Would you like to become one of the Nordic region's best clicker training instructors? Canis's 1-year clicker instructor training course was first run in 2003, and is the course where many of the most well-known dog instructors in the Nordic region started their careers.
Since 2015, the instructor course has been delivered 100% ONLINE. This means it's straightforward to participate no matter where in the Nordic region you live.
During the course you will gain a crystal-clear understanding of all the specific training skills that good clicker training consists of — and above all, how you can most effectively communicate these skills to your course participants.
Teaching takes place (from 18 August 2026 to approximately 1 May 2027) in the form of
- weekly live webinars (Tuesdays, 21:00–22:30)
- video lessons
- feedback through the course's closed Facebook group, where participants can submit training videos and ask questions throughout the entire year
- practical training with your own dog
- observation exercises (you'll become a skilled observer over the course of the year!)
- work on project assignments submitted at the end of the course
The course is led by Canis founder Morten Egtvedt. In addition, you will meet several guest lecturers at the absolute world-class level. From guest lecturers on the instructor course currently running, we can mention names such as Cecilie Køste, Dr. Susan Friedman, Michele Pouliot, Dr. Rick Kubina, Dr. Joe Layng and Tobias Gustavsson. Guest lecturers for the 2026/27 course will be confirmed during spring, but will likely include many of the same names — or other top-level lecturers.
You will quickly discover that this is not a "typical dog course". We don't just want to teach you specific training skills — over the course of the year you will build a very solid professional foundation that will serve you well for the rest of your life, regardless of which dog sport you are most interested in. Many participants also report learning things on this course that have proved useful far beyond dog training itself…
The course is relatively time-consuming (especially for participants — it is considerably more manageable for observers) and as a participant you must be prepared to invest effort equivalent to a part-time degree or evening school. If you want to invest in your own competence as a dog trainer or instructor and gain skills and knowledge you will benefit from for many years to come, this is definitely the course for you!
If you have limited time available, but still want to take the opportunity to learn as much as possible, we recommend you follow the course as an observer.
Because the teaching is 100% web-based, you can easily follow the course in the evening or whenever it suits you best, in front of your own computer, no matter where in the world you live. You save travel costs compared to how the course was previously delivered. This new course format has made it much easier for dog owners across the Nordic region to participate. In recent years we have had participants from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland!
An online course requires that you have some "self-discipline" and stick with it throughout the year. We have, however, designed the course so that it is entirely possible to participate with different levels of ambition and effort — and still learn a lot. It is possible to be very active — but at the same time you can also learn a lot simply by following the more active students and learning from the feedback they receive.
Benchmarking for Clicker Training
The core of Canis's clicker instructor training is Canis's "Benchmarking System for Clicker Training", which breaks down the entire training process into its individual components, and describes how all the most important training skills look, from beginner level right through to expert level. In many ways we can describe this system as "the core skills for the handler".
By working systematically with this system you will, within just the first few months of the course, develop observation skills that very few other instructors come close to. When you have completed the course you will notice that it has become much easier to pinpoint precisely which areas of training will have the greatest impact to improve. A dog instructor who has mastered the art of thorough observation and can then identify 1–3 key improvement points that will clearly enhance the student's training is an exceptionally effective instructor. And of course you will also carry these skills into your own dog training.
The benchmarking system is only available to participants on the clicker instructor course. The reason is simply that it requires training to use the system as it is intended to be used — and you will learn this thoroughly during the first half of the course.
The Instructor Training Consists of:
- 30+ weekly live webinars (Tuesdays from 21:00–22:30). In these weekly webinars you meet the lead instructor/lecturer and the other participants "live" in the Zoom classroom. Each week we go through a new and interesting topic. Recordings of the webinars become available to all participants the next day, so you can keep up even if you can't attend every single live webinar.
- A closed Facebook group where you submit training videos and receive feedback on your training (and you will also learn a lot from feedback given to other participants). The Facebook group is where daily teaching takes place. It is a very good and safe environment in this closed group, and you can hardly avoid learning a lot simply by being part of this group and "breathing clicker training" for a whole year.
- A large number of video lessons, where you learn everything you need to know about clicker training — and how you can most effectively pass these skills on to your course participants. These video lessons are "required study material" on the course and provide you with much of the background knowledge you need to keep up with the teaching.
- You will be provided with unique study material: Canis's Benchmarking System for Clicker Training. This system serves as the "foundation" of the training, and will (once you have worked with it for a few months) give you a crystal-clear picture of what makes expert trainers into experts — and what beginners need to learn to get there. Being able to break down "good dog training" into its individual components will give you a significant advantage both as a dog trainer and instructor.
- Each month you will also work on different training assignments with your own dog. You submit video recordings showing the status of your training whenever you wish, and you will receive feedback on your training so you can improve your training skills as you progress. Video analysis allows the course leader to give feedback that is much more precise than when "just" observing training live.
- In addition to the training assignments, you will also learn to perform video analysis on your own — of both your own and others' training. This will accelerate your observation skills and make you extremely aware of how all the most important clicker training skills should look.
- You will learn how you can collect data during training and thereby make your training more scientific, so that you can gain more reliable knowledge about how effectively your training is working or not (regardless of which training method is used!)
- We also provide suggestions for (optional) course books for those who want to study further on their own.
- The course concludes with submission of project assignments (by 1 April) that you will have worked on throughout the year. The requirement to pass the course is straightforward: all project assignments must be submitted (by the deadline) and approved by the course leader. If one or more of the project assignments are not approved or completed by the deadline, it is possible to submit them at a later date.
Opportunity to Participate as an Observer
It is also possible to participate in the instructor course as an observer. This is a great offer for you if you want to learn "everything" about clicker training, but for various reasons don't want to participate as a full participant with your own dog (for example, if you have a "retired" dog or a very young puppy right now). This is also an excellent offer for you if you feel you might not quite be ready to take the step up as a clicker training instructor yet, but you still want to learn as much as possible about clicker training (and instruction!), and have a goal of becoming an instructor once you have gained a few years of additional practical experience with clicker training.
Observers receive access to all video lessons, all study material — and you can participate in the webinars on equal terms with the other participants (and ask questions during the webinars etc). You also have access to read all feedback posted in the Facebook group.
Observers do NOT submit project assignments or training videos, and will not receive feedback on their own training skills or video analyses. But of course you can do all these assignments on your own for your own training purposes if you wish. As an observer you can simply put it this way: learn as much as you want — at your own pace.
Dog Instructor as a Career (or Part-time Job)?
Once you have completed and passed this training (as a participant), you have the opportunity to apply to become an instructor at Canis Hundeskole.
But most people who take this course already run their own dog schools, are active as instructors at their own dog club — or primarily want to develop their own dog training skills.
Canis's goal is to spread the best possible knowledge about clicker training to as many dog owners as possible, and we therefore welcome EVERYONE who is interested in reward-based dog training on this course!
What do you need to participate in the instructor course?
- Computer with web camera
- Video camera (iPhone or similar works fine as long as you film close enough for the sound to be clear)
- YouTube account to upload videos (you might want to mark videos as "unlisted" if you don't want others to see them).
- Facebook account (as all information during the course goes through the closed Facebook group).
- A clicker-trained dog that enjoys training (you don't need a Malinois or Border Collie to participate, but it's an advantage if the dog is not completely unsuited to somewhat more advanced training) :-)
(Observers only need access to a PC/Facebook).
Prior Knowledge
It is an advantage if you have previously completed Canis's clicker trainer course or other courses through Canis Hundeskole if you are to participate as a regular participant (or if you have equivalent experience with clicker training from other good dog schools).
You should also be familiar with the main principles described in books such as "Klikkertrening for din hund" or "Lydighetstrening i teori og praksis", and have trained based on these principles for some time beforehand (or read up in the months before the course begins!).
There are no formal prerequisites for observers, but you should have reasonable knowledge of clicker training beforehand to get full benefit from the course, as the teaching at times will be at a relatively advanced level. Experience from competitive training (obedience, working tests, rally, freestyle, agility etc) is definitely an advantage.
The course is mainly conducted in Norwegian. In practice, Danes and Swedes understand the language reasonably well within a few weeks. We also have several guest lecturers from the USA, so it's an advantage if you understand English reasonably well.
Course Leaders
The instructor course has been designed by Morten Egtvedt and Cecilie Køste. Morten will conduct most of the teaching during the course.
Morten and Cecilie founded Canis in 1998, and have written three books on clicker training that have had significant influence on the Nordic dog community over the last 25 years.
In addition, you will meet several world-class guest lecturers in the second half of the course.
### Enrolment Deadline
- 18 August 2026
*NOTE: We accept enrolments on a "first come, first served" basis. All enrolments are therefore binding. When all places are taken, we close for further enrolments.*
Course Fee
- Participant with dog: NOK 29,500
- Observer: NOK 17,500
- *VIP observer: NOK 3,500 (reduced observer price, only for those who participated as a participant or observer in the 2015–2025 period and want a repeat year — write "previous participant/observer" in the first question of the enrolment form).*
Bring Your Friends — Get a Friend Discount!
Experience shows that it is a MAJOR advantage to bring a good training partner (or more!) to take the course at the same time as you. Then you can support each other throughout, collaborate on assignments, help each other film training videos — and in short keep each other "on track" through the entire year. So get in touch with your best training partners and enrol together!
- We give a 10% "friend discount" on the enrolment fee when 2–3 people from the same club/dog school/friend group enrol together.
- If there are 4 or more of you from the same club/dog school/friend group enrolling together, the discount increases to 20%.
If you belong to a club/company/organisation where more than 8 participants want to participate at the same time (as participants and/or observers), you can contact the course leader for a customised price offer.
*NOTE: Use discount code VENN10 to get 10% discount when you and a friend enrol in the course together.*
- The friend discount offer applies to both observers and participants.
- The friend discount offer is valid right up to the enrolment deadline.
- Multiple discounts (e.g. friend discount and early bird discount) cannot be combined — the highest discount applies.
Payment/Invoicing
You can pay for the course by card (on the next page), or choose an invoice from Klarna with a 30-day payment deadline. Instalments are also available through Klarna if you prefer.
*NOTE: Enrolment is binding, and the course fee must be paid in full even if for various reasons you should wish to "drop out" during the course. You should only apply for this course if you are ready to study seriously and invest the effort required over the entire year.*
Start Date
The course officially starts with the first webinar on Tuesday 18 August 2026 (21:00). After that it's full speed ahead until approximately 1 May 2027 (with the exception of a month's Christmas break in December).
Webinars are held (with few exceptions) Tuesdays 21:00 to approximately 22:30 (I must admit we do go over time now and then). This is a practical time for most people. Video lessons and other work related to the course can be done whenever suits you. It is also possible to watch the webinars on recording if you are busy one Tuesday evening.
Questions?
If you have questions about the course before you enrol, you are welcome to contact course leader Morten Egtvedt. I look forward to seeing you in front of the screen when the course starts in August!