What's it like being a dog breeder or trainer?

I want to know it from real dog breeders or trainers. Whats it like? Do you like it? I'm only 15 but ever since I can remember I have loved all animals (especially dogs & cats) and 5 years ago I got my first dog, then my second one 2 years ago and I'm getting another this year. I also have 2 cats (3 a few months ago) and we are probably getting more pets. Oh yeah and I own pet snake. One cat, the snake and our new dog are my pets, my repsonsibility, and more mine than the rest of my families although I'm the main caretaker. I don't feed my pets but I'm the one who walks the dogs, plays with the pets, feeds the snake&cleans his cage, gives the dogs fresh water etc. Anyway I have taught my dogs everything they know (over 10 commands/tricks) and considering they are small, stubborn dogs who are not meant to be "easily trainable" or anything like that (according to people on the web) I'm quite proud of myself haha! But I've read soo many dog training books etc and now I walk around and see all these people with their dogs and I just want to correct them and tell them what they should be doing and tell them how they should be treating their dog and all this stuff. Obviously I dont because people would hate that but i just want to help people help their dogs. So many dogs end up in shelters and stuff and are killed because they are 'aggressive' or 'badly behaved' when really the owners just have NO idea of how to treat their dogs or what the dog needs. It irritates me beyond imagination that these stupid people blame the breed and not the owners. Ok I'm going to stop my rant but basically I want to train dogs and teach people how to care for their dogs etc. Is it a fun job? What's like your normal day? How much do you get paid, enough (im not too bothered about money but would i need a different job as well)? Tell me anything about this.Okay and now dog breeding. Yes I know many dogs are killed in shelters and these puppy mills and BYB etc and I know you lose more money than you make when you are a dog breeder but their are so many great (popular) breeds out there for instance rottweilers, GSD's , labs etc which are slowly being ruined. Rottweilers have already been victims of media's attacks and nowadays people cant even own these wonderful dogs because you can't get them insured because stupid people have labeled them dangerous and blood thirsty. I just want to clear their name, show everyone that good breeding, good training and a good owner makes a good dog- not its breed. I would love to help rarer breeds not die out or help popular over bred breeds to go back to being healthy and good which was the thing that made them popular at first. I want to stop breeds being ruined and I would love to do it. But whats it like? I want an honest answer, tell me everything!I am trying to decide what I want to be when I'm older and its always been either author, poet, dog trainer, dog breeder or working with animals in general (e.g rspca officer, zoologist, ranger etc). How to you become a dog trainer or breeder?Thanks!

Most dog trainers and many dog breeders start out just as you are...loving animals. From there you train your own dog and read as many books on the subject as you can get your hands on.At 15 you are in an excellent period for searching all the angles necessary to be a success at training or breeding. Go to www.yahoogroups.com and join...it's free and there are a good many excellent training groups where you can learn much more about training than you will here.Try [email protected]. That's the friendliest of them all because the list owner policies his group site and won't permit a member to be nasty.Check out the breeders of your breed choice on yahoogroups also, but be prepared for a great deal of controversy in both venues as there are many different ideas about what makes a good breeder and a good trainer.I love it, both training and breeding, but I've found sticking with people that feel the same as you do is the best way to keep your sanity in this crazy world of dogs.Right now you sound like a wonderful beginning dog trainer and breeder. Keep it up, stay away from Cesar Milan and some of the nasties here and you will do fine.Good luck.

Many pet dog trainers don't start out as professional trainers, they do it as a hobby, they train their own dogs and have a natural ability, practise, learn more and end up training, most have other jobs certainly in the past as 'dog training' was not a 'job' in the past apart from the few professionals such as customs trained dogs, guide dogs for the blind, even police dogs, service dogs and rescue dogs were often trained by individuals rather than organised professionals in place........ my dad trained Police and service dogs but he was a business man with a gift for training, now these dogs are trained by professional who only do that job and with the leisure market changing there are many who do it as a career..but such as Guide Dogs they are trained by individuals in family situations until they are 14 months old, before they are returned to Guide Dogs for their specific training, people who have 2 years of training before they are appointed Guide Dog trainers and the process is separated into dogs and other professionals for matching and training the people with their trained dog, you need experience and/or a degree to get into that type of work as the degree is to ensure you are educated to a certain level, even then they use out side professional in some instances........Pet dog training now is more about people training, dogs can easily be trained by working with their behaviours, but people are not so easy and it is the people who determine ( as you say) the behaviour which is acceptable and what is note...a dog just follows as part of a pack..balanced or not..........So education is important especially for you at your age and doing education that can lead to lots of opportunities, not one/two specific things...experience in training which you can do now by joining a training class and seeing if you have the aptitude to train people to train their dogs, I have a training/behaviour centre and take on interns as part of their course some are great others have no people skills at all and are not good regardless of the dog training skills in the pet training market...they may be for service dogs but not for family pets and competition work training where you need to train the person to work as a team with their dogs..My 'job' which paid for my lifestyle, homes, cars was in its basic form as a teacher...I am a qualified behaviourist of people and of people in the form of prisoners, youth offenders, as in changing behaviours.... my love, my hobby has always been animals and after qualifying as a teacher and a behaviourist plus other specialist training/qualifications and while working I started to also train in animal related qualifications...education is never wasted, but it also never replaces natural aptitude and/or experience......one thing you need to control and channel is your emotional attachment to certain things as that is reactive and emotional reaction is never good in training in people or dogs, you can't 'fix' the World and people are the hardest to change any behaviour in, education, knowledge changes behaviours in people and helped along with laws to protect our society, and none of that suits us all, in every situation....and also I was lucky enough to have lots of various opportunities to gain experience in many different areas, Guide Dog training, working in zoos with wild animals, matching dogs/people in rescue centres ( they always choose the wrong dog for their family if left to do it themselves) and training rescue centre staff to handle 'difficult' dogs and change their behaviours to enable the previously 'unplaceabale' dogs to become balanced and so able to be placed, in training new owners how to train and mange their new dog as you only have up to 3 weeks to do that in a new home with a dog from a rescue centre before the dog 'reverts' to their normal behaviour and in that time many rescue dogs are sent back or the emotional attachment a family has they put up with their now mis behaving dog...not good for people or dog.As for breeding NO dog should be bred unless it has Championship status, not even for the pet market...the only exceptions to this are the working/service dogs where they are breeeding for brains, apptitude in the work that these dogs do........ no one should breed any dog without knowling and understanding to the highest standards what they are doing...yes I have bred, yes my dogs are all International Champions, but my dogs are not ATM machines and many breed for that sole purpose........ and many rescues have many of those dogs in their centres dogs bred by breeders who have no responsibly to their litters or homes they go to.......

Most breeders and trainers have a day job. In another words breeding and training are done mostly as a hobby and as a passion. To get started you need to become knowledgeable. For breeding start reading books on reproductive anatomy, physiology, genetics, whelping and husbandry. Ethical breeders spend a lot of time studying pedigrees and understand how different lines work together. Many ethical breeders receive little income form their breeding endeavors especially as first. Any profit that the breeder receives goes back into the breeding program.Good trainers learn by training dogs. Balanced trainers use and understand many different methods. So my advice is not to get hooked on one method. Instead develop your own technique and tweak it for every dog that you train. Good trainers make the method fit the dog as an individual instead of forcing the dog to the method. Since you have dogs start training your house dogs in earnest. Train for dog sports like obedience, rally, agility, etc. Compete in area shows to test your training. Most venues including the AKC allow mixes to compete in companion events like those mentioned above. If there is a 4H dog project or kennel club in your area join. As you get older and get more training experience, you can start teaching classes.