dog trainer

personal assistant

Off Leash K9 Training

First starting off with the amount of out of pocket money you spend on traveling to get trained in 17 short days. They claim "training is paid for" but zero proof.  You are never reimbursed for the travel, lodging etc.  You are also NOT PAID during training.  You must invest in your own equipment like kennels, muzzles, collars, leashes etc...  you are started at a very low pay and after a year MAYBE you get a pay increase. You will never make up for the money that you spent on the training thats "paid for".  Next is the inconsistency. You are either trained in Knoxville or headquarters in VA.  Once you complete the 17 days and graduate, you return to your location where you are working. I was told to "forget everything i learned while being trained"..... ok cool.
Thirdly, the unprofessionalism.  There is nothing to compare on how unprofessional this company is.  When you reach out to your fellow coworkers via facebook, you are presumed an idiot and 9/10 times made fun of by people who are suppose to HELP YOU.  
Lastly, there are no benefits, gas and travel is NEVER covered, favoritism is their slogan, no room for growth as a trainer.  
Oh and one more thing, my location owner "forgets" to pay his trainers weekly.... withholding thousands of dollars of income.  Never taken seriously or fixed, if you ever reminded him you would not get a response, he'd get to paying us when it was convenient for him.   Would not recommend this company to anyone who is going into dog training industry, what a joke. 

Where to begin! I originally LOVED my job. I was living the dream. That quickly changed as the business grew. I know things change, and growth is good! And I love that the business was growing, but not at the benefit of the trainers. You worked 3 dogs at a time, you had lessons 2x a week at 5-6hrs at a time. (Sometimes more) Trainers were quitting left and right because the pay was ridiculous for the amount of work they had to do. There was no TRUE guidance with some of the cases (dog aggression or any type of reactive dog) you were just  told to “trust the process” which I understood, but why have a “head trainer” who’s not actively helping their team? So many of the cases that walk through the door are far out of the trainers experience level, and even though you can send the dog home, they won’t put another dog on your schedule to fill that slot, so you’re out of pay for that dog. You’re fully responsible for purchasing the e collar and leashes for your board and trains out of your own money, so you don’t make a lot to begin with and now you have to provide the tools for the dog, and send them home with the dog. This job is also a 7 day a week job, and you have to schedule time off 4 months in advance. So if you don’t schedule time off you’re working EVERY SINGLE DAY. This can be a good job, BUT only if they would pay you more fairly, not overload you with work, and provide the tools for the trainers. Simple changes would help tremendously! 

  I want to start out by saying I learned a great new skill i can take with me anywhere I go. Unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positive aspect about working here. Very under paid and under appreciated. The duties and responsibilities were such a burden that work/life balance was non existent. And for the pay, its simply doesnt add up. The job requires training and boarding dogs 6-9 training hours per day , teaching clients how to maintain the dogs 2-3 hour turnover, take care of the dogs outside of training (meals + potty breaks) , produce and edit before and after videos which take 1-2hours per dog (4-8 hours a month). The time and energy you put in the job is just not compensated. I worked their for 2 years, 1 pay increase after the first 4 months, none after even though I had raving 5 star reviews and provided tremendous value to the company. Unfortunately none of that mattered when it came down to it. They are very much a corporate atmosphere targeting people with hearts for animals to work for cheap while they rake in +70% of the revenue. They also didnt fill up my schedule 1-2 months around december holiday, resulting in me not having full paychecks. This is great for a young adult still living with their parents, not so much for an adult searching for career to build their future.

I was really excited to work here at first.  I was told I would start out making $50k per year. I was told that it was a work from home job and that it was flexible.  The only way I would have been able to make $50k if if I worked 365 days straight.  It is not a work from home job.  You are required to drive your training dogs to different parks and stores that are often far away to train them there.  Although you aren't training the dogs all day, you still have to be home to give them potty breaks.  There is NO work/life balance at all.  At the Spokane location, special treatment was given to trainers who had kids, they would get more time off, weren't required to work as much as trainers who didn't have kids.  Extra work was given to trainers without kids.  Work load was very stressful. Company cares about the end result and money over dogs wellbeing and needs.  Was told to do things to dogs I wasn't comfortable with and was told to do them when no one was looking.  These people will over work you and will not compensate you fairly. Worked hourly, but was not given any sick days.When you have board and train dogs, you are on the clock 24/7 but are not paid accordingly. 

It's great to loosely work around my schedule, but can suck since you have to be up early.  Training is basically an all day affair depending on the number of dogs you're training, and it can be a difficult rhythm to learn. However it's really nice to in the end have a well trained temporary companion on errands and to hang with. 
Upper management has been rough with changes in policies, but I can tell they're trying to get better, not cutting corners or costs. 
This company has been helping me accomplish my own specialized training career and has increased my compensation as my skills have increased without me having to fight for it. Everything my lead has said, I have been able to trust.
Dealing with dogs' separation anxiety and/or watching clients not follow through are the toughest parts.

When I first started training dogs I got a job working for olk9. I had no experience and didn’t know much about working with animals. After spending 17 days in Woodbridge I went on to manage a location by myself. The training that I received was minimal and ultimately very cruel to the dog. Off leash trains every dog the same way by putting an ecollar on them day 1 and forcing them to comply. I was told that if I wasn’t getting good results I wasn’t working hard enough. I got in trouble for attempting new methods or even using treats to train. I saw other trainers high up in the company use cattle prods and a ton of physical force to make more difficult dogs comply. I saw people literally break and kill dogs or lose them due to negligence and watched as it got swept under the rug to preserve the company. I spent 5 years working for off leash and at the end of it felt like part of my soul was gone forever. The money is good and you’ll definitely get hands on experience with a lot of different kinds of dogs but trust me this job takes a toll. 

People who complain are the ones who aren’t willing to work hard and do the job listed in the contract. I love my job!!!! Expectations are very clear from the beginning, setting you up for success. Management truly cares about you but requires you to do the right thing always, which is totally fair. Each location is individually owned and has very different policies and procedures but the experience I’ve had with the ownership of the Hampton roads and Charlottesville VA, Detroit MI, San Antonio TX, milwaukee WI, Des Moines IA - has been great. The only thing that was a big adjustment was being a contractor but now that I understand it it’s amazing!! It’s a lot to track: mileage, cell phone bill, kennel room space, any equipment I need for the dogs…I write all of it off every year!! If I was an employee I wouldn’t be able to do that so I’m grateful it’s set up this way. I definitely recommend seeing a tax person.  

This job is for the young and energetic. If you live in your parents basement and need some decent pay this is the job for you! However, 50k a month minimum? Couldn’t be farthest from the truth. $750 per dog is what you start out at, which comes out to be about $9-$10 dollars an hour. That $750 per dog is not all yours as $150 of that $750 is spent on an ecollar that your required to purchase for each dog. Oh also, not to mention that $750 is before taxes that you have to withhold yourself. Imagine knowing people pay $2800 dollars to get a dog trained and yet your only making after all is paid around $500 dollars per dog. Not to mention your required to take this dog out and work through their anxiety with a large amount of distractions every single day. How do you do that? You drive and spend a lot of money on gas that you are not compensated for. This job is not worth your time.

Training different breeds of dogs (from typical to anxious to aggressive) is very rewarding, and great progress can be made very quickly when it comes to teaching commands and having the dog execute them properly. This job is not only about teaching dogs, but also coaching and educating owners. A trainer’s money is made through a 2 week board and train program where the dog stays at the trainer’s home, and by teaching classes at a local facility. Trainers work hard but also have a lot of flexibility with their schedules.

The support team, from fellow trainers to the regional management team to the owner, is very good. Pay is good, but this is a 1099 contract position, so a trainer will have to do their own taxes. Overall great place to work and a spacious facility to work out of. 

They expect a lot of work, consisting of sanitation and cleaning, to be done in a short amount of time while you have 10+ dogs to take care of as well all on your own. They refuse to have 2 employees working unless you have over 12 dogs in the facility not including the one they have living there full time. They tell you after 90 days you’ll get a raise, but after 4 months of being the only kennel technician, working every shift alone and then training every single new hire without even received a thank you, I decided to ask for a raise and got fired instead... OVER THE PHONE! The communication with management is poor, the pay is poor, the feeling of importance in the workplace is nonexistent (I felt used daily) and the overall expectations for the job are way too high.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Dog trainer 209 salaries reported	$56,801 per year
Personal assistant 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year

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