Daisy Sawtelle
Canine Reporter

As a dog, I have done a lot of training: mainly of my owner. I tell him when I want to eat, go out, and rub my belly and he does. In return, I give him love, affection, and protection. What a good deal. Now if you want to train dogs for others, become a trainer like me. There is no higher calling.

So, if you want to become a dog trainer, hear this: there is not one “right” way to become a dog trainer. Nothing will prepare you more to become a dog trainer than working with a variety of animals under a myriad of circumstances. Unfortunately, there are no licensing or professional requirements to become a dog trainer. I wanted to put together an informational article to help you become a dog trainer.

Training

Training dogs is not easy work, so getting the right training yourself can sometimes be crucial. Training a dog has become a specialist’s job. Training dogs is both fun and hard at the same time. Training is the most important aspect of raising a dog and training serves to strengthen the bond between you and your dog. Training is vital to a long & happy association with your dog.

The usual requirements and conditions for this job are:

• A profound love for dogs

• Being physically fit and active

• Working evenings and weekends,

• Working outdoors

• Strong communication skills

• Good powers of observation and critical thinking ability

• Driving to meet with clients

• Marketing skills.

Aside from the basics, to become a professional and successful trainer, you will also need to know:

• The background and history of every dog breed

• How to read dog body language and communicate effectively with different breeds,

• How to treat more complex problems such as phobias and aggression, basic to advanced dog tricks and commands,

• How to prepare and train dogs for different competitions, as well as, proper canine hygiene, nutrition and grooming so that you can counsel and offer treatment advice to your clients to bring up healthy, well groomed and well behaved dogs.

Trainer Options

There are many different ways in which people become a dog trainer. If you need more hands on, try working with an existing trainer as an apprentice, or even just volunteering with rescue groups and shelters. To become a skilled professional dog trainer you should expect that it will take a number of years as it would if you were studying to become a teacher or counselor. There is nothing like experience with dogs you don’t know to teach you to be a great trainer.

The most common way trainers start is to do in home private lessons, or arrange to meet clients in public areas such as parks or town squares. On the other hand, many trainers make themselves a handsome living. Surprisingly, plenty of new trainers have left white-collar jobs to teach dogs and their masters, those in the industry said.

Most trainers attend several educational seminars to keep current on trends and information about canine health and behavior. These seminars are helpful to both new and experienced trainers.

Getting Experience

This is a great way to go for plenty of hands on experience with dogs. There is no degree required to become a dog trainer, but you should attain both “book knowledge” and hands-on experience before offering your services to the public. Get hands-on experience by mentoring under another trainer if possible, and volunteer to work at your local shelter or with rescue groups.

Shelter/rescue work is a great way to get hands-on experience with dogs of various breeds and temperament. Once you have enough experience, consider yourself certified. It takes years of hands-on experience to become a good dog trainer. The two most common ways to get into the business are to apprentice with an experienced trainer or to attend a dog-training academy.

Clients

You must have patience and empathy, and be as good a coach to your human clients (lots of positive reinforcement. Both dogs and clients should enjoy themselves and a quality trainer will be courteous and polite to both human and canine students.

For that reason, always offer a free evaluation session to give potential clients the opportunity to meet you, see how you interact with their dogs and to ask questions. Sometimes, your clients are uncooperative, and the pay will not make you wealthy either. You will have to adapt your calendar to fit the needs of your clients.

There are no certifications or standards required to become a dog trainer. There are actual dog training schools that you can attend to learn how to become a dog trainer. Perhaps you would be more interested in taking online courses to become a dog trainer.

http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/puppy/

As you can see, there are several ways to actually become a dog trainer.

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Daisy Sawtelle
Canine Reporter

What is so hard about understanding dog behavior? All my dog friends have noses that can smell anything from drugs to diseases to body rescues. If you want us dogs to do something and we become stubborn and indifferent… don’t panic and become agitated.

Use our noses to help you to understand dog behavior.

Try some of the following tips:

Medications.

I don’t like the idea of taking drugs that don’t smell natural. Robert, my owner, uses my nose to seduce me to take any meds I wouldn’t ordinarily take in a pill form. He grinds up the meds and mixes them into my chow.

Another trick he uses is to take the pill and stuff it into some cheese, liverwurst, or ham. Yummy.

However, there are big gelatin pills that you can’t crush into our chow. They must be swallowed whole and that I don’t like. Robert tries to stuff them down my throat but I just spit it out. He gets very agitated.

Now, he lets me sniff the pill with some butter on it and I can’t wait to swallow it. Cool.

Discipline

I don’t always come when I am called…I’m like a little kid. However, I have a big advantage over a kid. A kid won’t always come for an oatmeal cookie, but I will. I can smell it from 10 feet away. I can smell it if it’s in your purse or pocket or kitchen table.

I will also roll over, fetch, sit, sing, retrieve, and shake hands because I can smell or know a treat is coming. But don’t tease me and not give me a treat when I perform because your credibility suffers.

BE CONSISTENT and reward me after every command and you will begin to understand dog behavior by using our noses.

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Miss Daisy
Canine Reporter

One of my best friends, Bernie the Saint Bernard, emailed me this morning about Pope Benedict’s visit to the U.S. and how the last two popes have sermonized about animal neglect. Bernie is naturally pro Catholic and alerts me to the latest news from the Vatican from where his loyalties emanate.

He reports that Pope John Paul II in 1990 stood in front of a public audience at the Vatican and spoke out about dog and pet neglect.

“Animals posses a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren.”

Animals are the fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect … they are as near to God as men are.”

Incidentally, Pope Benedict when he was ordained was nicknamed the German Shepard…another reference to the closeness to dogs as a symbol of devotion.

I have been casually following this pope between TV commercials and reported to The Dog Biscuit Gazette that Pope Benedict was fond of cats (Uff Da). I reported that he had a statue of a cat in the papal garden.

If he is so fond of animals, why not just come out and say what is ‘Dog’ spelled backwards and directly include us as divine also. After all, what is ‘Cat’ spelled backwards”? I rest my case.

Just because Bernie the St. Bernard is sainted doesn’t cover all 300 breeds of dogs. Besides Bernie doesn’t even know or remember why he is divine.

Now, I like cats (UFF DA) but in different way. In my hometown of Embarrass, MN they were necessary for catching rodents and rats. But they couldn’t pull a snow sled or carry a tune. Once in a while, they would rub up against you and purr, which is affectionate, but somewhat fickle.

If the Pope is willing to put a dog sculpture in the papal garden, I will lobby for a cat sculpture in Peterson’s Bar and Grille in Embarrass, MN. Remember, ALL ROADS LEAD TO EMBARRASS, MN. and this public relations  coup will negate any Lutheran backlash.

Why doesn’t the Pope get a dog or at least give us equal time with our own sculpture in his garden? We could fetch his slippers, carry his newspaper, and protect him against Lutherans.

The point I am trying to make is: Adopt a dog and be divine. You don’t really own a dog anyway, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease.

Comments and suggestions welcome

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