Dog Trainer

The Professional Dog/Puppy Trainer position, within Classic Heritage Golden Retrievers, reports directly to the owner. A successful candidate for this position will be someone who not only embraces dogs but also wants to see puppies and dogs all have the chance to be the best they can be and then, in turn, go to wonderful families that will love them.

You are a team player, self-motivated, take direction well, have excellent communication skills, and great attention to detail. This is a service-related industry and you should not only be skilled at customer service, but passionate about helping people and their dogs. Most importantly, the candidate should have experience working with puppies, know dog behavior, and have exceptional knowledge of reward-based training. Certified dog trainers are encouraged to apply. Must be able to certify dogs for AKC Canine Good Citizen or willing to become certified to do so. Many opportunities are offered to you if you are offering outside board and train in your home or those homes of the puppy families who work with us. There will also be many opportunities for private training for same families.

A Day In The Life:

You will wonder every day how lucky you are to have this job! Daily, you’ll have the opportunity to work with, socialize, and train healthy, fluffy, bouncy, beautiful and smart golden retriever puppies - from five week old puppies to dogs who need some more reminders and everything in between. You will also have the opportunity to help match puppies with the perfect family for them. You’ll spend time playing detective - observing behaviors of every puppy in the training program and deciding how to raise and train them best. You will use the resources we’ve already built to craft a plan for how to best train each puppy or dog. You’ll train the new puppy families too. You’ll not only communicate with the puppies/ dogs, but also have a lot of interaction with the very excited puppy families. You’ll document what you are seeing within each litter and each puppy from the time they are five weeks old, and let’s not forget, you’re probably going to scoop some poop, clean up some pee, go home with some fur on you and get lots of love and sloppy kisses from some very adorable and smart golden retrievers!

Responsibilities:

• Training with assigned puppies and/or dogs daily.
• Concern for the health and wellbeing of every puppy and dog in our program.
• Prepare training plans to assist new families in training their new puppies.
• Meet with families on visit days as well as departure of puppies at 10 weeks of age up to adults. Discuss training expectations and progress with families/new owners.
• Provide enrichment to training puppies and/or dogs.
• Document and be able to explain in detail each puppies behavior and training status for each family. This is done in-person, through phone calls, email and video.
• Adhere to positive yet balanced training standards in all interactions and training exercises. Use of positive reinforcement training methods through classical and operant conditioning.
• Run preset class curriculum or develop class curriculum, where applicable.
• Maintain highest standards of education in puppy and dog training.
• Conduct small group classes as needed and assigned. Train others to do the same.
• Conduct private sessions with families and their new puppy.
• Assist with additional training sessions as needed, including virtual training when asked.
• Knowledge of puppy training procedures and Puppy Culture/Volhard type programs.
• Be able to certify puppies/dogs in AKC Canine Good Citizen program. (within 6 months of hire)
• Create content (photos, videos) for new puppy families and social media postings.

Work with a team who all exemplify these qualities:

• A passion for animals and animal care, especially dogs. Excellent knowledge in animal behavior to ensure their safety at all times.
• Focuses on safe and loving handling. Forceful, adversive, aggressive handling, vocalizing or bad treatment of dogs will not be tolerated.
• Customer Service Oriented - Ability to take care of the puppies as well as the families needs while following company procedures. Manages difficult or emotional customer situations; Responds promptly to customer needs; Responds to request for service and assistance. Build trust with customers/families.
• Willing and able to communicate directly with clients, both written and orally, about their puppy/dog.
• Must be able to work under conditions that require sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, pulling, pushing, grasping, and picking up large puppies.
• Conflict Resolution - Ability to handle conflict with tact and diplomacy.
• Good team work and willingness to assist other staff as necessary.
• Cheerful, friendly, positive team-oriented attitude.
• Strong attention to detail, especially where documentation is concerned.
• Reliable, punctual, and dependable.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including 1-2 Saturdays a month.
• Ability to take direction well and apply it independently.
• Ability to work in temperature extremes, work outside, or in distracting work environments such as loud noise/sound.
• Ability to tolerate being in close contact with various bodily fluids and to get dirty as necessary.
• Physically able to handle large dogs and to lift up to 60 lbs.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications For This Position:

• Knowledge of Operant and Classical Conditioning as it pertains to training puppies and dogs.
• 2 years of experience in training puppies/dogs.
• Knowledge and understanding of puppy/dog behavior. Knowledge of Golden Retrievers as a breed is a plus.
• AKC Canine Good Citizen Certification or the ability to obtain certification within six months of employment.
• Knowledge and experience handling dogs in the show ring for conformation is a plus.
• Some photography and video skills are required.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: $25.00 - $35.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Schedule:

• 4 hour shift

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus pay

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Newcastle, CA 95658: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Experience:

• Professional dog training: 2 years (Required)
• Dog training: 2 years (Required)
• Customer service: 2 years (Required)
• Animal handling: 2 years (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $25 - $35