It’s pretty typical for professional dog trainers to run group classes. They can be a trainer’s “bread and butter,” often providing steady revenue throughout the year. The most common classes include a Basic, or Family Manners class, in which dogs learn fundamental behaviors, such as Sit, Down, Come, Stay and Walking Nicely on Leash. Another common offering is an Advanced Manners class, offering additional training that builds on the foundation learned in the Basic class. Have you ever considered moving beyond the typical dog training format and offering something special? Niche dog training classes may be perfect for your dog training business.

Niche classes have a lot of benefits for professional dog trainers. In the Raising Canine webinar, Expanding Your Business with Niche Classes, offered by certified professional dog trainer Teoti Anderson (www.teotianderson.com), you’ll get the scoop on expanding your menu and appealing to more clients.

Niche classes, such as how to train a dog to walk on a leash, can expand your offerings and make you more appealing in your market. They give you the opportunity to stretch and offer something different. As much as you may love offering basic classes, it can sometimes get tiring offering the same class over and over. Sometimes, you just get the itch to teach something new! How about a class in positive dog training techniques or training a rescue dog?

Niche classes also help bring in additional revenue and can be tailored for your individual business market. For example, if your community has a lot of children, offering a class for young handlers may be extremely popular. Tricks classes can also be appealing to children.

Do you ever have slower times at specific times of the year? Offering shorter niche dog training classes on single topics may help bridge your gap, bringing in revenue during a traditionally slower time.

The Raising Canine webinar, Expanding Your Business with Niche Classes, is coming up Wednesday, June 5 at 10 a.m. Central. Register now at www.raisingcanine.com and learn how you can take your dog training business to the next level!

For more information on this course or to enroll, go to https://www.raisingcanine.com/course/niche-classes/.

Teoti Anderson, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP, has been a professional dog trainer for more than 24 years. She is the author of The Dog Problem Behavior Solver, Ultimate Guide to Dog Training, Dog Training 101, and more. Teoti is also a popular international speaker and educates pet parents and fellow trainers on canine behavior. (Do you want a link? If so, you can also include: For more information, visit her at www.teotianderson.com)

I’ve been teaching dog obedience training courses for over two decades now. I’ve worked with clients both individually and in groups and focus primarily on family pet training (household manners and having a good pet). Here are the most common questions I get about starting a dog training class…along with the one important question that rarely gets asked.

1. Question: How long will it take to train my dog? Answer: A year. Ok…it really depends on the dog, the trainer, and what you are trying to teach. It also depends on how much follow up you do at home. But I would recommend you plan on working with your dog for at least a year to reinforce the things you are learning in class. That doesn’t mean you have to take dog obedience training classes for a year (although if you find a fun class and a great instructor, why not? It’s a great way to build a relationship with your dog). A 6-week class will teach you the basics, which you will need to reinforce over the next several months in order for your dog to be consistent. You won’t have Lassie after a 6-week class. And if you never practice outside of class, you might never have Lassie. I would recommend spending at least 15-20 minutes a day working with your dog.  More is even better.
2. Question: How long do I need to use the treats, the clicker, the gentle leader, the harness, the (fill in the blank with any tool). Answer: A year. Haha. Ok..again, it really depends. If you want your dog to be proficient and you don’t want to rely on training tools, then you need to plan on some initial training time, then time to get the dog more reliable in the behavior, then time to phase out the training tool. I think a year is a good estimate. However, for a basic family pet, I’m not sure why this question matters so much. Why does it matter if you need to use a treat or a harness? Even when my previous dog was in his teens, I would still take treats with me when I walked him. I didn’t use treats to get him to sit, down, or stay, but if he comes to me rather than chasing a squirrel, I’m going to reward him with treats because there is no better way for me to tell my dog he is an amazingly smart pup! Positive dog training requires a different mind-set than we had in the bad old days – but it’s just a skill, and with practice we can become quite good at it.
3. Question: If I use treats, will my dog only work for food? Answer: No..not if you are listening to your dog training instructor. Let’s be clear…the main reason for using food is to reward your dog AFTER he does the desired behavior. (What gets rewarded, gets repeated…that’s the whole point). While it is true that you can help your dog initially by luring him with the food, a good trainer will have you phase the food out within a few repetitions. If your dog will only work for food it’s because you are training him to look for the food BEFORE the behavior rather than rewarding him with the food after the behavior. This is an important distinction and one that is easily resolved with help by a good instructor.
4. Question: If I use a clicker, how long do I have to carry the clicker around? Answer: A few weeks for any new behavior. The clicker is simply a sound that marks good behavior. It tells the dog when they have done something right. Once the dog understands what the right behavior looks like, you can phase out the clicker.
5. Question: What kind of treats should I use? Answer: High value treats. That means something that is soft, smelly, and rarely provided to your dog outside of training. If you want a strong reinforcer, the food needs to be enticing to the dog (smelly), easy for the dog to eat so that you can reinforce quickly without waiting for the dog to chew something (soft), and motivating to the dog (something he rarely gets outside of training). At home your dog might work for his kibble and I don’t see any problem with using kibble when the dog is not distracted. But when you are in a dog obedience training class or any new environment, use something better.
6. Question: Will my dog get fat if I train with treats? Answer: Not if you are giving him small pieces. A hot dog can be cut into over 100 pieces. Treats don’t necessarily have to be big to be effective. I would rather you give lots and lots of tiny treats rather than be stingy with a few larger treats. Training your dog with the equivalent of a couple hot dogs a day isn’t going to make him fat. The secret is to actually reward him with treats for doing something…don’t just feed him because you happen to have treats in your hand.

All of these are great questions and hopefully these answers are helpful. But there is one more question that I think is really important…but rarely asked.

What do I do if my dog doesn’t listen to me? Different trainers will answer this question differently. In my opinion the answer should be geared toward understanding how to help you be more motivating, more encouraging, and more bonded with your dog. The answer should troubleshoot the situations that cause your dog’s lack of response and the ways you can strengthen your dog’s behavior using positive reinforcement methods. The answer should discuss practicing with your dog, setting your dog up for success, and slowly adding distractions, duration, and distance to help your dog improve in a wide range of environments. The answer should not include anything that involves hitting, shocking, or physically punishing your dog for failing to listen to you. Ask this question next time you are looking for a trainer. It might be helpful to you achieve successful dog obedience training.

What other questions do you ask before you start working with a dog trainer?

If you’re a trainer and would like to learn about how to structure Levels classes, Robin is presenting a webinar called Developing A Levels Based Training Model on June 12, 2019.

Robin Bennett is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, author, speaker, and expert on dogs. She founded one of the largest dog training companies in Virginia and has been using her expertise in “reading dogs” to teach families how to train their pets as well as helping others in the pet care industry keep dogs safe for over 20 years. Robin’s first book, All About Dog Daycare is the number one reference on opening a dog daycare. She is also Co-author of Off-Leash Dog Play… A Complete Guide to Safety and Fun, and an extensive staff training program called, Knowing Dogs, which are the leading staff training resources for dog daycare and boarding facilities. Robin is currently co-founder of The Dog Gurus, the nation’s premier resource for dog care professionals. Through The Dog Gurus she is now helping pet care professionals get their lives back by showing them how to create sustainable businesses with teams that truly know dogs.

Guest Blog by: Britt Alwerud

Owning a dog training, or pet sitting business, is a dream career for most people – especially when you first start out. The thought of spending hours with dogs and devising a customized dog training program, sounds like heaven, but unfortunately there’s a high degree of burnout in this industry. And it’s definitely not because of the dogs. You might have set out to be a dog trainer, but then quickly realize that you’re a business owner too and with that comes a lot of responsibility and admin work. As a small business owner, you have to wear many hats and doing it all can weigh you down really quickly. Instead of working a typical 9 to 5 job, you may find yourself working on your dog training program for 8 hours, but then having to do another 3 hours of work having to deal with client scheduling requests, cancellations, invoicing, collecting payments, new client intake and keeping track of all of your client’s information. It can all add up and lead to major burnout. But imagine if you loved your business as much as you love working with dogs and you could save more than ten hours per week running your business? You can do this by applying your dog training techniques to your business.

You have to train yourself to be a successful business owner by doing these five necessary steps for putting your business on auto-pilot:

1. Shape your business model
It’s important to visualize and write down exactly what you want your business and your personal life to look like. Just like in your dog training program, you can use the concept of shaping when thinking about your business. Shaping refers to the reinforcement of behaviors that approximate or come close to the desired new behavior. The steps involved are often called successive approximations because they successively approximate or get closer and closer to the desired behavior.1

Do you love working one-on-one with clients, do you enjoy group classes, do you prefer having a dog training program online using videos and Skype calls with clients, or would you like to supplement your training income by selling E-books? How much time will each of these service types take and how much do you value your time? Once you zero in on what’s important to you, write down a goal for how much you want to make per year. Then work backwards. If you’ve decided to focus on private dog training clients, how many dog training sessions do you need to sell in order to reach that number? Can you offer packages that get you to that number faster or can you offer a premium service like a Board and Train program or a Puppy Potty Training program that you can charge top dollar for. How many of these programs do you have to sell per month to hit your yearly goal? Focus in on your service offerings and make sure they align with your core values and that you are valuing yourself and your time. You are worth it and owe this to yourself. Taking these steps will shape your business to be in alignment with your goals and lifestyle.

2. Capture your systems: Dog Training Programs
Now that you’ve zeroed in on your business model. It’s time to put the systems in place to deliver your high quality service. You may be the best dog trainer in the world, but are you providing the best customer service as a business owner? Just like in clicker training, you need to identify your successful systems and mark them so that the desired outcome happens more frequently – i.e your clients keep booking you and referring you. Identify what is working and what needs improvement. For your clients, you might put together instructions that help your clients form habits that change their dogs’ behavior. Consider putting together your own instructions for how your business should be run on a daily basis. That way you can create consistency for yourself and thereby create consistency for how you interact with your clients as well. An employee handbook is a great way to achieve this and it unlocks the information of how to run your business from your head, so that someone else can step in and help you run the business. This is the first step in automating your business.

3. Chain your processes using modern mobile business software
Dogs thrive off of consistency and so do humans. If you do everything the same way every time, it takes out the guesswork and creates happier customers, staff and business owners. Technology is a perfect way to automate systems so that everyone is on the same page. By using a scheduling, payments, and rating system like Handlr to run your business, your daily operations will be automated. You’ll have peace of mind that all of your appointments were handled and automatically charged to your client’s card, and that your client was satisfied with the service. You will never have to invoice again, shift through tons of physical paperwork, worry that you didn’t get a service agreement signed, or accidentally miss an appointment. It will all be handled in one easy to use business dashboard and your clients will be able to book you directly from their customer app. As you bring on more staff, they can easily be added to your business dashboard so that your clients can conveniently book with them. You can GPS track them, see what time they checked in and checked out of the service, and check your client’s ratings and feedback about your team member. Along with Handlr there are countless other business apps that can help you more easily run your business. Hurdlr is a mileage tracker that can help you keep track of miles for your expenses. Hireology is a great platform for hiring and managing your HR. Gusto is a great platform for payroll and employee onboarding and Google for Work is a must have for running a small business. All of these tools can help you automate your daily tasks so that you can focus on your clients and not on the tedious business admin work.

4. Positively reinforce yourself
Once you’ve set up your business to run on auto-pilot, you’ll feel more confident about bringing on more clients and more staff. This way, you will be able to take a vacation, take a break if you need to, not worry so much about getting injured, start another business, or just work less hours but make more revenue.

5. Reward your customers and staff
Showing your appreciation to your clients and staff not only strengthens the bond and relationship that you have with them, but will also improve your retention rates. Clients will also be encouraged to share your business with their friends and neighbors, and your staff will tell other good people to come work for you. Small gifts during the holidays, handwritten thank you cards, quarterly staff get-togethers, client appreciation picnics at the park or random acts of kindness make an impact in a big way.

One of the keys to  a successful dog training program is consistency and setting aside the time to break down the steps and follow through with repetition, reinforcement and rewards. Applying these techniques to your business will result in a balanced, successful business that you’re proud of.

Britt Alwerud has owned and operated one of San Diego’s largest dog walking companies, DogZenergy, since 2006 and is the Founder of Handlr. To learn more about Handlr and how it can help you automate your client intake, scheduling, payments, team dispatching and tracking – request a demo here or visit myhandlr.com.

For more information on this course, go to Training Your Business: How to put your business on auto-pilot so that you can focus on training your clients . While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the hundreds of great on-demand webinars Raising Canine offers – you can find them at this link:  https://www.raisingcanine.com/education/od-webinars/.

Increase Your Income by Specializing

Increase your dog trainer income by specializing in a particular area. Professional dog trainers should think long and hard before accepting behavior modification cases if it is not the focus of their business and they haven’t received specialized training. One of the most important concepts that you can learn as a pro is to set both yourself and your clients up for success from the outset. Pre-screening clients, then matching them with your appropriate service or referring them out to another trainer is one of the first steps in setting you and your client up for success.

Unsure whether behavioral work is for you? Check out Become a Professional Dog Trainer courses, and keep your knowledge base fresh with topic specific continuing education. By educating yourself you’re providing the best possible chance for your client’s success whether through your own services or a well thought out referral to another resource.

Separation anxiety is an area that might best be referred to a specialist – an opportunity to increase your dog trainer income by becoming that specialist! Read Linda Michael’s blog entry on “Separation Anxiety” for a few helpful tips. But also be aware that separation anxiety can be one of the more difficult behaviors to modify. So consider your skills and education, then decide if you’re the best fit for your clients’ success. By educating yourself, you can decide whether to make behavior modification one of the focal points of your professional dog training business or to knowledgeably direct your clients to the best available resource for this specialized training.

Aggression, of course, is another great area for increasing your income. Aggression is everywhere, and with the change in pet dogs’ lifestyles, they are clashing with owners, strangers, and other dogs on a much more frequent basis.

One of the questions all professional dog trainers must answer is where will I provide my services? The answer may be defined by the products you’re offering your clients. Or you may find yourself limiting your services based upon available training locations. Here are a few items to consider:

1.  If you plan to teach group puppy classes, then you must be able to sterilize your environment. Outdoor classes are out. As are any other areas that cannot be sanitized. Two other examples are facilities where you cannot control access once fully sanitized or facilities with flooring that cannot be properly sanitized.

2. Private coaching can be offered in a client’s home, a training facility, or a public location.

3. Day training can be offered in the client’s home, the dog trainer’s home, a training facility, or public space. If your day training option includes day care or pick-up/delivery, then the last 3 options work nicely. Otherwise, the most practical solution will be training in or around the client’s home.

4. Specialty classes often have special location requirements. Nose Work class requires crating space or weather that cooperates with car crating. Reactive dog class means visual blocks will be needed, segregated safe areas and larger spaces. Agility requires a larger space and specialized flooring or footing.

Consider your product offerings. Consider your targeted dog training niche and what the classes filling this niche will require. Consider the location options available to you. Each of these factors will weigh against each other, so be ready to prioritize and be familiar with all of your options.

A dog training facility just isn’t for you. Too much overhead, not enough flexibility, or one of a number of other considerations has convinced you that you’d rather pursue other options. What are those options?

1. Work as a dog training employee. Whether for a big box store, a local training facility, or a standalone trainer, consider working as an employee. This is a great way to get started in professional dog training. Frequently, as an employee you’ll work under your employer’s curriculum and direction.  You may even have an opportunity to apprentice.

2. Independent contractors are much more commonly found in dog training, which means that you’re likely responsible for your own insurance and paying your own taxes. You also have more flexibility, limited only by the employment contract you negotiate.

3. Be your own boss, but focus your efforts on in-home training and/or the use of public space. Sole proprietorship, a limited liability company, or another business entity type – you choose.

Be aware that laws governing your status as an employee or independent contractor, as well as laws regulating different business entity types vary by jurisdiction. That means that you should be familiar enough with local laws to know when you need to seek professional help to guide you.

So you’ve decided on training in a dog training facility – now what? There are a number of options available to professional dog trainers. The greatest limiting factors will be cost and canine access to the space.

Cost
Issue – Renting a space large enough to fulfill your training needs can be cost-prohibitive. Dog training is limited to the hours in which your clients are available. That means that group classes are typically held evenings and weekends, day training is typically daytime weekdays, and daycare high demand is Monday-Friday during the day. Be aware that you may have to provide services beyond training if you rent a facility – i.e., daycare and boarding.
Solutions –
1. Diversify your professional dog training services to fully encompass both your clients’ needs and your facility’s available hours of operation. A good example is day care during the day and classes in the evening. But get creative and find a solution that works for your clients and your product offerings.
2. Pair up with complementary businesses and share your space. The business or businesses you pair with may be dog-oriented or just dog-friendly.
3. Rather than renting or purchasing a space, investigate creative options for sharing or leasing from an existing business.

Canine Access
Issue – In pursuing creative options, you may encounter some difficulty finding a match with other businesses or locations that will be receptive to the presence of dogs and all they entail: hair, slobber, dirt,, elimination, etc.
Solutions –
1. Yoga may not be your best bet for shared space since the participants spend much of their time on the floor and might prefer a more pristine environment – not to mention the fact that their clients have the same time needs as yours! However, there is a rising trend in doga, yoga for dogs, so perhaps just the right yoga instructor would be interested!
2. Give special consideration to businesses that have complimentary business hours. Retail locations are one example.
3. Consider pairing up with another dog-friendly business. Many doggie daycares, boarding facilities, and groomers don’t offer in-house dog training, and they most certainly are prepared for canine clients on the premises.
4. Investigate local community centers. Some have rules regarding dogs, but some do not.
Issue –
Some lease spaces have restrictions specific to dogs.
Solution –
1. You don’t know if you don’t ask. If you’re seeking your own lease space, have your agent make inquiries on properties that are otherwise a good fit.
2. Sometimes properties can be flexible and you can negotiate canine access. Perhaps boarding is not an option, but daycare is. Or perhaps certain hours can be negotiated; business parks may have interest in providing evening access for higher volume dog traffic. You don’t want to limit yourself unnecessarily, but it’s wise to know all of your options.

You love dogs, have a talent for teaching, and have decided you’d like to start a dog training business. Now what? Here are a few brainstorming items to consider.

1.       Training Skills

This includes developing training plans, the creation of which relies upon an understanding of learning theory and dog behavior. Consider a professional dog training course to improve your understanding of theory. Have you developed and maintained good mechanical skills that facilitate implementation of training plans?  Do you have methods and a philosophy that are consistent and ethical?

2.       Coaching Skills

Remember the people component and brush up on your coaching skills. Are you comfortable presenting information? Modeling skills to clients? Fielding a variety of questions? Become a Professional Dog Trainer offers a training module for client coaching and training humans.

3.       Business Model

In-home training, day-training, and/or group classes. Deciding on the products and services that you’re qualified and ready to offer, is an important step.

4.       What are your marketing skills?

Consider where your strengths are and what you’ll need to hire out. Can you create and update your own website? Are you comfortable with social media? Are your strengths in speaking in front of large crowds or smaller, more intimate groups.

5.       The Business

Look at the different business types, sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, etc. Your Secretary of State web site is a good place to start. How will you keep your books? Will you rely upon other workers or just yourself? Investigate your insurance options.

6.       Facility Space

Will you need your own space or focus on in-home options? If you do need facility space, consider the local options of rental, purchase, office share, or other creative options.

In addition to a professional dog trainer course, consider Raising Canine’s “How to Run a Dog Business” series of webinars.