the owner of a pet boutique and the manager of a pet-supply superstore.
If you’re not sure where your interests lie, do as many different information interviews as you can. Think, too, about where you’d like to live, the lifestyle you want, what salary you need, and what type of organization you’d like to work for. These factors affect such decisions as where you choose to go to school or apply for a job. As you review interview notes and compare them with notes about career desires and skills, knowledge, and needs, you’ll start to develop a picture of what career to pursue.
Pursuing Education and Acquiring Experience
If you’re not academically inclined, you may prefer to get your training on the job, apprenticing with a professional. If you do want formal education in a particular field, research as many different educational programs as possible to make sure you choose the best for your purposes. Professional organizations often have their own requirements for members, including certification and licensing.
Learning about dogs starts with observing and interacting with your own pet.
In addition to on-the-job training or formal education, make the effort to learn on your own. Spend as much time as possible watching dogs, studying their behavior, reading about them, and viewing them in works of art. Your self-study, along with your education in the fundamentals of your career, will help train your eye and give you a firm foundation as you pursue your chosen field.
On-the-Job Training
Not every dog-related career requires formal education. Often, the best way to gain experience is to learn on the job. Groomers, dog trainers, and professional handlers have a long history of serving in apprenticeships to people established in their field to learn the trade.
Working in retail isn’t exactly an apprenticeship, but it is the type of job that’s frequently open to people with little or no experience in pet-supply sales. A friendly, helpful attitude toward customers and a strong work ethic will go a long way in the pet-supply business, and it doesn’t hurt to be knowledgeable about the products the store carries.
Careers in the arts also allow you to get your education on the job. Many artists and photographers never take a course; they learn by doing.
Are you planning to work in the field of human welfare but want to incorporate dogs into your job? Police- and military-dog handlers often learn the dog-handling aspect on the job, but prior experience through personal ownership, volunteer work for a search-and-rescue organization, or formal study at a dog-training school can help as well.
Lead cashier and accredited pet trainer Kayla Barett stocks the shelves at PetSmart in Woodhaven, Michigan. Working at a pet-supply store can be a good way to learn more about dogs and pet products.
Formal Education
Groomers and trainers may also attend schools that specialize in educating future canine hairstylists and dog whisperers. People who plan to be trainers, whether they apprentice or attend a dog-training school, can benefit from college courses in animal behavior and human psychology. Because trainers teach the owner to teach the dog, it can be immensely helpful to understand the psychology of learning and learn what techniques motivate people to follow advice. Trainers who want to work in the entertainment industry need to understand something about filmmaking and self-promotion.
Profiles of Bachelor’s Degree Programs
Students at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University can earn a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree in animal behavior. The interdisciplinary major combines the study of biology and psychology. Coursework includes chemistry, math, physics, biology, and psychology, plus electives in the humanities, social sciences, languages, and cultures. Classes cover animal behavior, behavioral ecology, and organic evolution, to name just a few. Students have the opportunity to perform research with faculty and study abroad in environments as diverse as Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Canisius College, located in Buffalo, New York, says it offers more undergraduate courses in animal behavior than does any other four-year college or university. Students have access to internships at the Buffalo Zoo and the Aquarium of Niagara, as well as at other, more distant animal facilities such as Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo and the Dolphin Research Center in Florida. Its minor in animal behavior has six required courses: comparative animal behavior is required for everyone, and students choose the other five classes from a range that includes social organization of mammals; sex, evolution, and behavior; animal learning; behavioral neuroscience; reproductive biopsychology; and vertebrate zoology.
At Purdue University (above) in Indiana, through its Center for the Human-Animal Bond, undergraduates with any major can study the issues surrounding the role of animals in society and earn a certificate in animal welfare and societal concerns. The interdisciplinary undergraduate program, which requires sixteen to eighteen credit hours, is designed to educate students about the sociology, ethics, biology, behavior, and economics of animal care and use; provide a scientific and philosophical basis of animal care and use; teach students how to resolve conflicts concerning the humane use of animals; develop leaders in animal policy development; and inspire research to improve human and animal well-being. Required courses include biology, animal welfare and human interaction, companion-animal management, evolution of behavior, applied small-animal behavior, and ethics and animals as well as a research project related to human-animal interactions.
In addition to on-the-job training, those interested in a sales career in pet products can turn to formal education. Junior college or college courses in accounting, business, and other relevant topics can lead to a store management position.
Veterinarian technician Christa Carlson examines a dog at Blum Animal Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Most writing and editing jobs require a college degree in English, journalism, or some other liberal arts field, such as anthropology or history. Anthropology is a good foundation for studying and understanding the culture of dog ownership, which is a large part of writing for or editing a publication about dogs. Knowledge of history benefits all journalists and editors, because it allows them to place events they cover in context. And, of course, the study of English and journalism is the basis for learning how to write in a correct, clear, and entertaining manner—one that will hold readers’ interest as well as inform them.
Sometimes formal education and on-the-job training go hand in hand. For instance, even though police work doesn’t necessarily require formal education beyond the police academy, candidates with the best prospects are those who have studied criminal justice, psychology, or another related field in college. And people who want to be search-and-rescue handlers should have superb outdoor survival and navigation skills, usually acquired through personal experience.
Dog-related careers in the sciences require a different kind of hard work. Veterinarians and biologists must earn a four-year college degree, followed by three or more years of graduate
