I thought it would be helpful to create a resource page that you can always come to for all of your dog training needs. I’ll add to it as I learn more, but you’ll notice that in the future I will reference this page quite often. I recommend bookmarking it for your reference and convenience. Enjoy!
Beginner Dog Training Resources
- My eBook: The Crossover Trainer’s Guide to the Theories and Applications of Positive Reinforcement Dog Training. – This ebook covers all the basic concepts behind dog training as well as great places to continue your education. I highly recommend it for anyone who is starting out!
- The Pet Professionals Guild – The only force-free animal organization in the states. They have great handouts for members to use with clients.
- Karen Pryor Clickertraining – Full of clicker training products and a great informational blog.
- Turid Rugaas – Calming Signal – Learn more about the whole scope of calming signals.
- The Problem with Shock Collars – This article goes through a whole list of why not to use shock collars on your dog.
- Behavior + Works – Learn more about Applied Behavior Analysis here and Dr. Friedman also offers a professionals online training course that I highly recommend.
Popular Articles Available for Download
Dog Trainer Business Resources
These are the resources I recommend for all beginning dog trainers when setting up their business.
- Starting a Limited Liability Company (LLC) – I highly recommend starting an LLC for your business, it will help keep your belongings safe!
- Google Plus – Youll want to register your site with Google Plus.
- Google Webmaster and Google Analytics – Linking your site to Google webmaster and analytics will help Google recognize your site as a legitimate website.
- Google Authorship – If you have a blog, you must sign up to link your articles to your Google + profile so when people search for things through Google, your picture pops up and makes you look more credible.
- MailChimp – This is a free email newletter system. While I use Aweber because it allows for automation, starting out with a free newsletter system with a few less functions is just fine too.
- Aweber – This is a paid email newsletter system which I use. I can schedule when posts are to be emailed out, have tons of email templates to choose from. I recommend it if you plan on using email newsletters a lot (such as for a blog).
- SuperSaaS – This a free online scheduling and payment system! Currently my favorite tool right now for clients to use. They can schedule an appointment and pre-pay at the same time.
How to Start Your Own Dog Blog
After being asked by several people how to start a blog, I figured I’d post how I did it here for all to see.
- Website Hosting: Get a website host. I do not recommend getting a free blog because you leave some control to the host and some will advertise as they like on your site. Also, they could possibly delete your blog if they wanted to. So… Get your own host! I use BlueHost for all my websites and I’ve been very satisfied with them.
- WordPress: Install WordPress on your site. And check out this link to learn how to use it: http://youtu.be/w9OhG7Wx1CY.
- Website Theme: Pick a Theme for your site. This step is optional, but will allow you to customize the look you want to give your new site. You can choose from lots of free themes or you can really go crazy with some of these: Woothemes,
- Tracking Stats: At some point, you’ll want to install Google Analytics to keep track of your visitor statistics.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Please understand that I have experience with all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.