Dog training can be a very rewarding career. Dogs are our
best friends and the number of dog owners are increasing. Therefore, you
can predict that there will be a high demand for dog training
professionals in the future.
There are basically two types of dog training. One is pet dog training, and the other is service dog training. Pet dog training is simpler, you get the dog to obey basic commands, like, sit, stay, fetch, and house training like ringing a bell when the dog needs to go putty. And because there are much more pet dog owners than service dog owners, you have a larger market to promote your services to, if you are a pet dog trainer.
Service dogs are trained for one of many different jobs. A police dog may chase a criminal. Dogs can detect bombs or illegal drugs at the airports, by sniffing packages. There are search and rescue dogs for emergency response. There are cadaver recovery dogs for criminal investigations. There are guard dogs for self defense. And guide dogs to lead the blind. A hunting dog helps huntersfind his prey. A sheperd dog helps the sheperd keep his sheep safe from wolves.
All these special service dogs require intensve training and testing, to do their job. While there is a smaller market for the service dog trainers, there is also less competition, and you can get paid more for training a single dog because you are percieved as a specialized expert. It is requires more mastery to train a special service dog, it is a greater challenge than training a pet dog, but it is also much more rewarding.
To become a dog trainer, you need to master the basics. Right now there are no official colleges or universities giving diplomas in dog training. However, you can learn dog training by being an apprentice to a good trainer, or buying educational books and videos and studying and practicing them. And while there is no official training, there are associations and organizations that might help you with your education. Association of pet dog trainers is a good place to start.
Do not forget that, being a dog trainer requires so much more than loving dogs and being able to train dogs. You need to train the dog owners also, therefore you need people skills too. Some dog owners are thinking that they will not lift a finger, leave their dog with you, and when he is trained, he will obey the owners commands immediately. But this is an illusion and it does not work that way. Even after the dog is trained, the owner must be trained also, about how to properly give commands, how to reward and punish properly, and how the owner should behave when there are other people around, maybe giving conflicting commands to the dog, or distracting him etc. Proper amount of practice of the dog and his owner is essential. In fact, it works best if you teach the owner how to train the dog, and he trains his dog own dog right from the start.
Also there is so much more to running a dog training business than just training dogs. You should know how to market your service, how to handle customer issues, like all other successful businesses. More often then not, when a dog training business fails, it fails due to lack of some business management skill, not due to a lack of dog training skill. If you are just starting out, it is a good idea to contact with dog owner associations, dog trainer associations, veterinaries, animal shelters, etc, as well as your own circle of neighbours and friends. Make sure you please all the customers perfectly do that they can recommend you to other pet owners. Word of mouth is one of the best advertising methods for a small business owner.