Do you want to become one of the Nordic's best clicker training instructors? Canis's 1-year clicker training instructor course was arranged for the first time in 2003, and it 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 run 100% ONLINE. This means it is straightforward to participate regardless of 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 not least how you can communicate these most effectively 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 will become highly skilled at observation during the year!)
- work on project assignments which are submitted at the end of the course
The course is led by Canis founder Morten Egtvedt. You will also meet several guest lecturers from the absolute world-class level. From guest lecturers on the instructor course currently taking place, we can mention names such as Cecilie Køste, Dr. Susan Friedman, Eva Bertilsson, Michele Pouliot, Dr. Rick Kubina, Dr. Joe Layng and Tobias Gustavsson. Guest lecturers for the 2025/26 course will be confirmed during the spring, but will likely include many of the same names – or other top-division lecturers.
You will quickly discover that this is not a "typical dog course". We do not just want to teach you specific training skills – during the year you will gain a very solid professional foundation that you will benefit from for the rest of your life, regardless of which dog sport you are most interested in. Many participants also report that they learn things on this course that they have benefited from far outside dog training...
The course is relatively time-consuming (especially for participants – it is considerably more manageable for observers) and as a participant you must be prepared for effort equivalent to a part-time education or evening school. If you want to invest in your own competence as a dog trainer/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.
Since the teaching is 100% web-based, you can easily follow the course in the evenings or whenever it suits you best, in front of your own computer, regardless of where in the world you live. You save travel expenses compared to how the course was previously conducted. This new course format has made it significantly easier for dog owners across the entire Nordic region to participate. In recent years we have had participants from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland!
An online course requires some "self-discipline" and dedication throughout the course. However, we have designed the course so that it is fully possible to participate with different ambition and effort levels – and still learn a lot. You can be very active – but at the same time you can also learn a great deal simply by following the more active students and learning from the feedback they receive.
Benchmarking for clicker training
The core of Canis's clicker training instructor course is Canis's "Benchmarking System for Clicker Training", which breaks down the entire training process into its individual factors and describes how all the most important training skills look from beginner level to expert level. We can describe this system in many ways as "the basic skills for the handler".
By working focussed with this system you will already during the first few months of the course develop observation skills that very few other instructors come anywhere close to. When you have completed the course you will notice that it has become much easier to pinpoint precisely the parts of the training that will have the greatest effect to improve. A dog instructor who possesses the art of observing thoroughly and then selecting 1–3 central improvement points that will clearly improve the student's training is a particularly effective instructor. And of course you take these skills with you into your own dog training as well.
The benchmarking system is only available to participants on the clicker training 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 course consists of:
- 30+ weekly live webinars (Tuesdays from 21:00–22:30). In these weekly webinars you meet the course leader/lecturer and the other participants "live" in the Zoom classroom. Each week we go through a new and interesting topic. Recordings of the webinars will be available to all participants the next day, so you can catch up with everything even if you cannot attend every Tuesday webinar live.
- A closed Facebook group where you submit training videos and receive feedback on your training (in addition to learning a lot from feedback given to other participants). The Facebook group is where the 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 in this group and "breathing clicker training" for an entire year.
- A large number of video lessons, where you learn everything you need to know about clicker training – and how you can most effectively teach these skills to your course participants. These video lessons are "curriculum" on the course and give you much of the background knowledge you need to follow the teaching.
- You will be provided with unique study material: Canis's Benchmarking System for Clicker Training. This system functions as the "foundation" of the course, 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 factors will give you a major advantage both as a dog trainer and instructor.
- Each month you will also work with different training assignments with your own dog. You submit video recordings showing the status of your training as often as you wish, and you will receive feedback on your training so you can improve your training skills as you go. Video analysis allows the course leader to give feedback that is much more accurate than when simply observing training live.
- In addition to the training assignments you will also learn to do video analysis yourself – both of your own and others' training. This will accelerate your observation skills and make you extremely aware of how all the most important skills for clicker training should look.
- You will learn about how you can collect data during training and thereby make your training more scientific, so that you can gain more reliable knowledge about how effective your training is or is not (regardless of which training method is used!)
- We also provide suggestions on (optional) recommended books for those who wish to study further on their own.
- The course concludes with submission of project assignments (by 1 April) that you 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 on the instructor course as an observer. This is an excellent offer for you if you want to learn "everything" about clicker training, but for various reasons do not want to participate fully 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 may not quite be ready to take the step up as a clicker training instructor yet, but 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 gain 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/training videos, and will not receive feedback during the course on their own training skills or video analysis. But you can of course do all these assignments yourself for your own training purposes if you wish to do so. As an observer, in short, you can 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 course (as a participant) you have the opportunity to apply to become an instructor at Canis Hundeskole.
However, most who participate in this course already run their own dog schools, are active as instructors in their own dog club – or primarily want to develop their own dog training skills.
Canis's goal is to spread as much and as good knowledge as possible about clicker training to as many dog owners as possible, and we therefore welcome ALL who are interested in clicker training-based dog training to this course!
What do you need to participate in the instructor course?
- A computer with a webcam
- A video camera (an iPhone or equivalent works perfectly fine as long as you film from close enough so the sound comes through clearly)
- A YouTube account to upload the videos (you may mark the videos as "unlisted" if you do not want others to see them).
- A Facebook account (since all course information goes through the closed Facebook group).
- A clicker-trained dog who enjoys training (you do not in any way need a border collie or other specialist breed to participate, but it is an advantage if the dog is not directly unsuitable for somewhat more advanced training) :-)
(Observers only need access to a PC/Facebook).
Prior knowledge
It is an advantage if you have completed Canis's clicker TRAINER course or other courses through Canis Hundeskole beforehand 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 according to these principles for some time beforehand (or read up in the months before the course begins!).
There are no formal requirements for prior knowledge for observers, but you should have reasonable familiarity with clicker training from before to gain full benefit from the course, since the teaching at times will be at a relatively high level. Experience from competition-oriented training (obedience, working trials, rally, freestyle, agility etc.) is definitely an advantage.
The course takes place mainly in Norwegian. From experience, Danes and Swedes understand the language fairly well within a few weeks. We also have several guest lecturers from the USA, so it is an advantage if you understand English reasonably well.
Course leaders
The instructor course is designed by Morten Egtvedt and Cecilie Køste. Morten will conduct most of the teaching during the course.
Morten & Cecilie founded Canis in 1998, and have written three books on clicker training that have had major influence on the Nordic dog environment over the last 25 years.
In addition you will meet several world-class guest lecturers in the second half of the course
Registration deadline
- 1 August 2026
*NB: We accept registrations on a "first-come, first-served" basis. All registrations are therefore binding. When all places are taken, we close for further registrations.*
Course fee
- Participant with dog: NOK 29,500
- Observer: NOK 17,500
- *VIP observer: NOK 3,500 (reduced observer price, only for those who have participated as a participant or observer in the period 2015–2025 and want a refresher year – write "previous participant/observer" on the first question in the registration form).*
Bring your friends – get a friend discount!
From experience it is a MAJOR advantage to bring a good training partner (or several!) 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" throughout the year. So get in touch with your best training partners, and register for the course together!
- We give a 10% "friend discount" on the registration fee when 2–3 people from the same club/dog school/friend group register together.
- If you are 4 or more from the same club/dog school/friend group registering 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.
*NB: State on the registration form who you are participating with! If more friends want to register later, they just state the names of the rest of the group, and then everyone gets the highest discount.*
- \The friend discount offer applies to both observers and participants.*
- The friend discount offer applies right up to the registration 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. Partial payments are also available through Klarna if you wish.
*NB: Registration is binding, and the full course fee must be paid 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 make the effort required over the entire year.*
Start date
The course starts officially with the first webinar Tuesday 18 August 2026 (21:00). Then it is full speed ahead until approximately 1 May 2027 (with the exception of one month's Christmas break in December).
The webinars are run (with few exceptions) Tuesdays 21:00 until approximately 22:30 (I must admit we sometimes go over time). This is from experience a practical time for almost everyone. Video lessons and other work associated with the course you can do whenever it suits you. It is also possible to watch the webinars in recorded form if you are busy on a Tuesday evening.
Questions?
If you have questions about the course before you register, 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!