By Meagan Forbes and Marlene Ruiz, For The Trentonian Pet owners have options when looking for a dog trainer. They can read online reviews, seek referrals from family and friends, and consider professional certifications from industry associations with rigorous standards. No government license is necessary. Regulators in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., let consumers decide for themselves. The process works well, especially in the age of crowdsourcing. Yet some people want to limit choice in New Jersey. Bill A1212, which industry insiders have pushed with built-in perks for themselves, would create a state regulatory board and occupational license for dog trainers. The extra bureaucracy would put a stranglehold on the industry. The Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Behavior Consultants, the two organizations behind the push, want top dog status in the new regime. Their names have been written into the bill, which would give them monopoly control over dog training standards in New Jersey. Every dog trainer in the state would be stuck paying for their online courses and taking their online exam—300 convoluted questions with no practical skills component, no interaction with actual dogs, and no feedback from clients. Rival organizations with different approaches to education would be shut out, leaving New Jersey dog owners with fewer options and higher costs. Supporters of the bill say the self-serving regulation is necessary to protect dogs—an emotional argument with potentially broad appeal. Yet California and Illinois already have considered nearly identical legislation and rejected it. No jurisdiction anywhere in the United States, minus one Florida county, sees a need to license dog trainers. Occasional problems arise from bad actors. But the same is true within licensed occupations. Even heavily regulated industries like health care have issues. U.S. patients and survivors file nearly 20,000 medical malpractice lawsuits each year. In the most extreme cases, criminal laws apply. Regulators shut down a dog training facility and police opened a felony investigation in Rahway, New Jersey, after a neighbor captured video of a man kneeling on a dog and pinning it down in 2023. The system worked. Additional safeguards—already in place—include business permits and safety inspections from code enforcers. Unlicensed does not mean unregulated. Many programs are voluntary. The International Association of Canine Professionals offers certification courses that can take up to one year to complete. The investment is significant, but dog trainers opt in because they care about animal welfare and take their jobs seriously. They also want credentials to separate themselves from the competition and attract clients. Similar incentives work for auto mechanics, wedding photographers, life coaches, chefs, and professionals in many other industries. No force is necessary. Adding one more occupational license in New Jersey would be a mistake, and correcting the blunder would be difficult. Georgia paid a heavy price after state lawmakers mandated an occupational license for lactation consultants in 2016. Like the dog training proposal in New Jersey, the legislative push came from special interests with monopoly ambitions. Lactation consultant Mary Jackson and her Atlanta-based charity, Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, sued to stop implementation of the law with representation from the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm. After five years of litigation and two trips to the Supreme Court of Georgia, the women finally prevailed. The win means Georgia mothers can get advice on breastfeeding without worrying about state interference. New Jersey dog owners deserve the same consideration when seeking help with their pets. Bill A1212 belongs in the doghouse. Meagan Forbes is an attorney at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Va., and Marlene Ruiz is legislative director at the International Association of Canine Professionals in Chicago.