June 2008

Can I Multitask?
Most jobs require a good ability to multitask. None of these jobs requires it as much as Dog Training does. The reason for this is because Dog Trainers are often doing more than one thing at a time. You can be giving instructions to your employees, walking the dogs, all while talking to a client on the telephone. This can cause a bit of stress, but if you are good a multitasking, it is not so bad.

If you are not particularly good at multitasking, you need not worry. Some people have just never been put to the test as far as that is concerned. You may have had a relaxed job setting, or you may have worked on an assembly line for a few years. Many jobs require you to do regular tasks. They can be quite monotonous. If this sounds like you, I will list a few tips on how to help you learn to multitask.

Am I personable?
The ability to meet and associate yourself with people is a good and necessary skill when seeking to be a Dog Trainer. Much of your job will require you to meet and convince people that you are the best person to train their pet. A friendly, outgoing, and professional attitude is the easiest way to accomplish that.

You must be able to speak to people at their level. Speaking above them is going to confuse your client; while speaking below them is insulting.

You must be able to read people in order to properly assess how to deal with them. This is a quality that you cannot afford to be without. Much of your job as a dog trainer is relaying what you have taught the dog to the client, and knowing how to read other people is the key to success in this area.

People have to feel at ease when they talk to you. You should always try to exude warmth and intelligence when speaking to your clients and possible clients.

Since you are to be aware of what other people’s body language says about them, know that they are looking for the same thing when they are speaking to you. Be aware of all of your facial expressions and hand gestures.

Can I be Versatile?
The ability to be versatile and change with the times is a definite must. As Dog Trainers are expected to be ahead of the pack when it comes to the newest training methods and doggy fads, your ability to change with current way of thinking will be critical to your success.

Most people hire Dog Trainers so that they can enjoy a lifetime with their dog. If a dog trainer is only capable of sticking to the basics and not offering additional services, it might be disastrous to your career. Your ability to give the client what they are looking for can be the difference between your being on the top of your field, and finding yourself unemployed.

Am I Creative?
Creativity is a subtle, but important quality to have when considering dog training as a profession. Many times your success will depend on your ability to be original in your creative efforts to train a dog. Sometimes the conventional approach does not work in dog training, and you must be able to think “outside the box” to develop a training method that will work with that particular animal.

Am I Organized?
Believe it or not, Dog Trainers have to be extremely well organized to be able to handle all the little details that go into doing a good job. You have to be able to track the dog’s performance on a specific exercise.

It is no easy feat to try and keep track of all the things that need to be done in your kennel. You must monitor what your employees are doing and still manage to keep up with what you should be doing. Do not forget that you also have to appear calm because your clients will likely be asking you questions. If you are scattered and panicked, it will be difficult to answer all the questions and look cool at the same time.

The ability to know where everything is at, and where every person is at is another aspect of organization. It is very hard to keep on schedule if you are constantly wondering where things, and employees are.

How Good am I at Problem Solving?
The ability to problem solve is a necessity for a dog trainer. As a Dog Trainer, you will encounter glitches, and it is a must that you can deal with them. Many times, these glitches will need to be solved on the spot. Dogs are not robots so you can never predict their behavior. You have to be a fast thinker and decision maker.

Your organizational skills will come in handy when you need to solve a problem as well. An organized workplace will help you to have an organized mind. Thoughts have a way of being cluttered when your work space is likewise.

Being able too think quickly an under pressure is a definite asset to problem solving. Your problem is not going to get easier if it takes you too long to come up with a solution for it. Actually, waiting can just give the universe more time to make the problem get bigger.

When trying to decide if Dog Training is right for you, it helps to know what that really means. Dog Training is not simply the profession that “makes dogs obedient”; it takes a little bit more than that. Before you consider Dog Training as a profession, you should ask yourself these questions.

• Am I Creative?
• Am I Organized?
• How Good Am I At Problem Solving?
• Can I Multitask?
• Am I Personable?
• Can I Be Versatile?
• How Is My Business Sense?
• Do I Have Patience?
• Am I Willing To Learn The Needed Skills?
• Can I Communicate Well With People?

Next week I will be explaining these characteristics in detail.
Check back to learn more.

Are you currently in the dog business? It doesn’t matter if you train, walk, board or dog sit; if you have a website or a blog you need good meaningful content.

Dog Training PLR does just that. It’s a membership site that offers great articles that you can use as your own. You can actually claim that you wrote them, because you have “Private Label Rights”. Use these articles on your site and watch the search engines start indexing your site more often.

You can also give them as a bonus to your clients or put several together and create a doggie ebook that you can give away or sell. Take a look today.

This is one of the questions I am asked daily. Becoming a dog trainer and getting involved in the business of dog training is really a lot of fun. If you have a passion for dogs or working with dogs… maybe even training your dog… this maybe a business that is just right for you.

Years ago in order to become a dog trainer you had to have a lot of experience, years of it. Dog trainers were people who were involved in competition and competition training. Years ago there were no schools where you could go to learn how to be a dog trainer. I actually started training when I was 8 years old and competed in my first dog show when I was 9 in the Junior Showmanship class with the American Kennel Club (AKC).

Now over the years there have become more and more schools around the country where you can learn to become a dog trainer. Some of these schools offer in-house training at their facility and offer programs from 4-weeks to several months. Other training facilities offer on-line or correspondence type programs in addition to their in-house programs. The internet and the technology associated with it has allowed distance learning to come a long way in helping people become educated dog trainers.

I’ve actually been training people to become dog trainers for the last 17 years and I’ve really enjoyed it. It has given me the opportunity to help a lot of people fulfill their passion of becoming a dog trainer and at the same time making a good living for their families and having the benefit of being self employed.

So to answer the question, “ How do I become a dog trainer?”, it’s simple. Either do it with experience which will take you years to do or by attending a school. If you are unable to attend a training program away from home, meaning you can’t leave your family, work or your home, you may want to consider one of the online programs that you can do at home in your spare time.

I’ll cover this subject in more depth as we go along.