How to Become a Professional Dog Trainer and Mentor

Do you own a dog walking business and you're thinking about becoming a dog trainer, but don't know where to start? Have you always dreamed of working with dogs and becoming an expert? In this episode of Handling Business, we sit down with Kim Sauer of Sit n’ Stay Professional Pet Services who is a true expert and leader in the pet care industry.

Kim Sauer's fascination with dog training took off in 1997 when she started assisting a local trainer using a clicker in exchange for helping her with her own aggressive dog. Her interest grew as she learned how much she loved working with animals and enjoyed seeing the transformation in both the dogs and the owners. Kim opened her pet sitting and dog walking business, Sit n' Stay Pet Services in hopes that the fields would complement each other. Kim hired her first employee in 2005 and has steadily increased in size over the years to now have 30 pet sitters and dog walks, an office manager and 5 trainers on her team.

Kim first earned her certificate from Animal Behavior College in January 2002 becoming an ABC Certified Dog Trainer and then later became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) in March of 2006. She is also an AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and AKC STAR Puppy Evaluator. In 2006 Kim became an ABC Mentor Trainer and also a CATCH Dog Training Program Mentor Trainer and is now helping others to realize their dream of becoming a dog trainer! Kim became a PetTech Pet First Aid Instructor back in 2006 and in 2012 became a Mentor Trainer with PetTech, helping others to become PetTech Instructors as well.

Kim's specialty is working with families owning pets who plan to bring a baby into the household. She was the trainer for the SPCA serving Erie County's Baby Ready Pets Program for 7 years, the the trainer for the SPCA serving Erie County's Teaching Love and Compassion Program (TLC) to inner city at-risk youth program for 5 years, and the trainer for the SPCA Serving Erie County's Paws for Love Therapy Dog Program Evaluator. Kim is also a current Licensed Educator for the Dogs & Storks Program and the Dog and Toddlers Program.

Kim credits most of her education to her own dogs- Blaze, Nigel, Greta, Coop and the many cats and sugar gliders she has shared her home with. Kim believes that every animal (and human), come into your life to teach you something.

In this episode you’ll learn how to...

• Become a certified trainer and develop a solid program or partner with other programs who already have great resources, handouts and outlines

• Enroll in a dog training program with CATCH Dog Trainers Academy, Karen Pryor Academy or Animal Behavior College, and work towards becoming a Certified Professional Dog Trainer which is a separate certification from a dog training program

• Become a mentor trainer through CATCH or PetTech as a way to give back to your community and bring in a good flow of potential dog trainers for your growing dog training business

• Find great employees and motivate them to be dedicated to your team long term

Books that Kim loves…

• Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey

• The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

A favorite takeaway…

• “You can’t train people to be friendly, you need to hire friendly people. You can teach people how to take great care of animals, but you can’t always train people to have a certain personality type."  

To learn more about Kim Sauer, find her at sitnstaypetservices.com.

How to Respond to Online Business Reviews with Kristen Lee

Are you small business owner who is panicking over an online review about your business from a competitor or a disgruntled past employee? Or are you wondering how to attract more positive online reviews? The answer might lie in making sure that you're building a tribe and cultivating the right relationships. Kristen Lee breaks it down for us on this week's episode of Handling Business!

Kristen Lee is two parts serious business strategist, one part fairy godmother with a double dose of Jersey, and she’s also the Founder & President of Kristen Lee Consulting, LLC {formerly Thrive}.

Kristen is a dog business consultant, marketing expert, high-end sales ninja, mindset and personal development thought leader. She’s also a continuous education and improvement junkie; always placing herself in the student seat.

And her vision?

Creating massive empires for dog business professionals, empowering industry leaders while accumulating wealth and FREEDOM in their businesses.

If she's not traveling the world on the search for business knowledge bombs to bring back to the dog biz industry, you can find her at her home in hipster Durham, NC with her hubby Frank, two dogs and one cat who thinks he's a dog.

In this episode, Kristen and Britt cover a wide range of topics and narrow in on getting clear on what your niche is in order to find your tribe. Kristen is a firm believer that you have to identify your tribe as the first building block in forming your marketing and sales plan so that you don’t waste time and money knocking on the wrong doors.

Kristen also talks about how important it is to cultivate your tribe and build a community so that when it comes to big “asks” it’s easier to communicate with your clients about writing reviews or spreading word of mouth about your business. Becoming the leader of your tribe also builds credibility as an expert, which leads to other great opportunities and more revenue streams.

Kristen shares what to do about good, bady and ugly reviews and how to deal with them in the most positive way. This episode is jam packed with good advice so don’t miss it!