You Can Become a Certified Dog Trainer!

If you’ve thought of becoming a professional dog trainer, but hesitate to fully go for it for various reasons, we’re positive you can achieve this goal.

I think our field is seen as having only people with a special gift to work with dogs. Like a person is inherently born with a special ability to make dogs do behaviors. This is not the case. It’s like any other job, where many people can learn the knowledge and skills to perform the job from teachers/mentors. Yes, there may be some individuals with specific talents in animal training skills (for example, they can read dog body language, they have the physical ability to move around, hold leashes, clickers, treats, etc.) - but these are not rare, special abilities. Many people can develop these skills over time. You don’t have to have a specific personality or energy level - for example, you don’t have to have a dominant personality. Some dog trainers are extroverts and some are introverts. 

It’s common for people to have imposter syndrome - where they think they aren’t as good as someone else at something, or when they are doing the job to doubt their knowledge and skills. This can be partially a good thing - it helps each of us strive to do our best and stay up to date on information (like animal behavior science, training, and welfare). But it also at times can prevent you from taking action, from accomplishing your goals, or from taking cases you are actually competent to work. If that is the case, don’t worry. You can achieve your goals and become a dog trainer.

Some people worry that their age prevents them from entering the field. This isn’t a limitation at all. There are countless older people (age is also relative) who have successfully become certified in dog training and work in the field. Even if you have experience in other types of work, there are usually still skills that transfer to working with animals and their guardians - such as customer service, physical skills - using your hands to build something, or being athletic, or many other things. Some people, for example, who work in science fields, are very analytical and good at breaking dog training plans into parts to shape new behaviors. People who are good at communicating verbally or through writing can help teach dog guardians new information. 

I know of some people who have wheelchairs that became professional dog trainers. They may not take all cases - such as dog-dog aggression, where a person might need to quickly move to break up dog fights, but there are plenty of ways to coach clients through training programs - including separation anxiety cases that are worked remotely. And these days trainers of all kinds specialize in certain types of cases or how they provide the services.

It does help to have experience handling dogs in some capacity. If you’re not used to dealing with dogs that are not your own - for example, at animal shelters - you might not feel as confident leashing up dogs, or dealing with their strength and quickness, and so on.

And it also helps to have empathy. If you care about dogs and people, it will be easier to treat and teach them kindly. It can help you read dog body language/behavior, and take appropriate action to resolve issues.

At Dog Training + Academy, we are confident we can help you become a competent and skilled dog trainer.