Dog trainer contest FAQ
Q: What are the deadline for the 2023 dog trainer contest?
A: Nominations are open from Feb 6 2023 to Feb 16 2023. Voting is open from Feb 27 2023 to Mar 9 2023. Profiles from nominated trainers can be submitted until March 15 2023.
Q: Once voting is closed, when are the results announced?
A: Once voting is closed, it may take up to two months to process the results and announce them. We will email all trainers once the results are published.
Q: Where can I go to vote for my favorite trainers?
A: When voting is open, you can find the link for voting here.
Q: How many times can I vote?
A: You can vote once per trainer in total. So if you have two trainers you love, you can vote for both of them. Note: you can vote once per trainer total, NOT once per day per trainer. We enforce the one vote rule using data analytics on submitted votes, so users can submit multiple votes in the form, but they will be de-duplicated when the votes are tallied.
Q: When can I nominate someone for the dog trainer contest?
A: We open nominations for two weeks per year, normally in the first few months of the year. We announce nominations on social media and via our email list. You can check the current status of nominations here.
Q: I submitted a nomination for a dog trainer, but there was no place to leave my email. How will you know to contact me if I win the gift card?
A: We automatically track emails in the URL of the submission form, so your email is associated with your response without you needing to type it in.
Q: I am a nominated trainer, how can I edit or change my profile?
A: We email you a link where you can submit your profile information. If you want to change or edit your profile after you have already submitted it, you can just submit the form again. We will use the latest form submission from you when we are compiling your profile.
Q: I am a nominated dog trainer, how can I track my votes throughout the contest?
A: We currently don't support tracking of votes throughout the contest.
Q: I am a nominated dog trainer and I have submitted my profile. Where can I find it on the website?
A: Dog trainer profiles will be updated after the end of the contest. So if you are new to the contest this year, you will not see your profile publicly until after the end of the contest.
Q: How do you define positive reinforcement dog trainers?
A: We define positive reinforcement as no force, fear, intimidation, or aversive methods (including e collars and prong collars) used.
Q: I am against your stance of only allowing positive reinforcement dog trainers to participate in this contest.
A: Where to draw the line between training that is OK and training that is not OK is certainly something that is controversial in the dog world. We have put a lot of thought into where we draw the line and we will ask for feedback from our community the next time we are updating our definitions.
Q: How do you vet nominees to ensure they meet your criteria?
A: We do the following to vet our nominees:
- We define our criteria in the nomination form and nominators need to confirm their nominee fits
- We define our criteria in dog trainer profile and nominated dog trainers need to confirm that as well
- We publish our full list of dog trainer nominees to the public
- We review any dog trainers that are reported to not fit criteria
Q: As a nominated dog trainer, can I use my personal / individual name and/or my business / affiliation name? Can I be listed multiple times across regions?
A: Each dog trainer should only be listed once on our list. If you are the only dog trainer in your business, you can choose either one, but not both. If you are a dog trainer that is part of a business that has multiple dog trainers, then you need to use your personal name so that multiple trainers from each business can be nominated.
Q: I am a nominated dog trainer, but my metro is not on the metro list.
A: The metro list not meant to be exhaustive, it is the list of metros where we are creating specific top lists. If you serve any metros on the list, you can select them and you will be included on those metro lists. If you don't serve any of the metros, you can still be included on state lists and the United States list.
Q: Do the winners get any swag?
A: Unfortunately, our budget in 2023 does not allow for any swag. We would love to consider this for future years though!