Dog Training Career

Colby — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:41:00 +0000

Have you been typing away underneath the fluorescent lights at your corporate job dreaming that a dog training career would someday become a reality? Do you feel like you should be out in the sunlight with the breeze blowing through your hair helping people learn the intricacies of dog training? Maybe a dog training career is in your future or maybe you just strive to be a better dog owner by learning more about how to train a dog. I fall in the latter half and truly enjoy reading about dog training, dog tricks, dog breeds, and pretty much anything I can get my hands on to learn more about my dogs.

Today I came across an article about three entrepreneur’s who did exactly what I mentioned in the opening of this post. They left the corporate life to pursue dog training careers. Well…actually two left the corporate life for dog training careers and the third left her teaching career to pursue life as a dog groomer. The point is they all left the regular working world for their dream of working with dogs as a career.

Dog Training Career

Photo by cryrolfe

Okay…for openers lets not get crazy and walk up to our bosses and hand in our letter of resignation just yet. The article: Entrepreneur’s Best Friend: Three Local Business Owners Find Fulfillment in Dog Care sheds some light on some of the good and not-so-good things about a career in dog training. Here are a few negatives about joining the ranks of dog training, grooming, daycare careers:

If it’s money you’re after then you might stick to dog training as a hobby. Lydia Wade-Driver founded Blue Ridge Assistance Dogs (BRAD) and says “It’s a hard business to make any money in,” says Wade-Driver, who earns less than $20,000 a year.
If you plan on opening a doggy daycare like Dog-ma then plan on picking up a lot of poop. “We’re always picking up poop. That’s the thing we do more than anything else. You want to go home and burn your clothes after a full shift at Dog-ma, that’s for sure.”
If you’re not into getting a decent workout and cleaning up occasional accidents (read point 2 about poop) dog grooming like Paws of Enchantment might not be for you. “Some of these dogs weigh 100 pounds, and if they’re trying to struggle, you have to support them,” Kraham says. There’s also plenty of bending: “There’s the occasional accident on the floor. Not everyone walks their dogs in the morning. It happens.”

The only thing that would stop me from a dog training career is point number 1. Here in California it would be very difficult to live off of $20,000 a year. Maybe when I hit the lottery I will join the ranks of dog trainers, but until then I’m always looking to learn more about how to train my dog.

How about you? Would you choose a dog training career? If so, I’d love to hear what you think about dog training as a career.

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Dog Training Career

Great Dog Training Career, Pet Sitter Makes $100K!

Colby — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:35:22 +0000

A Dog Training Career? A career as a Pet Sitter? Nahhh…after all how will I pay the bills? Most of us probably sit in the office all day, slaving away at a desk in front of a computer, mindlessly typing, or surfing Facebook now and again. When I was a kid I remember seeing Joe Vs. The Volcano with Tom Hanks and thinking…is that really what the corporate life is like? or fast forward about 10 years and renting Office Space (by then I was already in the office during the dotcom years).

Now maybe you’re thinking I wish I could work outside in the fresh air and leave the corporate blues (remember the blue fluorescent glow from Joe vs the vocano…not to mention my office walls are painted blue).

Fear not corporate soldier because I just read an article about What America Earns during this recession and one salary in particular – the Pet Sitter – shines a ray of hope.

Pet Sitter Making 100K!

When you think of pet sitter do you think part time high school job or six figure income? If you’re like me then you probably think part time high school job. Check out the Parade magazine article What America Earns How Our Salaries Are Changing and you’ll see a list of salaries from Plumber to Mayor to our favorite: Pet Sitter.

According to our Parade Magazine article here’s the short salary bio for Pet Sitter:

Tammy Roussin, 37
Pet sitter/dog walker
St. Louis
$100,000

I was floored when I saw this and thought my next career move should be as a pet sitter.

What do you think? Do you have a dog training career? Pet Sitter? Dog Walker?

Post from: Puppy Training

Great Dog Training Career, Pet Sitter Makes $100K!

Puppy In Training » Dog Training Career

Dog Training Career