Just noticed this thread, thought I'd chime in.
I DEFINATELY, HIGHLY agree that you should go to college before making big career decisions, even an associate's degree is a big deal. There's a volunteer that I work with who's a senior in high school and wants to be a trainer for our organization; I think she'd be really good at it, too, but we will not hire her until she goes to college. In any career with animals there's a lot of health risks - a torn rotator cuff from a dog pulling too hard could end your training career; getting bitten as a vet tech or groomer could be traumatic and make you want to quit; you could develop allergies to pets (I know of some vets who developed allergies and it basically ended their career); and on and on. So it's really important to get some kind of degree that you can fall back on if your plans don't pan out. It doesn't even really matter if the degree is in a field that will help you - I work with a trainer who has a degree in engineering, and it's actually kinda nice because she thinks a lot more rationally than the rest of us.
Personally, I double-majored in psychology and social work, and I think both of those degrees help me as a dog trainer every day.
In the mean time, I'd suggest volunteering for a nonprofit rescue, shelter, or dog training organization. In any animal career, it will be important to have hands-on experience with a large variety of dogs, and volunteering should give you a little taste of training, grooming, husbandry, and other important skills, so you can decide from there what path you want to take. You may end up liking the organization you volunteer with so much that you will take a job there!
