ASSOCIATION NEWS trainers to share information and support each other . “ This is a lonely industry ,” he said . “ I encourage you all to do that . The other trainers aren ’ t competition to you unless they do mean things or not so nice things , but generally they ’ re not going to be competition . There is more than enough business to go around . Trust me when I say it . Every trainer I know , especially in aggression cases , they are booked out months and months in advance , especially now with all of the pandemic dogs , dogs getting returned or clients taking a lot of second chances with their dogs . There is more than enough business .”
As a graphic displayed on the screen behind him quoting Aesop : ‘ No act of kindness , no matter how small , is ever wasted ,’ Michael stressed that kindness should be the first skill for parttime trainers or anyone starting out . “ Forget teaching dogs how to sit ; learn how to be kind to others with whom you are talking with , because that is the only way you ’ re going to get exposure to learning more . Kindness has always gotten me further than resorting to conflict . I could go back at somebody and be a keyboard warrior , but that ’ s not going to get me anywhere . And guess what ? Somebody ’ s going to be paying attention to that stuff . And it depends on what you want to do with your career and what your aspirations are , but if you are being critical and somebody is noticing that or you ’ re not being very nice or kind to people online , what are the chances you ’ re going to get that next client or that podcast interview or that opportunity to go speak somewhere ? How often is that going to happen if people are seeing how you behave online to other people and not being kind ? Toxic trainers and toxic people are always going to be around . It ’ s how we respond that makes the difference . You don ’ t have to respond to everything . Just hit the delete button .”
Michael plays to play it forward on what he learned from Barbara being kind to his younger , brasher self . “ I don ’ t care what your training background is , I don ’ t care where you ’ re coming from , if you are open to learning , I ’ m open to teaching . You come to me , and I ’ m going to tell you what you want to know . It doesn ’ t need to be proprietary . I don ’ t need to hide any information . I want to get it ( positive reinforcement ) out there . I want to help as many dogs as possible and their guardians .”
And one way of helping more dogs is doing something most trainers hate : self-promotion , a necessary evil that trainers need to do , no matter how much they hate being on camera . “ It can be done by filming just the dog ,” he said . “ But start to think about promoting yourself because the trainers who are doing well are doing exactly that . You have to promote yourself because you could be the best trainer in the world , but no one would know it . Self-promotion is tough , but it is a very important part of a successful business .”
Michael suggested trainers form relationships with other local
Busy trainers must also create boundaries with clients to avoid burnout or compassion fatigue , Michael said , something he calls the 51 / 49 rule . “ We are in a caring profession , we care about the dogs , the people , their guardians . It ’ s easy for us to get sucked into doing tons of free consults because we feel bad because that person may not be able to afford our services . You can do that , but remember , there ’ s got to be a balance . And so I tell my clients , ‘ I ’ m here for you , 51 percent of the time . You ’ re the other 49 percent …. I ’ m always here for you , but only this much . We ’ re a team , we ’ re going to work together .’” So I ’ m going to be there , and slightly more than they are , but when you start getting into 80 / 20 or 90 / 10 , that is the fastest road to burnout , not setting boundaries .”
When it comes to managing clients ’ expectation on how fast training will “ fix ” their dogs , Michael uses an analogy he calls “ behavior weight ,” using the case of Daisy as an example , a dog with resource-guarding , maternal aggression , dog-dog aggression , dog-human aggression , and dog-handling issues . “ That dog is a 500-pound behavior weight dog and it ’ s going to take some time to get to a healthy behavior weight and you ’ re going to have ups and downs along the journey depending on what ’ s happening . And once Daisy gets to that healthy behavior weight you got to make sure you ’ re setting the environment for success . If you ’ re on a diet , you ’ re not going to stuff your cabinet full of Twinkies and soda , because that behavior weight is going to come right back .”
He also suggested rather than writing lengthy emails to clients about training procedures and sessions ( who probably won ’ t read them ), just record yourself with brief 2 – 5-minute videos that can be uploaded and then linked to an email . “ It feels much more personable , and it makes clients feel like they ’ re getting concierge level service from you because you are actually in front of them talking to them .”
Michael concluded his keynote address by fielding questions from the audience , and then the 2022 conference wrapped with a video by Petco ’ s Puparazzi that showcased scenes from the 3-day event to the booming tune of “ Who Let the Dogs Out .”
So with this year ’ s conference now behind us , it ’ s time to “ bark the date ” for the 2023 conference Oct . 18-20 in Northern Kentucky / Cincinnati , Ohio . Watch for more information in the SPRING issue of Chronicle of the Dog .
12 Building Better Trainers Through Education