Tag Archives: sustainability

The only Bona Fide certification scheme

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This is a particularly short blog as it doesn’t require much explanation and is more of a news flash than a discussion. The repercussions for the animal behaviour and training sector however should not be underestimated.

In October 2023 I wrote a blog about what it means to be certified and explained the requirements of creating a valid certification scheme. At that time there were no such bona fide schemes in existence despite their advertising suggesting otherwise.

There are still a number of organisations that declare they certify or certificate their individual practitioners but sadly, none have had any of their certification schemes validated through independent accreditation from an authoritative body. This means that they do not amount to much more than a marketing scheme aimed at attracting people to sign up with them. It has to be admitted it sounds more impressive to be called a certified animal trainer or behaviourist than not. The reality however is that the addition of the word ‘certified’ in these cases actually has no real value at all.

Two years on from that last blog real progress has finally been made by ABTC as it has just announced that its certification scheme has achieved UKAS recognition. All the policies, procedures and standards associated with the certification scheme have been examined and reviewed by UKAS and found to be compliant with ISO/IEC 17067. This is a huge milestone for the industry which means that there is now a genuine certification scheme for the animal behaviour and training sector.

The way it works is that the ABTC member organisations that assess their individual practitioners will be approved to certify them by ABTC as the certification scheme owner. This means that all stakeholders can have confidence that the practitioners they engage have met the high level of competence they claim and their assessment has met internationally recognised standards. No longer is there a need to rely on self declaration of skills.

No doubt the unverified systems will continue outside of the influence of ABTC for the time being but if someone presents as an expert on the basis that they say they are or their professional assessment was not part of a genuine validated certification scheme the advice would be ‘buyer beware’.

For anyone already in the industry and registered with ABTC, well done, you are officially at the fore front of professionalism. If you have doubts about the way things are going you should be aware that the government is actively discussing regulation of the sector and UKAS accreditation is very much a factor in their decision making. There is a clear desire to bring all practitioners up to ABTC standards.

Dire standards of advertising

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Due to the lack of a central authority to regulate animal trainers and behaviourists the standard of advertising used by course providers and organisations claiming to represent people doing the job is in many cases quite appalling. Anyone approaching the industry would be well advised to keep their eyes open to the frequent misleading and unsubstantiated claims they will be faced with by those whose aim is ultimately to relieve the unsuspecting individual of their money.

Looking back through my earlier blogs you will see that I have written about underhand marketing in various forms before but with an ever growing number of membership organisations and course providers it has become more and more apparent that complying with advertising standards is really not on the agenda for many.

The latest trend is to offer a pathway to become a certified trainer or behaviourist, it sounds grand and the unsuspecting researcher might be forgiven for feeling that being certified adds an air of authenticity or superiority to the role. The truth is the addition of that one word is meaningless and of no value whatsoever because there are no accredited certification schemes in existence. There is the possibility of one becoming available by the end of 2024 but it is doubtful that anyone offering certified status now will qualify to be a part of it.

Another type of misleading advertising is known as using subjective language, where unsubstantiated claims are made such, ‘we only use the very best instructors’ or ‘our members include world leading practitioners’. As there are no league tables of competence or any way of objectively measuring how good such people are at their jobs these are also misleading statements that are there solely for the purpose of trying to convince the reader they are associated with the upper echelons of the industry and you could be too if you spend your money here.

A common ploy that many fall for is the promise of post nominals (letters) to put after your name on completion of a course. The uninitiated often feel that this too adds value to their investment when the truth is they are also of no value at all. If anything they advertise to future customers that the individual has studied with someone who is prepared to use underhand methods as part of their marketing strategy. These letters are invented by the provider of the course and do not appear on any register of qualifications anywhere and are therefore worthless.

Claiming (or inferring) a relationship with auspicious organisations such as the government, the forces or high profile animal charities and in some cases even illustrating the point with images or logos that there is no permission to use is another bad practice. The aim is to enhance the perceived stature of the organisation in the eyes of the reader when the reality is that any such link is often highly tenuous and of little or no consequence at all.

In these times of financial stress it is all the more important that people have all the facts before they part with their hard earned cash and that they have a chance of getting value for money. The good news is that the situation is not all bad, ABTC has set standards for advertising that all its member organisations must adhere to. It also sets the highest standards for qualifications and assessments for the trainers and behaviourists that appear on its registers. At least here there is a good chance of getting quality advice before making what could be a substantial investment.