Want to say “Yes!” when clients ask you if you can help train their service dog? Already offering service dog training but want to expand your skill-set even more and join a collaborative network of like-minded trainers?
Atlas’ Trainer Certification program is designed for the experienced dog trainer wishing to expand their knowledge, skill-set, and business.
Through our Academy, trainers will learn to support and work with clients with a wide range of disabilities. They will learn to train complex disability mitigating tasks, train their clients for public access, and gain a deeper understanding for the world of disability and service dogs.
While our program is developed and run by Industry experts, it is not a program of Assistance Dogs International and is not endorsed by ADI. They do not presently endorse external training programs.
About the Program
- Upon completing Atlas' Academy, you become an Atlas Certified Trainer
- All online, can be taken from anywhere in the world
- Expand your communication and teaching skills
- Enhance your core dog behavior, development, health, fitness, and training knowledge
- Learn about a wide range of disabilities and how to better support disabled clients train their service dog
- Learn to train service dog tasks for medical response and alert, mobility, and psychiatric conditions
- Learn how to prepare a service dog and their handler for public access and real life skills
- Get guidance and feedback about your own business model
- Earn 30 CEUs for KPA, 25 for IAABC, and 21 for CCPDT
- Get listed on our website as an Atlas Certified Trainer and get direct client referals
How You Will Learn
Atlas’ Trainer Academy is an online, self-paced program. To ensure this is the best fit for your learning style, please make sure you understand the following about the course structure and what will be required of you.
- You will learn through a mix of written material, hand-outs, worksheets, and videos, all hosted on our online platform.
- You will be asked to complete quizzes for each module. These are a mix of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions.
- You will be asked to submit video assignments for some of the modules. Some will be of you working with a dog, some working with a person and dog, and some just coaching a person without a dog.
- We will provide you with progress status updates along the way, but you are mainly responsible for your own time management and progressing through the course. We ask that you complete the Academy within 12 months.
- You will get individualized feedback on all your assignments from our course instructors.
- You will have access to a private Atlas Trainer Facebook group.
- You will have the opportunity to join Zoom meet-ups every other week where you can meet and network with other trainers and course instructors.
- Once you have graduated, you will get continued access to new and updated courses at no additional cost.
Benefits of Atlas Trainer Certification
Becoming an Atlas Certified Trainer means:
- Credibility: You have invested in your education and can point your clients towards your credentials
- Visibility: You are listed on our website and given direct client referrals
- Knowledge: You get continued access to newly released and updated courses at no additional cost
- Experience: You earn 30 CEUs for KPA, 25 for IAABC, and 21 for CCPDT
- Support: You have continued support from Atlas staff, faculty, and your peers
Application Details
To begin the process, click the “Apply Now” button. A complete application requires:
- A submitted online application
- One client reference letter
- One professional reference letter
Once we have received all three, we will be in touch within 10 business days. If we feel that you would be a good fit, we will set up an interview with you, conducted over Zoom. During the interview, we will ask that you have a dog available to demo how you work and problem solve with the dog while introducing a new skill or behavior.
We will also go over your background and experience and discuss your options for qualifying discounts and course test-out options.
A $50 interview fee will be invoiced upon confirmation of the interview.
Financial Aid
We recognize that cost can be a barrier to continuing education. We offer several financial aid opportunities to help offset the cost of our program to trainers and continuously work to increase our financial aid offerings.
Testimonials
"Finishing my certification with Atlas has given me the skills, confidence and ability to help others in a way that is truly life changing.
I know what a difference an assistance dog can make and I want to help bring that freedom to others."
"Completing the Atlas Trainer Program has greatly expanded my knowledge on many disabilities and how to best teach, support, and help a team navigate their daily lives”
“I now have a strategic game plan of what tasks I can assist future clients with as well as a network for continued support for those times when I need to brainstorm with like minded trainers."
“This certification wasn’t just about checking boxes. It was a deep dive—real in-depth training plans, training video submissions, exams, and coaching clients. Along the way, I found a new home with Atlas. The care, community, and standards—it all aligned with my heart.”
“Completing the program gave me the confidence to take on service dog clients. I started receiving inquiries almost immediately and building lasting, rewarding connections.”
FAQs
We ask that you have at least two years of professional dog training experience where you are the primary trainer and are responsible for planning and carrying out lessons with people and their dogs. Private experience is preferred, but group experience is acceptable if you were the lead trainer.
You should at least an intermediate level of knowledge and skills with positive reinforcement training techniques such as clicker/marker training, target training, shaping, capturing, and forming behavior chains.
Atlas’ Academy is designed for someone who is already working as a professional trainer, or has a professional level of experience.
On a case by case basis, we will accept trainers who do not have two years of professional experience. If you are unsure that you meet our criteria, please email info@atlasdog.org to inquire.
Based on your prior experience, you may qualify to test-out (and get discounts) on some of our modules. We give credits for experience and qualifications.
Maximum discounted rates for highly experienced dog trainers as well as human educators who can show qualification for all areas other than Atlas service programs and required people programs: $2,889
Certification fee with no discounts: $3,770
Annual Recertification fee: $200
Application fee: $50
The application fee is credited towards the certification if the certification fee is paid in one installment. Application fee is non-refundable and valid for one year.
Income from the Academy helps subsidize our Client Program. This means that while you are increasing your skills and knowledge, you are also directly helping people with disabilities obtain training services at low costs!
See our detailed program brochure for information about qualifications and test outs.
Yes. We offer a payment plan where you may pay in up to three installments.
If you pay in installments, you will get access to the courses in increments and only get access to the final courses upon completion of your final payment.
You will need to complete our online application as well as have two reference letters submitted:
- One professional reference from someone in a dog related profession (trainer, behaviorist, vet, instructor etc.) who you have known for at least one year.
- One personal reference from a client you have worked with in a private or group training for at least 6 months.
We ask that you complete the Academy within 12 months, though most will take less to complete. If you complete within nine months, your first renewal fee will be waived.
If you have not completed the course within one year and wish to continue, we do offer a three month extension for $225 to give you additional time. If you do not wish to continue beyond the 12 months, you will lose access to the course and additional resources (Facebook group, virtual meet-ups etc.).
Atlas Certified Trainers are completely independent of Atlas. They might have their own businesses or be taking the program to increase their knowledge. They are not employees or contractors of Atlas and are not paid by Atlas. They are free to charge their clients and follow their own programs as they see fit.
No. Assistance Dogs International does not accredit independent trainers or their clients. As an Atlas Certified Trainer, you will not be able to provide ADI accreditation to your private clients. You will however have gained thorough knowledge about Public Access Testing and are welcome to develop your own testing standards for your clients.
Atlas is committed to using positive reinforcement, non aversive, and scientifically backed training methods. We believe in ethical treatment of both dogs and people and ask the same of our trainers. Any trainer signing up for the Academy must agree to abide by our training standards. Use of force, fear, intimidation on any dog or person will not be accepted.
Yes! We want to expand access to our professional trainers with disabilities or different learning needs. Please contact us before or during the course to let us know about accommodations that might help, or to discuss your needs. We will do our best to support you in your progress.
We offer several speciality courses as stand alone options. These are all courses that are included within the full Academy. If you were to decide to eventually sign up for the Academy after completing one (or multiple) of these courses, the cost of the Academy would be discounted.
For a more foundational level of training, check out our Teams Set in Motion online program.