Find work with dogs?

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I'm interested in working with dogs, but don't know what to do where I can contribute in a positive, rewarding way. I would like to make decent money in time, but don't want to work with people. I'm aware of a lot of ways to work with dogs, but certainley don't know them all. Any ideas, however remote, could really make a difference for me.

You might think of learning how to train dogs in obediance, and do it on a Freelance basis. That way, you would deal briefly with the owner, and more with their dog. Another idea is training dogs to be seeing eye service animals. There are programs out there, where the dog actually lives with you while you train it to work with a blind person. Then you turn it over to the blind person. I don't know if they pay you for this, or not, though.

Do you have a local greyhound racing track ?
(Maybe there are opportunities in this area which you have not considered.)

If you can deal with the dirty aspects of it there is always need for kennel help. You would be feeding, cleaning up and exercising them. You could start by volunteering in a shelter to try it out and have a good reference for getting a job.

Ther are no Greyhound tracks near here that I'm aware of. Great Falls is like the second or third biggest town in Montana, yet it is only around 80,000 people. Because of the size, it doesn't have the opportunities that other larger cities may have.

Even though kennel cleaning isn't appealing, neither is it repulsive; I'm seriously considering it. If I worked at the Humane Society, I believe I would be OK with the frequent euthanization. But it's hard to tell until I actually am exposed to it. If I can get into that circle of people, I imagine there will be opportunities that would otherwise not be available to me.

I'm considering freelancing training obedience. I'm not a professional, but am pretty good at obedience training. There are many trainers that do obedience training, but really aren't that good or effective. I feel there is a demand for competent trainers. Communicating with the people would be the hardest part.

Training service dogs would be awesome, but there is little money in it for the most part. Volunteering for something like that is something I would like to, but it is quite a commitment and an investment in time and money. It would be good for me to learn more so I can make a better informed decision about this.

Thanks a bunch for the input so far! It is encouraging to hear.

goodluck in your job searches. they have alot of kennel help, in the paper here, i would apply but i can't stand dogs.

How about working for a Veternarian?? Even the front office girls get to calm the doggies, and/or lead them back to see the doc. Plus you get valuable med office training. Later on, you can open your own "Doggy Hotel", we have those here in Phoenix, and I think it would be huge fun ! !! Also, making anything craft-wise for pooches, organic dog biscuits or treats, doggy jackets for the winter up there, or doggy backpacks for working dogs on ranches where they carry their supplies with them, or doggy shoes for the snow and ice so their paws don't get cut up, or ... Can yew tell I luv their wittle cold noses ????

Try to start your own business with dogs. I have had two very bad experiences at paid jobs with animals, and have found that professional animal people are some of the most narrow-minded cliquish people I've met. And most jobs with animals don't pay well unless you're a manager or something like it. Finally, most jobs with animals require you to communicate well, even if you're kennel help. If you start your own business, you can avoid all the issues with bosses and co-workers and focus your limited communication skills on your customers. Freedom!

Well, there are guide dogs who train and follow people who are blind.

[quote="larsenjw92286"]Well, there are guide dogs who train and follow people who are blind.[/quot

That sounds so funny.....I am picturing the dog training the blind people and the blind person leading the dog down a busy city street.....what an image.

It's true!

Dog trainers can make very good money. Most large hunt clubs/game farms have one on staff. They teach hunting dogs to retrieve, pointers to point, or handle show dogs in rings.

Two ways to do this, contack the local kennel club and take a junior showmanship class or call a game club and see if you can help put with training.

Absolutely!

Here is one club in Montana's website. They offer all sorts of dog handling clinics, etc.

Golden Triangle Sporting Dog Club
PO Box 3591
Great Falls, MT 59403


I'd recommend my club but Wisconsin is a long commute

http://www.gtsdc.org/Club%20info.htm

I'm very interested in training my dog for scent detection. There are two groups where I live that teach nose training. One group teaches the dogs to follow the actual scent of the person that is in the air. The other group focuses on teaching the dog to follow the scent of the person that is on the ground. These two groups have problems with each other. This is common in this field. I don't know why, I guess people will find something to discriminate against. The type of scent discrimination I'm interested in is detector dog training. This is like drug detector or bomb detector dogs. These dogs can also smell cancer, weeds, cadavers, and just about anything you can think of. The two types of training in this field is training the dog to find what is out of the ordinary in a particular area. So if a criminal ran through a grassy field, the dog will find whatever the criminal may have dropped be it a comb, a bullet casing, or whatever. Or the dog could find pieces of an airplane crash for forensic investigation. The other type is training to find a specific thing, which is what I'm interested in. This can be highly profitable. I can teach her, but I really don't want to go through the mistakes of learning how to teach her effectively. I'm having a hard time getting past that. If I did train her, I would use antlers. We have lots of them scattered around so I don't need to plant targets for her to find. Then if she got good at it, I would have piles of antlers to show someone who might be interested in using her to scent something else. Once she has learns to scent properly, it is easy to teach her to find other things. She could scent natural gas leaks. Or who knows?