COMBINATION CAREERS
The primary dog-related careers are kennel owner, breeder, groomer, trainer, and handler. Many people combine two or more areas of expertise in a single career. A kennel owner may board and groom dogs for customers, and may also breed dogs for sale or conduct obedience classes for dogs and their owners.
As we discuss the careers individually, keep in mind the possibilities of combining one or more-one alone may not provide enough income.
Remember, too, that all dog-related careers call for a high degree of "that special something" we've mentioned earlier: the innate, almost instinctive ability to relate strongly to animals, to understand them and in turn to be understood (and not be fooled!) by them. Dogs, like other creatures, know almost instantly, as little children do, who is on their wavelength and who is not. Professional "dog people" are almost universal in their belief that this trait is a gift rather than something that can be learned; either you have it or you don't. Even limited experience with dogs will point the way for you in this respect.
EDUCATIONAL AND PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Much dog-related activity is learned by doing, although there are a few schools that offer training in such areas as dog grooming and kennel management. The best way to learn is to start as an apprentice or helper to someone in one of the career areas. High school courses in biology and the natural sciences are a help, as is a basic understanding of animal health. Happy experience with your own dog is a good beginning, too.
There are some physical demands. Lots of work is involved. Large dogs can be hefty and cumbersome-and they won't climb onto their own three-foot-high grooming tables!
KENNEL WORK-THE ENTREE
Working in a breeding or boarding kennel is probably the best entree to any career with dogs. As a kennel worker, you may be short on money, but you can expect to be long on experience- kennel work is the closest thing to total canine immersion.
The things you do will be varied. You may be called upon to prepare dry dog food or cut up meat for meals, keep cages and runs clean and fresh, fill water bowls, exercise the dogs, help with nail-clipping, brushing, washing and grooming chores, and answer the telephone. If yours is a boarding kennel, you may also sign in visiting pets, record and collect their boarding fees, note their food preferences, where their owners can be reached in case of emergency, and check the pets out when they are departing.
If you work for a breeding kennel you can expect, in addition to all the customary kennel chores, to assist with breeding and birthing, and perhaps to show puppies to prospective buyers. If yours is a kennel that teaches obedience courses or is involved in the dog show circuit, you may help with the training classes or go along on the busy weekend show tours-a job that means hours of driving or flying, taking care of the pets en route, helping with their grooming on arrival at the show, and packing everything up again for the trip home, or to the next show-some exhibitors attend two shows in one weekend.
You could be doing all of the above-indeed, total immersion!
In the process, there's a lot to know, and you would be learning it the best possible way: under the watchful eyes of those who know the subject intimately, and who would have something new to teach you almost every hour of the day. You would learn the finer points of removing burrs from a dog's shaggy coat and perhaps the ins-and-outs of dog obedience training. You may learn what the proper conformation (physical characteristics and appearance) should be for one or more breeds, and what show judges look for, in ring judging and obedience trials, from the dog and its handler. You'd learn the basics of dog feeding and care, and at least some of the rudiments of veterinary medicine and the recognition of dog health problems. You would soon catch on to what kennel temperatures are right for different breeds-room temperature for most small dogs, less for outdoor breeds-and the right way to get a dog to swallow a pill.
Most important, you would learn whether or not operating a kennel is your idea of a lifetime career, or if more specialized work with dogs is best for you.
Harris Dunlap's Zero Kennels
Harris Dunlap of Bakers Mills, New York, is a kennel operator whose hobby-racing sled dogs-became the basis for his career. His Zero Kennels, which he operates as a family business, is the largest associated with this unique sport.
Dunlap's interest began shortly after he finished his college training as an artist. He bought a Siberian Husky as a pet and added a war surplus dogsled. His activity has grown with the sport, which has boomed in the last 20 years. Now, Harris Dunlap wins prize money in dogsled races, and earns considerably more by breeding, training, and selling his own breed of sled dogs.
Racing sled dogs is a rugged life, especially in the 100-day racing season that starts every New Year's Day. Dunlap and his teams may travel 20,000 miles in this time to compete in races as long as 1,171 miles that are held in winter settings as far away as Alaska. His usual entourage is 36 racing dogs plus sleds, equipment, and crew.
Dunlap's own dogs, which he spends the rest of the year breeding and training, are specially bred by him for racing. The breed is based on the Siberian Husky, but other traits have been bred in, vascular strength and stamina, for instance. Stamina is the essential element of the sled dog: each dog runs about 1,500 miles in training and competition during the racing season. Of his 36 racing dogs, 20 are lead dogs, extra-intelligent animals capable of interpreting the driver's wishes to the team dogs by a combination of instinct and example. Because the mental and physical pressures are considerable, the lead dogs are rotated frequently, but never during a race. Race rules have it that dogs may be removed from a team but new ones cannot be substituted.
The Kennel Business
As a beginning kennel worker, you would need no financial investment for a salaried job. As you gain experience, a bit of paid time off, occasional bonuses for extra hours worked, and even a profit-sharing arrangement may come your way.
A salaried, experienced kennel worker employed full-time and with living accommodations provided may earn a comfortable living.
If you decide to operate your own kennel, you will have to scout for a suitable location to buy or rent in an area where kennels are acceptable and decide which canine services you should offer. What you earn will be governed by your overhead, versus your charges for the services you give, and the volume your kennel attracts. A good business sense and an outgoing personality, important to the kennel worker, are essential ingredients for success in your own kennel business.
DOG GROOMER
Debbie Weiss, owner and sole operator of Debbie's Dog Grooming Salon in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, finds her work very creative. "A dog may come in a total mess," she says. "I groom him and make him feel better." This is her motivation- her work makes her feel good, too.
Creating what she calls "creature comfort" is not easy. A total grooming involves careful combing-out of the coat-often with considerable thinning and clipping-as the first step. Nails may be clipped, too, something many dogs fail to appreciate while it's going on. Nor do they relish ear-cleaning. Then it's into the bath, and the reaction to this depends on the dog. Some love it, others express different opinions! After a thorough, careful drying, often done with drying equipment, that dries the fur but does not dry out the skin or allow the dog to become chilled, comes further brushing, thinning, clipping, and styling. The final touch may be a bit of scent, and the job is done.
A dog groomer may operate an independent business as Debbie does, or work for a kennel owner or in a grooming salon. Since it's strictly "piece work," volume is the key to making it work financially. Since overhead-rent, heat, light, and advertising- are fixed expenses, the grooming operation not associated with a kennel has to be brisk to be successful. A groomer who works for a kennel may be in a fairly good position since there are always other things to do if the grooming part of the business is slow.
The groomer who works for an established shop usually does so, on commission, much as a beautician does. This is normally 50 percent of what the shop charges the customer; thus, earnings will vary with the shop's volume.
Opening a grooming shop means that you as owner can earn more than you could as an employee. But doing so also means making an investment for signs, reception area, grooming tables and tools, cages, driers, rent deposit, and utility connection charges-plus, of course, and the continuing overhead expenses. Shop owners say that among the elements needed for success are an accessible location in a busy neighborhood with easy parking and a consistent advertising program. A good listing in the Yellow Pages is mentioned by many. If you have established a good reputation as a groomer with another nearby kennel or salon, you may have some built-in following when you open your doors. Your chances would be even better if you were lucky enough to be able to buy out or buy into a going shop, perhaps the one for which you work.
One of the few schools for dog grooming in the country is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania School of Dog Grooming is licensed by the state and offers basic, advanced, and professional courses for "... that special someone with a lot of patience and a great love and compassion for animals." Another school, this one in California, offers a 15-week course with a total of 600 classroom hours. Live-often lively-subjects, including an occasional cat, are used to teach every element of the craft.
TRAINING CAREERS
In addition to their value as pets, many dogs are bred and trained for work. Others are trained just to be nicer to have around-no unscheduled barking, jumping into laps, or bedroom-slipper breakfasts. And many dogs are carefully trained for performance in the show ring and the obedience trial field. While some canine skills are instinctive-Sheepdogs, for instance, seem to be born knowing what to do with sheep-most must be taught by people.
Different training goals call for specific knowledge, but all dog trainers have many traits in common. Their patience, for one thing, must be almost infinite. Dogs are highly intelligent and retain knowledge well once it is given to them, but the giving calls for extreme patience plus consistency and kindness. Firmness, too, is part of the trainer's makeup, but firmness always applied in a gentle and consistent way. Dogs thrive on appreciation; even when a dog does something wrong and is made to understand this, the impression from the trainer must be a kindly one. Experienced dog trainers can earn $25 to $125 an hour, depending upon how many dogs are "clients" at a given time.
The Leader Dog Trainers
Most all trainers, whether schooling dogs in obedience, training them to lead the blind, or to be part of a law enforcement team, must be people-oriented as well as animal-oriented. This is certainly true of the 20 full-time trainers (among a staff of 56) who work at the headquarters of Leader Dogs for the Blind® of Rochester, Michigan.
Leader Dogs for the Blind is funded primarily by the Lions International, a service organization dedicated to aiding the blind. Even the dogs are contributed. They are usually German Shepherds, Labrador, and Golden Retrievers, and are always female, because they have proved to be more temperamentally suited to the work than males.
When the dogs arrive at Rochester, they are trained for five months by the trainers. As part of their own training, the trainers are often blindfolded, to appreciate firsthand what it is like to be dependent on a dog for guidance.
A dog to be trained as a Leader Dog will first learn to wear the shoulder harness that is its contact with the blind person. The dog must learn that she's "on duty" whenever this harness is in place. One by one, with constant repetition, the instructor repeats the commands that the blind person will use, and teaches the dog the correct response to each one. The dog is taught to stop, to go forward, and to go right or left on command. Most important, it is taught to stop at every curb, even the wheelchair curbs that are flush with the street. In time, the dogs learn not to go forward into traffic-but the blind owner must take the responsibility for the dog's reactions to commands; that is, the owner must listen for vehicles and learn to sense the flow of people around her or him in city traffic and thus know when streets can be crossed. This work takes time and infinite patience-small wonder that training the guide dog takes several months before it meets its new owner.
Thirty-two human candidates at a time live at the Leader Dog facility and work closely and harmoniously with their dogs and trainers. After a get-acquainted period the match of dog and candidate is evaluated by the trainer.
The "schooling" of the new owner takes four weeks. First, the dog learns that total allegiance goes not to the trainer that she knows but to the new master that she does not. The dog learns, too, that she can relax and simply be a pet and companion when the shoulder harness is replaced with a leash. Work time is over, and the command words for duty are never used when the dog is out of harness. Dog and master live as one during the training.
Every day, in good weather and bad-Leader Dog applicants are forewarned about winter Michigan weather!-dog, master, and trainer practice the commands and movements over and over. A major lesson is learning to respond to the master's commands. As confidence grows, candidates, trailed discreetly by the trainers, move from the grounds of the Leader Dog facility into the small-town traffic of Rochester. Traffic situations are slowly added as familiarity and confidence are established-and before "graduation," the rush of nearby Detroit traffic is taken in stride. The trainers teach city-bound dogs and owners to cope with such special conditions as elevators, revolving doors, train and bus steps, and subway stations.
Dogs are taught never to cross streets diagonally but only from one curb to the opposing one-a degree of consistency that is essential to the blind person's confidence in maintaining proper orientation in city traffic.
In an article, "Free to Travel," Leader Dog® training is explained this way: "The orientation and mobility program... deals with the areas of body image, gait, coordination, position and awareness of location. The ... program attempts to look at each person as an individual, assess the handicap, and plan a program to insure effective and efficient travel."
It is the trainer's responsibility to train the candidate just as completely as he or she trains the dog so the two become a team. More than 300 teams are trained each year; more than 6,400 have graduated since the school's founding in 1939.
Once on their own, the dog is "guided" by the blind person to the extent that he or she knows how many streets to cross, and in which direction, to get from point A to point B, and to return. In time and with practice, dog and owner can follow the same course to and from work or from home to the neighborhood store, with a pleasantly relaxed interdependence. In one sense, the training never ends.
Another never-ending consideration is the relationship of dog and master. Leader Dogs for the Blind and similar organizations teach the new masters the same degree of kindness and consistency to which the dogs respond during training-and they usually follow-up afterward to see how the relationship is progressing. Most of the dog and master teams adjust well-a tribute to the quality of the trainers' work and the dedication of all concerned.
Any blind person over age 16 with the ability and temperament to care for a dog, is eligible for a Leader Dog. There is no charge; the cost for each dog and its training is paid for by donations, primarily from Lions Club chapters.
Although it is the largest organization of its kind, Leader Dogs for the Blind is one of several devoted to training dogs for blind people. The Seeing Eye and International Guiding Eyes are two others.
Jobs as trainers of dogs for the blind are neither plentiful nor well-paying. Apprenticeship to a recognized organization is the usual method of entering this specialized training field. Most apprentices should have had at least a year of previous work experience in another area of dog management, as a veterinary assistant, kennel worker, or obedience trainer. Since the job calls for instilling confidence in the dogs and their masters, you as a trainer must have confidence in yourself, and be as dedicated to people as you are to animals. Apprenticeships may last as long as three years.
One way in which you could contribute to this cause is to raise a donor pup through the 4-H Club program (see Chapter 4). After a year or more of home life, the 4-H dogs are given to The Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ.
The K-9 Dog Trainer
German Shepherds, diligent, responsive, and intelligent in their work with the blind, exhibit these tendencies-plus a few others-in police work. The K-9 trainer, like the guide dog trainer, works with young, grown dogs, teaching them to wade head-first into trouble-but only on command! The police dog trainer works at the same time to train the police officer who will be the dog's teammate throughout its law enforcement career. This takes place only after the dog has been thoroughly screened to make sure it is not gun-shy-or worse-crowd-shy.
It took 14 weeks of training before Abington Township (Pennsylvania) police officers Douglas Mealo and Robert Mann and their dogs, Zak and Duke, graduated from the nearby Philadelphia Police Academy with K-9 credentials. Both officers quickly proved the value of their dogs. Officers Mealo and Zak headed off what their commanding officer characterized as "a potential riot" just by appearing before an unruly mob. Officer Mann did even better on a similar occasion: the sound of Duke's barking and the sight of the police van rocking were enough to convince a crowd that it suddenly had better places to be. In investigating a reported home robbery, Zak found-and held-two suspects under a bed until Officer Mealo could arrest them.
As is the custom with K-9 dogs, Zak and Duke live with their officers. The two suburban Philadelphia policemen agree with other K-9 officers that their love of animals was the reason why they volunteered for K-9 duty.
The 14-week K-9 course given by the Philadelphia Police Academy for its own officers and those of nearby towns is typical. Officer and dog learn together. A command such as "Watch 'em" or "Bark" is the dog's cue to act aggressively-to snarl, bark, bare its teeth, and strain at its leash. Unless commanded to be aggressive, K-9 dogs are alert but quiet and well-mannered. By contrast, they will actually attack when commanded to do so if the officer thinks the situation calls for it.
As with dogs for the blind, the early part of the training is taken up with building mutual confidence between officer and dog- and making sure before the training gets too far that the chemistry is right between them-a job that calls for acute observation and experience on the trainer's part. Then, as with the blind, command and response are replayed until commands are obeyed instantly, consistently, and dependably.
After the teams start police duty, the dogs are kept sharp by continued training in procedures taught by the Academy trainers. There may be a period each day or two when officers and their dogs practice attack procedures, with other officers playing the parts of criminal suspects. Since the dogs are taught never to attack someone in uniform, padded jackets are the "uniforms" worn by the "criminals" during these exercises.
Despite the cost of the dogs and their training and the time away from active duty needed to train a K-9 team, more police departments are realizing the benefits of K-9 patrols. A K-9 team can control even a large crowd far more effectively than several officers-and with far less chance of trouble. And most K-9 dogs can sniff out hidden drugs or people, making them effective members of the police team.
K-9 dog trainers are schooled in basic obedience training, plus the specifics of their police role. Some K-9 dogs are trained on contract by people who raise and train security dogs. And the opportunity to become a K-9 police officer is another potential career with dogs.
Security Dog Trainers
Security dogs are a related specialty, but their training is not as comprehensive as K-9 training. These, too, are usually the breeds that most people are a bit wary of encountering, German Shepherds and Dobermans. They are generally not trained to attack, but are schooled to bark and snarl ferociously when approached by someone other than their owner on the property they are guarding. Some are trained to attack.
Security dogs are sometimes rented by the companies that use them. The kennel owner-trainer who specializes in security dogs has a long day. It starts with picking up the dogs in the morning when the factories, lumberyards, or stores where the dogs patrol are about to open, returning them to their kennels, feeding and caring for them. Through the day when the work dogs sleep, the trainer may work with new dogs or teach obedience classes. As evening approaches, the guard dogs go back to their respective locations for another night of duty.
Although the dogs don't patrol, they don't snooze on the job, either. Their hearing is so acute that they can swiftly and noisily respond to any sound.
The kennel operator who gives rented security dogs their basic training may also be a supplier of trainable or partially trained dogs to police departments. This business person may also sell security dogs-again, usually the breeds that people tend to distrust-to people who feel they need the protection of such dogs at home or on a lonely city job. Or such a person can train clients' dogs in security techniques or general obedience.
A dog obedience trainer may also hold classes for dogs and their owners without involving themselves in the overhead and responsibilities of kennel operation. Some trainers are able to operate with little business overhead beyond advertising expense and the cost of renting a hall or gym, or an open field. Others operate kennels or work for kennel owners.
DOG BREEDER
The American Kennel Club (AKC) recognizes 128 distinct dog breeds. Not everyone who buys a purebred dog is interested in showing it-the vast majority just wants a good pet with certain characteristics-but the whole dog show scene is big business. From the prestigious Westminster, which could be called the Show of Shows on down to local events, AKC-sanctioned dog shows attract thousands of exhibitors and their would-be champion dogs. The action is non-stop; a breeder could attend one or two shows every weekend of the year.
The dog breeder whose stock earns the blue ribbons and silver trophies naturally commands far more money for puppies than the one who does not win in competition or who chooses not to compete at all. The element of gain, plus a hefty dose of ego satisfaction are at the root of most championship quests.
The keys to breeding success are knowledge of breed blood-lines and conformation, and the ability to produce puppies in a healthy environment. Acquiring breeding knowledge takes time and experience, usually with one breed, sometimes with two or more. For each mating, the bloodlines and ancestry of past generations on both sides must be studied with care. All past champions are considered in light of the laws of heredity. Since these laws are not absolute, judgment enters the picture: "How good a litter would we get if we bred Champion Lilli von Austerlitz of Grandview with our Champion Ludwig von Wienerschnitzel?" The hope, of course, would be a litter of pups at least some of which would exhibit the finest characteristics of both parents, and all of which would be eminently marketable to Dachshund fanciers.
As a dog breeder who tackles the show circuit, you must be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time and money to compete. The show drill involves infinitely careful feeding and grooming of the dogs to be shown-grooming that begins well before the exhibition and continues up to the second before the handler (who may or may not be the breeder-owner) parades the dog for its magic moment before the judges. The dogs must be carefully caged for transport, fed, tended, and kept at their peak en route. And detailed training in show etiquette must take place before a dog is exhibited for the first time.
There's an interesting analogy between dog shows and vintage automobile exhibitions, a subject the authors know firsthand. Just as a Classic Car must be shown in as close to its original, as-new condition as possible with points deducted from a theoretical 100 score for flaws spotted by the judges, a show dog must appear to be as close to the ideal example of its breed as possible. And, just as a car owner-exhibitor may feel a certain judge doesn't know Auburn 851 upholstery pleats as well as he or she should, dog exhibitors, too, may complain about judging results. The AKC is working to establish written qualification tests for judges; these have not existed until now. To make the analogy complete, there are no written tests for vintage car judges, either.
But, complaints aside, judges are licensed by AKC and they know the breeds they are asked to judge. While some may have quirks of subjective judgment that add a factor of luck to judging, the vast majority are qualified and fair.
Even though a dog breeder may choose not to show, a professional works to maintain quality through careful selection-always with AKC-registered stock-to assure continuity of the breed and satisfaction for buyers.
Dog breeding can be a home industry for the family that mates its AKC-registered female with a similarly registered male and then sells its purebred puppies. These pups come from home or top-rated kennels. But home- or kennel-based breeders all customarily provide the AKC registration for their puppies and raise them in healthy surroundings. Puppies should be kept until well past weaning time and should be wormed, inoculated, and OK'd by a veterinarian before being offered for sale.
A dog breeder, who operates a kennel, or a kennel operator of any kind, must comply with local zoning. Dogs may have to be kept indoors after certain hours, and noise may have to be controlled. For this reason, many kennel owners are in the country or suburbs, and those that primarily sell puppies find this is not a deterrent to business. Nearness to a community is, however, a prerequisite for a kennel that is run primarily for boarding and grooming.
SHOW DOG HANDLER
This is a glamour career with dogs-but behind the glitter lays the grit: long hours, much travel, lengthy apprenticeship, and detailed knowledge.
Any AKC member in good standing can, of course, show his or her own dog in the ring or in obedience trials. But just as the owners of a racehorse hire a jockey to ride for the winner's circle because he's the best, so owners of championship dogs turn over their leashes to professional handlers who often have what it takes to bring out the best there is in a dog.
The leading 300 or so handlers are members of ‘The Professional Handler's Association’, a select organization which has its own standards of ethics and performance. Members must have had at least five years' professional handling experience, must publish handling fees for their clients, and must have high personal and financial standing.
A skilled handler can experience great financial rewards, but he or she works hard for it. A handler can travel to 100 or more shows a year, ranging from Canada to South America and anywhere in the United States. The handler who takes clients' dogs on each trip is entirely responsible for their care and grooming beforehand, en route, during the show, and on the return.
In addition to having the "certain something" that commands both love and respect from dogs, you as a handler must have "done time"-years of it-in dog obedience, grooming, nutrition, and health care. Many handlers also operate kennels, often with obedience schools as part of the operation.
A few handlers are obedience specialists, working with dogs that may not have the conformation to do well in the show ring, but animals that have the "heart" and intelligence to score high in obedience trials. Most handlers specialize in show judging, working skillfully and smoothly in the ring to give the judges the most advantageous view of the client's dog as possible. A skilled handler makes a dog come across as the best among equals. Many a dog owes the letters "Ch." (Champion) before its name to the person on the business end of the leash.
Handling is a learn-by-doing job, almost invariably an outgrowth of earlier skills in obedience training and grooming. Professional handlers view themselves as creative people, able to transform, even inspire, an ungainly animal to become an almost charismatic work of art by the steps they take before the show and the moves they make in the ring. They pride themselves on the pay-off that comes from infinite attention to detail.
There is also a large and lucrative opportunity for field dog trainers. These dogs must be so skilled and accomplished that the training is almost always done by a professional.
