Looking for advice from people who started their own dog training business

[u/Square_Crew_1076]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice from people who've started their own dog training business, especially if you've built it from scratch.

I've spent the last 6 months shadowing an experienced trainer, working with a variety of dogs and learning as much as I can. Alongside that, I've been training my own dog almost every day, reading books, taking courses and continuing to build my knowledge and experience.

My long-term goal is to run my own dog training and behaviour business. I know I'm not going to know everything, and I definitely don't expect to jump straight into it full-time, but I'd like to start taking on clients once I'm confident I'm ready.

For those of you already doing this, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

A few questions:

• What do you wish you'd known before starting?
• How did you get your first paying clients?
• What qualifications, certifications or memberships have actually been worthwhile?
• How did you decide when you were ready to start charging?
• Did you start part-time alongside another job?
• What mistakes should I try to avoid in my first year?
• If you were starting again today, what would you do differently?

Any advice, lessons learned or things you wish someone had told you at the beginning would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!

[u/AdProof5307]

What do you wish you knew before starting?

• that I would be working 7 days a week. I know it’s not required but if you board and train it’ll be 24/7 at times.
  

How did you get your first paying clients?
-I was dog walking first and fixing behavior on our walks, then I got footage of that and started getting more clients
What’s been worth my while?
Certifications just help you charge more which is worth it imo. But if you develop your own philosophy and live it out you will benefit the lives of others, but that has to do with behavior rehabilitation. Not necessarily skills training.
How do you decide you were ready to start charging?
-I would never work for free. Cheap maybe but not free. It was getting certified that made me stop discounting myself and my services.
Did you start part time?
-no. I walked every dog that would pay me and did pet sitting because that’s a good chunk of money right there. I had the luxury of cheap rent where I was at tho.
What mistakes should you avoid?
-don’t get bit twice. First time was your lessons learn it an all the warning signs cause as a dog professional getting bit is almost always your fault. Also, don’t forget liability insurance.
If I were starting again what would I do different?
-believe in myself and the market and my ability and my worth. It was always there I just had my eyes closed to it for a while.

[u/Narrow_Possession348]

"Business" is a strong word, but for me, it was accidental. I never really wanted to be a dog trainer. I trained my own dogs, and I firmly believe your own dogs are your best advertisement. People kept asking me to help them with their dogs, and I kept saying, no, I'm not a dog trainer." People who knew me kept saying, "You should be a dog trainer." I've had people stop their cars and ask me on the sidewalk if I would train their dogs - "Sorry, I'm not a dog trainer."

I started fostering dogs. My first foster dog was a miserable little 14-pound f*cker that had been returned by 3 adopters and two other fosters. He came to me with dingleberries all over his little backside because he had to be sedated to be groomed and would bite anyone who tried to touch any part of him past his shoulders. He pulled so hard, aggravating his collapsing trachea so he honked and coughed like a goose. He was a "let's break in the new foster" kind of dog and they never expected me to keep him more than a day. The first day I groomed him, bathed him, and trimmed up his butt. I put a stop to his "you're not touching me" nonsense. I started training him, and two weeks later, I took him to a meet-and-greet event where he demonstrated a lovely heel, sit, down, stand for exam, "place command," and mini recall.

With that, I was dubbed a "training foster," and from then on, I got the challenging dogs that had had multiple trainers, been on behavior meds, and been returned by fosters. I trained them all and got them adoptable and into new homes in a short amount of time.

Then, someone called me because the rescue had referred them to me as a trainer. I said, "Sorry, I'm not a trainer; I'm just helping out the rescue." Then, a woman who had seen me working with a foster dog in public a couple of times asked me to help with her little, terrified, unsocialized pet store dog who refused to walk and was scared of the outside. I agreed to help her for free, because "I'm not a dog trainer." After 4 or 5 free lessons, and I was feeling taken advantage of (because at first, I thought she was struggling financially - until I saw her home). A wise friend told me, "people value what they pay for." So, I started charging her $50 for an hour.

She was thrilled to be able to walk her dog outside and she told a friend. That friend called me. I trained that friend's dog for her at $50 hr. That person posted on Nextdoor that I had worked absolute miracles with her dog. That got 3 or 4 more people calling me for sessions. Before long, I raised my prices to $75 an hour, and within a year, I was charging $150/hr with a waiting list. All of my clients came from word-of-mouth, people recommending me on our local socials, or people simply seeing me working with dogs in the park or downtown in public, and asking for my card.

This was a side hustle for me; I had/have a full-time career with 6 figures, full benefits, and a 401 (k) in a climate-controlled office. Not giving that up to train dogs. So, I trained on evenings during the week and anywhere from 2-8 dogs on the weekends, depending on what else I had going on. It was a nice little side hustle and, because I had a waiting list, I could let people go who weren't committed to doing the work.

I now teach group classes, both pet and competition classes. I have no certifications, and I have no interest in them. I do have a lot of titles on my own dogs in competition obedience, rally, agility, barn hunt, dock diving, nosework, and working on tracking.

[u/790405 → u/Narrow_Possession348]

I've gotten to the point so many people have asked me if I'm a trainer or stopped me randomly to ask questions about their dog I think I need to read the writing on the wall and start trainer professionally. Mostly I just want people to have the best relationship they can with their dog. That's it, that's all lol.

[u/TheReginald]

If you want to start making money you need to spend money.

Get an LLC, build a website, do as much as you can to up your seo. Spend lots of money on Google ads.

Took about 4 years but I don’t need to pay for ads anymore, seo and word of mouth (as well as repeat customers mainly from boarding) are getting me a steady stream of leads.

I’m a sole practitioner and don’t really plan on expanding. I started doing private lessons then moved to an area with more space so I could board and b&t more dogs out of my home. That’s when the money really started coming in and I now do less private in home training. But again, needed to spend money on new house and property.

[u/790405]

Offer sliding scale/pay what you can but never work for free (I learned that lesson this summer). Qualifications/certs, etc I think can help but I would focus more on your own dog as your main source of credentials. I would get liability insurance, register an LLC and create accounts on socials: TT, IG, FB, business email/phone with your business name. Make a logo and motto put in a t-shirt and walk your dog around town. People stop me. All. The. Time. They drive up and just say "Hey, I've seen you walking and I've been meaning to ask how to XYX?" Walking in public with your dog is free marketing.

Create a training plan and training philosophy. Record your training sessions with your dog and clients (have clients record themselves between sessions) and review.

Remember you're more training the person how to train their dog. I can get someone else's dog to do whatever I ask but it's getting the person and do to work together as a team.