Although this type of work is rewarding in some ways, it can also be demanding and stressful. Shelter workers may deal with people who are sad about giving up their pets as well as those who callously abandon their animals when they are tired of them. Shelter workers also see pets who have been mistreated, are sick, or are difficult to work with because they are untrained. Because of the various stresses of the job, many shelter employees switch careers eventually, thereby creating opportunities for other people who wish to enter the field.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of animal-care and service workers such as kennel attendants, groomers, pet sitters, animal-control and shelter employees, and trainers will grow by 18 to 26 percent through 2018. Advantages of these jobs include not only direct involvement with dogs but also generally flexible work schedules. In addition, such jobs usually don’t require a college degree. The work can be backbreaking, however, especially for groomers and kennel attendants, and anyone working in this field risks being bitten by the animals they work with.
Trainers with good communication and self-promotion skills can find work teaching assistance or service dogs, training dogs for the entertainment industry, or as a broadcast personality, such as Victoria Stilwell of the Animal Planet television show It’s Me or the Dog.
Pet Products and Public Relations
The APPA estimates that American pet owners spent $10.2 billion on pet supplies in 2009, an increase of $200 million from 2008. One of the trends in this area is automated products such as self-cleaning litter boxes and programmable food and water dishes. Dog lovers with engineering or design skills may well find a place in the pet-product industry.
Careers in various facets of the pet industry include retail sales and management, promotions, public relations management, and event planning. There’s always a place for a good salesperson, especially one who has in-depth knowledge about the products. If you love dogs and are knowledgeable about their care, you’ll be better able to help customers choose the products that meet their needs. Retail sales positions are expected to grow by approximately 8 percent through 2018, reflecting the increase in consumer spending by a growing population.
Other pet-industry sales jobs include being a sales representative for a pet-food manufacturer, veterinary pharmaceutical company, or pet-product manufacturer or wholesaler. These jobs are also expected to grow between 7 and 13 percent through 2018. With pet owners spending $26 billion per year on food and supplies, this area holds many opportunities.
Promotions managers or specialists direct programs that combine advertising with purchase incentives to increase sales. They seek to reach dealers, distributors, and consumers through direct mail, telemarketing, television or radio advertising, catalogs, exhibits, inserts in newspapers, Internet advertisements or Web sites, in-store displays, product endorsements, and special events. Purchasing incentives may include discounts, samples, gifts, rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, and contests. Promotions managers may publish newsletters that provide information of interest to their target audiences. Related jobs include account manager, public relations specialist, advertising manager, and marketing manager.
Sarah Carey, who manages public relations efforts for the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and the UF Veterinary Hospitals, spends a day on the beach with Katie.
Creative Arts
The creative arts—photography, painting, writing, and editing—offer a wide scope of opportunities for dog lovers. If you have a creative skill and would like to use it in a career with dogs, consider a career as a dog-show photographer, a pet portrait photographer or painter, a dog magazine editor, or a freelance writer.
In the fields of writing, editing, photography, and art, employment is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2018. The increasing specialization of magazines, as well as the growth of online publications and business Web sites and newsletters, means that writers, editors, and photographers have many more outlets for their work. Unfortunately, the increase in digital media is affecting the amount of money these professionals can make—and not in a good way. Print media salaries are decreasing because of the upsurge in digital media, and the new jobs in digital publications pay less than those in print media. In addition, although creative fields offer many opportunities, they’re also highly competitive.
Craft artists and fine artists work primarily on commission and may require some other source of income to pay their bills, at least until their talents are recognized and they develop a regular clientele. Art directors may find employment not only at pet magazines but also at pet-related companies, in advertising or public relations.
Many people want to work in fashion design, and some want to specialize in creating clothing and accessories that either feature dogs or are for dogs. The best opportunities for these people may be as entrepreneurs, selling their creations to apparel and pet-product wholesale firms. Haute couture for pets is popular and gets lots of press when worn by the dogs of celebrities, but stylish and affordable designs that appeal to middle-income consumers will be most in demand.
If you’ve ever been to a dog show, especially a prestigious one such as the Westminster Kennel Club show, you’ve seen the trove of jewelry sold by vendors there: gold, silver, and bejeweled necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, and cufflinks—all in the forms of different dog breeds. People who love their purebred dogs also love to wear jewelry fashioned in the breed’s image. A jeweler who can create such designs will have a readymade clientele. Jewelers who specialize in this type of work are usually entrepreneurs who sell their wares at dog shows or through catalogs or on Web sites.
EVENT PLANNING
Event planners or public relations managers may be involved in special events, such as the sponsorship of dog shows, parties to introduce new products, or other pet-related promotions. Tie-ins with special events help pet-industry companies gain public attention without advertising directly. Competition is keen for these jobs, but employment in the fields of advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations, and sales management is expected to increase by 16 percent through 2018.
Jewelry for dogs themselves, primarily charms that can be worn on collars, is becoming popular as well, creating another market for designers in this field. Thanks to the rise in nontraditional jewelry marketers—discount stores, mail-order and catalog companies, television shopping networks, and Internet retailers—as well as increasing numbers of affluent people (including working women who like to buy their own baubles and people age forty-five and older), jewelry sales are expected to remain strong in the recovering economy.
Dog Shows
Unsurprisingly, some of the most hands-on careers involving dogs are those in the dog-show world. You thought showing dogs was just a hobby? Think again. Professional handlers are paid to take dogs into the show ring to earn their conformation championships or to achieve a certain standing within their breed or Group, such as number-one English Springer Spaniel or number-one Sporting Dog. And someone has to judge those dogs. Dog-show judges travel all over the world to evaluate show dogs, determining which ones will become champions and, more than likely, pass on their genes to the next generation of dogs. Who runs those dog shows? The show superintendent is the one who handles entries, determines when and where a show will take place, prints
