Short answer
Check the licence first — dog trainers are not licensed in Australia, so check qualifications and public liability insurance instead. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 439 Australian dog trainers in this directory, only 12.5% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 2.8% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.
Dog Trainers handle puppy school, obedience, behaviour problems, reactivity and private in-home training. This is what to check before you hand your dog to someone, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.
There is no dog trainer licence — so check something else
Dog training is unlicensed and the methods vary enormously. A qualification such as a Certificate IV in animal behaviour or membership of the Delta Institute or the APDT tells you the trainer has committed to reward-based methods; a trainer who will not describe their methods, or who reaches for aversive tools first, is telling you something too.
No licence. The Delta Institute and the APDT Australia list their members; a Certificate IV is a checkable qualification. Methods matter more than any of them.
What 439 Australian dog trainers actually publish
We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For dog trainers:
| What we checked | Dog Trainers | All trades |
|---|---|---|
| Publish an ABN we could confirm | 12.5% | 21.5% |
| Listed phone matches their own website | 50.3% | 59.2% |
| Listed phone contradicts their own website | 2.8% | 7.7% |
| Website responded when we checked | 81.1% | 81% |
| Corroborated by two or more sources | 72.6% | 81.1% |
| Median number of Google reviews | 38 | 39 |
What goes wrong with dog trainers
- Aversive methods used without your knowledge, which can make a fearful dog worse
- Guarantees of a fixed outcome, which no honest trainer gives
- Group classes with no vaccination requirement
What to ask before the work starts
- What methods do you use, and what will you never do to my dog?
- What qualification or professional membership do you hold?
- What are the vaccination requirements for your classes?
A dog trainer who answers all three of those without hesitating is telling you something useful. One who is vague about a licence number is telling you something too.
The median matters more than the average
The median dog trainer in this directory has 38 Google reviews. That is the number to hold in your head when you see a perfect five-star rating: five stars from four reviews and 4.6 from three hundred are not comparable, and the second is almost always the safer hire.
It is also why the ranking here weights review volume more heavily than review score. A business cannot buy its position, and a handful of glowing reviews does not move it far.
Where the dog trainers are
Melbourne (26). A shortlist for your own area is more useful than a national ranking — the best dog trainer in the country is no help if they are four states away.
Where to check a licence, by state
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state where the work is happening.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Common questions
- Do dog trainers need a licence in Australia?
- No. Dog training is unlicensed and the methods vary enormously. A qualification such as a Certificate IV in animal behaviour or membership of the Delta Institute or the APDT tells you the trainer has committed to reward-based methods; a trainer who will not describe their methods, or who reaches for aversive tools first, is telling you something too.
- How do I check a dog trainer's licence?
- No licence. The Delta Institute and the APDT Australia list their members; a Certificate IV is a checkable qualification. Methods matter more than any of them.
- What percentage of Australian dog trainers have a verifiable ABN?
- 12.5% of the 439 dog trainers in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 21.5% across all trades.
- How many reviews should a dog trainer have?
- The median dog trainer here has 38. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.
Compare dog trainers near you
439 dog trainers, ranked on the evidence described above rather than on advertising.
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