Trainer vs Behaviourist: The Industry Title Trap

In this episode we get honest about one of the biggest struggles facing dog trainers and behaviourists: knowing what to charge for your services and feeling confident enough to believe you deserve to earn a decent living. We look at why trainers can end up undercharging, separating training from behaviour work, and believing they need more qualifications or a more impressive title before they can charge more.We discuss why the value of your work isn’t determined by how “simple” a dog’s problem looks, and why the real thing you are being paid for is the impact you can have on someone’s life. Then, we explore how to stop comparing yourself to other people, recognise what you are actually good at, and build a business around the work you genuinely want to do.KEY TAKEAWAYSYou Are Solving Much Bigger Problems Than You Think: Clients aren’t simply paying you to show them how to train their dog. They are paying you to help them solve a problem that is negatively affecting their life, one that is maybe even making them think about giving up their dog. Understanding that changes how you see your value, your service and what you can reasonably charge.Stop Thinking of Yourself As Just a Dog Trainer: Most of the time dog trainers do far more than simply show a client a technique. They use their experience to identify the root cause of an issue and actively coach and support owners until their problem is solved.You Don’t Need a Bigger Title to Be Worth More: The pressure to become a behaviourist or collect more qualifications can come from a belief that you need external validation before you are good enough to charge properly. In reality, all dog owners are really interested in is whether you can solve their problem.Stop Trying to Be Someone Else: Just because you can work with certain types of dogs or behaviour cases doesn’t mean you should. Understanding what you genuinely enjoy, what you are good at and where your strengths lie will help you to build a business that actually suits you.BEST MOMENTS“I was making like £15, £20 grand a month in some months.”“You can be the reason they keep the dog, and you can be the reason they love their dog again, and you can just make that difference.”“That's what you're being paid for. That's why you should be earning a decent wage. That's why you do deserve it.”“To warrant that fee, I need to become a behaviourist. I need to have level five, level six, all the stuff masters. No, you f**king don't. No, you don't.”“Someone is not reaching out to you for you to show them what to do. They're reaching out to you for you to help them work through it.”IMPORTANT LINKS https://www.caninebusinessacademy.com/gsd-buisness-accelerator 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.caninebusinessacademy.com/buy-the-book Email: hello@caninebusinessacademy.com 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/