We recently connected with Lauren Klein and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lauren , so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
I think that taking risks makes what I do a truly unique and desirable skill. As a dog trainer, I face risks every single day. Most people are not willing to take risks with their own dogs or even in their own lives. I’ve had to understand on a very deep level that any change in behavior in animals or humans requires absolute and guaranteed failure at some point along the way. With every job I take on, I’m aware that there is no path forward without a considerable amount of risk to myself physically, most especially working with dogs that show aggression towards people or other animals. When it comes to actually handling dogs with all types of personalities, fears, joys and temperaments I honestly have no way of knowing for certain how things will progress or regress during each training session. If I allow my ego to drive a session with the wrong dog or in the wrong situation, I at worst risk serious injury to myself or the dog and at best risk revealing some imperfection, no matter how small, in our progress towards desired behaviors and reactions.
Somehow, the physical risks I take have been the easier to understand and face because with each mistake I’ve made in the past that ended in a physical injury to me or another animal impacted me enough to learn from. Over time, I’m more than willing to take risks, but only after carefully considering all of the possible outcomes in order to be physically prepared to handle them. Close calls are exceptional learning moments and the humility that follows is essential for the job that I do. Like clockwork, when I get in a rush, frustrated, or ignore my gut instincts, I fail in some way to achieve my goals in training. I know immediately that I’ve taken steps backwards. Experience has helped me understand that the absolute magic of dogs is their ability to “reset” each day, and so long as I adjust appropriately, we can get back on track and continue to make progress over time.
As a business owner, I’m far less confident in my ability to take risks. I’d rather fail in handling an aggressive German Shepherd than fail in business. I graduated a small liberal arts college with a Bachelor’s in Art History and nearly finished a Master’s in education. In my formal education, I believed that I would somehow acquire a fulfilling job that interested me like my classes did. In the end, the path I tried so hard to write for myself just weren’t right for me. My parents, like most parents I knew, valued the idea of stability and although they allowed me to follow my interests and dreams, wanted to make sure that I was going to be able to take care of myself and live a comfortable life. It’s a difficult journey for any small business owner to break away from the idea of a reliable paycheck and a retirement plan, and for me, it was the biggest risk I could ever take in my life.
I have always struggled with mental health issues. Depression has had a huge impact on my life and made a lot of what I thought I needed to do to have a stable income was extremely difficult. When I had the realization that I was walking down the wrong path, I felt completely lost. In order to have any motivation to work at all, I applied for a kennel technician job at a large dog training facility because I always loved watching agility and dog training shows on TV as a kid (even though I didn’t have a family dog until years later). I made minimum wage, cleaned kennels, bathed dogs, washed dishes and broke up dog fights. This was the opposite of what I always thought I should be doing in my life but for some reason I started to feel pride in my work. I was proud of how clean the facility was after my shift, I adored the dogs and taking care of them, and I was fascinated by their way of communicating. I was pushed into the deep end, handling aggressive dogs and learning how to take care of some dangerous animals. I got bit, scratched, and found myself afraid of some of the dogs it was my job to walk, feed, and groom. Every day, I faced some new physical risk and each time I got through it. Although at first, I had an overwhelming feeling of incompetency, eventually I felt better informed and more confident in my abilities.
The decision to start my own business was one of desperation. My life situation changed and I was staying with my parents feeling like I was at a crossroads. I could try once again to follow a path of stability by applying for jobs that offered benefits or I could take the biggest risk of my adult life. Somehow, overcoming some of my most difficult mental health and personal challenges had helped me uncover a small amount of faith in my own abilities. I started by promising myself that ethics would always prioritize profit, no matter what. I’m often reminded of that promise I made myself, even in small day to day decisions I make. I would rather be honest in my limitations or mistakes than ever gain a reputation as someone that takes advantage of people. I take the role of an authority figure and coach very seriously because I know that everyone has their own personal struggles like I do. Putting trust and investing money is a serious act of trust and I choose to honor that as best as I am able every single day.
I think this promise influences the risks I have to take as an entrepreneur every day. Not everyone is going to like hearing what I have to say and not every client is going to be completely satisfied with my services. When I speak to clients, I feel I always have a real responsibility to be clear that dog behavior is not a machine or product that can have any guarantees. All I can promise is that I will use all of my experiences and knowledge to do everything I can to get us to their goals. Admitting that there is no guarantee is my biggest risk as a business owner but knowing that I have an ethic responsibility not to lead anyone on overpowers the fear I have of being rejected. If someone doesn’t feel like the investment in training isn’t worth risking possible failure, I have to respect that without allowing myself to take it too personally. Of course, this is much harder than it sounds. When I feel like I’ve failed somehow in my business, it always hurts. It hurts so much that the next time I have to take the same risk, I hesitate and sometimes feel like giving up altogether. Over time, I look back at all the time I spent on ideas for the business that failed and am able to be proud of how I managed to refocus in a new direction and progress anyway. Every failure makes taking risks harder the next time, but each success has added a very thin layer of foundation to what I’m creating. Some of the biggest risks have brought the strongest sense that all the pain I’ve been through has been without a doubt, worth taking the risk.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a professional dog trainer and I work with dogs of all breeds, ages, and temperaments. I offer services from puppy potty training to aggression. I’ve worked closely with my local animal shelter, Colonial Capital Humane Society, and have been incredibly inspired by the warm welcome I received when I entered their community. I started by having short sessions with the dogs staying at the shelter and offering lessons for adopters and fosters in the community. Later on, when I was able to get my own place to stay, I began fostering and taking on Board and Train clients. A majority of my clients are looking for basic obedience and control over their dogs to improve their quality of life together, but I also take on the challenges of human and dog aggression. I have anywhere from 4-10 dogs staying with me and all are at different stages of training and a mixture of my personal dogs, client dogs, and fosters.
As a new business owner, I’m responsible for training the dogs in my home as well as socializing and caring for them. Caring for dogs and fosters includes grooming and exercising as well as making sure they have the mental stimulation they require to be as healthy as possible. I feel a heavy weight of responsibility when clients trust me to care for their dog and take as much care to treat them the way I would want my personal dogs to be cared for.
Rescue has been the foundation of my business and where I find the most purpose in being a dog trainer. Fostering and helping adopted dogs stay in their homes has been created the most rewarding as well as the most emotionally difficult experiences of my life. Rescue work is overwhelming from the start, and when it rains it pours. Seeing the some of the conditions that dogs come to the shelter in often make me feel that there was more evil and injustice in the world than I could imagine. On the other hand, the most amazing thing I’ve found in rescue are that there are people that continue to get back up when some of those difficult moments knock them down and will be there to support and cheer you on when they start to see you feeling low. Knowing that we all are working towards the same goal, and feel the same painful moments together has made a huge impact on the way that I run my business.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the absolute most impactful quality that has impacted my journey is following my personal interests with intent and enthusiasm. Although I had a lot of anxiety about not following a more direct path to a career, something in me insisted that I dive in head first into every personal interest I had. I started my college career convinced I would become a journalist or a novelist. I loved reading and analyzing the symbolism and creativity of classic literature and felt that I was designed to write. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be so I followed my new found interest in the Visual Arts. I change my major to Art History and studied art and film abroad in Paris where my roommate and I thought of nothing but seeing as much European art and architecture as humanly possible. I was extremely anxious the entire semester but will never regret it. When I got back to school I decided that Art wasn’t safe enough to pursue as a career and I didn’t have any desire to become a professor or academic so I refocused onto education. I studied education, truly interested in how to help students learn information in the most effective ways. I became a substitute teacher and teaching assistant after graduation and continued my higher education until once again, something didn’t feel right. I had given my very best effort to finish school and become a teacher, but in the end, it didn’t seem to be the right path for me. Feeling lost, a job with dogs caught my eye. From that moment on, my fascination with dogs has given me a purpose that those other interests never did but that I could do well without all the other experiences I’ve had in my life. Following my intuition has been scary but looking back has helped my story be one that has been full of amazing experiences and I’ve never regretted it.
A skill that has had a huge impact on me is practicing gratitude as often as I can. I look for every, tiny thing I have now that I didn’t have a year ago and I see progress no matter how small. Even if I had less material things, I felt that I had gained something in return. Having gratitude for material things, no matter how much or how little, can get you through the times you don’t feel you have anything left emotionally. When you have less material things, you can find a way to be grateful for your freedom from responsibility and the time you have to enjoy the little things like a cool breeze or the sounds of the birds. Gratitude was always part of my business plan and what I want to teach clients in one way or another.
Taking responsibility for your failures is the only way to grow personally and in business. Nothing hurts more than having to admit failure or cause disappointment in some way for me. I tend to be a perfectionist and a people pleaser, so making mistakes often feels like failure to me. I had always promised myself that I would be as ethical as possible in my business so I don’t lie to clients and I try my best never to mislead them. If I make a mistake, or find that I’m not experienced enough or confident enough in my abilities to take on a case, I make sure that I’m upfront. It’s scary, embarrassing, and something I always would rather avoid, but each time I take responsibility for my actions I feel a huge sense of relief and the world never actually ends.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
Finding the right client is actually a very personal thing for a dog trainer. The industry has some extremism that causes rifts between trainers that use different methods of training. Things have become pretty polarized and, unless you have a ton of experience with dogs, it’s become extremely difficult to know what the most effective training methods are. Because a large portion of behavior change requests include stopping problem behaviors like jumping, digging, barking, etc. the idea of using physical or mental punishment has become a very political topic.
Personally, I believe that there are completely safe and ethical ways of punishing undesired behaviors in a way where the benefits of changing the behavior far outweigh the risk of using punishment in the process. In fact, I happen to believe that the longer these problem behaviors continue, the more suffering the dog will face over its lifetime vs one short and clear moment of discomfort. Stopping obvious behaviors like this literally saves dog’s lives.
That being said, I’m completely understanding of how difficult it can be to emotionally to punish an animal that has deep meaning to someone. I struggled with my own dogs until I started to be able to take my dogs on off leash hikes, downtown lunch dates, and any other dog friendly public spaces. Their lives are full of experiences and freedom that most dogs will never know. I feel that my clients need to deeply believe that if they follow my instructions, even if it makes them uncomfortable, their trust in me will lead to a better life with their dog. If I don’t think they believe there’s hope in the situation, I know that there is not much I can do to encourage them to make lifestyle changes that will disrupt their life. Dog training is 75% convincing another person to change their perception of their dog’s behavior, emotional state and to become conscious of how their behaviors affect the dog. If my client is unwilling to take responsibility for how their dog is behaving now, then I know my methods will not be effective.
My clients express faith in my methods and a willingness to change. This way, we are working as a team. If they’re willing to put in some effort, I’m willing to give them all my best effort in return.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.k9reflection.com
- Instagram: K9Reflection
- Facebook: K9 Reflection
- Linkedin: Lauren Klein
