The Rundown:

Helpful Traits: Be calm and extremely patient. You need to focus on specific behaviours and issues so it helps to have a history of living with dogs –you need a lot of experience.

Pros: I do what I love and I can pay the bills. I have a better understanding of dogs and people, and I never have to drag myself out of bed to go to work.

Cons: Like the cobbler’s son who doesn’t have shoes, my dogs are the last to get attention at the end of the day. I don’t have time to work with them as much as I want—they get the leftovers. Running my own company can be rather stressful as it’s up to me to get clients. And passion fatigue is real, not just because I had PTSD. You see so many problems and neglect in the dog world that can make you numb and apathetic. But I take a few days off to center and come back to my purpose: keep dogs happy in happy homes.

Estimated Salary: I pay my dog trainers $40K a year if they work 40 hours a week. Expect less if you working at a corporate training store. You get what you pay for.