Colorado Technical University

What is a good career path for a wannabe dog trainer?

This is directed specifically to people that train dogs for a living, whether it's basic puppy obedience or competition agility or sheep herding or showing or whatever - the important thing is that a major source of your income actually involves working with dogs, because I can Google (or am I supposed to say "yahoo" here?) generic information myself. Starting from training my own dogs as a hobby, reading a ton of books (I'm a big Patricia McConnell and Monks of New Skete fan) and magazines, watching videos and seminars, and participating in lists on the internet, where do I go next for actual work? Answer with your story and real life experience. What did you do, how did you get to where you are? What worked and didn't work? What would you do differently if you started over again? Are there particular sources of information you prefer? Do you make enough money training, or do you do other things to supplement? Thanks in advance for your insightful, real world responses. Thanks for the response lizzy. I've seen other dog trainer questions around these parts and there is much bashing of "trainers" that work at Petco and Petsmart. To the trainer community in general, would it be fair to say that maybe it's not the best place to get your own dog trained, but it's a good place to gain some experience yourself? Or is working there also somehow subpar? In terms of companies that are actually hiring, those two are always up there.

Public Comments

1. well you know that 2 be a dog tranier a good path is 2 go 2 school and get a degree well.. thats what i say now what is your oppinion???
2. Finding a job working for a vet, groomer, boarding kennel, or pet store is a good starting point, particuarly the big chains like Petco if you're looking into a pet store job. Volunteering at the humane society is an excellent place to start-they always need help and you'll be able to actually use your training skills as you acquire them, although you won't get a paycheck that way. You can study to be a licensed veterinary technician while you work (or certified or registered tech, depending on where you live). Baker College has multiple campuses with tech programs. Me personally, I started out working as kennel help for a vet that had a boarding kennel on the side, went to community college for my prerequisites, and transferred to MI state for my veterinary credits and have a tech's license, associates in science, and certificate in veterinary technology. With my current degree and experience, I could hang out a shingle and start a behavioral consultation service, go to people's homes and do one-on-one training, or run puppy classes if I had a facility to use. But I like my private practice job too much to do that, personally. Don't really want to start my own business. But it's nice to know I could. Additonal: Don't pay any attention to the "bashers", I'm the nutritionist-on-staff where I work at a 7-doctor animal hospital, and I consistently get "thumbs-down" ratings when answering food questions. Go figure.
3. I'm not a trainer, but I can tell you what I know about how my trainer got into training in the first place. She started out with training her own dogs and persued training with a really good reputable trainer. From there, she became active in a variety of dog clubs, such as Obedience and Agility to expand her knowledge. After doing this for some time, and working closely with a trainer, she eventually stepped out to offer classes on her own. It took a few years to learn training in general and it's a constant learning process to this day. She connected with a local school district that, for a small fee, allows her to use one of the bus garages. This reduces her overhead costs of having her own facility. My trainer is constantly learning new things, reading books, attending seminars, etc... She's very helpful and understanding to her students and pets and this is really important IMO. She shares her knowledge with each student about a dog's behavior and helps us to understand our dogs more. The thing about being a trainer is that there is no degree or liscense required to do so. Anyone can start a business and say they are a trainer. The idea here is to commit to being a really GOOD trainer. If you do, word of mouth and repeat business will bring you people and dogs to train with all the time. Personally, I would never bother with attending a class thru a PetSmart kind of place. Around here, you can learn some basics, but they really don't take you very far. I think a "resume" would be served better if you can get in with a good trainer, maybe suggested by your local obedience club, who can mentor you in your efforts to become a well respected trainer. There are some really good books out there, specifically intended for "trainers". One that my trainer suggested is found at this link here: http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTO200 My trainer said I could stop with classes all together if I followed this book. Tho I still attend as it helps to work my dog in class where we have to do it with distractions. Good luck to you!
4. That's my dream too! I joined a 4-H club. Maybe call a dog trainer near you and see if you can watch and learn from them. If you have a dog see how far you can get in the dog shows and learn what people need help on. I also went to a dog shelter and helped train some of the dogs to see if I could do it. Once you know what you're able to do, set up some flyers telling everybody what's available. Good Luck!
5. This is something that a lot of dog enthusiasts forget about. LEARN THE BASICS OF MEDICALS. That also answers some of the behaviorals. Search the internet for Spay / Neuter clinics in your state. If you are in VA, they also have monthly shot clinics at all PETCO's in our state. I think PETCO's in Texas also have monthly shot clinics. But volunteer to sweep floors and hang out for a few months in a spay/ neuter clinic. You gain much knowledge of animals under stress, you hear many owner stories, and you gain much insight. Learning how the body works can answer many questions about why we or our pets respond the way that they do. Keep in mind that you can't train all dog breeds exactly the same way. That is a common way of dog trainers attempting to "cookie cutter train" and then they can't help the owners fix the situation. Sometimes you just have to adjust what you are doing and why you are doing it. POINT: Retrievers are "Gun Dogs" and typically do not respond to noise. Collie types are more sensitive to noise and verbal reprimand or commands. Many enthusiasts think that they like animals and honestly want to help. But you really want to get knowledge on animals on the most basic levels if you want to be effective. I am posting some weblinks to resources that will truly help you gain this sort of knowledge. Don't forget to search the internet for more specific "spay neuter clinic statenamehere" and check with local rescues/ breed rescues to volunteer some time at events.
6. I was given a fourteen month old golden retriever dwarf. He was already a confirmed biter, but who would believe that a golden retriever bites. I certainly didn't, until he lit into me. I'd always worked with animals. Owned several dogs and trained them all and of course there is the inevitable library of 'How to...' books but nothing addressed this possibility. Most of the books are written by dreamers living under the illusion that love and treats will win over any dog. Not true. I decided that I could either have this very unique and beautiful dog euthanized or I could learn to handle him. I went on line and started looking for schools that would teach me to be a trainer. There aren't very many but I found one. The teacher had experience with aggressive animals and this is what I wanted. You may be looking for something with a broader curriculum and there are a couple. The best one that I found on line with a wide based curriculum is out in British Columbia. Sorry I don't remember what the name was but it should be easy to find on line. Oh! My golden is doing just fine and we discovered through my training that he actually suffers from a condition called Springer Rage Syndrome, a form of epilepsy. It became a matter of learning to read his body language, which I now do quite efficiently and quickly. And as far as my training goes, I am a specialist in reducing dominance and aggression. I really wanted to teach Agility but the angry guys seem to need more help.
7. try volunteering at a no kill shelter, they always need extra help, an its a good place to meet great animal resource people. could get a line on trainer willing to take you on or enough experience to start your owe business