons within the course modules.
• Successfully complete all five module knowledge quizzes.
• Complete and submit the required practical skill-assessment videos.

This means successful completion reflects engagement with both the knowledge and practical skill components of the program.

A Substantial Professional Learning Program

The Apprentice Course represents a significant commitment to professional learning and practical skill development.

The program currently includes approximately:

20+ hours of recorded instructional content

13–15 hours of written lesson notes, ABA Notes, Professional Practice content, research, and supplementary resource study

Up to 5 hours of required online knowledge assessment

Approximately 28 hours of practical training and skill development associated with the 14 required skill submissions

That's approximately 67–69 hours of estimated learning, assessment, and practical skill development across the complete Apprentice program.*

Practical training time is necessarily approximate. Every trainer and animal learner progresses at an individual rate, and some skills may require more or less practice.

Five Core Modules + A Supplementary Learning Module

Your learning progresses systematically through five core Apprentice modules, with each module developing your knowledge and practical skills before you move forward.

You'll then gain access to Apprentice Module Six – Your Supplementary Module, an extensive collection of additional learning designed to consolidate and extend your studies.

The Supplementary Module includes selected research papers, professional position statements, additional training resources, practical protocols, and further learning across subjects including behavior, reinforcement, canine communication, exercise, enrichment, socialization, nutrition, ethics, and learning theory.

It's there not simply to give you more material, but to encourage the professional habit of continuing to read, question, explore, and learn.

A Structured Path to Professional Certification

The Apprentice Course is the first of three progressive levels within the DogNostics Dog Trainer Certificate Program:

Apprentice → Journeyman → Master

Each level builds upon the knowledge and practical skills developed in the previous one, allowing you to progress systematically as both a trainer and a professional.

Successful completion of each level earns its own Course Attendance Certificate.

Students who successfully complete all three levels are eligible to sit the final online examination and practical skills assessment to earn the DogNostics Dog Trainer Certificate (DN-DTC) and the right to use the professional credential DN-DTC after their name.

Explore the Complete Curriculum

There is a lot to discover inside the Apprentice Course.

Below, you can explore the complete curriculum and see the lessons, practical training exercises, assessments, and supplementary learning included within the program.

Take a look through the curriculum and see just how much is waiting for you.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

The DogNostics Apprentice Dog Training Course is currently approved for:

• IAABC: 25 CEUs
• CCPDT: 21 CEUs
• PPAB: 25 CEUs

Following a substantial expansion of the course's educational content, updated CEU approval has been requested.

Preparing For Your Industry Credential. The Pet Professional Accreditation Board – Canine Training Technician - Accredited

The DogNostics Apprentice Dog Training Course contains the necessary skills and knowledge, as well as the required CEUs, to gain your Canine Training Technician Accreditation - Accredited by The Pet Professional Accreditation Board.

What does this mean?

It means that when you have completed your program here with DogNostics you will be fully prepared to not only sit the CTT-A examination but also to successfully prepare and submit your videos for the skill assessment.

To learn more about this credential please download the CTT Study Guide here