Got a career dealing with dogs? Tell me about it

SoCrafty

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#1
If you have a job that you work mostly around or with dogs, I am interested...I am thinking of switching gears or doing something on the side and I have always been passionate about animals. I know I won't be making what I am making now, but happiness is a big factor in this...I've done research but I don't know how accurate any of it is.

What is your job title?
Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise? (If possible, can you give me a broad range, I don't need to know what exactly what YOU make)
What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
How would you suggest getting started?
The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?

I am thinking of grooming, if that helps.
 

*blackrose

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#2
What is your job title?

Veterinary Technician

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?

Eh. Kind of. Lol In almost every job that pertains to animals, unless it is highly specialized, does not pay well. Average pay in my field for a technician is between $12-$15 an hour, with inexperienced/new technicians maybe only making $10/hr. Benefits normally suck, too. All in all, if you're making $30,000 a year working full time you're doing pretty **** good.

What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)

You can work as an unlicensed tech and get on the job training. But that is a longer road. I am not licensed, but I do have a bachelor's in Animal Science and worked 2 years as an assistant/tech before moving on to official "vet tech" work. Now I have enough on the job experience and knowledge to consider myself an actual technician, but it was a ways getting there. Getting your associates as an RVT would be best.

How would you suggest getting started?

If you won't be going to go to tech school, getting a job in a clinic as an assistant with the premise of being trained for more advanced skills would be great. But, it will be low pay and hard work before you can get to an actual technician job.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?

I am happy in my job and would recommend it to the right person. It is hard, taxing work. Very physically and emotionally draining. You need to be good at math and have a grasp of biological processes, terms, and applications. You need to have fantastic customer service skills and a very good poker face. The pay is low, the hours are long, and you get home exhausted. But it is very fulfilling work and I love it.

In highschool and the first parts of college I worked in a grooming shop, so I can answer some questions you may have about that if you'd like!
 

Maxy24

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#3
What is your job title?
I work two jobs at a pet store. Mainly I'm in the kennel as an animal care associate. I also work in the grooming salon as a bather but only one day a week. Bathers do not cut hair, they just do nails, clean ears, bathe, dry, and brush the dogs.

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
No you cannot support yourself. I get $10.50 an hour. The longer you're there the more you get though, and there are different levels of seniority. You are either an associate, Senior associate, or manager. Senior associates get $12 something an hour, not sure about managers though I assume they do make enough to support themselves since none of the ones we have work second jobs.

What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)

No schooling, just on site training. Groomers do have to go get special training at "the academy".

How would you suggest getting started?
Working at a kennel is very easy to get involved in if you have any dog experience. Just apply.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
The kennel can be a bit boring. Most of the time you're in doggy daycare standing watching dogs play or sleep. You're mostly cleaning up poop and preventing dog fights. When you have worked there longer you get to do some more of the front desk stuff which is less boring. But it's a low stress job. You're almost never in a rush except for like an hour if lots of dogs are checking in or out at once. Managers have to deal with any difficult customers.
The salon is much faster paced so time flies. You also get tips from some customers. That also means it's more stressful. You have to finish your dogs by certain times so things can get rushed. Many days I don't have time to take my lunch break. You're going to get a lot of terrified dogs and deal with dogs who try to bite or make doing your job very difficult. You have to deal with your own customers when they are unhappy. I enjoy the kennel more because the salon really triggers my social anxiety. But both of my jobs are really aimed at young people looking for short term employment, or, in the case of bathers, people who eventually want to be a groomer.


I am thinking of grooming, if that helps.
I do not groom but here's what a glean from working with them at the salon. This of course only applies to where I work, other salons likely work differently. The pay is more than what I get, they are salaried, not hourly, and they get commission. Yesterday one of the groomers mentioned that she paycheck for the week was $600 including commission and she's one of our newer groomers. I think the groomers really like their job, but they do often seem stressed out.
 

krissy

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#4
This may be way more intense than what you are looking for, but it is working with animals so I figured I'd share.

What is your job title?
Veterinarian

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
The salary is good. You can definitely support yourself and have a bit of disposable income. But when you compare your student debt to what you make... it's a little sad compared to the rest of the health industry (i.e. human side).

If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise? (If possible, can you give me a broad range, I don't need to know what exactly what YOU make)
This is highly dependent on region, but I can tell you my experience.
New grads - $65-75 K
Average - $75-90 K
Own your own clinic - potentially 100+ K, but it really depends on how good you are at business management, location of your clinic, etc. And I'm sort of guessing here since I don't own my own clinic yet.

What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
You need a veterinary degree which is 4 years of school. To get in you typically need anywhere between 2-6 years of University education. I did 2 years of undergrad before vet school so I did a total of 6 years of University education.

How would you suggest getting started?
Bachelor of science degree at a good University. Work your butt off and get kickass grades. Volunteer at vet clinics to get an idea of what the work is really like.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
Yes. I mean, there is quite a lot that I don't like about my job, but looking at other careers I really can't imagine myself doing anything else. Most days I really like it, but it can be very stressful and compassion fatigue is a very real thing. Vets also have the highest suicide rate and I can see why.
 

milos_mommy

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#5
What is your job title? - currently, dog trainer. I've also worked as a bather in two grooming places, and a handler at dog day care.

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)? - I work part time, so personally, no, this is a job not a career while I finish school. I have, in the past, working long (40+ a week), made just enough to support myself. If you work hard you can make the money needed to live in a dog job, but unless you're at a higher level (business owner or such), it'll be tight.
If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise? If I pursued dog training full time and worked as an averagely successful self employed business owner, I think my potential would be about $30,000/year, ballpark.
What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
How would you suggest getting started? I've never had formal schooling besides taking random classes and seminars. I actually started as a psych major on track for an ethology MA, so much of what I learned is from that. Otherwise I shadowed some other trainers at rescue groups (volunteer) and have been self studying and taking seminars/online classes for 10 years now.

Grooming I just had volunteer experience with dogs, and started bathing at a local salon at 18. The groomer taught me a ton and kind of let me apprentice. I'm definitely not great, I can't do any fancy show grooms or anything but a basic puppy clip, but have been offered grooming jobs. I just like training more.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone? - yes. Money is the only downside. If you aren't business saavy it's hard to make decent or livable money. If you're not good with people/customer service/often crazy angry/emotional people, it's not for you - people get upset about their pets easily. If you work for yourself you need to handle business aspects like networking, insurance, etc. But I do love training and helping dogs stay in their homes and stay safe and improve people's relationships with their pets. I liked grooming/bathing too, but that's tough because even though you try to make it a great experience and be so gentle with anxious or injured pets, a good percentage hate you/the experience anyway. Plus it's physically tougher (for me at least).

A lot of grooming salons need weekend/seasonal bathers, so I'd recommend trying that to get a feel for the business, and if you like it look into a certificate or shadowing a more experienced groomer!
 

PlottMom

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#6
I'm poaching this answer... I added in italics

This may be way more intense than what you are looking for, but it is working with animals so I figured I'd share.

What is your job title?
Veterinarian

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
The salary is good. You can definitely support yourself and have a bit of disposable income. But when you compare your student debt to what you make... it's a little sad compared to the rest of the health industry (i.e. human side). yea, compared to the 300K in debt I'll be leaving with, I'm really glad I'm married to a man retired from the army. He gets paid regardless.

If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise? (If possible, can you give me a broad range, I don't need to know what exactly what YOU make)
This is highly dependent on region, but I can tell you my experience.
New grads - $65-75 K
Average - $75-90 K
Own your own clinic - potentially 100+ K, but it really depends on how good you are at business management, location of your clinic, etc. And I'm sort of guessing here since I don't own my own clinic yet.

What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
You need a veterinary degree which is 4 years of school. To get in you typically need anywhere between 2-6 years of University education. I did 2 years of undergrad before vet school so I did a total of 6 years of University education.
I did 4.5 years of undergrad before vet school - degree in Animal Bioscience.
How would you suggest getting started?
Bachelor of science degree at a good University. Work your butt off and get kickass grades. Volunteer at vet clinics to get an idea of what the work is really like. Degree or at least take care of your prerequisite classes (but I recommend a degree because if you don't get in, at least you have a fall back plan... a lot of my classmates volunteered or worked as vet assistants... it took me a while to get in so I was a straight up technician for a while first, and I LOVED it - I'm actually having some withdrawal lol

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
Yes. I mean, there is quite a lot that I don't like about my job, but looking at other careers I really can't imagine myself doing anything else. Most days I really like it, but it can be very stressful and compassion fatigue is a very real thing. Vets also have the highest suicide rate and I can see why. Yea, bottom line is I can't see myself doing anything else.
 

PWCorgi

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#7
What is your job title?
Dog Trainer
Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?

I would say I make more than the average dog trainer in my area (and I am at a lower rung for my company), and I have quite a bit of power over my schedule. If I want more money, I just add some more appointments to my schedule. But the company I work for is not what I would consider "normal" as far as how it functions.
What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
You don't "need" anything, there are certificates and programs that you can do, titles you can get, etc.
How would you suggest getting started?
Find a trainer in your area who you agree with on in terms of training techniques and ethics, and follow the crap out of them. Read everything you can get yours hands on, talk to trainers, attend seminars, etc. Get yourself into the community.
The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
I adore my job :D The hours can be hard (night and weekends), and some situations are heartbreaking, but I love it.
 
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#8
My situation may be a little different because it is a small, family owned business so my hours are a little more hectic than usual and my boss (dad) is extremely more flexible than usual:

What is your job title?

"Kennel Manger" at a social boarding/daycare facility

Salary - Salary-wise I can't really speak on. We are a small facility (6-7 employees including the owner and holiday workers) and all get paid hourly. Most of us are also in school, so we aren't looking for long-term commitment (I've been here 4 years and the facility has been open 6). But I am able to fully support myself while being a full-time student.


How would you suggest getting started?

Some places ask for training but, having any background knowledge/personal experience with dogs, behaviors and body language helps greatly.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
I love my job. All together, daycare would be a lot easier because everyone goes home at the end of the day, but it is also fun to see the same dog day after day. Dealing with dog owners can be "fun", but I'm assuming you have that in EVERY dog profession.
It's fun working with other like-minded dog people. One of my coworkers is a friend and we talk dog allllllllll the time and we take classes together with some clients.

I am thinking of grooming, if that helps.
I personally hated my grooming experience, but I was very inclusive and it lead me to getting a lot of the difficult or rarely groomed dogs that were hard to manage and caused stress for me. I wouldn't rule it out, just wasn't good for me. If you do choose this route, be sure to take good care of your joints (especially wrists) and your back!
 

SpringerLover

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#9
What is your job title?
Veterinary Technician
Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
When I was hired. No. Two years later, yes.
If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise?
Starting techs may make under $10 per hour and not get 40 hours per week. Experienced, specialty techs make $20+?
What kind of schooling did you need?
You can be an uncertified tech but pay is less and there's a lot less room for advancement.
How would you suggest getting started?
I volunteered at a clinic for a few months before I was hired. It worked very well for me.
The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
I adore my job. Absolutely love what I do. That said, even on a good day it I come home pretty tired. But I have awesome benefits that I wouldn't trade for anything.
 

mrose_s

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#10
Training is my passion, I have been trained to groom over the past few years and it's something I'd like to keep my hand in. I really enjoy it (the good dogs) but I'm not passionate about it like training.

What is your job title?

Dog Trainer/Dog Groomer

I work for a developing business that should in he next few years turn into an incredible facility. Right now the few staff we have just do what needs to be done to help it run and build.

I spend 3 days a week grooming, They have trained me from scratch for this over the past 2.5 years. The salon will be closing at the end of 2015. Next year the plan is for me is to build and run an online training supplies store.

I spend 1 day a week training our board and train dogs. Either in basic obedience or behaviour modification. I have previously always done more of this but this last few months have been crazy in grooming.

And we run classes at 4 different centres between here and Brisbane (about 150km away) over the weekends which I travel to with our team. I usually run 9 classes a week plus do private lessons during the week.

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?

I was on minimum wage while doing my initial hands on training. Almost 3 years on, I make enough to live on but I work bloody hard for it.

What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
How would you suggest getting started?


In Australia it is a totally unregulated industry. However all the trainers we employ have to complete their Cert III in Dog Behaviour and Training.
We think standards in the industry are important.
The way we are expanding we are hoping to develop and deliver a Cert IV in the coming years.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?

My main issue is I've missed virtually every weekend for the last 3 years. I am so busy dog training I have no time to dog train. Even if I was able to train for performance. I have no chance to compete or volunteer for a lot of my other areas of interest.
My social life is all but non existent and I feel like I've lost a lot of my friends for my job. I know it will come around again but it's hard right now.

But over the next few years I feel like I will have every opportunity I could have ever asked for in this industry thrown at my feet while some of the most talented and dedicated trainers I've ever met go "What is you'd like to specialise in?"
I will also have the chance to be training and developing dogs for all sorts of real life working roles. Something I know a lot of people would kill for. From military and police applications, search and rescue, customs, conservation etc. The opportunities are endless.
I always remind myself of this when I'm frustrated.

If you arn't passionate about it though, it's not the career to pick. I've known for over 10 years all I wanted to do was train dogs. If I wasn't 100% sure this was what I wanted to do. I wouldn't be able to stick it out.
 

SoCrafty

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#11
Thank you EVERYONE - I'm sorry I have been MIA.

I am still thinking of grooming - but training or kennel or doggy day care work seems pretty interesting, too.

You have all given me a bunch to think about and talk about with DH. He is thinking about going back to school, so I have to stay where I am, but once he has those last few credits, I can venture out into the pet industry. That will give me time to research more.
 

JacksonsMom

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#12
What is your job title?
pet sitter

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
No, but if I worked more hours and/or owned my own business, I could. My friend from HS owns the company and supports herself and has her own house etc.

If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise? (If possible, can you give me a broad range, I don't need to know what exactly what YOU make)
I would venture to guess if you work hard enough at it, you could easily make $25k-$40k per year. At the moment I only make between $150-$400 per week, highly depending on if I do any overnights and how many day jobs I have, etc.

What kind of schooling did you need?

Nada. It's always nice to be certified in things if you can, and if you start your own business, get bonded and insured.

How would you suggest getting started?
A lot of it is word of mouth - advertising, let every one know you're a pet sitter. It often starts with close family and friends referring you to their friends etc.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
Honestly, yes and no. I love dogs sooo much but I find the driving all day to be really tedious, but I also hate driving and have anxiety about it (so certain weather etc really freaks me out, and it sucks when it just doesn't matter if it's going to be down-pouring all day, vacationers still need their dogs to be taken care of/let out). Schedules can be sporadic which can be annoying trying to coordinate anything. You could have a let out in one area at 8:30am, one on the opposite end of town at 10:30 and then have to go back for the first area at 11. So you go back/forth a lot.

I also get sooo sick of the overnights and sleeping at other peoples houses. I'm usually able to bring Jackson with me to most houses which is nice but the ones I can't really bums me out because then Jackson gets anxious/weird and I feel terrible because I could often be less than 30 mins away and with someone ELSES dog when mine is at home worried (it's one thing if i'm having fun on vacation but when I'm just with someone elses dog, it bums me out to leave him lol). BUT you make more of your money on overnights and can charge more. Double edged sword.

I'm kind of over it honestly and it hasn't even been a full year quite yet. lol. I pet sat on my own after high school for 2 years but I only had like 4-5 daily clients and didn't do very many overnights but I also did babysitting etc on the side and whatever else I could. I'm making more money now than I did then but currently, I don't have a rent as I live with my parents and I really need something else where I can make a better living asap.

I'm considering for now temporarily seeing if I can get hired at a dog boarding/daycare facility part-time just because it's what I have experience in (and I would rather have a set schedule... as in 'come to work between 8-3' and only two drives per day, there and back) and know while I finish this fall and spring semester after taking too much time off from school. But after that, I don't want to work with dogs anymore.
 

JessLough

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#13
What is your job title?
Job OnePet Care Specialist (pet sitting, dog walking, drop-ins, puppy socializing, etc)
Job TwoKennel Assistant (I do basic care for the dogs, plus grooming)

Is the salary/pay worth it (I.e., can you support yourself)?
Job OneI'm hoping to eventually. I'm just starting out in a completely new city, so for the time being I have taken on another job. I do, however, have the company myself, so I'm not waiting for pay for somebody else. What my clients pay for my services, I make. My goal is to have this as my full time/only job.
Job TwoIf it was full time, more than likely, yes. However, what I consider supporting myself probably isn't the real definition, as I do live with my SO so all the household bills aren't on my shoulders :p

If you are comfortable sharing, what can I expect salary wise? (If possible, can you give me a broad range, I don't need to know what exactly what YOU make)
Job OneIt seriously depends on your area and how much you charge
Job TwoIf I were doing it full-time, about 20k at this specific kennel.

What kind of schooling did you need? (I.e. do you need a degree or certificate)
None necessary!

How would you suggest getting started?
Place ads, watch friends dogs, etc. For the kennel assistant, I honestly just searched for job postings and lucked out.

The dealbreaker - are you happy in your job? Would you recommend this job to someone?
Yes! It's hard work, but I'm enjoying it immensely :)
 

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