| Do you love dogs? Do you like working with people? | | | | help out in the training. |
| Do you have a lot of patience? | | | | - While expensive and quite a time commitment, |
| If you answer yes to all the questions, then a | | | | attending a professional dog training school or a K9 |
| professional career in dog training can be | | | | academy can give you a more formalized and |
| tremendously rewarding for you. | | | | complete education as a canine trainer. To get started, |
| However, at the same time, a career in dog training | | | | check with your local pet stores or veterinary hospitals |
| can also be very challenging and it is going to take you | | | | for reference and recommendations. |
| a great deal of time, patience and determination to | | | | - You can also contact local breeders and dog trainers |
| become a successful dog trainer. | | | | in your area and become an apprentice to take |
| Therefore, let's first examine your motives and ask | | | | lessons from them directly. Alternatively, some guide |
| yourself a few questions before you go enroll yourself | | | | dogs training centers offer apprenticeship programs |
| to become a dog trainer. | | | | for anyone interested in becoming instructors for the |
| - Do you love all dogs regardless of age, breed or | | | | school. |
| temperament? Can you really work with them even if | | | | - Another way to start your dog training career is |
| the dogs are behaving badly, stubborn and | | | | through self study. Read as many training books as |
| aggressive? Dog trainers must be kind and patient | | | | possible and attend lots of seminars, workshops and |
| teachers since most dogs cannot be trained in a | | | | conferences to learn about dog training and behavior |
| couple of minutes. Many hours of dedication and | | | | modification. In addition, you may also want to |
| patience will be required to work with the animals to | | | | volunteer to train your friends or neighbor's dogs to get |
| achieve the desired results. | | | | some hands-on experience and improve your training |
| - Are you respectful and comfortable working with | | | | skills with dogs. |
| people? A dog trainer job is not just about training | | | | While there are also some mail and internet |
| dogs. It is also about training people, specifically the dog | | | | correspondence courses that claim to "certify" you as |
| owners themselves on how to handle their animals | | | | a "professional" in the field of dog training and behavior, |
| more effectively. | | | | you would do well to avoid any of them. Most |
| - Are you willing to put in a lot of time and effort to | | | | correspondence courses at most can only offer you |
| become a successful dog trainer? In your dog training | | | | basic information on dog handling skills and you |
| career, you will come across many different types of | | | | probably will learn as much from reading books on dog |
| behavior problems with different breed of dogs | | | | training. |
| therefore you will need to be committed to keep your | | | | As you make the transition from trainee to dog trainer, |
| dog training knowledge up-to-date by attending | | | | you can start your professional career in dog training |
| seminars, workshops and conferences. By | | | | working full or part time. |
| understanding a wide variety of dog behavior, | | | | According to a recent survey, there are approximately |
| communication, conditioning, training techniques can help | | | | 63,000,000 owned dogs in the United States. And as |
| you become a well-qualified, knowledgeable and skilled | | | | more dogs take on active roles in security, law |
| dog trainer. | | | | enforcement, rescue operations and human assistance |
| Let's say that you have decided that you are truly | | | | projects, employment opportunities for dog trainers are |
| passionate about dogs and committed to make | | | | expected to rise more than 15% through 2012 - that |
| handling dogs a successful career, the next big | | | | means more and more opportunities for dog trainers. |
| question is how to do you start your dog training | | | | As a professional canine trainer, the income that you |
| career? | | | | could earn can be attractive. The salaries for full-time |
| A career in dog training can begin in a number of | | | | dog trainers are around $150 or more per hour |
| ways: | | | | depending on experience, reputation and location - and |
| - By volunteering at one of your local rescue centers | | | | for part-time trainers $15 to $20 per hour. |
| or animal shelters, you can pick up lots of great | | | | As mentioned before, a career in dog training can be |
| hands-on and observational experience. Often dog | | | | extremely satisfying and rewarding. If you truly care |
| shelters will also have some form of training program | | | | about dogs and can work with both dogs and humans |
| for their volunteers or you may also be assigned to | | | | on a daily basis, then becoming a dog trainer would be |
| help one of the trainers. As your experience | | | | an excellent and fulfilling career choice for you. |
| progresses, you will be given more responsibilities to | | | | |