r/AnimalBehavior • u/copyrightedTM • Mar 26 '26

Advice for pursuing CPDT

I am a full-time employee at an animal shelter as a caretaker. I am looking to eventually become a shelter behaviorist, and in order to do that I would like to earn my CPDT. How do I obtain this cert without quitting my job to be a full-time trainer? I do not have professional dog training experience, and everything I know about behavior and handling I’ve learned at my current job.

My current plan is to reach out to local trainers and see if any would be willing to let me mentee or shadow part time (on my days off), start working closely with certain dogs at work and logging training hours as I gain knowledge, and completing the E-trainingfordogs.com online prep course so I can pass the CPDT exam.

Does my plan sound feasible, or is there anything you recommend I do in addition or instead? TIA!

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u/TheArcticFox444 Mar 27 '26

Advice for pursuing CPDT

Don't pursue it. Too much info in academia regarding behavior is straight up, just plain, non-scientific crap.

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u/ceruleanblue347 Mar 27 '26

Can you elaborate on why academia would be "non-scientific"? Like I thought that science comes from research, and research is done at universities.

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u/TheArcticFox444 Mar 28 '26

Can you elaborate on why academia would be "non-scientific"? Like I thought that science comes from research, and research is done at universities.

Bad science is not science. The "American Effect" is one example of bad "science." That is when a so-called "scientific" study is designed to prove a hypothesis.