The CPDT-KA Exam Study Course will help prepare you to successfully complete the Certified Professional Dog Trainer Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) Exam
Newly revised! December, 2025
Are you a serious professional dog trainer who is interested in gaining the knowledge to successfully complete the Certified Professional Dog Trainer Knowledge-Assessed (CPDT-KA) Exam? Whether you are new to the profession or seasoned as a dog training instructor, you will increase your understanding of the science and art of learning, canine development, behavior, ethology, husbandry and health through the CPDT-KA Exam Study course. There’s something here for all dedicated dog trainers to enhance your understanding and ability to work with dogs and their people. Plus, by taking this informative course, you’ll gain access to a reliable cohort of professional trainers across the nation that is also studying for the exam. This network provides encouragement and support, with the guidance of the instructors and successful CPDT-KA certificants, to assist you in your exam preparation. Become the newest certified CPDT-KA in your state and position yourself at the top of the industry!
Course Information: This course is designed to familiarize you with every topic included on the CPDT-KA certification exam. There are six pre-recorded lessons, which you can listen to at your convenience as often as you like. Following each lecture/slide presentation is a quiz on that particular topic, which you can take as often as you like.
For those who have limited online time, transcripts of each lecture can be downloaded and read at your convenience. There is also a final exam, made to simulate the CPDT-KA exam, albeit a bit shorter, which you can also take for practice as often as you like.
Our private Facebook page gives you the opportunity for daily test-taking practice with the kinds of questions that will appear on the CPDT-KA exam. Five questions are posted daily throughout the work week approximately six weeks prior to the exam, with answers and discussion posted the following day. There is also a live web chat scheduled before each exam period, giving you the chance to ask questions and discuss the material.
The course instructors are available by email on a limited basis to answer any questions that might arise regarding lecture content. Help with any technical issue is readily available through E-Training for Dogs.
Instructors: Christina de Juan, Ph.D., CPDT-KA and Carin Ford, M.A., CPDT-KA
What you can expect to learn from this course:
- Professional practices and ethics as prescribed by the CCPDT and how that applies to real-world dog training
- Learning theory and application: brief history of the development of behaviorism, classical and operant conditioning, cues, stimulus control, shaping, management, and how these are applied to training plans.
- Training and management equipment: proper uses, advantages and disadvantages, tools which are considered aversive.
- Instructional skills: inter- and intrapersonal communication, empathic listening, learning styles, classroom preparation, set-up and management, techniques for dealing with difficult clients.
- Ethology: current theories on the history of canine domestication, canine developmental stages, canine body language, stress signals, calming signals.
- Canine health and husbandry: basic nutrition, grooming, current vaccination guidelines, parasites and infectious diseases, which may limit a dog’s participation in training.
Text and required supplies: There are no textbooks required for the CPDT-KA Exam Study Course, but it is strongly recommended that each student review the current CCPDT handbook for a recommended reading list for the exam.
Quizzes: There is a practice quiz at the end of each lesson.
Final Exam: The CPDT-KA Exam Study Course final exam will be a written exam consisting of 100 multiple-choice questions, and is recommended to be completed within 90 minutes to simulate the timed certification exam. Questions are written in the same style as those on the CPDT-KA exam.
Online Discussion Group: Students will be allowed access to an active online discussion group where study questions are given and discussed six weeks prior to each testing period.
Registrants will receive:
- Information about the certification qualifications and application process.
- Systematic review of the CPDT-KA test domains.
- Down-loadable slides with lecture notes for every lesson.
- Access to a live web chat for real time group study.
- Access to an active online discussion group with quiz questions and discussion.
- Study tips and hints for taking a computer-based test.
- Email access to the CPDT-KA instructors throughout the course.
We encourage you to prepare well ahead of your desired examination date.
Course length: Six lessons
CEU’s Available:
CCPDT: 7 CEUs
IAABC: 9 CEUs
Course Cost – $185.00
In addition, from a CBCC-KA test participant:
Student Information: Please go to www.CCPDT.org and read before enrolling for this course. We also recommend reading the current Candidate Handbook.
CCPDT Affiliation Disclaimer:
This program is not affiliated with nor endorsed by CCPDT.
You must also read and agree to the E-Training for Dogs, Inc. Standard Terms and Conditions prior to taking a course: Click HERE to read these. You will be asked when you register if you have read them and will not be allowed to take the course if you do not agree to the terms.
Please read our policy on refunds. Click HERE