How to Become a Dog Trainer: A Step-by-Step Guide

Dream of a career in professional dog training? We’re here to tell you EXACTLY how to become a dog trainer in less than a year!

Either way, when conducting your research into the various schooling options at your disposal, we encourage you to be very thorough! In particular, it’s critical that whichever program you decide to go with meets the following criteria:

Dog training is one of those fields where the more real-world experience you get, the better. And while your dog training course with QC Pet Studies will help you dip your toes in the water, you shouldn’t go into your career thinking that that’ll be enough.

Moreover, your friends and family can then provide you with positive testimonials. These reviews on your website and social media will be worth their weight in gold!

Sure, you won’t get paid for these jobs. But the experience you’ll get from them will be just as beneficial! Not only will you get the opportunity to hone your skill-set, you’ll be able to start developing your professional portfolio.

Furthermore, if you want to launch your own business, consider the following questions:

• What would you like to name your business, and what will you need to do in order to get that name registered?
• What do you want your brand to be?
• Who will be your target audience/ideal clientele?
• What dog training services do you want to offer?
• Would you prefer to offer your services in-person, virtually, or a combination of both?
• Do you want to offer one-on-one training classes? How about group lessons?
• Are you interested in specializing in certain types of dogs (e.g. dogs with behavioral issues, dogs with special needs, dogs with anxiety, etc.) or would you like to help train ALL types of dogs?
• How much effort are you willing to put into your social media presence?
• Furthermore, what about your online marketing?

A good place to begin your marketing efforts is to start local. Build up the buzz for your business in your own area, before you trying conquering the entire world. Luckily, there are all sorts of ways you can market yourself in-person:

When it comes to business-savvy marketing strategies, never forget the value of the digital world as well! We all live online nowadays, so a HUGE portion of your marketing should be done via the internet.

Not sure what’s at your disposal?

Here are just some of the ways you can market yourself online:

Just be sure to use your best discretion with this. Obviously, if the experience didn’t go the way you planned and/or they seemed unsatisfied, it wouldn’t be the wisest move to ask them for a referral. However, if a client seems happy with the services you’ve provided, they’ll probably be more than willing to rave about you!

With that in mind, don’t be afraid to ask your inner circle to recommend you to others. Chances are, they’ll be more than happy to help. Additionally, whenever you work with a new client, there’s no harm in asking them to refer you to anyone they know who might be in need of a professional dog trainer.

Word-of-mouth will always have its place in the world of business marketing. In some cases, it can be the most effective way of attracting new, long-lasting clients. After all, when a trusted individual recommends you to their own friends, family, colleagues, etc., those people are more inclined to look into your business and give you a try.

As such, always be willing to proactively network with anyone and EVERYONE you can within the industry. Yes, this even means fellow dog trainers. Although they can be considered your “competition”, they’re also your allies.

Other experts you should definitely network with include animal shelters, pet stores, and dog breeders. Firstly, your training services could prove useful for their own operations. For instance, by lending your expertise to animal shelters, you can potentially increase the chances of those dogs getting adopted.

On the other hand, local pet stores might be in need of someone to help run training programs offered by their company. This could be a chance for you to hire yourself out as a contract expert!

Not to mention, networking with these specific businesses can also generate even more client referrals for you. Take dog breeders, for instance. Every individual who purchases a pup from them can be one new client they refer to you, to help these new dog owners get their puppy properly trained.

The length of time it’ll take you to start a career as a dog groomer will ultimately depend on the type of training you choose to get. Some courses will run for a handful of weeks, whereas others can take months.

Typically, though, you’re going to want to look for a slightly longer course. There’s a lot that goes into being a dog trainer – and a program that’s only a few weeks long likely won’t teach you everything you need to know to do the job properly.

We’ll go more in-depth about your educational options a little later in this article!

Here’s the thing: technically, you don’t “need” any type of certification in order to call yourself a dog trainer. However, you’ll be making a BIG mistake if you choose to forego a proper education.

You see, this is the kind of field where a lot of things can go really, really wrong if you aren’t adequately prepared. After all, you’re going to be working with living, breathing creatures – and not all of them are going to be happy about it. While many dogs will be gentle and well-mannered, others may be anxious, scared, or defensive.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll not only be putting your own safety at risk… You could also be putting the safety of the dogs AND their owners at risk, too. And we know you don’t want that!

Obviously, if you want to know how to work as a dog trainer, you’re going to need to know, well, how to train dogs. On paper, that seems like a no-brainer. In reality, however, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Here’s a handful of examples of just SOME of the knowledge you’ll need to possess:

Furthermore, you’re going to need some of softer skills required for this type of career, too. For example, since you’ll often be working with pet owners, you’ll need to ensure that your people skills are on point. As part of this, you should be an excellent communicator; capable of explaining everything in a way non-dog trainers can understand.

On the flipside, you’ll also need to be good at listening. Each client will be coming to you for a purpose, and with a distinct goal in mind. It’ll be your job to help them achieve this goal as best as possible… and the only way you can do this is by hearing their needs and identifying where the areas of improvement are.

From there, you’ll be able to determine the correct course of action, and help teach them how to put that plan into practice.

ABSOLUTELY!

In the beginning of your career, it’ll take time to gain some traction and build your list of clientele. However, so long as you’re passionate about what you do and willing to put in the effort, this can totally become a full-time career… And it can definitely pay the bills, too!

Take QC Pet Studies’ amazing instructor, Kim Cooper, for example. Kim’s been professionally training dogs for the past 35 years, and teaching dog owners how to train their pups for 29 of those years! Her business, Best Friends Dog Training, is located in Ottawa, Canada. Throughout her lucrative career as a dog trainer, Kim has:

• Certified 4 search and rescue (SAR) dogs to Ontario Provincial Police standards! For reference, only 20 dogs have ever achieved this certification – and Kim is proud to have coached 14 of them, and partner to 4!
• Gotten certified as a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Canine Search Specialist! This makes Kim 1 of only 2 Canadians to ever achieve this certification.
• Founded the Ottawa Valley SAR Dog Association
• Also became the Founding Director of the Ontario SAR Volunteer Association
• Gotten featured in CBC’s Podcast, “Someone Knows Something”, as well as in National Geographic’s, “Finding Dial”.
• Earned countless dog training awards!
• And SO much more!

These are all examples of career goals YOU can achieve, too! Of course, if you wish to focus your career primarily on helping dog owners to train their furry friends, then that’s okay, too!

It’s important to understand that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” salary for a dog trainer. Your income will depend on:

• Where you live
• Local competitors
• Demand for dog training services in your area
• Whether you’re booking clients full-time vs. part-time
• Whether you’re running your own business or working for an established company
• The efforts you put into marketing, client acquisition/retention, social media, your business website, etc.
• The types of dog training services you offer, etc.

That said, I can give you some general figures to help you get a better idea of possible salary ranges, depending on your location…