Demand for a gundog trainer that gives lessons in Scotland?

[Rothievale]

I have just had news that I am going to be unemployed as of 31st December For sometime now I have been considering doing training on a more formal basis. I have given lessons to a few people through word of mouth and had a really positive feedback and also done a group lesson for the Moray Firth Gundog Club with good feedback. I know there are a few people on here from the north of scotland and just wanted to know your thoughts on whether there was any demand for a trainer up here. I have access to training ground as I live on a shooting estate.

I was also considering contacting the gundog club with the view of becoming an assessor or instructor but I don't really know anything about them or their reputation.

[t jack]

Sorry to hear about your work

I think there is a lack of anyone with proven trialing experiance in the north offering training, could you do boarding also so your not totally reliant on lessons?

[James]

Thats a big plus if you can take dogs in. You have great ground there too Helen so im sure you could provide a brilliant service. Sorry to here about the job, but as they say as one door closes another one opens.

[Rascal]

Yup its an opportunity to do something you enjoy so grasp it with both hands and I hope it works out for you.

Rascal

[trekmoor]

I don't know how much demand there would be Helen but I wish you every success if you go ahead with this.

Wullie

[greatdogsato]

What I would love is a trainer that can maybe offer a few days of training, kennel the dog (s) and recommend accomodation for the handlers. There are a few of us down here in the South East of England that would travel to a good trainer, and stay for 3 or 4 days. The residential type of training I'm suggesting is available in very limited places but is terribly expensive. Just need basic but comfortable B & B, somewhere safe for the dog and good training. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Contender]

It's worth trying - after all what have you got to loose? Be prepared to be 'creative' and come up with new initiatives to stand out from the other trainers. It's a though business and clients come and goes - you are really working on making yourself redundant so you have to find/draw in new clients all the time. I would say that 9 out of 10 pro trainers have some sort of boarding because this provides a steady(ier) income or turnover. I normally have the odd dog in for training but actually having a dog in for boarding only, pay just as much (very often) and is less work. Offering pet dog training as well could be an idea - again, it pays better as gundog training is still the cheapest form of training and if you call yourself a behaviourist you can change £100/hour, hmmm.

Natasha

[cjaus]

Seems you have the chance to turn your hobby and passion for dogs into a career..

Go for it and good luck

[scotsgent]

I think the trickiest bit is establishing if there is a potential market in your neck of the woods.

You are well placed for Inverness, Speyside and surrounding areas since you are only minutes off the A9.

You should also decide how much you need to earn and how many weeks a year you need to work.

So.....If you want to work 10 months a year (40 weeks) at 5 days per week then you are looking at around 200 working days. Divide what you need to earn by this figure and that's how much you need to earn per day. Question is: would you get enough clients to do this?

The other thing which is very important and is often overlooked by folks selling a personal service is the need to keep at the marketing angle and this means making phone calls, distributing business cards, running 'taster workshops, etc. Although some folks will be comfortable at actually doing the training, they may not be comfortable doing the hard graft of marketing, making calls and visiting people and often getting rebuffed. If this is you, then it will never work, so you need to be honest with yourself in this respect when you are doing an 'audit' on your skills.

I agree with the previous poster - get creative about what you can offer and be prepared to do some 'ordinary dog-training' as well as working with gundogs. I also wonder if there is a market for training 'the toffs' and overseas visitors who would love to come to Scotland for some shooting and dog training. You have a good web-site, it costs nothing to think up some 'schemes' and get them on there.

No reason why you can't work for the 'gundog club' at the same time as yourself - in fact that would be a great way to learn the ropes in terms of what it takes to manage and organise group sessions.

Taking on 5 people for an hour at a tenner each earns more money than a 1-2-1 at £30 for an hour!

It would be really valuable for you to go and see someone who is at full time training and boarding and pick their brains and learn the pitfalls.

I was made redundant in my 50's and for a week or two thought I was facing ruin! .....but, as many folks will tell you it turned out to be the best thing ever - it gave me the kick in the pants to start my own business.

Cheers, Terry

[beltabout]

Pets are where the money is, you would be amazed what people will pay for a dog that doesn't pull or that comes back when called.
The best bit about this work is it is often repeat business, the dog arrives back takes one look at the trainer and remembers all that they are supposed to have forgot!