Walking and Talking w/ Felix — Part 2: Getting Started in the Dog Training Industry
If you're interested in becoming a professional dog trainer, one of the biggest questions is where to start.
There are plenty of books, online courses, videos, and educational resources available today. While those can all provide valuable information, there's something they can't replace: hands-on experience working with dogs under the guidance of a knowledgeable professional.
In this episode of Walking and Talking w/ Felix, we're wrapping up our previous conversation about getting started in the dog training industry.
This time, we're focusing on two things we believe are incredibly important for anyone looking to build a career training dogs: finding a good mentor and gaining experience with dogs that challenge you.
We also discuss something that doesn't always get enough attention in dog trainer education: learning from your mentor's failures, not just their successes.
Why Finding a Good Dog Training Mentor Matters
One of the most valuable things an aspiring dog trainer can do is find an experienced professional willing to teach them.
A good mentor provides more than instructions on how to teach obedience commands or address certain behaviors.
They help you understand why you're making particular decisions, how to read the dog in front of you, and how to adjust your approach when something isn't working.
It's one thing to watch someone work a dog successfully. It's another to understand the decisions that led to that result.
A knowledgeable mentor should help you develop that understanding through explanation, observation, and practical experience.
They should also be willing to challenge your thinking, answer questions, and allow you to gain experience while providing the supervision necessary to keep both you and the dogs safe.
The purpose of mentorship isn't simply to copy someone else's training methods. It's to develop the knowledge and experience needed to understand what you're doing and why you're doing it.
Put Your Hands on as Many Leashes as Possible
Something we talk about in this episode is the importance of working with as many different dogs as possible.
Every dog brings something different to the training process.
Some dogs are naturally motivated, confident, and eager to engage. Others may be fearful, reactive, environmentally sensitive, easily frustrated, or difficult to motivate.
And while working with naturally cooperative dogs can be enjoyable, those experiences alone won't necessarily prepare you for the variety of behaviors you'll encounter as a professional dog trainer.
If you want to develop your skills, you need exposure to different breeds, temperaments, behaviors, motivations, and training challenges.
That means getting hands-on experience rather than limiting your education to watching videos or observing other trainers.
Some of the most valuable lessons happen when the dog in front of you doesn't respond the way you expected.
Those situations force you to think, evaluate your approach, and develop a better understanding of the individual dog.
The more different dogs you work with, the more opportunities you have to develop your timing, observation skills, communication, and problem-solving abilities.
Why Challenging Dogs Can Make You a Better Trainer
It's relatively easy to look like a skilled trainer when everything is going according to plan.
But what happens when the dog doesn't understand the exercise?
What happens when the dog becomes distracted, shuts down, loses motivation, or responds differently than you anticipated?
These are the situations where your understanding of training really gets tested.
Working with challenging dogs teaches you to recognize when something isn't working and consider why.
Sometimes you need to change how you're communicating. Sometimes you need to adjust the environment, reinforcement, expectations, or the difficulty of the exercise.
Other times, the best decision is to slow things down and spend more time developing the dog's foundation.
You learn to recognize these situations through experience.
At Primal Canine, we work with dogs that have a wide range of personalities, behavioral challenges, and training goals. One of the things that experience continually reinforces is that you can't approach every dog exactly the same way.
What works for one dog may need to be adjusted significantly for another.
Learning to identify those differences and adapt accordingly is an important part of developing as a professional trainer.
Challenging Dogs Require Professional Supervision
There's an important distinction we want to make here.
Encouraging aspiring trainers to work with challenging dogs doesn't mean they should go out and start taking on difficult behavioral cases without the necessary knowledge or experience.
Quite the opposite.
We believe these are exactly the situations where working under an experienced professional becomes especially important.
A knowledgeable mentor can help you recognize behavioral warning signs, understand the risks involved, and determine which exercises and handling responsibilities are appropriate for your skill level.
You get the opportunity to learn from situations you may not yet have the experience to manage independently.
The idea isn't to throw yourself into situations you're unprepared for.
It's to gain supervised experience that allows you to develop your skills responsibly.
Learn From Your Mentor's Failures, Not Just Their Successes
Another important topic we cover in this episode is the value of learning from failure.
Everyone likes sharing their successes.
It's easy to show a dog performing beautifully, demonstrate a finished behavior, or talk about a training program that went exactly as planned.
But the truth is that not every training session, decision, or approach produces the result we intended.
And there's a tremendous amount of education in understanding why.
A good mentor should be willing to discuss the situations where they made mistakes, misread a dog, chose an ineffective approach, or had to change their training plan.
Those experiences can be just as valuable as watching them succeed.
Sometimes they're even more educational.
When a mentor explains what went wrong, why it happened, and what they would do differently, you're getting the benefit of lessons developed through years of practical experience.
You're also learning that successful training isn't about pretending every decision is perfect.
It's about being able to evaluate your work, recognize mistakes, and make better decisions moving forward.
A good mentor doesn't just show you how they succeeded. They help you understand their failures so you can learn from those experiences, too.
The Difference Between Knowing Training Techniques and Understanding Dogs
Learning how to teach a sit, down, heel, recall, or place command is only one part of becoming a dog trainer.
Understanding the dog you're working with is another.
Two dogs may be learning the exact same exercise, but the way you approach each dog might be completely different.
One may need more motivation and engagement.
Another may need the exercise broken into smaller steps.
A third may be struggling because the environment is creating more pressure or distraction than the dog is ready to work through.
Being able to recognize these differences requires experience, observation, and an understanding of how behavior develops.
This is another reason mentorship and hands-on work are so important.
You don't just learn which techniques exist.
You learn when to use them, why you're using them, and when something needs to change.
That understanding is what allows you to become more adaptable and effective as a trainer.
Don't Rush the Process of Becoming a Professional Dog Trainer
Just like training dogs, becoming a good trainer is a process.
There isn't a shortcut that replaces putting in the time, working with different dogs, and learning from experienced professionals.
You can study theory, watch instructional videos, attend seminars, and take courses, but you still need practical experience applying what you've learned.
And that experience should include more than dogs that make you look good.
Seek opportunities to observe and work with dogs that challenge your understanding, under appropriate professional supervision.
Ask questions.
Pay attention to what works and what doesn't.
Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of the people teaching you.
Most importantly, remain open to the possibility that there's always more to learn.
The goal isn't just to accumulate training techniques. It's to develop the knowledge, judgment, and practical experience necessary to make better decisions for the dogs and people you're working with.
Walking and Talking w/ Felix: Conversations About the Dog Training Industry
Our Walking and Talking w/ Felix series is an opportunity to discuss different aspects of dog training, working dogs, and the industry while getting some time in with Felix, our Dutch Shepherd.
In this second part of our conversation about becoming a professional dog trainer, we wanted to emphasize the importance of mentorship, hands-on experience, and learning from both success and failure.
These are subjects we believe deserve more attention, especially for people who are just beginning their careers.
We'll continue covering different topics throughout the series, from training concepts and working-dog development to lessons learned through years of working with dogs.
What Would You Like Us to Discuss Next?
We're always interested in hearing what other trainers, aspiring professionals, and dog owners would like to learn more about.
If you have questions about entering the dog training industry, developing your skills, working with challenging dogs, or anything else related to dog training, leave your suggestions in the YouTube comments.
We'd love to incorporate some of those subjects into future episodes.
Learn More About Primal Canine
Primal Canine is a professional dog training company based in Gilroy, California, serving San Jose, Morgan Hill, the Bay Area, and surrounding Northern California communities.
Established in 2013, we provide training for dogs of different ages, behaviors, and goals, including puppy development, obedience, behavioral training, advanced off-leash work, and working-dog development.
Through our training sessions, educational videos, and Walking and Talking w/ Felix series, we also share the methods, experiences, and lessons that shape our approach to developing dogs and trainers.
Interested in learning more about our training programs or following our educational content?
Visit primalcanine.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel for full training sessions, working-dog content, and more conversations about the dog training industry.