Start Your Dog Training Career

Being a Dog Trainer is NOT for Everyone

If you’re wondering if a dog training career is something you might enjoy here are some reasons it  may not be a good fit for you…

1. There’s a lot of slobber… and poop… and hair!  If someone had told me the amount of time I’d spend washing my hands post slobber and potty clean up I might have reconsidered altogether.  You don’t ever really learn to love it but you will be responsible for cleaning it up.  It is just part of the gig.  
2. It’s an Active All-Weather Gig. While I am a very active, on my feet kind of gal, the seasonality has been one of the biggest struggles for me.  I HATE being cold!  That said, dogs also need potty trained and exercised in the winter.  Summer can be a scorcher and midwest weather is unpredictable at best.  If you’re not the type that likes to be up and moving with the dogs and their people it’s probably not a career you’ll enjoy.
3. Dogs come with Their People.  If you’re thinking about a career with dogs because you’re over the people this is not the gig for you!  You have to LOVE helping people intrinsically and you have to be willing to learn people skills like empathetic and active listening and how to communicate effectively.  It takes time to develop these skills just like it takes time to learn how to train dogs.
4. It takes A LOT of Patience. You’re going to be repeating yourself constantly.  It’s exhausting to meet with multiple clients in a day reiterating the same basic message over and over.  You’ll be repeating the same message to the same clients because that’s just what it takes to create saliency.  You have to find a way to connect with people who are resistant to change.  In the same manner, you have to take your time and build trust with dogs who often come with histories of neglect and trauma.  This path in not for people who give up easily.
5. You’re Going to get Bitten, a lot…  Dogs have 2 main tools in their toolkit: teeth and toenails.  You will get scratched and you might even get chomped before you develop the skills you need to keep stressed dogs from reacting.   Mostly it’s just puppy bites because once you learn the basics of canine communication and good management it’s easy to avoid triggering potentially dangerous dogs.
6. You’ll probably work nights and weekends.  Dog owners often have day jobs and busy schedules.  Many are looking for appointments in the evening or on weekends.  Especially at the beginning when it’s harder to set firm boundaries you may find yourself working during times you prefer to be home with your family.
7. Some People Will Be Unhappy with You. This is not a career for those with thin skin, and not just because of the dogs.  Dog owners come with the frustration, guilt, unrealistic expectations, and busy lives that contribute to the underlying issues in the first place.  Nor does everyone want Positive Reinforcement based solutions.  
8. You’re Not Just a Dog Trainer.  Being good a training dogs doesn’t mean you’ll be good at making a living of it.  Business owners wear many hats.  You’re a marketer, networker, social media designer, web designer, and admin assistant.  You will spend as much time on the phone or in your email inbox as you will actually working with clients and their dogs.  Once your business is well established you can outsource some of these responsibilities but it can take a few years to get on your feet and in that time you’ll likely be carrying the full workload.

I started my business in 2009 and it took a long time before I could transition it from a part-time gig to a full time profit generating business.  There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to go with the lessons I learned along the way.  Now that I’ve outed some of the worst down and dirty realities of working with dogs professionally here are some reasons why I still think it is a great career.

1. You get to help people help their dogs. There’s a lot of misinformation about how to raise and handle dogs.  Sometimes, there’s a quick fix, and sometimes a dog’s deep seated trauma takes a while to correct course.  Either way, watching the bond grow between owners who are often at their wits end and a dog who may have been in danger of losing their home is an incredible reward.
2. You get to make your own schedule. Though it took me a while to appreciate this aspect I’ve learned to prioritize the things in my life that matter most.  As a business owner you can work as much or as little as you want.  
3. You meet some pretty awesome people. My gig has taken me to homes all over the county and events all over the country.  I’ve gotten neat gardening and home design inspirations from the people I’ve gotten to work with people in all walks of life, including TV and movie stars!  
4. There’s nothing better than unconditional love. It took me years to master the art of building trust quickly. There’s this moment when you’ve invested in a dog when they greet you full of expectation that good things are about to happen that is indescribable.  It’s definitely oodles of warm fuzzies and makes you feel all sorts of wonderful inside.

How did I become a dog trainer?

Having worked as a professional dog trainer for almost 20 years I have learned so much about behavior and how to communicate, largely through seminars, webinars, books, and conferences.  I never ‘went to school’ to become a dog trainer but I did graduate from JCCC and UMKC with an Associate and Bachelor of Arts, respectively.  My psychology classes were definitely beneficial but I never had any intent to become a dog trainer while I was in school.  As graduation approached so did the dread of finding a ‘real’ job.  I knew I could never work at an office job, trapped inside under fluorescent lights all day.  I’m way too active an individual to sit down.   

After graduation, I regrettably  apprenticed with a local force based trainer.  There I was taught to bully and intimidate dogs until they did what I wanted.  I learned some stuff, but mostly stuff I didn’t want to teach other people.  This didn’t jive with me and I wanted to work with dogs in a manner that I could walk away feeling good about.  I learned about clicker training during a visit to SeaWorld and never looked back.  The dogs, cats, pigs, and birds that performed during that show looked happy and energetic.  They weren’t displaying the classic signs of stress that I had yet to learn about and I was sold.  

After I returned home from that trip, I purchased a book on clicker training and bought a clicker.  I never looked back.  Little by little I replaced the correction based training techniques with better management, better awareness of signs of stress, and a better understanding of HOW to teach both dogs and their humans.

Are you ready to start your dog training journey?

Learning to train animals effectively and peacefully is a combination of managing your own frustrations and expectations, managing those of your clients, and those of their dogs.  It’s not a skill developed overnight.  Where I had to learn a lot through trial and error and teasing little nuggets of info out of books, you can get hands on experience under me, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer today!  You won’t be perfect right away but over the years I’ve figured out how to identify what a dog needs in the moment and cut out the rest.  I’m ready to teach you how to do that, too!  

At Canine Solutions I offer 2 entry level Apprenticeship Packages.  The first is a combination of 4 private coaching sessions and 4 shadowing opportunities to fast track your understanding of good environmental management, canine communication signals, learning theory, and leash handling.  The second is a deeper dive that builds on the material from the first package and explores the essentials of good communication, setting realistic training goals, and troubleshooting common training roadblocks.  

Career Opportunities

Once either of these packages have been completed a student becomes eligible for some of our entry level paid contracting gigs.  These include marketing outreach at events or with our referral partners.  More experienced students can even conduct supervised teaching for our boarding school clients.  Either way, because dog training is an unregulated industry, it is important for professionals to set themselves apart from novice or hobby trainers.  We encourage all of our students to seek out independent certifications through certifying bodies such as the CCPDT.  This ensures that the trainers we contract with all have investiture in professional conduct and peaceful training methodology.  

Students who apprentice with Canine Solutions are eligible for necessary references when they are ready to sit for certification exams.  Once Certified, our students are then eligible to meet with Canine Solutions clients to help them accomplish their dog training goals.  

-Emily Coleman, CBCC-KA 

A Step-by-Step Guide!

In my early years as a dog trainer Author Nicole Wilde’s book ‘So You Want to Be a Dog Trainer’ was a huge reference for me! It gave me permission to honor myself in my career during a time when I suffered from Imposter Syndrome. It gave me ideas on how to structure my interactions with clients and saved me from learning many lessons the hard way.

Start your Dog Training Career Today!

Whether you’re just getting your first career started or ready to transition to something rewarding and challenging consider apprenticing with Canine Solutions!

Enjoy a rewarding career where Unconditional Love is a perk of the job.