Let's Talk Dog Business

Are you struggling to market your dog business, gain traction and bring in a steady stream of customers? Have you fallen into the trap of wasting hours redesigning logos, websites, and posting on socials instead of getting out there and getting known? In this episode, we share how to stop being a local secret and build high demand.  We cover how to collaborate with vets and other local busine...

How do you keep going when everything feels like a s**tshow? How do you keep your business and personal life on track? Life doesn’t stop when you’re dealing with grief, family illness, or a crisis with your dog. So, in this episode, we get honest about the different approaches when trying to cope, including throwing ourselves into work, shutting down, compartmentalising, or getting stuck in the wo...

Building a successful pet business takes more than passion: you need to choose the right work, charge properly and actively work to build a business that supports the life you want. In this episode, we sit down with Tatum Brown of The Social Dog Company a strategy and marketing coach that enables dog trainers to finally charge what they are worth. Tatum shares how buying a puppy-mill dog led her t...

In this episode we get honest about one of the biggest struggles facing dog trainers and behaviourists: knowing what to charge for your services and feeling confident enough to believe you deserve to earn a decent living. We look at why trainers can end up undercharging, separating training from behaviour work, and believing they need more qualifications or a more impressive title before they can...

In this episode we sit down with Dr. Isla Fishburn from Kachina Canine to explore the inner work that quietly drives your dog business. We talk about the pressure to have perfect dogs, the wobble when a heart dog dies, and how much old family stories about money, success, and being “too much” become your beliefs and shape your prices, boundaries, and visibility. Until you look at this inner stuff...

In this episode we get honest about sales objections and what’s really going on when people say, “It’s a bit expensive” or “I need to speak to my partner.” We look at why this objection to buying is so often just the polite default excuse in British culture and how to respond in a way that changes their minds. We discuss how your own fears about being seen as too expensive can actually help create...

Most dog trainers still focus on selling their time in sessions. A well-used model that feels safe,  but often it ends up holding you back and leaves your clients with only a partial solution to their problems. In this episode we unpack what can go wrong when you use a session-only model and how to change things to avoid those issues. We cover why a session-only business often leads to, press...

What does success actually mean to you? And is it really your definition?or one you’ve picked up from everyone around you? Today, we look at why it’s so easy to get caught up in someone else’s version of success, to end up simply doing what everyone else does running the same type of classes and making the same offers. For so many trainers following the crowd leaves them feeling deflated, bored, a...

Running a dog business isn’t just about being good at what you do with dogs. It’s about getting noticed, building relationships, creating a customer experience people want to return to, dealing with the unexpected and having the confidence to keep putting yourself out there. All of which Danny Nelis-Rouse  from Tug-E-Nuff has experienced and successfully navigated. In this episode, he shares...

In this episode we get honest about using AI in your business. We talk about why so many dog trainers who are stretched, short on time, unsure what to say or how to show up online, lean on it so much. Unfortunately, that can lead to you creating bland, generic “AI slop” that erodes trust. We have used AI a fair bit, so know how easy it is to end up doing that. In this episode, we share some of the...

Many dog trainers start out trying to be everything to everyone, instead of focusing on the one thing we love and becoming brilliant at that. In this episode we sit down with Olivia Jones, the Biker Girl Dog Trainer, to talk about what happens when you stop trying to be a “GP” trainer and build your whole business around the big, spicy, bitey cases most people run a mile from. Olivia shares how sh...

When you look under the hood of most of your “I’m stuck” moments in your dog training business, you’ll usually find the same thing behind it - fear. Fear of getting it wrong, fear of what other trainers will say, fear of wasting money, fear you’re not actually good enough to pull off the business you secretly want. In this episode, we dig into how those fears show up as paralysis e.g. not posting,...

When they strip away the “build a 7-figure empire” noise, most dog trainers realise that they just want a business that feels good to run. One that lets them actually help dogs and people. Today, we sit down with Josh Beckler from K9 Optima to discuss what a genuinely “small but mighty” dog business looks like when you design it around joy, not ego. Josh shares why he walked away from a high-press...

When you understand dog body language, everything clicks into place and your training improves. Understanding the personality type of the person holding the lead can be just as transformative. In this episode, we explore the four common personality types: chatty, big-picture thinkers (parrots), fast, results-driven people (eagles), calm, supportive types (doves), and careful, detail-focused people...

Hating every single part of your business right now? Don’t panic—you aren't alone, and those rough moments usually hide the best golden nuggets. This mashup episode brings together the absolute best bits from our upcoming CBA Live 2026 speakers to completely reshape how you look at growth, money, and boundaries. We are tackling the addictive danger of riding only the highs, why "Bob" (your defensi...

Most force-free trainers feel like accidental business owners and reluctant marketers - brilliant with dogs, but suddenly expected to be marketers, salespeople, and content creators. Add AI into the mix and it can feel impossible to stand out without selling your soul.   Today, we are joined by Ricky Sullivan, The Canine Copywriter. She helps dog trainers get crystal clear on what they o...

Most dog trainers are still using a 90s-style model: six-week courses, one-off sessions, and long gaps between classes. A model that rarely works in today´s crazy busy world that is full of highly distracted and already over-stretched clients. They can´t take in and apply what you teach and training their dog tends to slip down their to-do list. Leaving you and them very frustrated. In this episod...

If your normalcy, is juggling dogs, clients, kids, partners, piles of washing, dozens of undone chores, and a brain with 47 tabs open, this episode is for you. It is all about the reality of running a dog business while looking after family and dealing with a long list of other responsibilities outside of work. We talk openly about those rock‑bottom moments where you wonder if it would be easier t...

Treat visibility as relationship-building, not just posting. Local vets, rescues and pet businesses, plus simple authority videos that reframe common problems, often move the needle faster than another generic reel. Put basic systems in place so every enquiry gets a fast reply, undecided leads are followed up automatically, and review requests go out without you having to remember a single sticky...

Most dog trainers didn’t become self‑employed because they craved spreadsheets, tax returns, and late‑night admin. They started because they loved dogs, loved learning, and wanted to do something that wasn´t soul sucking.   Fast forward a few years and many are burnt out, under‑earning, and stuck in limbo – half in, half out – between a “proper job” that is pure drudgery and a dog business they do...

Most dog trainers are losing hours of headspace to what we call “comparatinitis” – the constant urge to measure your business against everyone else’s. A new trainer appears in your area, someone launches real-life puppy classes, or their social media looks slicker than yours, and your brain goes straight to: “They’re going to take all my clients,” “I should be doing that,” or “I’m not good enough....

Most force‑free dog trainers are finding it increasingly hard to attract clients. They are passionate, educated and deeply committed to canine welfare - yet their businesses struggle. Not because they’re not good enough, but because their judgyness of dog owners is quietly telling great prospective clients to f**k off. Without meaning to do so, many trainers are saying “you and I are not a good fi...

Many dog trainers accidentally build businesses that burn them out: 60-hour weeks, low prices, blurry boundaries, and no real way to step back. It doesn’t have to be like that. Treating your training business as a real company – with vision, pricing, and systems – is what changes everything. Today, we sit down with Amber Quann from Summit Dog Training, a 20-year industry veteran who scaled from so...

At some point, most dog trainers feel incredibly frustrated and unsure of themselves. Their clients are rarely anything like ideal students, and the end results are often disappointing. Today’s episode is about what really happens when textbook dog training techniques collide with messy human lives. When training “doesn’t work” it is rarely because the methods are wrong – real owners are busy and...

From “rock bottom” to national crime-scene cleaners turning over six-figures plus. Donna and Dennis share how they built a premium, values-driven cleaning business and coaching brand. Weirdly, there’s a lot of crossovers into dog training - and they prove it. Their lessons on pricing, mindset, recruitment, and client relationships map uncannily well onto the realities of running a dog training bus...