Given how busy pet owners can be, it’s important to make sure the training advice and training services they receive are of the highest quality, ethically and scientifically sound, safe and successful.

There are a few ways to go about adding training services to your daycare and boarding program:

Option 1:
Promote an employee from within who demonstrates exceptional customer service and dog handling skills. Offer this person an education in becoming a dog trainer that gains them a certification through a national organization that can be verified by clients. Having this type of certification protects your clients and your business because the organization is able to hold the dog trainer accountable for their actions. This leaves less burden on the facility owner from policing and overseeing each decision their resident dog trainer makes.

Pros: Having a trainer who is available 40 hours a week to clearly communicate (and sell services) to dog owners who visit, as well as having a safety liaison to guide other employees in dog handling and group play. A certified trainer on staff is a huge selling point to potential clients and the facility keeps all profits past the hourly employee’s pay, which can be substantial. Some facilities offer commission to the employee to increase sales and boost loyalty. Employees can also be expected to sign a no-compete agreement.

Cons: Certification can be expensive. All certifying organizations require continuing education credits each year and most of these require multiple day travel. Online courses are an option as well but generally won’t cover an entire education. Like any other employee, the facility is responsible for the trainer’s taxes and insurance.

Option 2:
Contract with a certified trainer (or two). This option allows the facility to choose a person who has taken the professional steps on their own accord to become a dog trainer. It is comforting to work with someone who has devoted their own resources to maintaining their accreditation. Contracting with multiple trainers also offers more flexibility to add multiple specialty training services such as dog sports or shy and reactive dog classes. Payment is an individual decision, but often times the trainer and the facility split the profits in a mutually agreed upon manner.

Pros: No upfront financial commitment for the facility, and the trainer is inclined to sell services anywhere they go, creating a following for him or herself. Many times, their reputation can boost the reputation of the boarding facility, providing a trustworthy brand of their own. Since they are selling for themselves as well, they will often do special events or expos at their own cost and time. But the facility has the flexibility to choose another trainer when the contract has ended, and the trainer carries their own certification costs, insurance, and pays their own taxes.

Cons: Scheduling can be tricky. Most often a contracted trainer is not going to be at your facility more often than needed to run classes and work with scheduled clients and their dogs. Since this person is a self employed professional, who is paid solely based on commission, a facility should not expect them to work for free with hourly employees or provide free training evaluations. Also, a trainer who behaves unethically elsewhere could impact the reputation of the boarding facility inadvertently if clients associate the two together.

Option 3:
Rent out a section of your facility to certified dog trainers for a flat fee. The trainer can hold classes with the owners or spend their time training the resident dogs, one on one, while they are being boarded.

Pros: They carry all material and professional expenses, and scheduling is simple and routine. The trainer is usually responsible for cleaning the area afterwards and providing training materials and equipment, though all of this can be negotiated. This allows for great flexibility for the clients since the facility can rent to a large number of different trainers. There is almost no cost to the facility while utilizing the space to create extra profits, such as the daycare area after hours or the play yard for agility during a kennel’s naptime.

Cons: If the classes fill easily and often, the facility is missing out on a large amount of profit. Also, the trainer could take the clients with them to another facility if they rent somewhere else, unless specifically agreed upon in advance.

Often a boarding kennel or daycare attendant may be the first to notice a behavioral problem in a client’s dog. It’s important to have a protocol for documenting and reporting behavioral problems in client’s dogs in the same manner as a health problem.

My personal opinion is that kennels and daycares should refer all true behavioral problems to a veterinarian behaviorist (DACVB) or certified applied animal behaviorist (CAAB), because behavioral issues are truly health problems and beyond the responsibility (and insurance coverage!) of most dog trainers. However, working closely with a well known and respected CAAB or DACVB is a great way to increase customer trust and loyalty in an extremely safe and well-documented way. Many times (almost always) the protocol is going to include the use of a dog trainer as well and the client will be sent back to the facility and the referring trainer after the dog’s diagnosis.

Being a well-educated facility is probably the most important step in adding training services. Dog training is an unregulated industry and it’s important to take the steps necessary to protect your business, your reputation, your clients, your client’s dogs and the safety of your employees. Most of these steps are going to include a lot of background knowledge about which organizations you trust to regulate and hold their certified trainers accountable. Your facility will be well known and trusted for dog training services if you are relentless about asking the right questions, validating sources, talking to other facilities in the area, and staying knowledgeable about current dog training practices.

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