Professional Dog Trainers Program
Guest Speakers – Feedback from Students
Eastern Medicine & Treatment for Dogs – Dr. Kam Brar
“One of my favorite guest speakers was Dr. Brar from Lifeline Animal Clinic. We were taught how animals are examined, diagnosed and treated from a Chinese medicine viewpoint and compared this to western veterinary medicine. Dr. Brar was excellent at explaining foreign concepts to us, and encouraged us to ask questions. Dr. Brar left us with so much new knowledge and information; understanding a dog’s yin & yang, and how to find the stagnation of chi in our dogs when they are ill. What I found most valuable, were the tips and remedies he gave us to use in our lives with dogs, and in the business of training; we were given many natural remedies, herbal recipes and even acupressure points to help dogs that are dealing with anxiety, fear and other emotional behaviors. Dr. Brar was friendly, funny, and informative and all of the students wished that he could have stayed longer!”
The Business of Dog Training – Erin Kramer
“It was great to talk to a successful graduate of the program, as Erin had so much information to share with us regarding what to do as soon as we graduate. We were given endless tips and pointers on business planning and setup, how to effectively network, and how to hit the ground running after graduation. She supplied us with lots of valuable information about hiring staff, the pros and cons, where to find good staff, and how to keep everyone happy, professional and representing you well. She gave us lots of information about boarding, advertising, business location, website design and even how to successfully begin working with dogs for advertising and film. We enjoyed our conversation with Erin so much that we had to ask her to speak again before the program was over. Erin is very successful and experienced and she seemed pleased to share everything she’d learned with us!”
Doggie Daycare – K9HQ
“I was very impressed by the facility. I wasn’t expecting as nice a place as it was indoors. We talked for awhile and then went in with the dogs after they woke up from their “quiet time.” Watching them interact with the dogs and seeing how thing ran was great. The staff was very aware and attentive of what was going on. She was open about her operating costs, business information, and answered all questions.”
“Seeing the doggy daycare in action was very helpful as an introduction to different business ideas and just general knowledge of stuff going on in the doggy world. The facility was very well run and to be honest it was fun just to get to play with a bunch of cute doggies instead of train them. I think it’s important for us as dog trainer’s to know about other dog businesses even if we don’t open them ourselves because we will most certainly have clients who will ask us about them. I really like the opportunity for us to talk to others in the industry and I thought K9HQ was great.”
Police Dogs – Sean Millard
“I had so much fun when Sean Millard from the Victoria Police Department came to teach us about police dogs and the training involved. Sean and another officer gave us the rundown on how police dogs are chosen, trained and acquired and how an officer becomes eligible to own and work with a police dog. They shared some great safety tips as well as some exciting police dog stories that had us gripping the edge of our seats, as the officers beamed in pride remembering their dog’s heroic successes. The very best part was the demonstration involving 3 different police dogs, at 3 different levels of training, they demonstrated how they teach tracking and protection work and showed the differences depending on the dog’s experience level. The dogs found different objects that we’d hidden around outside, including a dime! My favorite part of the demonstration was when I was allowed to try on the bite sleeve and get Jax, the retired police dog sent on me – it was very cool to experience a controlled bite that I was protected from, and I think it was just as much fun for Jax as it was for me!”
Schutzhund Dog Sport – Heather Millard
“Learning about Schutzhund from Heather Millard was excellent and informative. Heather’s obvious passion for Schutzhund made her presentation exciting and fun! She taught us the history behind Schutzhund and how it was designed and created to protect breed integrity in German Shepard dogs. Heather taught us all about the different phases in a Schutzhund trial and went in depth explaining the different titles, routines, competition regulations and point categories and deductions. Heather taught us how to pick the perfect puppy for competing in Schutzhund, how to start proper foundation training and how to get involved in a Schutzhund club!”
Sheep Herding – Martha McHardy – Marcar Border Collies
“That was amazing! To watch the jobs that the dogs performed and to see how happy they were was great. Unfortunately you can also understand better how so many dogs end up in the wrong homes. She had us be handlers and dogs to get an idea how to move the sheep. She showed us different levels of the dogs she has in training and we saw Joey’s Uncle at work! She imparted a lot of information and was very passionate. We had to almost interrupt her to ask questions as she admitted she could go on all day! Her explanations of getting the dogs to a balance of obeying commands while being able to think on their own and make decisions, and also learning through making mistakes, gave a good understanding of how working dogs get to such a high level. Very enjoyable experience!”
“Our trip to see Martha’s dogs and herding was really great. I love getting to learn about different areas of dog training and really think it makes us students much better rounded dog trainer’s even if we don’t go into that particular field. It also gives us the opportunity to find out just where we want to go with our dog training. Martha was highly knowledgeable and her exercise in having us herd the sheep was fun. She was a great guest speaker and I think all of the future PTP students would benefit from meeting with her.”
Veterinarian – Dr. Jay Rolfe
“Dr. Jay Rolfe from Thetis Heights Veterinary Clinic gave us a thorough run through on canine first aid, teaching us how to appropriately bandage, splint and keep a wound clean until arriving at a vet clinic. He also taught us how to deal with dog bite wounds, allergic reactions, insect stings, and other everyday problems that we can easily run into when working with dogs. He taught us how to build a complete animal first aid kit, and taught us how to use everything in it properly and effectively. Dr. Rolfe gave us invaluable information regarding vaccines, human medicines & diet choices for dogs, and how each affects them medically. He taught us how to keep ourselves safe when working with a sick or injured dog, and gave us an abundance of information on how to act and what to do during common pet emergency situations. After talking to Dr. Rolfe, I am more confident in myself, and feel that I now have the information to act quickly and correctly during a pet emergency.”
Animal Control – Ian Fraser
“Ian and Christine were great. She did most of the tour and both answered all of our questions, toured the complex and showed us the van and equipment. Told us stories, gave us ideas on municipal rules and regulations and how licensing etc. worked. We also got stats on animals and how problems are handled etc.”
“Our field trip to animal control was interesting and worthwhile. I got some good information about how animal control works.”
Grooming – Krista Randall – Krazy K-9s
“I can see why her clients and dogs love her. She was great with the grooming information and very open about the details of her business, what she charges etc. She gave us a good basic knowledge to get our feet wet.”
“All of my interactions with Krista have been exceptional. I find that her personality and teaching methods are highly effective. She is very open to showing us little tricks or drills and asks us what we would like to learn. She is also able to repeat concepts that we have heard but restated in a different way. I really have liked getting to work with Krista and find her quite knowledgeable as well as likeable.”
Pet Shop Management – Lisa Nitkin – Pets West
“Lisa Nitkin is the owner of Pets West, a pet store, that’s got everything you could imagine and more. It was great to talk to someone in the merchandise business, as she kept herself very well informed on the newest and most effect training equipment. She was able to show us the best products on the market to help in solving different behavioral problems. She showed us awesome products – some of which I’d never seen before including feeding games for dogs that eat too fast at mealtime, supersonic noise emitters for barky dogs and creative toys that encourage exercise in dogs. She had great, friendly staff to help us after her presentation as we took advantage of our brand new trainer’s discount and browsed her selection of brand name training equipment, toys,accessories, food and treats. I think most dogs left with a raincoat that day – which were well used by the end of our program!”
Website Creation and Design – Scott Rose
“Scott was well prepared with what he wanted to cover and obviously knows his stuff. He gave us lots of information without getting over our heads. He made us realize how important having a website will be for our business and some good ideas of what should be on a site and I feel like I will be able to get an easier start with the information he shared.”
“Scott was a good guest speaker in that he had a lot of knowledge on his area of expertise and was really organized and succinct. I feel really lucky that we were the first group to get his talk and valued it. His presentation was good introductory starting point and I’m glad we got to meet with him.”
Insurance – Dave Fitzpatrick
“It was awesome to talk to an insurance guy, that wasn’t trying to sell me anything! Dave Fitzpatrick from Megson Fitzpatrick Inc. gave a presentation about the insurance you should be purchasing to protect yourself as a trainer, boarder or dog walker. He taught us the difference between single proprietorships, limited companies and corporations, how to insure our staff and their actions and how to purchase the right amount of coverage for our businesses. He taught us how to ensure coverage when travelling to different countries and how to prevent being sued by our clients. Dave explained the steps we must take to ensure that ourselves, our staff and any pets in our care are insured in case of accident, illness or injury. I will admit, that initially I expected the ‘insurance guy’ presentation to be somewhat dry, but Dave kept us all interested, kept things simple and understandable, and encouraged questions! We all learned a lot of great information from Dave that we all really needed to learn in order to protect ourselves and our businesses with the proper insurance!”