PROGRESSIVE DOG TRAINER DIPLOMA
Next course to start 6 February 2027.
Transform Your Passion for Dogs into a Professional Career
True dog training goes far beyond teaching basic commands. It requires a deep understanding of canine psychology, communication, and emotional well-being. The Progressive Dog Trainer Diploma provides the theoretical foundation and practical skills needed to launch a successful career as a professional dog trainer.
Whether your goal is to open a dog school, run puppy socialisation classes, or offer private behavioural consulting, this course equips you with evidence-based, force-free methods that place animal welfare first.
Why Choose This Diploma?
An intensive programme that combines live online theory with practical training, giving you both academic grounding and real-world teaching skills. You are trained to work professionally, ethically and confidently with dogs and their handlers.
• Theory modules are presented in live Saturday webinars.
• Hands-on training modules are taught in person, with dogs, in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
• Prefer to study from home? The Virtual option is fully online, with video demonstrations in place of the in-person classes.
• Small classes: places are limited to 9 students.
Course Requirements:
- Some practical experience with dogs.
- A dog to work with.
- Commitment to sessions over 3 months (see dates and times below)
- Time to read subject-specific literature and prepare assignments.
- Technology Requirements: Computer, internet, speakers, microphone and webcam
This course attains 27 Credit hours.
Course Modules
2. Understanding Canine Behaviour
- Neural development in the newborn puppy: reflexes, vision, hearing and physical development
- Lapping and weaning
- Nature and nurture in development
- Maternal behaviour and elimination behaviour, including elimination as communication
- The father's role and learning from a father figure
- Play: why puppies play, play in adult dogs and the play bow
- The role of hormones
- Social development and interacting with other animals
- Canine senses
- What is an adult dog? Stages of maturity
- The dog as a predator: predatory behaviour versus aggression
- Types of aggression
- The dog as a social animal: dog social structure and the dominance myth
- Personality expression
- Canine communication: vocalisation, posture, eye contact, ear position, facial expressions and scent marking
- Social behaviour and burying food
- The elderly dog
3. Body language
- How dogs communicate without words
- When body language becomes intentional communication
- Personal space
- Faces and mouth signals
- Staring and yawning
- Body postures: confident (assertive) and anxious (apprehensive), and why "dominant" and "submissive" are no longer used
- Distraction signals and the stress signals
- Displacement behaviour
- What is stress?
- Play and the play bow
- Tail language: tail positions and wagging
- Observation before interpretation, and reading body language in context
4. Canine Learning
- The nature-nurture debate, including Darwin and adaptation
- Environmental and parental influences on behaviour
- Prenatal influences
- Critical and sensitive periods: when learning can start
- Classical and operant conditioning, including reinforcement schedules
- Social learning and cultural transmission
- Chaining
- Reward and punishment: primary and secondary reinforcers
- Recent findings and updates from science
- Shaping: the scientific principles and benefits in training
- Sensitisation and methods for addressing it
- The importance of play
- Insight learning
- Habituation
5. Dog Training
- Why train dogs?
- The senses and training
- Schedules of reinforcement
- Primary and secondary reinforcers revisited
- Choice of primary reinforce
- Benefits of using positive reinforcement
- Putting the theory into practice
- Basic training of house training, the recall, the sit, sit/stand, down, watch and progressing
to heel with problems and solutions. Impulse
control, prevention of aggression over food and
toys, leash management. Leave-it, take-it, give-it. - Puppy socialisation
- Running classes
- The advantages and disadvantages of using Clicker Training
- Summary of training principles
- Trainer skills
6. Canine Form and Function
- Form, function and temperament
- The canine senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch
- How different breeds originated
- Natural selection and artificial (selective) breeding
- The breed group system: hound, terrier, gundog, utility, toy, working and pastoral groups
7. Avoiding Problem Behaviour
- Purchasing a puppy: what to look for and what to ask the breeder, including early socialisation
- Initial training
- Early lead training
- Chewing and biting, and bite inhibition training
- Playing games
- Obedience training: recall, sit, stay, down, down-stay and distance control
- Giving your dog a name, and choosing words and commands
- House training
- Keeping more than one dog together
- Dogs and the law
8. Defining Aggression
- Defining aggression
- Selective breeding and the predatory sequence
- Nature and nurture
- Social behaviour in dogs
- Dominance and submission: what current research says
- Dog posture progression: relaxed, confident and fearful
- Understanding canine body language and recognising high emotive states
- Stress levels and aggression
- Displacement behaviours and calming signals
- Are there any circumstances where aggression is appropriate?
| Course Details: | |||
| Venue: | Dates: | Times: | Address: |
| Cape Town |
February: Saturday: 6,13 and 20 March Saturday: 6, 20 April: Saturday: 3,10, 17 and 24 May 2027 8 May
|
Saturday 2- 4 or 5pm
|
Vista Nova Highschool, Loerie Ave, Pinelands, Cape Town, 7405 Webinar: Online |
| Johannesburg |
February: Saturday: 6,13 and 20 March: Saturday: 6,13 and 20 April: Saturday: 3,10, 17 and 24
|
Saturday 8:30-11am (in-person lessons)
|
In-person lessons: Mutt Club, 5 Bloemfontein street, Founders Hill, Modderfontein, Edenvale,1645 Webinar: Online |
|
Virtual – Online Only |
February: Saturday: 6,13 and 20 March: Saturday: 6,13 and 20 April: Saturday: 3,10
|
Saturday
2- 4 or 5pm
|
Webinar: Live online only |
8-Module Course – Intensive Study Over 3 Months
Course Structure:
- Assessment: Students will be evaluated through weekly assignments, 2 projects, and a practical obedience exam at the end of the course.
- Completion Criteria: Every module and the practical exam must be passed to earn the diploma. Strict attendance is required for qualification.
- Commitment: Students should allocate 4-6 hours per week for assignments and projects.
Fees:
R9 700
Payment Options:
Upfront Payment: Pay for the entire course upfront (includes booking fee)
or
Instalment options:
R1000 non-refundable booking fee required upfront to confirm registration.
R2900 due by 1 Feb 2027
R2900 due by 1 March 2027
R2900 due by 1 April 2027
To register, kindly email cbti@petsensecollege.co.za to receive the registration form.
Ready to Become a Dog Trainer?
This course requires a short registration process — enquire below and we'll send you the correct Progressive Dog Trainer Diploma registration form and current class schedule.
✉️ Enquire About This Course 📞 Call Us: +27 83 407 1316Note: this course uses a dedicated registration form — please enquire above rather than using the general website registration form.
Some comments from our students.
Good day!
Thank you sooooo much! It honestly wouldn’t have been possible without your help, guidance, and support. You were an absolutely amazing facilitator, and I’m so grateful for everything you taught us.
I’m definitely going to miss our Saturday classes!
Hope you have an amazing week ahead, and thank you once again for everything!
Kind regards,
Natasha 12 August ’26
Dear Charmaine,
Thank you so much for your feedback on the practical assessment!
I have truly learnt so much over the past couple of months, and I am incredibly grateful for the experience.
Once again, thank you for all the time, patience, and compassion you have put into the course. The knowledge and information I have gained have been absolutely invaluable, and I genuinely had a superb time completing the course.
I am excited to see where this new journey takes me, and I look forward to putting everything I have learnt into practice!
Many thanks,
Dominique 12 August ’26
Casey was a great teacher! She was, patient and corrected students in a very kind manner, never saying they did anything wrong but rather what they could rather do and why! Thank you Casey for sharing your knowledge and stories to help us better understand the content! July 24
I really enjoyed this course. I learned A LOT that I didn’t know before. Through practical classes & the internship, I’ve learned how to apply the knowledge gained to everyday life with mine & my clients dogs’. Being a pet sitter & working with dogs every day, the knowledge gained through the PDT course as well as the additional knowledge gained through the internship was absolutely essential for me. Celia is very patient & sincerely understanding as well as insightful & the lessons were informative as well as fun. Thank you. 🙂 Nov 2019
Thanks Charmaine for being such a great teacher, and Pet Sense for providing such a comprehensive introductory course. I look forward to getting started in the industry and shaping a better dog culture in my neck of the woods. 12 August ’26
I am very glad I signed up for this course. I now understand how important it is to understand dog body language and their psychology to run my dog school. I learned how to do the exercises so that mistakes aren’t made and I don’t think one realises how important it is to make sure you are perfect in your training skills to ensure the dog and the owner learns the best way. Thank you for running this amazing course. March 2021
It was truly enriching and insightful. I learned alot about Canine behaviour and gained valuable insight for managing various behaviours in a dog school environment. The facilitator was exceptional; her explanations were succint yet comprehensive, both in theory and during in-person classes. She always made time to delve into certain topics, which enhanced my understanding significantly. Moreover, I found the content to be sufficient and well-structed, facilitating a smooth flow of learning throughout the course. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been part of it. April 2024
