“You must have the best job ever! I would love to be able hang out with dogs all day!”
Truth is, I agree that I have one of the best jobs in the world but that’s because I absolutely love what I do. The reality is, if you’re not passionate about helping dogs AND their owner(s) then you wouldn't last long in this career.
I work roughly 14 hour days 7 days a week and often lose sleep thinking about how to best teach “difficult” dogs and how to properly transfer that information to the dog’s owner. Dog trainers often have to help dogs through very stressful situations and clean out their crates when they have an upset stomach. We are always tougher on ourselves then we need to be and often get nervous that we could've done certain things better. We're the crazy dog people who get excited when a dog is walking nicely on a leash, is quiet during a car ride, or simply sleeps through the night. We are the ones you see walking multiple dogs day in and day out only to go home and somehow make some time for our own dogs.
Please understand that I'm in no way complaining. I absolutely love my job. The “dirty work” is all worth it when I see an owner excited to start a new way of life with their dog and be able to do activities they were never able to do before.
I hope this gives you some insight on what we do. Petting dogs and cuddling with puppies all day would be awesome but unfortunately that’s not what gets results.
