Thinking About The Future.

I'm thinking so much about the future (college, job, ect) my head nearly hurts right now.

But I've got a few questions that hopefully you guys can help with.

I'd like to be a dog trainer. But whats the difference in Dog Trainer and Animal Behavoirst? I've tried googling, but it seems to bring up that they are basically both the same.

Here are the sites I'm looking at now: ABC

APDT

CCPDT


Anyone have opinion on these?


Also, I'm not sure what to major in while in college, would just going on to one of these schools, after HS, be smart?

Have you heard anything good on this book?

http://www.phantompub.com/Want%20to%20be%20a%20Trainer.htm


Okay, I'm also considering Professional Photographer. Can you major in this at college? Or is this something you could do at a Community College?

I know some of those questions may not be answerable and might just depend on the college. But I'd like some advice.

I can't help you on the animal trainer bit, but I just graduated with a bachelor's in Photocommunications. Which basically is photography. But it is the college of mass communications as opposed to fine art photography in the college of art.

So yes you can get a degree in photography. Although I recommend at least minoring in business if you want to have your own photo business. I wish i would have.

this is just my quick 2 cents...

Go to a 4 year college if possible.

Just cause "dog training" or "photography" isn't a major doesn't matter in the slightest. To me, I would assume those are both highly competitive jobs (especially photography), and chances are, neither are ones that you can easily just 'enter' the job field with and be successful right off the bat. The more education you receive, the more it will help you, even if it doesn't seem relevant...its just all about experience, and unfortunately it is EXTREMELY difficult to get the experience you need without a 4 year degree.

i agree with Zoe...business/finance is a GREAT thing to major in if you are interested in running your own dog training business/photography business...not only will you be able to land some temp job after school, but when you are ready to open your own business, the education you received will be VERY beneficial.

If you are really interested in history/psychology/::insert random major here:: than do that though.

good luck!!

Why not pull a Patricia McConnell and study Ethology for a 4-year degree/potentially graduate degree (She has a Ph.D.). That way, you could actually build a scientific foundation for studying animal behavior/dog training instead of basing your techniques on "tricks of the trade."

If the dog training business doesn't work out, it opens a lot of other doors for you.

Hey Lizmo,

It can be very confusing and on top of that this industry is as of yet, totally unregulated.

I agree that going into animal sciences would be a great bet if you're wanting to do anything with dogs...or any other creature for that matter. I took Ethology and Primatology and then went looking for a certification in dog training. I had already been training for many years before one was available but I don't regret it at all. I've learned so much and continue to learn better ways to do things every day.

I'm a mentor trainer for the Animal Behavior College (ABC) one of the certifications that I hold. I believe that this is offered to honor students who have been training for many years and simply means that I take on students during externship. (for VERY little pay) ABC is MUCH more complete than other programs out there (with the exception of Jean Donaldsons program in San Fran). If I were younger, I would go for Jeans above all others. ABC has Karen Pryor on the board at ABC and I believe she co-writes the curriculum.

CPDT is another certification but you must already be a dog trainer to take it and it provides absolutely no training, no support, or anything other than a 250 question (multiple choice) exam, the ability to use CEU credits and CPDT after your name. I've finally crumbled and decided to take that exam in July, reluctantly and only so that I can shelf all of the CEI's that I have and continue to rack up. I've got a bit of sour grapes over this right now because I have to travel quite a distance for this exam and must schedule way in advance yet I can not leave my old dog. It's also a silly amount of money for an exam of that nature.

The book that you posted is absolutely fantastic, I'd get that one and Nicole's other one for private (one-on-one) training....can't say enough about either book. She's coming to Calgary this year and I'll be attending for sure.

What you can also do before thowing down a huge chunk of $$ is to take part in seminars and workshop designed for trainers in or around your area. That way you'll get a more clear picture of what this industry is all about.

If you have any questions, you can email me at [email protected] anytime.

Liz, I would be willing to talk back and forth with you on this if you're interested. I really want to look into striving to become a canine behavioral specialist. Mainly my big interest is helping dogs that have aggressions, fears, anxieties, etc

Dr2little, THANKS! I was hoping you could chime in, but didn't know if you got on here anymore. I've missed you posts!

I'd probably work at a training center (my trainer has already recommened a place to me that she works at Pets Behave) before I branch out on my own (my dream is to come back here and open up a training facility, this town needs it very bad).

What is the pay like for a trainer? What do you charge for different classes (basic Ob, advance Ob, in-home training sessions, and private classes)?

Skitt, I would definitely be willing to talk to you Do you have MSN or AIM?

Jennifer, go ahead and e-mail Doc . . . she was serious about that

I think I will Renee. Thanks

Do you think Doc would mind if I emailed her about the same thing?

No, Virginia, I don't think she'd mind. I think she'd be thrilled

No problem Lizzy, I looked at the site for Pets Behave and I think that they would be a great place to start. Everything looks so positive and they really seem to be doing it right and with lots of experience and creds.

As for pay, I can only speak for myself and it does vary based on your location but private in-home sessions are $90.00/hour (they usually last about 2 hours) and classes are $175.00 for a six week class. Again, that's a very reasonable rate for my area but if you translate that into conservatively 2 private sessions/day, 5 days/week at $180.00 each and then about 60 dogs or pups running through various classes every six weeks, it's can pay the bills.


Keep in mind that that's on my own with very little overhead (I rent a community centre by the hour ($13.26/hour...shhhhhh, it's such a great place) and private training is in the clients home or remote location) and of course there are a ton of write offs for my business from gas to class material/treats/toys/stationary....

Being on your own can be hard though. First, getting established takes some time and then you can't slack off for any time at all with classes running back to back and clients calling. Once your established, the phone calls are constant, the questions and free advice are a given (but can be a bit exhausting) and rain or shine, sick or well, you have to be there. It has so many positives like never having to answer to anyone or worry about someone not treating client/dogs well.

Anyway, I'm rambling now but I just wanted to pop back and let you know what I thought of the place that you're thinking of working.....it looks like a fantastic place to start!

Oh, and Virginia....Renee's right, as always!

Thank you! It's really good to have a "ball park" for how much you charge.

I'll post this here instead of email since others might want to know.

You said with ABC you have to do work with a rescue foundation and then apprentice for a certified trainer. How does this work? Are you required to go to a school somewhere and they pick the rescue and trainer? Or is this something I would do on my own with the online classes?

Again, thanks SO much, this really is a huge help to me

For the rescue work, you can pick the rescue but they will be filling out the evaluation sheets and there are certain requirements that must be filled such as # of hours and training tasks. Many students find the rescue work to be the most difficult simply because some rescues don't have the resources to do much in the way of training for their staff so some of the "quick fix" methods can be hard to swallow. Of course this is not always the case but it's something that a few of my students have had to go through.
You are never required to do anything that you don't agree with but you're honestly not always able to change much in such a short amount of time so you just do your best while you're there.

As for the externship with a cert. trainer, your externship coordinator will find you a trainer to work under and set that all up for you. You will then go to wherever the trainer works and first take a dog through classes, then view classes, then teach portions and finally teach on your own, each of these sections can be between 6-8 weeks to complete. This process takes several months and is each section is evaluated and then sent to the college before you are eligible for the final exam.

I almost think that you'd be better off trying to apprentice with someone qualified at petsbehave, work your way up to trainer,get your hours and experience and challenge the CPDT exam. There are a ton of seminars and workshops that you can take along the way to build up knowledge and CEU credits along the way.
It would be a whole lot cheaper but may take considerably longer......so many options....

Jennifer I have aim... I'm just trying to remember my screen-name. I think it's ubergoober1986 or something like that. I'll have to try signing in and double check. I really want to train. I'm really good at training dogs, cats and horses. I have so much fun with it. With horses I just like to trick train them. Anyways, I've always had a nack for training and I just really want to take advantage of my skills in that area. I want to focus more on behavioral assessment area because there are so many people with dogs that have behavioral problems they can't manage so they turn them over to shelters. I want to be another option to try and help them before they give up on their dogs.

Thanks Colleen!

Ain't NO ONE like Doc

Couldn't agree more, Renee.