About Us & Our Method

Dog Training List is a small team of certified, force-free dog trainers. We started this site for one reason: the dogs that everyday advice tends to give up on, the reactive ones, the fearful ones, the overwhelmed ones, deserve help that is kind and actually works.

Between us we hold professional dog-training certifications, and we have spent years in real training sessions and in our own home raising five Labrador retrievers. That mix of formal training and daily, real-life experience is what shapes everything we publish. We write in one voice, as a team, rather than under any single name.

Our philosophy: force-free, always

Every method we teach is reward-based. We follow LIMA, which means least intrusive, minimally aversive: we reach for the gentlest approach that works, and we set dogs up to get things right rather than punishing them for getting things wrong.

We do not use pain, fear, force, or intimidation, and we never will. You will not find prong collars, choke chains, shock or e-collars, or dominance-based ideas anywhere on this site, not in our words and not in our photos. When a problem is bigger than training, we say so and point you toward a veterinary behaviorist.

How we write

• Honest framing over overclaiming. We do not promise guaranteed results, because no one can.
• Concrete and practical, with steps you can actually use on your next walk.
• Careful with safety. Aggression and health content is framed as how to get the right help.
• Heavily interlinked, so you can follow a topic as deep as you need.

How we vet trainers

The directory is the heart of this site, so we are careful with it. The inclusion filter is simple: a trainer must commit to force-free, reward-based methods by accepting our code of conduct (v1.0), and ideally hold an accepted force-free credential.

Every listing shows plainly how far we checked it, and we never display a higher tier than we actually performed:

• Self-listed, force-free attested. The trainer added or claimed the listing and accepted the code of conduct. No independent check yet.
• Credential verified. We confirmed at least one accepted certification against the issuing body’s public record.
• Manually reviewed. We reviewed the trainer’s public methods statement and confirmed a force-free approach.

A listing is still not an endorsement or a guarantee. Please read our directory disclaimer and interview any trainer yourself before you book.

How we pay for this

Keeping the guides free costs money, so we fund the site in two transparent ways: affiliate links to force-free gear we would use ourselves, and paid placement options for trainers in the directory. Neither one buys a recommendation. A commission never changes a pick, and we do not place affiliate links inside safety or health guidance. Full details are in our affiliate disclosure.

Say hello

Have a question, a correction, or a dog you are stuck on? We would love to hear from you. Get in touch.