When Can I Start My Own Puppy School?
Question by Kate Todd: When Can I Start My Own Puppy School?
Me and my friend wanted to start a dog school, but I’m not sure what age I’d have to be. It wouldn’t be much, kinda like dog sitting for an hour. We would only be doing it around our estate. We’re not doing it for money, but for the fun of training dogs and walking and playing with them. It would be very cheap, €5 maybe a week or something, just enough to buy treats and things we would need. I live in Ireland, so when I looked it up ages for Americans came up and I’m not sure if it would be the same.
Best answer:
Answer by shizzle
there is no age requirement — so long as your parents agree to you doing so, you’re all set.
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You need to be old enough to register your business with wherever you live, old enough to hold insurance, and you need to have a canine first aid course taken as well as professional references so people know they aren’t leaving their dog(s) with some crazy kid that doesn’t know jack squat.
Plus, you need to be sure you can run this kind of “business” on your property – i know in America we have residential or commercial properties, and it takes a LOT of work (and often times a lot of money) to get a property to be both. Most of the time you cannot run such businesses out of your home without town permission, which is hard to get.
So, i would say around 18? Unless legal age is different in Ireland. And yes, you would essentially be running a “business”. Which also means lawyers should be brought in to draw up paperwork so owners couldn’t sue you should something happen to their pets.
How could someone who can’t even control their own dog, start a puppy school? In order to start a business, you would need to be bonded, in order for anyone to trust you with their dog. You would need a business license, and you would also need to obtain a liability insurance policy, to cover you, should something happen to a dog while under your care. You would need to get references from the obedience trainer that you mentored under. You would need to get a legal contract drawn up, for both parties to sign. You would also need to have the owners’ of the dogs leave a note of permission for you to have their dogs treated by their vet, should something happen to a dog, and you are not able to contact the owners. That means that you would need to have a driver’s license and a car. You would also need to speak to your CPA, regarding the financial end of the business.
As Canine Truth says.
You also need experience and better still, qualifications.
You could undo a lot of good training if you don’t know what you are doing.
Personally I would never put my dogs into a situation like that.