Would you consider a dog nutritionist?

[cows2doggies]

Hi all, I am having a bit of a not quite midlife crisis and would like you all to tell me if I have lost the plot or not.

Some background I have a BSc in Animal health, welfare and behaviour and a MSc in Livestock Nutrition, I have worked in the livestock nutrition industry for 5 years and I love it but DP is ultimately the breadwinner and as we plan for children I am probably going to need to take a step back and am hoping going self employed would allow me more flexibility. So I have been considering setting up as a pet nutritionist, I have found a 5 month long PGc course with a US university or a course with the British college of canine studies which I would take to refresh and increase my knowledge while still working however part of me is worried this is mental, animal nutritionist is not a protected title and people will just assume I am some nut who did a 1 day course and now considers myself an expert in something they could just ask their vet for free.

As people will likely ask free lance as a livestock nutritionist is hard, most farmers will be allocated one by whoever they buy their feeds from (this is my current job) I would still offer such a service on the side but I can't see demand being high enough for it to be worthwhile hence thinking I could do dogs aswell and expand my client base a bit.

I am not expecting to make my millions here, DPs income can sustain us entirely if needed but I am not sold on the idea of being a housewife or SAHM so ideally i'd manage to bring in at least a part time equivalent income.

No. I think I would struggle to understand what they are saying. Give me a human nutritionist every time.

I have/would consider it. Doggo was super fussy, and as we didn’t want to go raw, we’ve ended up home cooking. So wanted to check what he ‘needed’ in his diet etc. Not a lot out there, or a feeling that the nutritionists I did find were sort of a glorified sales person for a brand.
However, I agree with the previous posters re longevity of this as a business model. So maybe double up with something else.

I think that people looking to navigate their way around raw or home cooked, that have a problem with their dogs liver or kidney function, or pancreatitis would be more likely to be interested than a new owner who will go to pets at home and assume that the stuff they sell is good quality food.
Also it may be worth asking this question on the fb group agilitynet where owners are feeding for peak performance.

I adore my dog but sorry no I wouldn't. I did a lot of research myself in terms of raw food diets spoke to the owner of my local pet store (which is an independent business specialising in natural pet foods) and am happy and confident in the choices made. More importantly my dog is very happy as well.