ISCDT – The Dog Trainer's School

The first item we posted on this blog was this inspirational quote by Michael Nolan:

“There are many things in life that will catch your eye,
but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue these.”

Although I discovered this quote long after I pursued my desire to work with animals, it is a great reminder of how it all began.  Jessica (my ISCDT business partner) and I had similar experiences that brought us to the same path. Today, I am going to share my story.  Don’t worry, this story doesn’t begin when I was a baby. Although you can see dog training was in my blood right from the start.

This part of my story began a little over ten years ago. I had the perfect mom job working during school hours and home in time to pick up my sons each afternoon. It wasn’t my dream job, but at the time, it was perfect for me.

In the blink of an eye, the boys moved on to high school and spent their afternoons and weekends working or hanging with friends.   Unsure what to do with the newfound free time on my hands, I volunteered at a dog shelter and studied under a behaviorist.

One thing I learned is that shelter life is tough on the animals.  Too many deteriorate long before their new family finds them. That is taxing on the canine and human soul.  While providing daily walks and time in the play yard brightened the day for these dogs, I wanted to do more for these precious animals. I wanted to help families fix their canine problems before they felt surrendering the dog to a shelter was their only option.

For the next few years, I work my part-time job, ran home to study canine behavior and dog training and then raced off to intern for Jessica’s dog training company. In between I made dinner, did laundry, taxied kids around, cheered at their sporting events and spent time with my own dogs.

After countless hours of dog training and studying, I made my mark in the dog training world. I could not keep up the crazy pace, so I was faced with a huge decision.

Do I keep the mom job and the pension?

or

Do I work full time in a field that I absolutely love?

If you caught the name of this blog, my decision is not much of a mystery.  You already know I gave up the pension, paid vacation days, Monday blues and morning anxiety for a career that never feels like a job.  

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday all feel the same to Jessica and me.  Each day brings new opportunities to teach people and their dogs to live together harmoniously.   

If training dogs wasn’t rewarding enough, we were blessed to expand the dog training company to include a division that educates and prepares people to work as dog trainers.  

While leaving the comfort of secure jobs was scary for both Jessica and myself, we are blessed to work in a field that we love, where we help dogs through training and share our expertise and guidance with people looking to work in the field.  Though social media and this blog we also provide valuable information to dog lovers and owners.

Welcome to our blog. Visit us often to learn canine tips, possibly discover a new career and hopefully – when something catches heart, you’ll pursue it.

~Katie

ISCDT.com

“Teaching you to teach them”