Would you train to be a dog trainer?

[Aworldofmyown]

That's it, really! Anyone done it? Would you recommend as a change in career?

I'm a dog walker and I considered doing this. In the end, I decided not to, largely because... well... :D

When you work as a dog trainer, you're basically working with people more than you are working with dogs.

Unless you become a trainer for a rescue centre or similar, where your job really is to work with dogs one-to-one. That's something I'd personally love to do.

The other thing to consider is your likely working pattern. Evenings and weekends would probably be common, as clients who can afford dog trainers tend to work full time, thus would be more likely to want sessions outside of standard working hours.

Another thing to consider is your confidence with aggressive or reactive dogs.

When I was looking into it, it seemed like the best way into it would be to do a combination of study (take a course, etc) plus mentorship from an established dog trainer. It could be worth reaching out to trainers in your area for a conversation, to get advice, or see if they offer mentorships. :)

Like @dustofneptune, I'm a dog walker and have thought about doing training as it's something that's sorely lacking where I live. However, I decided against it for several reasons:

• all the classes I've ever seen are on weekends or in the evening, and I really, really don't want to go back to that working pattern
• I enjoy working with dogs, but as a dog walker I can pick and choose which dogs I take and I don't have to deal with "problem" cases. I think I would find it quite stressful to work with dogs who are known to be unpredictable everyday.
• Training means training people
• it's also pretty expensive to study via one of the accredited organisations.

You also need to do think about whether you want to do basic training (sit, stay, basic loose lead walking, not jumping up) or proper behavioural training which comes with more risks - dealing with things like resource guarding, reactivity and aggression.

I know I'd find the latter too stressful and worrying, but everyone is different :)

Too people-y

Funny, I'm a dog walker, too!! I think 90% of the dogs (owners!!) I come across desperately need training 😆

I would certainly agree that it's more about training the owners how to train their dogs than anything else. You can give them the tools, but without consistency the dog won't learn a thing. One of the biggest frustrations of course, is owner compliance (or lack thereof). Finding venues for training classes is always tricky too - village halls that won't take dogs, lack of availability, lack of parking, and training outside is really a fair weather activity.

That said, there's something of a shortage of good, properly qualified positive reinforcement trainers; you wouldn't ever be out of work. 121 sessions done at home remove issues around finding a venue.

I've worked in a related area, and if I were going to train as a dog trainer, the only organisation I would go through would be the APDT apdt.co.uk/

Great job if you love people and have the patience of a saint.

Basically you are training people with no idea how to train an animal to do something that does not communicate in the same way as the people teaching them - what can go wrong!

Teaching dog people to do specific dog sport is way easier and less repetitive. More money to be made and less marketing and advertising needed. Maybe some evening work but commited dog sport people will train at any time so more daytime work. However you do need to be top of your sport to do this , or competing etc.

It is good to specialise and let people hunt you down rather than be a common old garden trainer who runs puppy classes. Those clients will come then disappear and maybe pop back at the adolescent stage when recall and loose lead walking has gone to pot . So you are constantly marketing for new clients.

If you want to do behaviour you do need to have high level qualification to be able to get the work. Vet referral is essential if you are to make money at behaviour and to know what you are talking about!

Working with dogs would be a dream job for many people but again these days nearly all the organisations will need you to be educated to degree level in animal behaviour before you are considered. So things like assistant dogs, or medical detection dogs would need degree education and a lot of easily evidenced experience.

I trained as dog trainer and small animal behaviourist. To be honest the training classes that I did were pretty straight forward and easy. People generally listened and did the training. The behaviour consultations were a different story. You have to put in loads of effort and time to take a detailed history, carry out research , a long consultation to speak to the owners and view the behaviour, devise and write up a training plan, send a report back to the referring vet and regular follow ups. It's very time consuming. Generally the owners wouldn't stick to the plan as they were looking for a quick fix or wanted me to fix their dog so it was very frustrating. I would do the puppy/training classes again but would be reluctant to do behaviour consultations again.

@user468375484 I've been looking at The Institute of Modern Dog Trainers. Have you heard of them? I looked at a degree but it's far too expensive for me.

No. We have paid for sessions with trainers but in all cases we have looked at the standard of work their own dogs achieve, not qualifications.

IMDT are a good starting point BUT that will not be enough to be a dog trainer. You will have to do a lot of work following trainers to get up to speed.

IMDT looks good on paper but leaves a lot of training and experience down to the individual. They have a very set way of training and teaching which is positive reward based which is fab.

You will need to do more than the 2 dayer and 4 dayer to be ready for the assessment unless you have a lot of prior experience.

You really do need experience and hands on experience to be a trainer and that takes time, money and commitment.

What experience do you have with dogs or training dogs at the moment?

Interesting what asdf said most of my clients have no idea of my qualifications and what they mean.

However what I have done in dogs sports hold more weight with them. I get loads of new clients for training when they see me out with my dogs. So get your dogs doing fun clever things and you will be stopped and questioned a lot! Obedience heelwork is the one that gets the most attention and then the clever trick stuff

@PollyRoulllson thank you. That's really helpful. I've been a dog walker for the past 3 years, so no real experience.

Accredited dog trainers are few and far between. Many more people have dogs now and I know in my area there are only two Accredited dog trainers the rest I wouldn't entertain as they have no certification. I would say it would be a very good career choice.