Helen Verte Schwarzmann, CTC, CTDI
I am a graduate of The Academy For Dog Trainers, a challenging 2-year animal-training program run and created by Jean Donaldson, an award-winning author and premier dog trainer. The program ended in a 6-hour final examination, which also included video demonstrations of my dog training techniques and mechanics. I am proud to say that I graduated with honors and received the CTC designation, Certificate in Counselling and Training.
The Academy’s program details and webinars cover an expansive territory of professional dog training. This is Jean’s quote from The Academy’s website about her graduates.
Our Graduates are the Elite
Dog training is currently unregulated. Unlike for veterinarians or veterinary technicians, there is no required minimum education, no standard of care, no constraints on claims, no mandatory informed consent, and no consumer protection. Academy graduates have completed what is universally regarded as the most academically rigorous and technically challenging curriculum in the world for dog trainers.
All our students came to The Academy seeking excellence, and graduated with a profound understanding of their craft. They’ve studied in depth the science behind animal learning, animal behavior and dog behavior, and have been trained in a wide variety of best practices in dog training and behavior modification. Our graduates also adhere to a code of professional and ethical conduct that includes transparency and informed consent about methods, side effects, and use only the most modern, evidence-based, humane and force-free practices.
Prior to the Academy, I became a Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed. The requirements behind the CPDT-KA designation included 300 hours of experience in dog training, recommendations from another certified trainer, a client, and a veterinarian. The test was 4 hours long and contained 250 questions on instruction skills, animal husbandry, ethology, learning theory, and equipment.
My first certification was through Do More With Your Dog, where I earned the designation CTDI, Certified Trick Dog Instructor. The requirements for this certification included training a dog through an intermediate trick dog title. I trained my Australian Shepherd, Dudley, through his Champion Trick Dog. There were 25 short essay questions to complete in the sections of handling training problems, training style, people skills, and professionalism. The video portion of the Trick Dog Certification included demonstration of my dog doing 5 tricks, of teaching 3 out of 5 of a list of tricks to a student, and choosing one of three tricks demonstrating its teaching using a clicker.
I am a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and S.T.A.R. puppy Instructor through the AKC. The requirements for this privilege were to have at least 2 years of experience working with owners and their dogs, experience working with a variety of breeds and sizes of dogs, and in good standing with the AKC. There was a short, open-book test and was based on the content from the Evaluator’s Guide.
I created an on-line webinar under Love Wags A Tail, LLC, 
, which affords owners a convenient, in-home humane, effective housetraining protocol. This program also applied as continuing education units for dog trainers through the CCPDT, IAABC, and KPA. I also created a veterinarian version of the program, and became the only dog trainer in the state of Florida who is a provider of continuing education for the Board of Veterinary Medicine, State of Florida.
My Dog Training Method
If you’re thinking of hiring a dog trainer, please, for the well being of your dog, do your research and ask the trainer two questions.
- What do you do to my dog when he gets it right?
- What do you do to my dog when he gets it wrong?
Get very specific answers and ask for examples. When your dog is in a board-and-train situation, there is no one there to assure his well being, but the trainer.
Insured
Outsmarting Dogs, owned by Love Wags A Tail, LLC, is insured.
