Even MORE Ways To Make Money Working With Dogs

Even in difficult economic times it’s possible to make money working with dogs. If you love dogs and want to find a career working with them, there are lots of ways you can earn a living doing something you enjoy. Here are a few more ideas.

Sometimes a dog owner’s most treasured possession is a photo of their beloved pet. The same way parents get a photo of their child from school, or take their kids to a department store photographer, many dog owners are delighted to have a photo made of their dog.

If you are handy with a camera, especially a nice quality digital camera, and you can obtain a few good backgrounds for pictures, then you may be interested in offering a dog photo service. Dog photography is very popular with owners. As a dog photographer you need to have a lot of patience: it may not be easy to get a dog to get into a good position or hold a pose. You may need an assistant to help you with equipment and with working with the dogs. Otherwise you need camera equipment, some toys to keep the dogs interested, and you’ll need to have the photos printed on good quality photographic paper. If you work with 35 mm cameras you will need to do developing and buy chemicals, which makes digital photography much easier.

Whether you are interested in providing portraits of pets or taking photos of rescue dogs, photographing dogs at dog shows, or doing other dog photography, a dog photo service can be a very good profession for a creative, artistic person. And don’t forget those pet photos with Santa! Christmas is a busy time of year for pet photographers.

Dog grooming never goes out of style. As more and more people own dogs, there is more of a demand for qualified dog groomers. Grooming a dog well is not as easy as it looks, as anyone can tell you who has tried to do it themselves.

If you think you’d like to try your hand at dog grooming there are several avenues. You can apprentice in a groomer’s shop. Chances are that you will be put to work bathing cats and dogs in the beginning, but you may work your way up to working with clippers and scissors. You can also teach yourself at home by using one of the books on dog grooming available. If you do this you may eventually get a job working in a grooming shop as a groomer, or you could end up working as a groomer or assistant for a dog show handler. (Handlers are expert groomers who usually know how to groom dozens of breeds in show haircuts as opposed to the pet haircuts usually demanded by pet owners.) Or, you could go to a reputable dog grooming school. There are courses offered both online and at brick and mortar schools. Both kinds of schools offer certification when you complete their course work. With both kinds of schools you are supposed to practice your grooming on actual dogs. Your certification from a dog grooming school will help you be hired at a dog grooming salon. You will probably be hired on trial and given some easy dogs to work on in the beginning, but when you prove yourself you should have no problems.

It’s something none of us likes to think about, but our dogs poop. They poop in our yards. And somebody has to pick it up. And, believe it or not, you can earn a living by operating a doggy poop pick-up service.

You can’t deny that it’s a necessary service. Pooper scooper services are great for people who hate the job or who don’t have time to do it. You pick up the poop and leave it in your client’s trash for them. You typically charge people based on how many times per week they want you to come, plus how many dogs they have. It’s pretty simple. All you need is insurance (of course) and the tools to pick up the poop. These businesses are thriving. Also, it’s easy to offer additional services to your clients such as dog walking while you’re on the premises. Maybe it’s not a business for everyone but if you don’t mind working with dog poop it can be a good business.

Another good business opportunity is the dog boarding facility. Boarding dogs has always been a necessity. While lots of people like to use pet sitters these days, they aren’t going to put the boarding kennel out of business. In fact, many boarding kennels have upgraded and become quite luxurious.

If you’re interested in operating a boarding facility you should first find out about the zoning laws in your area. You will essentially be operating a kennel according to most legal standards, so you need to make sure that any property you consider is zoned to allow a kennel and multiple dogs. Look at other business requirements in your area, such as city, county and state licenses required. Check into insurance. You will have a sizable investment and you need to protect it fully. You will need to consider layout and kennel runs. Check online and you will be able to find the layouts for other kennel properties to give you some guidelines. After that it’s up to you how basic or how elaborate you want to make your services. Remember that you can charge for your special services, but don’t price them so high that no one will pay for them.

Most boarding kennels place 2-3 similarly sized dogs in the same kennel (which has indoor-outdoor access). Take special care to make sure that these dogs are compatible with each other or else you could have a disaster on your hands. You don’t want to have to explain to a client why his dog was maimed by his kennel mate or you could be facing a lawsuit.

With the advent of the Internet we seem to buy everything online and dog supplies are no exception. Many people buy nearly all of their dog supplies online, including dog food which is delivered to their front door. Perhaps selling online dog supplies is something you may be interested in trying. There is virtually no limit to the kinds of dog supplies you can sell – everything from pet food to grooming supplies to whelping supplies to equipment for special interests like agility and hunting.

If you think you’d like to sell some products online contact the companies you’re interested in and ask about becoming a distributor or representative. You can then set up your own web site and advertise the products at the price you decide (keeping in mind that there will be others selling the same products). Your prices can’t be too much higher than what others are selling for or people will by-pass you, unless you are offering some other incentives for people to buy from you.

There are a gazillion different dog supplies so choose some that interest you and which you think might sell well; contact the companies and see what kind of arrangements they’re offering. Make your choices and see what happens. There are some very successful online dog supply companies so we know it can be done right.