I was a trainer first and am still on the books of an organisation. But a few things went wrong there. Won't name names or the affiliated organisation, but the idea is that tutors get assigned territories based on postcode, with a maximum of 8 dogs at a class and the organisation takes 20%.Originally Posted by teesred
Unfortunately the other members here (due to lack of inspections from base camp in England) decided that the rules were BS and I'd be assisting (unpaid) for multiple hours of my Saturday at a time where I had no income. With bookings being £70 for a 6-week course and their Hall rental a mere £5 an hour and the 9th/10th/11th/12th whatever dog in classes (that shouldn't be there within the organisation's rules) not being declared, the tutors in question would pocket the money (including the commission they were going to pay) and naturally by the time they had registered the extra bookings (using the "spare" money they would get from their rule-breaking) it made someone like me unable to compete.
Prior to this, I'd already assisted the regional manager with work at an animal sanctuary. For two years. I did as much work as he did, yet he was paid £30 per hour and I was receiving nothing. At the time I had no income having come out of mental health rehab.
When I finally got to a point where I had some income (from dog-walking, which was meant to top-up training, not the other way around) I called my regional manager out on his bullshit. He thought little of that and set up his own "how to work with dogs" course, charging £300 per head. He still runs these with multiple people joining every 10 weeks - it doesn't matter to him if there isn't enough work to go around once he had the money and naturally most become dog walkers, which tightens the noose further around my neck in terms of competition, or they open daycare centres with low standards if they are older and came out of a well-paid job.
Naturally, much like with the dog-walking, I set out to have exemplary standards. But I was getting all the cases nobody else would touch with a bargepole - "my German Shepherd attacks strangers at the door, come and help us". I'd stay for 2 or more hours instead of one (getting paid for one) and would plan to send out 1,000 word emails to supplement the advice I gave out during appointments. But I quickly started taking manic-obsessive episodes (I kind of permanently have the opposite of "writer's block" and can't turn the internal tap off, which you folks kindly put up with) and some of my follow-up emails (unpaid time) were becoming 17,000 words long.
I was exhausted, burnt out and disillusioned. I make a semi-reasonable wage now and my sheer tenacity has meant that, eventually, over time, I have started getting "easier" dog-walking enquiries that are closer together and weaning out the ones that required further driving or had the capacity to do damage - such as a troubled Rottweiler that once had me up against a fence one day because the walk was over and he was frustrated due to a lack of stimulation after I would leave, no fault of his own. This process is ongoing of course - you can always earn more and always have the clients be closer together to facilitate fitting more in - but it comes along.
As to your question about aggression in the car - it's possible, but, without wishing to sound braggadocious in any way, I've a good sense for who will fit with who when I meet dogs, particularly now that I don't take difficult ones on (to prevent mental burnout and invasive negative thoughts that bring up past events with the people who screwed me over) so it doesn't happen. Saying that, in the past, there would occasionally be some growling and barking from certain dogs, so I would desensitise and counter-condition them over time - I'd pair certain pieces of music with a stuffed Kong (cheese or peanut-butter) with the arrival of a dog in the car (boot with a barrier gate for one, front seat for the other) and over the course of a few weeks the dogs are getting a highly positive association (food) with an acoustic trigger (specific music) and come to tolerate the other dog's presence in the car, then anticipate and look forward to it, then love it.
When they show the appropriate body language (a lack of "whale eye" and relaxed ear positioning, no yawning, no lip-licking - yawning and lip-licking are calming signals that indicate stress) you can build them up to walking with each other. Though that takes time.
Thankfully, these days, it's usually a neutered, happy-go-lucky Cocker Spaniel going in the car with a well-rounded Toy Poodle and is, comparatively, a cake-walk. I very much plan (over time) to have the area of coverage as small as possible (I cover an area where people have expendable income) with dogs that are as well-socialised as possible (I bring them to the parks with the nicest clientel who are educated enough to be sensible with their dogs) to ensure a stress-free day where I am wrapped up at a reasonable time. With luck I can find a way to make a niche side-job in local conservation stuff (getting kids caring about their environment) and guided bird identification walks for adults and perhaps get a therapy qualification, so I can one day help depression, anxiety and PTSD sufferers navigate their way through their life, with a friendly, well-socialised dog of my own on hand that they can pet / receive licks from when getting through the most difficult bits.
I know that's all probably a bit naive and idealistic, but I gotta have goals. Also aware it got Off-Topic, but there you are. Hopefully I covered the aggro-in-car question well enough.
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