It Takes People to Have a Dog Training Business

You may think that is a strange title but not really. One thing to consider when you are starting any business is whether there are enough people in your area who will use your business and make it successful. A dog training business isn’t any different.

Over the years I have taught students who went home eager to start their dog training business only to find that there was not enough dog owners in the area to support their new business. So…….you have two choices. You either need to move to a more populated area or get creative and figure out how to locate more dogs.

Let’s start with example #1. I had a student in North Carolina who could not find enough business in his small rural community. I instructed him get a local map and tell me how many towns were within a 30-45 minute drive from him. It turns out there were six. None of them were larger than his town. I proposed he visit the local veterinarian in each community, and leave his business cards for the vet’s clients. When he told them that he was a dog trainer who wanted to offer group class in their community, the local vets offered the use of their parking lots or grassy areas next to their clinic. Since he couldn’t get enough dogs to come to him, he did the next best thing… he went to them.

Quite often he not only did one class per evening but actually had two classes so it really made the drive worth his effort. He took a business that wasn’t making a good profit and turned it into a full time business making up to $200 an hour teaching group obedience classes.

Example #2 is a student of mine who lived in the country 35-40 miles from a large city and about 15 miles from a smaller but well populated community. This student not only offered obedience training but also offered boarding. As the business grew she also built a nice indoor-outdoor boarding facility to accommodate well over 60 dogs. The next growing spurt happened when they added detector dog training. They trained dogs for law enforcement including drug dogs and arson dogs. They sell these to law enforcement all over the country. They took a business that was located in a very rural area and turned it into a very profitable business.

So no matter where you are located there is a way to find enough business to make your business prosper. You simply have to be creative.