What Victoria Stilwell has that you don’t (Besides Fame)
It seems that every so often, I scroll across my newsfeed and people are sharing videos of the work of other trainers for the sole purpose of criticizing them. They do it with well-known TV personalities like Victoria Stilwell and Cesar Milan, and they do it with popular trainers, helpers, decoys, and competitors. Why someone…
99 Problems: The Single Thing the Stops Dog Trainers From Being Effective on Social Media
I see it all the time. Trainer after trainer creating blog posts, videos or other content and sharing away on social media. When I see it, my neck instantly tenses. My jaw tightens and my fingers hover over the unfollow button. Sure, they are putting out content. And sure they are making a mark. I…
What Does Training Dogs Have to Do with Marketing Anyway?
How do you train a dog? Simple. Dogs learn by associations. If you want your dog to do something you like, you simply pair that behavior with something good. You create a positive association. When the dog learns that if they sit, for example, they get their favorite treat, they will be more likely to…
Overcoming Overwhelm: A Simple Strategy to Help Ditch the Stress While Building Your Dog Training Business
I slept in today. Today, I woke up at 7 am. That never happens. Inevitably, puppy Edge will want to go out and will start spinning circles in his crate, begging me to PLEASE just get out of bed. Either that or Mimi, the senior basset hound who suffers from doggy dementia will wake up…
Going Digital: 3 Things You Need to Take Your Dog Training Business to the Next Level
The world has gone digital. If we are being totally honest, most of us spend way too much time glued to our phones, our laptops, our tablets or computers. In fact, not too long ago, I downloaded an app that tracked my phone screen time so I could become present to exactly how much time…
4 Ways to Optimize Your Dog Training Website to Give Your Business a Boost
It was many years ago. I owned my own dog training company and business was successful. I worked for it, no doubt. But my hard work was paying off. We had a steady stream of clients, made enough to live comfortably and to get our bills paid each month, and our customers loved us. Things…
Talent is cheap: 5 Success Practices to Move Your Dog Training Business Forward
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting with my then-husband, drinking a cup of coffee one morning in our home in Southern California. He was a musician. And a damn good one at that. And he had aspirations of taking his band to the top. Now, I’m not really known for my…
Fighting Filters: Get the Most Out of Training Discussions With One Simple Question
“I hate it when people pet their dog to calm them while they are biting. It’s stupid,” she proudly proclaimed on an internet message board. It was at the start of a very long post on the mechanics of bite work for sport dogs, and instantly, my neck tensed. I pet my dog during bite…
Don’t Play the Telephone Game: Installing a Feedback Loop to Combat Confusion
I sat in the small room, 2 Former Navy SEALs standing in front of me, a number of weapons adorning the dark green wall behind them. During this impromptu meeting, where I was literally snatched off of the field while dog training and brought to the office to discuss the future direction the company was…
Don’t Be A Dog Person – An Open Letter to Dog Trainers
“You were a dog person the other day,” he told me as we debriefed the event from the prior weekend. I paused, trying to wrap my head around exactly where he was he was going with this. “You were a dog person, and I’m not used to seeing you that way.” My confusion must have…