Career prospects as a pet trainer - Long term benefits

x00065954

Hi all,

I want to know what are the career prospects on becoming a pet trainer? Would anyone know is it a long term occupation that can support a living such as mortgage and family etc.?

I am currently seeking to follow my passion in animals and decided for a career change from what I normally do which is IT. But is a position in working with animals such as a trainer suitable to support a living in the long term of things?

Any info would be great on this topic as I am just very lost in life at the moment and dont want to regret any decisions I make.

Thanks all

em_cat

x00065954 wrote: »

Hi all,

I want to know what are the career prospects on becoming a pet trainer? Would anyone know is it a long term occupation that can support a living such as mortgage and family etc.?

I am currently seeking to follow my passion in animals and decided for a career change from what I normally do which is IT. But is a position in working with animals such as a trainer suitable to support a living in the long term of things?

Any info would be great on this topic as I am just very lost in life at the moment and dont want to regret any decisions I make.

Thanks all

You might get I touch with anied, they run a lot of courses for the different levels but also for the business management side of it. Also with all the rescues charities that could be a path to begin practicing with until you build your experience.

Just remember though there is a vast difference between training and practicing as a behaviourist. Both can be done but they are different facets of canine behaviour.

x00065954

em_cat wrote: »

You might get I touch with anied, they run a lot of courses for the different levels but also for the business management side of it. Also with all the rescues charities that could be a path to begin practicing with until you build your experience.

Just remember though there is a vast difference between training and practicing as a behaviourist. Both can be done but they are different facets of canine behaviour.

Thank you for the info. I will check out anied now. I have applied for a 6 month dog training internship that I hope I will be accepted to gain some experience in that side of things. But anied does look very interesting indeed.

I will definitely keep in mind of the difference between a trainer and behaviorist. Do you or have any experience in this field?

em_cat

x00065954 wrote: »

Thank you for the info. I will check out anied now. I have applied for a 6 month dog training internship that I hope I will be accepted to gain some experience in that side of things. But anied does look very interesting indeed.

I will definitely keep in mind of the difference between a trainer and behaviorist. Do you or have any experience in this field?

. Only

Only from needing help with our rescue as he has some difficultlties, tbh I didn’t know about behaviourists before, but it makes sense cause some things can not be solved by training alone.

Behaviourist are important though cause we are working on desensitisation with for noise phobias, he was from a rescue in Tullamore, he needed to get use to city noises and although some training is used in this process, without understanding why the unwanted behaviour is displaying I don’t think I would be able to successfully get him ahead in the right direction.

There are a vast amount of reactive dogs out there these days, some their owners don’t recognise it, some are so terrified of it they return or have the dog destroyed, and then some soldier on and do everything that can to manage, hopefully with the help of a trusted trainer and behaviourist.

One thing I’ve learned though is that it is a very unregulated industry and so it can be hard finding the best fit.

I’m a big fan of AniEd and the work they do, but also a lot of the work is helping you be a better pet parent. I believe a few rescue groups go to them for behaviour assessment prior to fostering the dogs and they run a class for people wanting to foster. Plus they also do husbandry courses, like target training goats...

I’m sure there are other pathways possible through adpt.ie but am not aware.

Good luck with it, I imagine if it’s something you really want to do, it could be very rewarding especially if you found a rescue that you might like to work with as those are the dogs that will most likely benefit. After a few years you could then set up your own or attach to a grooming studio or something like that.

muddypaws

Alison Bush at Elista runs fantastic, fully accredited courses, including for training assistance dogs.

In all honesty, it's very difficult to earn a proper living as a dog trainer or behaviourist. If you are Dublin based you may just about be able to do it but outside of the capital it's very very tough. I run classes in my local town, am lucky to break even most weeks after room rental. I went training tonight with my pup, I go to an excellent trainer in another town - 2 people in class tonight. Another very well qualified trainer also works in that town, there were 4 puppies in the last lot of puppy classes they ran.

Unfortunately I know a lot of trainers and behaviourists that have given up and moved into different fields. Generally people don't want to.pay a proper, working wage for dog training.

Talk to Alison, maybe do one course with her, she runs distance courses with weekend residentials so can be done around other jobs.

Alternatively, Positive Dog Training in Sandyford are the IMDT (Institute of Modern Dog Trainers) Irish representatives and hold courses and seminars throughout the year, always really well run.

Good luck

tk123

Thumbs up for Alison's courses from me too. They're reasonably priced compared to other places and just different compared to the others.. I've done lots of workshops and training classes and after a while you can tell exactly where somebody has done training - some are kind of cookie cutter trainers who all think and do the same thing where others can be unique and have a different approach.