Master Trick Trainer
Master Trick Trainer — apex trick credential. 30-day in-person residential. Prerequisites: Trick T2 ≥36 months prior (5 years total since T1), measurable industry impact (stage credits, TV credits, world records, recognized educational reach), 12 months mentorship under existing MTT, capstone. Curriculum: stunt dog pipeline, multi-dog choreography at scale, film/TV agent partnerships, world-record protocols, curriculum authoring for T1/T2, multi-location ops.
30 days · in person at HQ · 80% to pass · valid 12 months
Who can sit this program
This is an advanced credential. Admission requires:
- Prior-level certification: Senior Trick Trainer (STT)
- 2,500 logged training hours
- 200 coached cases
- 36 months at the lower level
- 12 months mentoring a junior candidate
- Measurable industry impact (stage credits, TV credits, world records, recognized educational reach)
- Published capstone
The 30 days, in full
This is the actual syllabus for MTT — 69 topics across 30 days, 165h 30m of scheduled instruction. Not a sample, not a summary.
How a master trainer builds a working stunt dog from selection through retirement, and how that pipeline differs from the hobby-trick path you mastered at T1/T2.
- Stunt-prospect selection — the traits that survive a 10-year set careerlecture
- The development timeline — foundation behaviors that everything else hangs onlecture
- Lab — advanced stunt-foundation session with criteria mappinglab
Master your craft and lead a region — you don’t just run a location, you develop the trainers around you.
- Public teaching of Buck’s methodology
- Helper-of-record / judging authority at industry events (Protection & Scent)
- The expectation to mentor, coach, and give hands-on support to other Buck’s trainers across your region
- The pool we promote regional cohort-hub instructors from
- Run up to 20 dogs in your kennel at a time
Your certification level sets the maximum number of dogs your kennel may hold at once — 5 at L1, 10 at L2, 20 at L3. You tell us how many you actually want to run within that ceiling. The number is a capacity limit set by your level, not a guarantee that a set number of dogs will be provided or booked.
How you're tested
Two stages: an online theory gate (three written finals) that earns your cohort invitation, then the in-person four-modality exam you sit at HQ — you pass all four to certify.
Stage 1 · before your cohort
Online theory gate
Once you're invited, you complete a self-paced online course and pass three written finals. Passing all three is the prerequisite that unlocks your cohort — it proves you're theory-ready. It is not a substitute for the in-person exam.
- 1Dog Theory final
- 2Business Operations final
- 3Advanced Trainer Knowledge final
Pass all three → you earn your cohort invitation.
Renewal
Valid 12 months from issuance with a 30-day grace period. Renewal is the same four-modality battery — there is no lighter annual recert.
Apply for MTT
Admissions run like a real hire: resume, questionnaire, personality assessment, background check, and an interview before acceptance.
Start your application