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So You Want to Be a Dog Trainer
Think You Have What it Takes?
Whenever I am out dog training or I meet people in a social setting they say they have always wanted to be or would like to be a dog trainer like me! Whereas this is flattering I often wonder if people really realize what it takes to truly be a professional dog trainer!
I do not lead a glamorous life!
Some days I wish I could dress up, have long nails and wear jewelry, but alas…clothes get stained and ripped, nails are torn off, and I have had jewelry ripped off my neck by boisterous dogs. And I have been bitten more times than I would like to admit; some being my fault and others blocking more serious damage.
I have one dog trainer friend that was disemboweled by a dog and another whose arm was broken by a dog that ran to the end of his leash! Dog training is not always full of walks, snuggles and roses!
And, unless you import and train personal protection dogs or police dogs, it can sometimes be difficult to find your niche and actually make money in this business.
BUT, this article is not to discourage. I actually welcome fresh faces who are willing to learn and dedicate their lives to improving the lives of dogs and their families. We need as many kind and compassionate dog trainers out there as possible!
I do have some advice!
First: Read as much as possible! I have tons of books and read as many books on dog training as I can get my hands on! You are never too old to learn and never think you are too good or have been doing it so long that you don’t need to. Reading and studying helps to sculpt you into a fantastic trainer.
Second: Find someone who will give you hands on teaching skills! The only way to learn to work with a multitude of dogs and different breeds, styles and temperaments is to work with them and get some experience. Most of us start out understudying under a senior or experienced trainer and that is a great way to get your feet wet.
I remember working 12 hour days and then volunteering to help with training classes for another 4 hours 4 days a week, but it was all worth it!
Third: Volunteer at an animal shelter. Spend as much time working with the dogs in a shelter and doing as much hands on training, talking with people and getting involved in all things shelter related as possible.
Be prepared!! Working in a shelter will help to toughen your skin for the real world and you will see things that will affect you for the rest of your life, but it will make you a better trainer and a better person! Trust me; there are things that you can only learn from working on the front lines of the war!
Fourth: Try to get a job in “the field” if not training, then try to get a job at a veterinary clinic, groomer or an animal boarding facility. All of this “hands on” work gives you more experience handling dogs and will be helpful in building your skills. I have done all of the above and wouldn’t change any of my experiences for the world!
Yikes! But this Has Taught me Major Respect for the Power of a Dog!
Fifth: Get into a bite suit! Yes I said it, and yes it is probably controversial, but I think that any good dog trainer should spend at least a little bit of time in a bite suit with a tough and well trained police dog.
You can never really understand what it is like to be bitten by a dog until you are bitten by a dog. The fear, the respect and the amount of damage that a dog can do in the fraction of an instant will all be installed into your mind and your soul instantaneously and in a fairly safe environment.
Dogs can exert 2,000 pounds of pressure per square inch with their teeth and until you are on the receiving end of that kind of bite and pressure you really can’t understand what it is like.
So before you recommend that an owner “alpha roll”, use a prong collar, or get into the face of an aggressive dog you should feel what it might be like if that dog decided to bite or imagine if he mauled his owner. This is only ONE of the reasons I would never recommend such types of training!
Before you blame a pet parent or a child or expect someone to live with a dog that has bitten, you should feel what a bite is really like and how terrifying it must be for the average person.
This new found respect of dogs and all 42 of their shining teeth will also help you not to get too cocky or put yourself at a detrimental risk of a bite.
It also prepares you for WHEN you will be bitten for real. We all get bitten at some point and watching a dog go through the motions of aggression from the safety of a bite suit will help you recognize when the point of no return comes and just what a dog looks like right before he bites you and how you can safely handle yourself. I have scars up and down my arms and legs, but I have luckily not needed stitches as of yet! My first bite was to the face!
Sixth: Before you recommend a philosophy or a piece of equipment to someone else or their dog, make sure you would do it to your dog or to yourself! Before you recommend an e-collar or shock collar (which I never would) strap it on YOUR NECK and use it on an upper level. Don’t put it on level one and put it in your hand, experience it from the dog’s perspective! I could never alpha roll or strangle my dogs and again, that is just one reason I would never recommend it to someone else!
Finally: Find your compassion for people too. Most of us get into this business because we love animals but in reality it is the PEOPLE you work for. Don’t be the kind of trainer that places blame, focuses on the past and what problems the owners may have created, or thinks that EVERYTHING is fixable (most things are controllable to some degree but not all things are fixable).
Sometimes people need honesty, kindness and comfort when they make difficult decisions and it is my opinion that this is part of my job and undoubtedly the hardest part of my job.
It is not my job to blame, even though some people do crazy things, most often it is simply because they are ignorant and don’t know how to deal with problems. The fact that these clients are coming to us dog trainers affirms the fact that they are making the right steps toward change.
I absolutely HATE when people blame aggression on other people and “how the dog was raised”. Although it is true to some very small degree, it is absolutely not constructive to place blame and good people often end up with aggressive dogs due to no fault of their own!
Be the kind of dog trainer who helps them learn how to deal with such a dog, if they so choose, and not the one who blames them or makes unrealistic promises! And don’t bring other peoples problems home with you or you will become one the many who gets burnt out fast!
Being a dog trainer isn’t always easy and it certainly isn’t always fun! I can train just about any dog to do just about anything, but being a dog trainer means working with the people and the families that request your help and helping them to find success without you! I want my clients to become dog trainers in their own right!
If you are looking for wealth and glamour you are in the wrong business; but if you are looking to get your hands dirty, don’t mind having your clothes ruined, fingernails ripped off, incurring the occasional bite, love dogs AND PEOPLE you might just have what it takes to make it in this field!
Thank you for this great article. I have thought of going to a dog training school, just for trainig my dogs, but the cost is too high for me at this moment. I love training my dogs, even though I have not gotten very far, but I love the joy when they figure out what I want from them. Alas, I am not very patient with people, so your article has given me food for thought.
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@ November 3rd, 2011 at 09:31Thank you for This article, Iwil ge my dog on November 28,and I WILL NEED HELP TO TRAINING MY DOG
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@ November 3rd, 2011 at 22:02Enjoyed the article! Interesting and informational! Thanks so much for sharing!
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@ November 9th, 2011 at 11:31I liked this article. It was informational. I’m looking in to ABC dog training school and I really want to become a dog trainer. I think that even after reading all the bad stuff and not so fun things about becoming a dog trainer you can still say “I still want to do it ” is all that counts and is just what drives me to still want to do something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little girl. Thanks dog training secrets for the great advice!
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@ November 18th, 2011 at 22:05