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There are 61 million dogs in the United
States! That is a lot of dogs, in fact that
is twice the number of people in Canada!
As a result, there is a huge amount of
business available for those who want to
start a dog training business. With 61
million dogs in the country, most of them
are going to need some training, and even if
you grab a small portion of those dogs, you
will be doing pretty well.
The Concept
As a dog trainer, you are going to need to
have a handle on dog instruction and dog
psychology. You also have to have a love for
dogs, but that is self explanatory. You will
be dealing with dogs that may not listen,
and you have to be there to not only talk to
them in a kin manner, but show them who is
boss. As a result, having a background in
psychology, human or animal, will help you
quite a bit in your business.
Dogs have been trained for a very long time,
and even in the First World War dogs were
used and trained to help work in the
trenches with the humans. However, it was
not until the 1970s that the concept of a
dog trainer business took off with the
publication of Barbara Woodhouse’s book No
Bad Dogs: The Woodhouse Way that everything
took off. She stated that there were no bad
dogs, just inexperienced owners.
As a dog trainer, you will have to learn
everything from on- and off-leash obedience,
puppy obedience, competition obedience, full
owner participation training, pre-pet
awareness and hand signal training.
Startup Costs
Startup costs in this type of business are
minimal. You will need to get some training
as a dog trainer and that may entail some
schooling. This could run a few thousand
dollars, depending how in-depth you choose
to get with your new career. You should also
spend some time reading through texts that
teach you how to train dogs. This is a
pretty important step since you will be
facing many different situations in your
career as a dog trainer and you need to be
able to fall back, not only on your
schooling, but your own personal learning.
There are plenty of self-taught dog trainers
out there who are completely qualified in
the job.
Overall, expect to pay between $100 and
$10,000, depending on how in-depth you
choose to learn your new career.
How to Market It
The best place to market this business is in
the newspaper, since so many people have
dogs and need them trained, and in pet
stores and vet offices. These places will be
where you get a lot of your business, so
make sure you get your poster or brochure in
there.
Word of mouth is also going to work as a
good way to advertise and for each happy
customer you have, you will end up getting
two or three more clients, so do the best
job you can and you will succeed in your dog
training business.
The Concept
Startup Costs
How to Market It
