Let's Talk Dog Business

Most dog trainers are losing hours of headspace to what we call “comparatinitis” – the constant urge to measure your business against everyone else’s.

A new trainer appears in your area, someone launches real-life puppy classes, or their social media looks slicker than yours, and your brain goes straight to: “They’re going to take all my clients,” “I should be doing that,” or “I’m not good enough.” Before you know it, you’re doom-scrolling their website instead of building your own business.

In this episode we unpack where that fear really comes from, covering money, ego, industry culture, and nervous-system level panic. Then show you how to flip comparison into fuel. You’ll hear how to get more specific about what you actually want to be known for, design a business model that doesn’t need 50 clients a month, and stop trying to copy trainers whose strengths and goals are completely different to yours.

KEY TAKEAWAYS


Constantly comparing yourself to your competitors keeps you second‑guessing your prices, offers, and skills. It leads to you building your business around fear instead of intention.


Get really specific about the dogs, people, and problems you want to be known for solving. That stops you from treating every other trainer as a direct threat.


Build a business model that doesn’t rely on packed classes and fifty clients a month. A handful of well‑priced, long‑term programmes is all you need.


There really is plenty of clients out there for everyone. 41% of UK households have at least one dog.


Put boundaries on your stalky‑stalk time - use that energy to take one concrete action to boost your own business e.g. follow up on a lead.


Use what other trainers are doing as proof that there’s demand, rather than seeing everything as evidence that you’re failing or are “too late to the party.”

BEST MOMENTS

“Let's flip that (new competition) into something that drives us forward, that makes us better – Ask, how can I see this as a possibility?”

“The more specific you get, the more likely you are going to get that owner that you really want, as a client.”

“You shouldn't try to be somebody else, and you can't just copy what somebody else is doing …you can do whatever the f**k you want to do.”

“I had a model where if I was making 3 sales a month at £2k I was like, there was six grand coming in for me. I was quite happy with that. I didn't need to go and get 50 people.”

SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS

https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness

https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness

Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com

Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity

Let´s Talk Dog Business Strategy Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Talk-Dog-Business-Strategy/dp/1068791705

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Jo Moorcroft and Vicky Davies are dog behaviourists, business strategists, and co-founders of Canine Business Academy—the UK’s go-to hub for dog professionals who want more than just a logo and a dream. With a combined passion for dogs and business done properly, Jo and Vicky have helped hundreds of canine professionals build sustainable, profitable businesses rooted in real impact.🏆 Their award-winning work has earned recognition including:– UK StartUp Awards: Business to Business (Midlands)– Small Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Small Business 2025– Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Pet Product 2024– Plus shortlists at the Women in Business and Great British Businesswoman Awards They’re also No.1 bestselling authors of Let’s Talk Dog Business Strategy, featured on BBC Radio, FOX, NBC, and more—with 63,000+ downloads of this very podcast. Their philosophy is simple: Give a shit. Get shit done. Get results.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Most force‑free dog trainers are finding it increasingly hard to attract clients. They are passionate, educated and deeply committed to canine welfare - yet their businesses struggle. Not because they’re not good enough, but because their judgyness of dog owners is quietly telling great prospective clients to f**k off.

Without meaning to do so, many trainers are saying “you and I are not a good fit – go work with someone else.”

Today, we explore how the way you talk about ‘ideal clients’ and commitment can accidentally leave well-meaning dog owners feeling judged and not good enough. You’ll see how certain phrases, website copy, and enquiry processes act like a big ‘keep out’ sign and what to do instead so the right people actually lean in.

Expect uncomfortable truths, relatable confessions, and practical mindset shifts you will be able to immediately apply to your messaging, sales calls and offers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS


Hidden judgement in your marketing copy, policies, videos, and website quietly tells great prospects to go elsewhere - long before they even speak to you.


Most dog owners say “obedience” because that’s all they’ve ever heard. It’s a knowledge gap, not them being arseholes and "bad" owners.


If you only speak to “ideal clients,” you shrink your pool down to a handful of already‑converted unicorns.


Demonstrate how you work and your philosophy using stories and examples. This, attraction marketing approach ensures people don't feel shamed by your content.


You’re not in the business of dogs, you’re in the business of people - meet people where they’re at to help more dogs, earn more, and resent your clients a hell of a lot less.

BEST MOMENTS

“A lot of us are unintentionally telling prospective clients to f**k off.” 

“The more invested, more passionate we get, the harder it is for us to understand what it feels like to be a dog owner, and this is where that resentment of people comes in.”

“You're failing the people if you don't meet them where they're at, and you don't acknowledge that their knowledge level is very different to yours.”

“If we've done the judgy thing, not necessarily in person to them, but through our messaging and through our marketing…you actually turn people off.”

“People skills are something we have to keep working on.”  

“You can be passionate without being a judgy carrot.”  

Make sure you check out CBA Live - THE business event for force-free dog trainers and behaviourists. 

Two days of Real talk & Practical strategies - July 9th & 10th 2026

Save big with our Early Bird discount – https://www.caninebusinessacademy.com/cba-live-2026/

SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS

https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness

https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness

Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com

Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity

Let´s Talk Dog Business Strategy Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Talk-Dog-Business-Strategy/dp/1068791705

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Jo Moorcroft and Vicky Davies are dog behaviourists, business strategists, and co-founders of Canine Business Academy—the UK’s go-to hub for dog professionals who want more than just a logo and a dream. With a combined passion for dogs and business done properly, Jo and Vicky have helped hundreds of canine professionals build sustainable, profitable businesses rooted in real impact.🏆 Their award-winning work has earned recognition including:– UK StartUp Awards: Business to Business (Midlands)– Small Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Small Business 2025– Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Pet Product 2024– Plus shortlists at the Women in Business and Great British Businesswoman Awards. They’re also No.1 bestselling authors of Let’s Talk Dog Business Strategy, featured on BBC Radio, FOX, NBC, and more—with 63,000+ downloads of this very podcast. Their philosophy is simple: Give a shit. Get shit done. Get results.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Many dog trainers accidentally build businesses that burn them out: 60-hour weeks, low prices, blurry boundaries, and no real way to step back. It doesn’t have to be like that. Treating your training business as a real company – with vision, pricing, and systems – is what changes everything.

Today, we sit down with Amber Quann from Summit Dog Training, a 20-year industry veteran who scaled from solo trainer to a 12-person team and used that growth to buy her own commercial real estate. We unpack how the pandemic puppy boom pushed her into severe burnout and how a year of coaching helped her separate her identity from the company and promote herself to CEO.

This episode is about shifting from “I just love dogs” to running a serious, profitable, CEO‑led training business – with real pricing, real systems and a company that can survive (and even be sold) without you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS


Don’t build your business as “I just love dogs, so I’ll train on the side.” Decide early that it’s a serious company and promote yourself from lead trainer to CEO.  


Separate your identity from the business - that emotional distance is what makes growth, delegation and even exit possible.  


Price for profit and sustainability, not guilt. If you want to pay good wages, give raises and survive rising costs, you must charge enough and accept that some clients will leave.  


Treat software and card fees as the cost of doing real business. 


Automated, upfront payments slash no‑shows and admin.


Set a clear North Star so you stop chasing every “good idea.” 


Look to other industries for better models, launch at 10%, then iterate – perfectionism is what keeps you stuck.  


Build a business that exists beyond you: systems, brand and a trained team turn dog training from tiring self‑employment into an asset you could one day sell.  


Aim for a healthy relationship with your business over the year, not perfect work–life balance every week.  


If you only want to train dogs, that’s fine – but then bring in ops/CEO support instead of trying to wear every hat.

BEST MOMENTS

“Folks told me no one's gonna pay that for training -  Now I charge three times that.”

“Look at something and take the bits out of it that are going to be relevant to you. You don't have to completely replicate it.”

“It's kind of just been this, North Star almost, but continuing to reorient around it as the years have passed.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://summitdogtraining.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/summitdogtraining

https://www.facebook.com/summitdogtraining

SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS

https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness

https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness

Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com

Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity

Let´s Talk Dog Business Strategy Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Talk-Dog-Business-Strategy/dp/1068791705

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Jo Moorcroft and Vicky Davies are dog behaviourists, business strategists, and co-founders of Canine Business Academy—the UK’s go-to hub for dog professionals who want more than just a logo and a dream.With a combined passion for dogs and business done properly, Jo and Vicky have helped hundreds of canine professionals build sustainable, profitable businesses rooted in real impact.🏆 Their award-winning work has earned recognition including:– UK StartUp Awards: Business to Business (Midlands)– Small Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Small Business 2025– Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Pet Product 2024– Plus shortlists at the Women in Business and Great British Businesswoman AwardsThey’re also No.1 bestselling authors of Let’s Talk Dog Business Strategy, featured on BBC Radio, FOX, NBC, and more—with 63,000+ downloads of this very podcast.Their philosophy is simple:Give a shit. Get shit done. Get results.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

At some point, most dog trainers feel incredibly frustrated and unsure of themselves. Their clients are rarely anything like ideal students, and the end results are often disappointing. Today’s episode is about what really happens when textbook dog training techniques collide with messy human lives. When training “doesn’t work” it is rarely because the methods are wrong – real owners are busy and often skip the “boring” foundations.

Most owners follow bits of the plan, hit wobbles, never fully buy into the why behind the protocol and change their goals as training progresses. The net result is that everyone, including the trainer, ends up feeling like the training has failed.

In this episode, Jo & Vicky explain how to redesign your coaching, conversations, and programmes so that even when real owners are busy, inconsistent, and primarily focused on making their own lives easier, the training still works and everyone stops feeling like a failure.

KEY TAKEAWAYS


To get better outcomes, trainers must design coaching for messy, time‑poor real‑world owners, not fantasy clients who do every rep.


Often, owners don´t do the homework just because of a lack of time. To them the “boring” foundations don’t feel clearly connected to the few specific behavioural problems they want solved.


When dog trainers don’t make the why of each step obviously relevant to a client´s real-life goals, they only do bits of the plan, hit wobbles, lose confidence, and quietly disengage before the method has had a chance to work.


Quick wins create perceived value for clients. They build trust and motivate them to keep going and do the harder things.


When trainers explain why each step matters, and the consequences of skipping it in terms of how well-behaved the dog will be in real life, owners can make informed choices and are more likely to commit to the work.

BEST MOMENTS

“Give them something that is going to get them a result quickly, that is going to add to that bank account of trust.”

“You want to create an environment where they can give you that information without feeling judged and without feeling like it's going to be a s**t answer.”

“It is gonna be up and down -- it's not ever gone smooth sailing, because it's not supposed to. That is not how we learn as people, as humans.”

“This industry that we've created for ourselves is crippling us with imposter syndrome.”

EPISODE REOURCES

https://podcasts.apple.com/cz/podcast/how-to-stop-speaking-dog-trainer-and-start-speaking-human/id1727170978?i=1000762968318

https://quiz.caninebusinessacademy.com/health-check 

SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS

https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness

https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness

Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com

Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity

Let´s Talk Dog Business Strategy Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Talk-Dog-Business-Strategy/dp/1068791705

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Jo Moorcroft and Vicky Davies are dog behaviourists, business strategists, and co-founders of Canine Business Academy—the UK’s go-to hub for dog professionals who want more than just a logo and a dream.With a combined passion for dogs and business done properly, Jo and Vicky have helped hundreds of canine professionals build sustainable, profitable businesses rooted in real impact.🏆 Their award-winning work has earned recognition including:– UK StartUp Awards: Business to Business (Midlands)– Small Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Small Business 2025– Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Pet Product 2024– Plus shortlists at the Women in Business and Great British Businesswoman AwardsThey’re also No.1 bestselling authors of Let’s Talk Dog Business Strategy, featured on BBC Radio, FOX, NBC, and more—with 63,000+ downloads of this very podcast.Their philosophy is simple:Give a shit. Get shit done. Get results.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

From “rock bottom” to national crime-scene cleaners turning over six-figures plus. Donna and Dennis share how they built a premium, values-driven cleaning business and coaching brand. Weirdly, there’s a lot of crossovers into dog training - and they prove it. Their lessons on pricing, mindset, recruitment, and client relationships map uncannily well onto the realities of running a dog training business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS


Don´t start your business as a hobby – “I just love doing this thing” doesn´t work. You need a business and growth mindset.


Charge premium prices and structure for cash flow from day one.


Don´t be afraid to break through the VAT barrier.


Look out for new opportunities and services you can add to create a more resilient business.


Don´t be afraid to recruit.


Know your core values, hint at them in your job advert and hire for the character traits you need. 


Having a strong purpose creates a lot of positive energy. Wanting to help others is a particularly good driver.


Expect complaints and wobbles you will rarely achieve perfection, be ready to deal with oversights (don´t call them mistakes). 


Build clear processes to minimise risk of oversights and deal with them. This also makes it easier to teach your staff and others the skills they need.


Overserving for free is not good for you or your client. You can help but need boundaries.


Learn to bridge the knowledge gap: meet clients where they are at, not where you are. Pitch at their level.


You are going to have those “I should just go get a 9-to-5 job days” – refocus on why you are running your business, the things you enjoy and how working in Asda would make you feel.

BEST MOMENTS

“Everything we do, or we train our staff do to, we've done ourselves on the ground.”

“I have got that purpose, and I have got the ability to change people's lives and it's massive.”

“Recruit for character.”

“There is space for everyone. If you don't believe there's space for you, there won´t be.”

“The universe puts in front of you what you need to see.”

“I have never stopped pushing. I just find different ways to push.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://thespecialistcleaninggroup.co.uk

https://donnahall.co.uk

DISC profiling for recruitment - https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc

SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS

https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness

https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness

Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com

Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity

Let´s Talk Dog Business Strategy Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Talk-Dog-Business-Strategy/dp/1068791705

Email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Jo Moorcroft and Vicky Davies are dog behaviourists, business strategists, and co-founders of Canine Business Academy—the UK’s go-to hub for dog professionals who want more than just a logo and a dream.With a combined passion for dogs and business done properly, Jo and Vicky have helped hundreds of canine professionals build sustainable, profitable businesses rooted in real impact.🏆 Their award-winning work has earned recognition including:– UK StartUp Awards: Business to Business (Midlands)– Small Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Small Business 2025– Business Awards UK: Most Innovative Pet Product 2024– Plus shortlists at the Women in Business and Great British Businesswoman AwardsThey’re also No.1 bestselling authors of Let’s Talk Dog Business Strategy, featured on BBC Radio, FOX, NBC, and more—with 63,000+ downloads of this very podcast.Their philosophy is simple:Give a shit. Get shit done. Get results.

This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/