ADVOCACY TOOLKIT
The Alliance for Professionalism in Dog Training (the Alliance) works to educate state legislators about the need to adopt dog trainer licensure legislation across the United States. The Alliance engages in advocacy – a term that refers to supporting, defending, or arguing for a specific cause or issue with the purpose of bringing about change by raising awareness, increasing support, or influencing policy.
The Alliance began this dog training policy initiative to help advance our profession’s reputation, as well as to protect the pet owners and dogs we serve. Because for the time being the profession of dog training is largely unregulated, unqualified dog trainers frequently put educated, credentialled trainers at risk, due to the unqualified trainers’ inability to train dogs successfully, as well as the harm some have caused to animals in their care.
We have created a variety of advocacy tools you can use to help us advance licensure in a state in which you live or work. These tools will help you influence local public policy and laws with the aid of facts and messaging the Alliance collates, and allow you to take better advantage of media opportunities and your connections to educate government officials and the public.
TALKING POINTS
We have developed some talking points about the benefits of professional licensure and the Model Legislation drafted by the Alliance for Professionalism in Dog Training. You can refer to these when speaking with other dog trainers or local legislators after legislation has been introduced.
SAMPLE EMAIL COPY
We have drafted a sample email message you can send to your state policymakers as soon as licensure is under consideration where you live and work. Your email will be most effective if you customize it to include a personal story that illustrates how licensure would help distinguish you from unqualified trainers and provide your clients with assurances that you have the training and education required to effectively and safety train their dogs.
We will let you know when the time comes to email legislators. At that point, we also will provide specific details about what laws are being proposed in your state, since each state’s proposed legislation will likely be a bit different.
PRINTABLE FLYER OR EMAIL ATTACHMENT
Share this printable or emailable flyer with other dog trainers to give them more background on the Alliance and dog trainer licensure!
Once a dog trainer licensure bill is introduced, grassroots advocacy will be instrumental in winning broader support. It’s not yet time to mobilize widespread outreach, but there is a short form below you can complete if you’d like us to contact you to support efforts in a state where you live or work. By signing up, you are not obligating yourself to take action in any specific way, but we will keep you informed and let you know what opportunities are available.
SOCIAL MEDIA GRAPHIC AND COPY
We have created the following graphics, which you can put on your social media channels to communicate your support of dog trainer licensure. Here is suggested copy you can use (or modify) to create your post:
“As an educated and credentialled dog trainer, I support state licensure for members of my profession. Requiring a license will help protect consumers and their dogs from unqualified or abusive trainers, by setting clear and enforceable standards. You can find out more about how dog trainers are advocating for state licensure here. www.prodogtraineralliance.org.”