Pet Professional Accreditation Board

Stand Up for What You Believe In!

• Join an organization that provides a credential with an ethical compass to support it.
• Be recognized for your knowledge, skills, and people-training expertise.
• Show clients that you are serious about your profession.
• Help mentor others and shape our industry by being a great professional ambassador.
• Progress through our three levels of credentials to advance your professional development.
• Transfer your existing well-earned credentials to the Pet Professional Accreditation Board.

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Competency Is Mission Critical

What is professional competence, and how does the concept of competence impact the work of professional pet trainers and pet care providers?

Professional competence is the “broad professional knowledge, attitude, and skills required to work in a specialized area or profession. Disciplinary knowledge and the application of concepts, processes, and skills are required in a test of professional competence in any particular field.”¹

With regard to counseling, “professional competence is the most ethical obligation a professional has in their field of expertise.”²

Knowledge and Performance are Distinct Yet Interconnected Concepts.

Knowledge refers to the understanding and awareness of facts and ideas, while performance is the practical application of this knowledge.

Dog training depends on knowledge and performance. While these concepts are distinct, both must be evaluated before a professional can be accredited or licensed.

Can you imagine other industries certifying or licensing professionals without evidence of both knowledge and performance?

Veterinary medicine, surgery, nursing, and most trades require competency in performance.

We cannot overlook performance factors and focus solely on testing knowledge when working with sentient beings. Yes, it requires hard work to gain accreditation from organizations that demand both, and we know that demonstrating competency through skill videos or in-person testing can be daunting and challenging. However, we must all agree to establish high standards to enhance and professionalize the pet training and behavior consulting industry!

To be competent means a professional is knowledgeable, schooled in the theory and research of their industry, and has the necessary skills to apply that field of knowledge to a working situation with their clients.³ —Niki Tudge

The Value of a Professional Credential

Credentials recognize individuals for meeting specific criteria of skills and knowledge. They are a way for practitioners to seek self-promotion and differentiate themselves from their competitive set.

Consumers draw inferences from certifications that a professional has met a specific competency standard and/or carries a particular body or depth of pertinent knowledge. Along with several other industries, however, including the pet industry, there is currently no legal requirement to be certified and no legal mechanism in place to protect the consumer from negative or injurious consequence that transpires as the result of an individual’s lack of certification.

Credentialing organizations set standards of competency and their credentialing programs are designed to use these predetermined competencies as benchmarks for pass or failure performances.

What Makes PPAB Credentials Stand Apart

The Pet Professional Accreditation Board offers the only psychometrically sound examinations and accreditations supporting humane and scientific practices for professionals who believe there is no place for shock, choke, prong, pain, force, or fear in pet training and behavior practices.

The PPAB sets a high standard, assessing competency in the following areas:

• Knowledge Testing via an online proctored examination
• Performance Competency. Skills in basic training, creating a positive conditioned emotional response, and class management/private consulting are demonstrated via video submissions.
• Case Management. Individual management of behavior cases is assessed via the submission of four written case studies (Professional Behavior Consultant level)

How the Credentials Were Developed

For each credentialing level, a team of subject matter experts developed a job task analysis, based on which they determined the knowledge and skills that professionals at each level should have as a minimum competency.

Examinations were then developed and reviewed with the help of NOCTI Business Solutions , which has earned full accreditation from the International Certification Accreditation Council   (ICAC).

ICAC accreditation signifies that NOCTI’s career and technical education (CTE) assessments and certifications and Nocti Business Solutions’ technical skill assessments follow the best international industry practices and standards outlined in ISO 17024.

The examinations were then piloted to ensure the questions performed to the required level of competency and reliability, and then they were fine-tuned with the help of a subject matter expert with a PhD in education.

Skill competencies were then established, and video assessments were developed. All skills are assessed against specific, tangible, and measurable criteria. The personal opinion of an assessor does not determine pass or failure, but whether the required criteria have been met. Case studies are reviewed independently by a team and then collated by the assessment coordinator.

¹Reference. (2023). What Is Professional Competence? Retrieved January 10, 2024.

²Welfel, E.R. (2009). Ethics in Counseling and Psychotherapy. Cengage Learning, Inc. 

³As cited in Tudge, N.J., Nilson, S.J., Millikan, D.A., & Stapleton-Frappell, L.A. (2019). Pet Training and Behavior Consulting: A Model for Raising the Bar to Protect Professionals, Pets and Their People. DogNostics Career Center Publishing .

PPAB Resources

Learn How to Get a Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB) Credential

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Pet Professional Accreditation Board Support Group

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