“It’s all about money with you people”…
“I thought you cared about the dogs”…
“It’s all sell, sell, sell … there is always a catch”…
“Can’t you do it cheaper?”…
“I’ll have to check with my….” (Knowing full well you will never hear from them again)…
I would be rich if I had a penny for every time I heard that. And I know that anyone who has a dog 121 business will also have heard the same.
Is it actually like that?
Although I used to believe it, running my own businesses proved me wrong.
People think that because we love dogs, and want to help them, that, like terrible advice on the internet, we should all work for free.
If only that were possible! We’d be able to help so many dogs.
As behaviourists and trainers, we have a similar problem to vets, who also cop it for being “too expensive”. You see, the problem lies herewith.
Behaviourists, trainers, and vets are a bit like the psychologists, teachers, and GPs of the human world. In the UK, accessing services is free because of our education system and the NHS.
The person accessing the help they provide does not directly pay for those things.
Unfortunately, behaviour, training, and veterinary care is not under such an umbrella. So must be paid for at the point of access. At which point the consumer doesn’t understand the true cost behind the service. So they assume it is “expensive”.
What is expensive?
Consider this. If I charge £55 an hour for 121 behaviour and training work, I do not get £55 an hour in wages.
I will use the £55 to cover:
Petrol and car expenses for the journey to you. Sometimes I might drive an hour each way. So that is easily a £10er gone.
= £45
Then there are insurance and website costs. I have to allocate funds for dog treats, bills, equipment, and other business expenses. So easily another £5+ gone per session.
= £40
Now if you think of the time I actually spend with a client, which is one hour or more, then up to an hour each way driving, plus another hour or so researching and typing up reports, that makes FOUR hours work, at less than £10 per hour.
MINIMUM WAGE AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS IS £11.44
Read that again. We often earn LESS than minimum wage.
Additionally, we invest time and money in courses and CPD to serve you and your dog better. Then I also do free advice on phonecalls, and run a not-for-profit to help dogs too.
Oh… and the small matter of the thousands of pounds of education, to become a dog pro in the first place! (Though sadly the industry is unregulated so we always advise people to check their pro’s credentials, methods, and reviews.)
So, in fact, we earn much, much less than the above totals.
We do that to make it easier for YOU to access better behaviour advice than some bully with a prong collar (or worse) on the internet.
We’re then called “too expensive” and “money grabbing”, even though you probably make more money than us.
We WANT to help your dog. We love what we do and it is our vocation, but it does not mean we can do things for free.
After all, how would we feed ourselves and keep a roof over our family’s head if we charge less? We couldn’t. Not without sacrificing the 121 service you need for helping your dog with their specific issues. Most of us struggle to do it now!
We can’t help you and your dog because we’ll be too busy with a different job surviving.
Missed sessions cost us the price of each session also. So when we say it is too hot, or too cold or too whatever to be teaching your dog, be GRATEFUL, not pissed off with us. We care about your dog and their wellbeing enough to sacrifice our time and our pay packets to help them.
Affiliate Links
Many people used to view “Affiliate Link” as a dirty word. People assume those using affiliate links were somehow conning you into parting with your hard earned cash.
In my world, Affiliate links are things we have found, that we have used, that we know are great for you, our clients, while saving YOU some money and gaining us a tiny commission. We do this while promoting the company we have affiliated with. So everyone is a winner, including yourself.
Often we have spoken about these products for years before affiliating with a seller. We are overjoyed to help your dog with them.
Sales
“Sales” is another word with nasty connotations. We’ve all seen caricatures of salespeople, right? Grubby little money grabbing people who care nothing about their customers, their products, only their bank balances.
But sales make up pretty much everything you do daily. Paying for something = a sale. If sales were not a thing, you would not have a house to live in; a phone to read this article on; clothes on your back or food in your belly. All those things have been created with bought products, then sold. You would not have teachers selling their time for wages, in order to have taught you to read this article.
But if someone directly says to you “that will be x-amount”, you shudder. We also shudder – nobody enjoys asking for money. But without it, we would not have businesses and you know what that means? Yep. You get no behaviour help for your dog.
Marketing … well, dial 666 and call me Satan.
First, we MUST learn to market. If we can’t market our service or product, we have no business. Competition is high for many industries and each company must do their best to stand out or they will fold. Both on the internet and in “real life” we need people to know we exist. Marketing is how that is achieved.
It doesn’t come easily to us. We were not trained in marketing. We were taught to teach dogs instead. Cut us some slack.
Once people find us, we need them to buy from us. If they do not buy, it’s goodbye to our business again. With no business, and therefore no money coming in, how can we help people with their dogs? Then we are back to finding other jobs. You are left with a shitty trainer on the internet telling you to bully your dog into “submission” until your dog fears you.
WE ARE JUST PEOPLE. We are living our lives as best we can, providing you the best service for your dog as we can. Frequently, our earnings are lower than yours despite working longer hours.
Do dog professionals cost too much?
I would say no. If you are concerned about the cost, ask them to break it down so you can understand what you are paying for. I reckon 9/10 times it will be an eye opener for you. (In the other 1/10, sure, you can be pissed off at them, but please don’t take it out on the rest of us! The same thing happens in any industry!)
Paying a lump sum for a dog behaviourist isn’t workable for everyone at the moment. And it feels like a lot of money.
Believe me, I know.
But when you insult that behaviourist and the effort they go to for your dog, about money, just remember this post.
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