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The CPC received is highly dependent on amount an advertiser pays and how the ads are targeted in AdWords. Beside this, there is an bidding system that calculates the CPC. Things like geo location, the topic of the website, the keywords on the page and so on. In addition, the amount we get pay click is also related to the value that Google sets for each user. The algorithm of the bidding is very complex and takes into consideration very many factors.
The quality of your site is important, but more important is quality of the users who clicks the ad.
In addition, you can find here more info:
https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/190436?hl=en

I'm assuming you looked at "dog training" in Google's keyword tool. First, that number is not what advertisers pay. The tool assumes an average quality of ads. Higher quality advertisers pay less. That's how the system works. The average rate may be $1 for average ad quality but advertisers with better quality may pay just 60 cents.

Also, these numbers are for the search network, not the display network which is what you are as a publishing site. The two networks are different and advertisers use different strategies and bids. The average may be much different than the search network. So your assumption is all wrong.

It's still based on ad quality. But let's say $1 is the average that advertisers pay (for average ad quality). Then yes, you would get a percentage of that.

But you want high ad quality to show on your site and so does Google. You'll both make more money that way. Which do you prefer, a 2% click rate ad paying 25 cents or a 1% rate ad paying 40 cents? It's the 2% ad you want and will make more money with. Don't get stuck on a lower CPC. Google is set so they maximize their revenue and by extension yours. So if you get 60 cent clicks instead of $1 you're thinking, that's good.

CTR defines quality on both sides, advertisers and publishers. Google wants high CTR from ads but also taking into your account your site, more precisely, your page. It's not about having a page about dogs in general, it's having a page about dog training to show ads about dog training. Once the system determines your page's topic, you should get better quality ads shown. So quality for you as a publisher is basically the system determining the page's true topic and showing ads related to that topic.

Thanks a lot for those answers. I hadn't considered the difference between the display and search network. I knew about content of the page is what ads they will show but was unsure how they then go about pricing ads on your page.

It makes perfect sense that "quality" traffic to the advertisers are those that stay on their site and check their page/s out as they are more likely to buy which is what advertisers will pay for, which is obviously what google wants. I was far more worried about CTR and CPC than the quality I was sending across but at the end of the day if you send quality leads google will look after the rest to maximise value.