dog training instructors apprenticeship program

No experience necessary - new graduates welcome

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Future apprenticeship programs

Apprenticeship programs are one to two years long. You don't need any experience to qualify for the apprenticeship program in fact those with a lot of experience may find their experience a hindrance more than a help.

The things that will be most helpful for your preparation to participate in this program will be to read the prescribed books and to get experience handling dogs in general. The handling experience should not involve any formal dog training. Formal dog training would include obedience training and conditioning the basic commands using food. You may also want to join a toastmasters group to get a little experience speaking to a group of people.

You can also attend our dog trainers workshop. Fill out the dog trainer application form and join our mailing list to get the date for our next workshop.

If you already have experience training dogs I suggest you start training a dog with a style of training you are least familiar with. For those most comfortable with food reinforcement I suggest a leash and collar training program and for leash and collar trainers try a food based training program. Try to look past the things you find objectionable. Focus on learning as much as possible from the new information you get, both from the instructor and the dog.

The required reading and writing assignments to be considered for the apprenticeship program will be the same as those required for acceptance into the other programs.

Each stage of the learning process is part of the selection process. So you may be dropped from the program at any point.

If you cannot commit to finishing the program it is best if you don't start. You may feel more comfortable committing to the workshops and the camps. If you enter this program to steal my knowledge and abuse the system you will ruin the chance for many others, both people and dogs, to learn and be helped from my experience. It will eventually benefit everyone if we can all work together for the common good of this system. You may need to make some sacrifices in the beginning. Just as I will need to sacrifice some of the things I want to do so that I will have time to teach you.

If you want to go out and train dogs on your own this is a valid option. However, I do not want to teach some one and have them apprentice under me only to have them training on their own before the program is over. If you want to train dogs on your own for profit before an apprentice program would be completed apply yourself to one of my other programs.

When you are ready to go out on your own I will try to help those who have been honest and loyal to our system and to me.
If you abuse the system you will not only hurt all the other participants but you will diminish the chances of your own success. This model is designed to work best with all the participants working together.

There will be a training process before you go out and start training dogs. I anticipate the training process to take two to four months. After the initial training you will finish your apprenticeship as a beginning dog trainer. As a beginning dog trainer you will earn a small income. This income should provide you enough to get by on. If you want to start off making the income of someone who has spent their entire life training dogs and are not going to be happy with a small income while you are finishing your apprenticeship program don't waste my time or yours with frivolous participation.

After the apprenticeship program there will be help in establishing a dog training business for those who want to work in a community I target as a good location for starting a new business. I will try to pick an area close to where you are now living. Again you will need to make sacrifices when starting a business. This need to make sacrifices for the sake of the business it part of what running a business is about.

This is not a 6 weeks to become a master dog trainer, type of program, and it will require dedication and a true desire or commitment to see it through to the end. Just to apply and get through the first stage will take effort. You will have several reading and writing assignments to complete. Eventually we will need to meet, and possibly spend some time together, so that we can get to know each other. Then the real hands on training will begin. Even this beginning training may require you to do things that you will think are unimportant and in the beginning some things may even feel uncomfortable for you. If you don't think you can deal with stretching your boundaries and going past your comfort level you might not want to be in one of my programs.

Acceptance into the apprenticeship program will depend more on your attitude and how much you want to train with me and if I think we will be a good fit. Our dog training style is rooted in the evolutionary development of the dog and a Westernized Eastern philosophy. If you do not believe in evolution this is not going to be a good program for you. Getting accepted into this program does not depend greatly on how much money you can spend on the dog training instructors program.

If you are interested I would be happy to hear from you,

Andrew

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