Zero To Hero: The Astounding Success Of Dog Trainer Academy Graduate, Cindy Christensen

Voiceover:

Welcome to the Doggy Dan Podcast show, helping you unleash the greatness within your dog.

Doggy Dan:

[00:00:30]

Hello and welcome to another Doggy Dan podcast. Today I have a wonderful lady with me named Cindy Christensen and she is an amazing lady, I'm so excited to share this with you. She's a friend, she's somebody who started on the Online Dog Trainer and has since completed the Dog Trainer Academy.

She is going to share her journey with you, or a part of it and I can guarantee it will blow you away. It is going to blow you away where she's come from, what she's done and what she's doing now. She's such a generous lady. Let me just say it, straight up. She earned, last year, over a quarter of a million dollars using this program training dogs.

[00:01:00]

[00:01:30]

You might be thinking, “What?” But it's absolutely true and the beautiful thing is her heart is in the right place, I believe. That's why I love her so much, because she's all about helping the dogs and for anyone who is even vaguely interested in knowing more about dogs, connecting deeply with dogs, helping by sharing that sort of information with other people, and possibly making some money out of it, right up to somebody who wants to have a full-time career like Cindy, then this podcast is going to blow you away today.

Over to you Cindy. How was that for an intro?

Cindy Christensen:

That's amazing, not sure I deserve that but thank you.

Doggy Dan:

You're welcome. Tell us a little bit about yourself, I've said a little bit there but who are you, where you've come from. That sort of thing.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:02:00]

I am in Salt Lake City, Utah and I am going to tell you all this now so you know but I'm currently 61 years old. My whole career I've worked for the government, I was a Child Protective Services Investigator for 25 years and worked in the corporate world. I'm originally from Idaho and I've got married and have been living in Salt Lake ever since.

Doggy Dan:

Beautiful.

Cindy Christensen:

I have one child and a nice husband and that's it.

[00:02:30]

Doggy Dan:

Beautiful, beautiful. When did you first find me online? I actually can't remember or don't know, I'm sure you've told me but what is your story in terms of how you first came into contact with Doggy Dan online and the Online Dog Trainer program. If you could start there, just to give people an idea of your dog knowledge or experience or how you found me. That sort of thing.

[00:03:00]

Cindy Christensen:

Sure, I had a cocker spaniel who just gave me fits and I've owned lots of them in my life. This little guy was aggressive and not matter what I did, I couldn't get anything to work so I got online and just started searching for answers and came across the Online Dog Trainer. The price was reasonable and I was really impressed by the videos so I did a…

[00:03:30]

I think there was a three day try it type thing so I logged on and it was life changing. Right from then I knew that was the type of training I wanted to do, I learned a great deal so my love of this whole thing started with cocker spaniels and I was just on the Online Dog Trainer for about a year.

Doggy Dan:

[00:04:00]

Yeah, I remember. I remember because I then bought out the program called the Dog Trainer Academy. Let me just repress, for those of you who are listening going, “What's the Online Dog Trainer?” The Online Dog Trainer is my program, it's around $ 37 a month price and you join up and it helps you train your dog. That's what Cindy is talking about.

Then you were one of the first people to sign up to the Dog Trainer Academy program, I believe you were in the first intake, it that right?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:04:30]

Correct, yeah. Once day I'd been on there for like a year, using the academy and then I think I must've come across a problem. I can't really, exactly remember but I logged back on and as soon as I logged on there you were. You were giving a little diddy about starting this academy and I believe it was the last day. I was like, “Holy cow.” Because I had really bought into what it was you did so I just thought, “I'm going to give this a try.”

[00:05:00]

I was just jacked to find out that you were opening an academy so I got on at the very tail end of it and started with the first group.

Doggy Dan:

Awesome, awesome. Before we jump into it, you said with your spaniel that you had issues. Had you tried many other methods?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:05:30]

Oh, Jeez yes. Everything, yes. I tried a shock collar, I tried a prong collar, I tried an alpha role. I never did do a timeout or anything but I just did all of the aggressive stuff, everything everybody was doing, you know?

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

I just… Nothing worked, it just made him worse. The shock collar made him worse, the alpha role made him worse. If I swatted him on the butt, that made it worse. I could not… I'd never had a dog that was so contrary, everything he just wanted to argue about every single thing.

Doggy Dan:

Oh.

[00:06:00]

Cindy Christensen:

I just couldn't solve it so I'd tried everything. I can literally say, “I've tried everything.”

Doggy Dan:

I know you're not an aggressive person because I've chatted to you many times and I know your heart but just for the listeners who're going, “What about chicken and cheese?” You tried?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:06:30]

Oh, jeez yes. No thank you, I'd done all the positive reinforcement, rewarding all the good behavior and that kind of thing but he would just get mad. If he was out barking, for example, then I would try to get him to be quiet and telling him, “Enough.” Or whatever, then I would go out and if I had to go out and get a hold of him to bring him in because he was barking, he would bite me.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:07:00]

I'd never had a dog bite me and he didn't just nip, he would attack you and so then I found myself being afraid of him so I had a leash hooked to him all the time so that I could get a hold of him but I would go to get a hold of the leash then he would charge at me because he would know. Then, when he was in the house and good, we would give lots of praise, lots of rewards, he gained weight.

Matter of fact, he was too fat because I was constantly trying to reward the good behavior but as soon as you told him, “No.” Then he'd get mad at you.

Doggy Dan:

Yep. Wow.

Cindy Christensen:

I didn't know how to fix it, I mean I was truly just stumped until I found you and then it worked, it just absolutely worked.

Doggy Dan:

[00:07:30]

Brilliant, you found the Dog Trainer Academy program and this is the program I want to share a little bit about really today because I haven't really told you guys but if you're still listening I'll tell you right now. Hopefully you're still listening, Cindy is incredibly successful at what she's now doing.

[00:08:00]

She's one of the students who's come through the Dog Trainer Academy program and she has just put it all in place, taken it to heart and I won't steal your thunder but can you tell us a little bit just so people who're listening who're going, “What is Cindy doing now?” What are you doing now with your business, your dog training?

Cindy Christensen:

This is my third year, I just passed my first year. We started in… I believe I incorporated in May or September 2017 is when I actually [inaudible 00:08:16] those three years. I was working full-time, there was no way in a million years I would believe I could make any money and neither did my husband. He was going, “Oh, jeez. This is another cockamamie scheme where up to.”

[00:08:30]

You had said something, I never forgot there was a video at the very beginning when I logged on that day and in the video you said that if you take a leap of faith and give it a try, I believe your quote was, “I will do everything in my power to help you succeed.”

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

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I'd already found a trust in you because I'd watched all of your videos so I felt like I knew you, just through all the videos I'd watched. When you said that, it's like you said it to me and I thought, “Okay, I do trust.” So I did take the leap of faith. Into it I was still working full-time, probably by about four or five months I did my first consult, just a little one.

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Then in three years I have grown to where I do board and train, I typically have five or six dogs here a week. I charge $1775 for adult dogs for seven days and I charge $1175 for puppies. Last year I made over $250,000 which just blew me out of the water, I had no idea that I could be this successful.

[00:10:00]

It has just taken off like you can't believe and that's why I agreed to come on here today because I think there are so many people out there that were like me. I was so sick of the government, I was so tired of politics and office crap and traffic. I'm in a big city and it would take 45 minutes to get to work and road-rage. I just was so over it.

I was getting older and I still was out a way to retire, I needed another five or six years and I just was at the end of my rope. I didn't think I could ever make a go of it and now I have no intention of retiring.

[00:10:30]

Doggy Dan:

I love it, you make me smile. It's just such a loverly story. I guess, from my point of view, I know Cindy. I know you guys listening don't know Cindy but Cindy I know was such a huge heart and it couldn't happen to a nicer person. Cindy, I mean that from the bottom of my heart. When you share and for anybody listening, if you want…

[00:11:00]

I always say, “We want good people to have money.” It's a lot of money and for you, I know it's about helping the dogs and helping the people. While you worked in the service industry that you did for so long. For me it's almost like karma. Karma comes around and this is your reward for spending so many times helping so many people.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:11:30]

It's really important for me to say this because this is the key. I think it was two things, one was I didn't believe in myself. I really didn't, I just didn't believe in myself but I believed in you. What you said was true, I believed in you and I believed what you said at that video where you were going to do anything you could to help me. I made my mind up early on that I was not going to take shortcuts.

[00:12:00]

When we first got at the academy, I realized that it was quite involved and I wasn't just going to skate through. I had to learn some things and I made a promise to myself that I would do every single thing you said, I wouldn't take a shortcut. I remember one of the perks we had was an actual phone call with you. At this point you're my hero, I'm been following you for a year on the Online Dog Trainer and then I started the academy.

[00:12:30]

Then I found out that I was actually going to get a 30 minute phone call with Doggy Dan, I was a nervous wreck. I was up [inaudible 00:12:17] because I was talking to my hero and I remember when we talked on the phone and I remember that I told you then that I was going to do every single thing that you said and I did. When I did that, it just…

The thing that's so neat about it is the part about the academy and maybe this is one of the questions you're going to ask but you covered every aspect of dog training. Marketing and website. You covered everything so I felt like I could do it.

Doggy Dan:

[00:13:00]

Yeah, yeah. That was a question I was going to ask but now is the perfect time. My experience as a dog trainer was that it's one thing to know about dogs and have a method to use, it's another thing to actually know how to get yourself out there and get business and be able to package it in a way that you can actually share that information and make money.

Cindy Christensen:

Absolutely.

Doggy Dan:

[00:13:30]

Which is important because if you want to do it as full-time or you do need to actually make some money to pay the bills, we tried to wrap that up so that the Dog Trainer Academy covered all of those things off. For those people who're listening thinking, “Tell me more, tell me more about the Dog Trainer Academy.” Can you put the Dog Trainer Academy…

In your words, what would you say it is? How does it work? Was it enjoyable or easy? Just chat about that, if you would for people.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:14:00]

Yeah, I thought it was done really well. The setup was in a classroom and of course it was online but it had been filmed with some students there so you felt like you were right there in the classroom and I really enjoyed that. Whiteboard, he spared no expense on videos and the time that he took on all of these lectures so lots of information.

[00:14:30]

I would just take notes and they were broke down into modules so you could… Each thing was about an hour or so and I just did it ever day. I would just commit to an hour or so and the videos would range from ‘What're the five golden rules' to ‘How do you walk a dog' to ‘What do you do with an angry client'. What do you do? How do you talk to somebody on the phone? How do yo market it?

There was every single aspect and so I just started at the beginning and I went through. The way it's designed and set up was so simple because you had it broke down. There were places that we could actually watch you do a full consult because you'd see little snippets in part of your lectures but we never really got to see a consult.

[00:15:00]

Then you had this section where we could go with you, with the camera man and we could go in it from the point of view knocking on the door to the point that would walk out of the house. That was really cool to me because I could see then the transformation.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:15:30]

That's when I loved the consults, that to me was really cool. You had every type of set up. You had angry dogs and not angry dogs. Little dogs and big dogs and chickens and I think everything but an alligator. You pretty much has just about everything on there so I was just able to follow. That was good, the way you had it set up and it's done very professionally and very…

It's user friendly, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work it out, you can just get right in there and just start. It tell you where you are, you complete a module and it tells you you've completed and it gives you a congratulations. You get to move to the next one so you feel proud of yourself and give yourself a little pat on the back and move to the next module.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

[00:16:00]

Cindy Christensen:

I really enjoyed it.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, the two things you've mentioned there. One thing is, we brought my dear wife named Jenny out and she's a very gifted lady in her own right. She's incredibly aware of understanding people and energy. We did some great role plays actually on the telephone because you've got to chat to people to get the bookings and we did some fun role plays, my wife and I.

Pretending to be certain types of caller.

Cindy Christensen:

Oh, yeah.

[00:16:30]

Doggy Dan:

The one who never stops talking and the person who's a little bit awkward. Do you know how to deal with those? So we did cover over the phone and then yes, the other part of the Dog Trainer Academy, which it really is… Even I think this is genius because one of the things about this method is it is so radically different from, I would say 90%-95% of other dog training.

[00:17:00]

Because 95% of other dog training methods are either using your force for your aggression, shock collar, prong collar, spray. They're trying to force the dog to change through pain, fear, domination. The other part of the 95% are using treats to bribe the dog and look, you can get certain results. With some dogs you'll get some results, some would say buy you've not really won that dog's mind.

[00:17:30]

It's not about… You haven't really developed this incredible relationship where the dog just trusts you and it switches off because it goes, “You're in charge. I can relax.” Which I've found means half the problems disappear straight away. What we're really trying to do here is share this information with the dog owner. What I was able to do with a camera behind me, as Cindy says you see me get out of the car, knock on the front door and honestly, I've never met these people so I don't know whether they were going to…

[00:18:00]

A man with two fingers is going to open the door or a man in a wheelchair or it could be anything, I don't know whether there's going to be six children inside or what sort of challenges we're going to face. When the door opens, that is me doing a live consult with a camera man there. Like Cindy says, you see exactly what I do, you hear what I say and you can see those people change from doubters to listening to questioning and then slowly you actually see the dog starting to change.

[00:18:30]

You see the people go, “That makes total sense.” Then you see them actually, literally say, “Thank you.” You've done it, you've watched the entire things and I'm guessing Cindy, you saw me do that sometimes and you probably thought, “I could do that.” Did you? Or it that not true?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:19:00]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Once I saw you do consults, up until then it made me a little nervous but as soon as I saw you do consults and I found that you pretty much approached them because it's so elementary, the five rules that you teach, that it didn't matter whether the dog was aggressive, not aggressive. If it was a barker, not a barker. Any type of situation it fits.

Doggy Dan:

It does.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:19:30]

I often asked, lots of times people say, “You're using that cookie cutter approach, you're thinking every single dog can be treated the same. You can go and do the same approach.” But I'm here to tell you that underneath it all are one of these five underlying problems and you can turn any single dog around because I've done it.

Doggy Dan:

Yep.

Cindy Christensen:

You can.

Doggy Dan:

[00:20:00]

Yep, I've put up with 3000 plus dogs in a one-on-one capacity and well over 50,000 dogs using the Online Dog Trainer and the reviews are phenomenal. I couldn't agree more, yeah. It is a magical approach, I always say this as well, “My greatest teacher is the dogs and they are also my judge.” The only judge I really have it not some organization that says, “You're doing it right or wrong.”

It's not people who say, “You've got it wrong, that fear it wrong.” My judge is the dogs and if the dogs calm down, stop barking, stop pulling, stop getting aggressive, stop chewing themselves and crying when they're left alone, they are my judge.

[00:20:30]

Cindy Christensen:

This is a little bit personal but I'm going to share it anyway, one of the things that was really profound for me was all of Dan's methods, you can do these five golden rules or the dog common code. You can do them without talking, you can actually do the whole thing without even talking, if you wanted to because it's just about energy.

[00:21:00]

I am extremely hyper, I don't sit down, I go a million miles an hour. I got it from my dad, I just talk a million miles an hour and I know that so my energy was just all over the place. What this did for me was life-changing because I'm still me and I still have a lot of energy but I found that I started to be aware of how I projected myself to the dogs because the dogs would react to my energy.

[00:21:30]

When I would go in and I'd had a bad day or I was hyper about something or had a million things to do, I was, “Let's try and get this done because I've got to get going.” Just in a big hurry, the dogs would react to that so it took me about a year, maybe a year and a half before I really bought into this energy thing.

[00:22:00]

I did talk to Jenny and spent some time trying to sort through that, I read some books that you had recommended and that's when it really changed for me. It was because I dropped my energy down and I just looked the dogs in the eye and I would listen to what they weren't saying. I could look at the fear, that's when it really changed for me. When I dropped my energy. I had to learn how to do it.

Doggy Dan:

[00:22:30]

Wow, you know that's awesome Cindy. I've got to say, this is quite personal but I can even feel it. We're very similar, Cindy and I or you and I, Cindy. We are similar, we both have that thing where we can get very excited, speak really fast, get animated and excited like a runaway train.

Cindy Christensen:

Exactly.

Doggy Dan:

I'm calming down more and more, as I'm trying to and I can feel like even on this call without saying anything you are so much calmer than couple of years ago, yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:23:00]

Oh, it's not even… I meditate, I never thought I'd even meditate. I get up in the morning and I do some affirmations and I do some meditation and just for 10 minutes I just spend some quiet time and take some deep breaths, be present and be mindful before I ever go out and let the dogs out of their crates. I've made it my mission to have positive reviews and I do, I have a five star Google Review rating and here's the part that I love the best.

[00:23:30]

This is what makes me the proudest, I offer a life-time guarantee. There are some really big dog trainers here in the Valley and the most I've ever seen was 60 days and that had a whole bunch of exceptions and you had to go into their place and they would work in their facility and you had to come in every day. It was this big thing, you had to jump through all these hoops and I decided one day that I was either going to put my money where my mouth was or I wasn't.

[00:24:00]

If I believed in this method and I believe that it works then I have to be willing to stand behind it so two years ago I put it out there and it's on my website in big bold letters, “I offer life-time support for the life of the dog.” I tell people up front what it require, you've got to spend time every day with your dog. It's not magic, you have to continue to work with them and practice the things that I preach but if they ever had a problem or a question, they could call me and I would be there.

[00:24:30]

That's when my business exploded because people will say… T§hen I say, “I believe in this method so much that I could stand behind it 100%.” I don't know anyone that does that.

Doggy Dan:

No, you can see that on your… How many Google Reviews have you got now?

Cindy Christensen:

I think about 130 at five star.

Doggy Dan:

130 five star review in less that three years?

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah, about two really because we didn't start-

Doggy Dan:

Two years?

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah, about two years.

[00:25:00]

Doggy Dan:

Isn't that incredible? Tell us a little bit, what other concerns did you have before embarking on this journey? Can you remember anything else?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:25:30]

Oh, yeah. I just didn't think I could do it. I just didn't think that… At first I thought that I was too old, that I wasn't even… I mean, who's going to want to talk to me? I'm just this fat, frumpy lady from Utah and I'm thinking, “Really? What have I got to offer?” I didn't feel like I had the knowledge base, I didn't feel like I could ever learn it or that I could remember it.

I felt that again, I felt out-classed. I thought all the younger kids coming in to the academy, they would all be really successful and I wouldn't be. I just wasn't sure I would ever be good enough and I didn't believe in myself but again, I keep coming back to this, I believed in you. I really didn't believe in myself buy you just kept saying, “Just keep going, keep going, keep going.”

[00:26:00]

I did, I plod along and pretty soon it just… I remember those fears, they were very real fears but I fought through them. I just decided I was going to try everything because I never wanted to look back one day with regret that I had this opportunity and I just pissed it away because I was too afraid to finish it. I just decided, “I'm going to give it my 100% then, if it doesn't work out at least I can say I tried.”

[00:26:30]

Doggy Dan:

Good on you, yeah. Was there any financial concerns? That you wouldn't get your money back? I'm just curious, did you ever wonder?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:27:00]

Oh, yeah. You worry because it was a lot of money and I didn't have it. We lived pay check to pay check so we had to get out the old credit card and I was worried that about that but bless my husband's heart, he just said, “Let's just try it.” He said, “You love dogs, you've always loved dogs and it's always been your passions.” I thought, if I could just make back what I spent, then I wouldn't be out anything and I made back what I spend in the first month.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, what did you spend out of interest? Can you remember how much it was at the time when you did it?

Cindy Christensen:

I want to say it was like $4000? It seemed like it was four.

Doggy Dan:

I can't even remember, it's come down a lot now.

Cindy Christensen:

It has, I actually even thought it was five but it might not have been that high.

Doggy Dan:

No.

Cindy Christensen:

It was four something.

Doggy Dan:

[00:27:30]

Was it really? Yeah. For those people listening, it is way less than that now so don't be put off it. I'll put a link-

Cindy Christensen:

Oh, yeah.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, yeah. It's all good. I'm just curious as to what it was when we first came out. We've managed to drop the price quite considerably but for those people listening, the best place to go… I'll put these links up later, dogtraineracademy.org. Yeah, have a look at it and you'll find out there's a very nice price at the end now.

[00:28:00]

That is awesome, you made the money back within a month and now you're flying.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:28:30]

Oh, yeah. I work for myself and I choose my own hours and I choose the clients that I want or that I don't. I just learned so many things along the way, made a lot of mistakes. Trial and error because I didn't know anybody in the business and you're in New Zealand so when I was finally graduated, I had to learn how to go out and figure it out. I've done some things that I made mistakes, I created a place in the back and I did it wrong.

I had to tear it up and do it again and that was expensive. There's been a few things, a little trial and error along the way but the class and the program and the principles behind it and all of that just works. My Google Reviews, they're real. These are real people and you can feel their energy and they're excited. I donate my service to a rescue here in Salt Lake.

[00:29:00]

They look at dogs to be euthanized that week, they're on the table to be euthanized and they'll call me to come and work with one and I haven't lost one yet.

Doggy Dan:

Wow.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:29:30]

I've been able to go and turn some pretty screwed up dogs around by using this method. Then the people that adopt, then I will give my service, my consult to them for free to give a little bit back to my community. That has been beneficial so I guess what I just want to say to the people out there is, “Look, there is nothing special about me.”

[00:30:00]

I'm just this loud-mouthed puke from Utah and if I can do this, if someone like me can just put down at the computer and listen to what somebody is teaching me and pay attention. If I can do it then you can so it because there's nothing, absolutely nothing about me that is special. I don't live in an area that has a lot of dogs per se. I'm just a regular person and there is a need out there, holy cow.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

There is a need and I see it more and more all the time. There is a need out there, now I have a wait list.

Doggy Dan:

A waiting list? Brilliant. One of the reasons I think that there is a need is because a lot of people, we talked about these other methods and a lot of people don't want to put a shock collar on their dog. I don't.

Cindy Christensen:

Oh, everybody.

[00:30:30]

Doggy Dan:

They don't want to use spray collars or prong collars and they've tried treats, they've tried games, they've tried… I always say, “If raising children was just as easy as giving a bar of chocolate out, when your kid does something good give them a treat, wouldn't it be beautiful?”

[00:31:00]

But that's not the solution to raising children, it's way more complex and if training a dog was just as easy as getting some treats then rewarding them and playing games and saying, “Good dog, good dog.” We wouldn't have so many problems. There is something else that we need to understand and that's the part that's missing and that's the part that, which when it's explained to you in a way that you can explain to other people, that is gold and people will pay for that.

That's essentially what we're talking about.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:31:30]

I want to touch down on that just for a second because I live out on the west end of the Valley so out in the hood. I call I'm out in the hood so when I first started doing consults, I'd go to people's homes and I was charging… I think I started at $275 or something and then I eventually moved it up to $350 but I found that I was bringing in a…

[00:32:00]

I want to say this delicately but I brought, it was a certain class of people. I found people wanted a payment plan for $275 dollars and not to say… I'm not judging people that couldn't afford it, that's not what I meant but it's just I set my prices so low that people overlooked me because they think that you've not any good if you're so cheap.

Then I did some research and I said, “All right.” I plucked out a number from thin air and I just went through and I said, “Okay. I'm going to charge $1775 which was just astronomical, come on who's going to pay that?

[00:32:30]

Doggy Dan:

That was to take the dogs into your home for a week, is that right?

Cindy Christensen:

Take the dogs into my house for one week and I thought, “All right, let's just see.” I got a call within four days and the lady had two dogs, two little sisters so I got $3200 or whatever it was for these two dogs and my husbands going, “You've got to be kidding me.” What I found was…

[00:33:00]

The reason I want to bring this up is I have changed my clientele and what's nice about that is that there that will pay that money. You think that they won't pay that money, you're [inaudible 00:33:05] because we looked at it realistically, most of us are nine to fivers and we're broke or whatever. There's just no way we're going to spend that money but dogs are huge in people's lives.

[00:33:30]

They're people's babies and that's their family members and you don't ever have to worry that you are charging too much because you're just not. The calls will come so you can't undersell it, you've got to jack your price up but once you do that then people think, “Well you must be good because you charge a lot.”

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

I get that all the time.

Doggy Dan:

Look, the beautiful thing is when you put this in place and it works, people are genuinely happy. Yeah, it's awesome, it's awesome.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:34:00]

I get a lot of referrals too, that's what's fun too. This is my third year and now the referrals are coming in and it's really fun to get a call and they'll say, “So-and-so just can't talk enough about you, she raves about you.” It makes me smile because I'm starting to get the, you know that you've changed people's lives if they're giving you referrals.

Doggy Dan:

[00:34:30]

Brilliant. Now, one thing I want to ask you Cindy is, there's probably a lot of people listening to this who're thinking either, “I love my job that I'm currently doing.” Or, “I don't want to become a full-time dog trainer but I'd like to have something on the side, maybe to earn some more money.” Or just something which fascinates men, “I'd love to help people.”

Maybe they're not getting their emotional rewards from their current work. Is this something that you feel that people could do on the side? I think that's what you were saying, you started doing…

Cindy Christensen:

[00:35:00]

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. You can take one dog, you can take just one dog. Maybe one dog a month, you can pick it up a little bit more. That's the thing that's nice, you work for yourself. Get some more dogs for Christmas, you can still work full-time and you don't have to bring a dog into your house, that's the route that I took. That you can do a consult and go to someone else's home and you spend a couple of hours with them and you walk away with $400 and that's just money in your pocket.

Absolutely you can do it part-time. Absolutely.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:35:30]

I was six months I think before I bit the bullet and just decided I was going to do it. That was really scary to me because it's been a long time since I'd been unemployed and I just bit the bullet but you don't have to. I know people that do it on the side and they're completely happy, it just gives them just spending money.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, that's how I did it. I was doing lawn mowing and gardening and really enjoying it but I wanted to do the dog training so I started doing the dog training very, very small then it quickly built up. I've never really had dogs on my property so there's different ways you can work it.

[00:36:00]

You can either go to people's houses and work with dogs or you can have dogs come to you and they can either come for a couple of hours or you could set ut, as Cindy has, having dogs come and stay with you for a week or so.

Cindy Christensen:

Or both. You can do packages, I have three packages.

Doggy Dan:

Totally.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:36:30]

One of them I go to their home, one of them is just a… With COVID now I'm just doing Skype. I'll do one and I've brought my price down and then I can do one where I can go to their home for a few hours then I'll also do the board and training for adults as well as for puppies. You can have different packages and pick and choose what you want to do.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah. In terms of experience, how much experience with dogs do you feel people need to be able to make this happen would you say?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:37:00]

None, you don't have to have any experience. I didn't, I had the experience in that I was a dog owner and that I'd had dogs my whole life and I love them with all my heart but again, as with my Hershey, just talk about trouble. I didn't have any experience, absolutely none whatsoever, I learned a lot on the Online Dog Trainer and I followed that for a year and put it into place and I watched my dogs transform.

[00:37:30]

Then that's when I really believed in this system, I really believed in it so the thought that you had an academy, this is an opportunity yolks that you've got to take because you won't get this all the time and if you've got someone out there who is willing to teach you every step. I'm talking every step and he'll say to you, this is a promise that he makes that I will be there every step of the way to help you be successful if you'll just try it.

[00:38:00]

If you just follow the steps, you'll have an opportunity to do something really big for yourself that you'd probably not otherwise ever dare do. To have somebody hold your hand, not only that Dan has a forum on Facebook that he created for the academy members and it's awesome. It's a place for people to go that they can consult with one another.

[00:38:30]

They have a problem dog or situation happen and they need some advice where people can all log on and get some answers to their questions. I don't get on there as much as I could because I'm too dang busy anymore but it's a wonderful resource. He's just made it be so accessible that you have to work at it to fail. If you just do what he tell you, you have to actually work at this to fail because you've done it all.

I love the marketing part of it, that was one of my favorite sections because I'm thinking, “Oh, yeah. Right. Like I know how to build a website, yeah sure. I know how to build Google Ads, yeah. That makes sense.” I didn't even know what point per click, pay per click was. I didn't know any of this stuff so when he did this on marketing and he talked, “Okay, this is where you can go to find people that'll help you build a website and this is some of the tools that are out there.”

[00:39:00]

He just gave you names and links and I'd write them down and sure enough every single thing he said works and I bought into every single one of them and I contacted those links then next thing I knew I had a website. He takes you absolutely all the way through it, from start to finish.

Doggy Dan:

[00:39:30]

Aww, thanks Cindy. Yeah, part of it was I didn't want to leave anybody hanging where you had the dog knowledge but you couldn't figure out maybe how to converse on the telephone or what was wrong with the setup of your website. Why were people not ringing you? I really did try and set out to make sure all the links on the journey were all connected up.

[00:40:00]

One of the things about that is I do encourage people not to do it all. If you're not a techy wizard you don't have to do that stuff, you get someone to deal with all that stuff and that's a big part of it as well, yeah. You touch on the support, I feel when I was a dog trainer, when I was training up, that's the one part I really felt was missing.

I didn't have the connection with other people and it is an important part because at times you go through ups and downs and sometimes you're on cloud nine and then you'll have a dog who's a bit of a pain or an owner who give you a bit of grief and it's nice to know that you're not alone, that you're not a failure, that its normal. The Facebook group we've created is brilliant for that, people share, “Where did you get your logo made?” As Cindy said. “Have you got any ideas of leads or harnesses or treats or-“

[00:40:30]

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah, I had a contract and someone said, “Can I look at your contract? I'd like to see how you did it.” Everyone passed them around, there's no secret because you don't have to reinvent the wheel. People have done it ahead of you so just tune it to ask the question and I can guarantee somebody will forward along what they can to help you.

Doggy Dan:

[00:41:00]

One of the great things about being online is that nobody's actually competition with anybody because everybody is in different cities around the world so it's not like the person who's in Bristol, UK doesn't want to share his contract with somebody who's in Colorado.

Cindy Christensen:

Exactly.

Doggy Dan:

He doesn't care, it doesn't matter at all so everyone's sharing all sorts of stuff. Wow, I think that's pretty much answered most of the main questions. I think the only other one really is, a lot of people are wondering if they want to start today Cindy, how long do you feel it is or how long was it before you had the knowledge to help people?

[00:41:30]

Generally when you're helping people you get paid but how long does it take to become a dg trainer, in your opinion? I want to ask you because I've got my ideas and obviously it depends on the person but in your experience I guess, how long was the journey before you were helping people and then being paid and making some money?

Cindy Christensen:

[00:42:00]

I was about four and a half months before I did my first consult and I certainly have learned a whole lot since then just in experience but again, those five rules, that dog common code that he's going to teach you? It doesn't matter the dogs. It doesn't matter so you'll find that whether you have five months of experience or whether you have five years of experience, you use the same things.

I might have more experience that I can now draw from but I was able to go and there wasn't a dog I couldn't help. From about four and a half months or so was when I did my first and it was very successful.

[00:42:30]

Doggy Dan:

Yep.

Cindy Christensen:

Then I started to get braver, you're a little scared of death those first couple ones then everyone would get on the forum and, “How did it go? What did you learn?” Then everybody would say, “Well, maybe try this next time.” So at four months I was making money and at six months I quit my job.

Doggy Dan:

Wow.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:43:00]

At a year I had tripled my salary and at three years, let's just say I make 10 time it. It feels kind of silly, it makes me embarrassed but my tax guy just looked at me and he goes, “You mad this much money training dogs?” Then I go, “Yep.” And he's just going, “Man…” He says, “I'm missing something, I'm sitting here doing taxes.”

It's really there, you can be as busy or not as busy as you want. Just do.

[00:43:30]

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, it is funny. One of my favorite stories was in New Zealand where I am there was a dog trainer in Auckland where I live. I became a dog trainer over a decade ago and I to help this guy and just before I visited him, it was my very first consult and I hadn't been a dog trainer.

[00:44:00]

I'd only learnt a little bit and I had this knowledge, the same method and approach and this guy said to me he'd had this other dog trainer who was probably one of the most famous and well-known and most respected dog trainers in the country. He said it hadn't really worked and he wanted me to come around.

[00:44:30]

I hadn't told him I'd never worked professionally with anybody before. I felt like, “I'm not going to tell him, I'm just going to give it my best.” I was pretty scared, as you can imagine, following in the great footsteps of this person who trained these dogs. He had two little rottweilers and he said, “This other guy had been over five times.” I sat down on his couch, I still remember it absolutely so clearly.

[00:45:00]

I talked, shared about how this all worked and I kept saying “Does this make sense?” And he kept nodding, not saying much. I got to the end of my patter which was 45-50 minutes and I said, “How does that all sound?” He looked at me and it was one of those moments when I thought he's going to say, “You're so full of it.” He looked at me and he said, “Dan, I've learnt more from you in this last hour than I did from Mr. X in those five weeks of training I've had with him.”

[00:45:30]

I looked at him and I said, “Say that again, you've learnt more from me in this last 45-50 minutes than you did from that other trainer in the five weeks of with this top dog trainer charging top, top dollar?” He said, “Absolutely.” That's the moment I realized that what we have, this program is not about having 10 years of experience or lightning reflexes or anything else.

It's about this is simply a method of communicating with dogs that's almost been lost and if you're able to speak to humans and you like sharing with humans and helping other people because that's what it's really about… Remember I hadn't touched his dogs at this point, I had not touched his dogs and he'd already told me he'd learnt more from me.

[00:46:00]

If yo can talk to people and share this information, that's what it's really about and needless to say we had a cup of tea or something and then we stood and said, “Well, let's work with the dogs.” Needless to say, the dogs were charging out the front door and barking and jumping up hyper but I didn't do anything other than we went to the front door and I said to him, “Sit. Tell the dogs to sit.” They say, they were different dogs because what we'd done is we said, “Hey, dogs I'm here. I'm in charge, calm down, focus and listen.”

Cindy Christensen:

[00:46:30]

I'll say this, something else that's completely unique Dan is, this little side note is, I have developed friendships that I would've never in a million years believed. In the corporate world everybody's [inaudible 00:46:37] everybody in the back and you're trying to get to the top and whatever but dog people are special people. We all know that, you meet dog people and we just beat to a different drum or whatever.

[00:47:00]

We're just different people, I have true friends. That has been a side things that I never expected that came out of all this, there are people out there that I consider my friends, that I call and have lunch and yeah…

Doggy Dan:

Well, hey?

Cindy Christensen:

I know.

Doggy Dan:

Hey, look at us. I mean, tell everyone what your plans are.

Cindy Christensen:

[00:47:30]

Oh, yeah. I'm coming to New Zealand to take Dan to lunch. [inaudible 00:47:14] that very first call I think when we had our 30 minutes and I was so nervous and I said, “I just want you to know that I'm going to come to New Zealand and buy you and Jenny dinner.” And he kind of goes, “Okay.” Then he laughs and he goes, “Well, I'm going to hold you to it.” But I'm sure it was the funniest thing he's ever heard anybody say.

I said, “I'm going to do it, you watch and see. I'm telling you, I'm really going to do it. I'm coming to New Zealand.”

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, yeah.

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah, I'll be there.

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, I heard you. No, that's great. I'm looking at the time Cindy, we could chat for hours eh?

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah. Oh, yes we could.

Doggy Dan:

[00:48:00]

So I'm going to wind this up guys. Now, I'm very aware you've probably got lots of questions. I'm thinking, Cindy another time I might get you on again. It has been so fun. Can you explain to people your website just so people who want to find out more and maybe get in touch because they want [inaudible 00:48:08].

Cindy Christensen:

[00:48:30]

Yeah. I want to offer, they're certainly welcome to email me. My email address is on my website, I'm happy and my phone number is on there. If I can answer some questions I really am happy to help however I can. It's really busy and it's hard to get through to you right away but I'll get to you as quick as I can. My website is letstrainyourdog.com and my phone number and email and all that is on there.

So is my journey, you'll see me back when I was 22 to 24 years old I guess, with my first dog. There's a picture there of how I got started on this journey and it's just been the funnest thing every. That's my website and that's how you find me. I'm happy to answer questions if I can.

Doggy Dan:

[00:49:00]

That's brilliant. Now, before I forget, for those of you who're wanting to find out more about this and find a transcript of this or listen to this podcast or whatever, we're going to put all of that up on the Online Dog Trainer. The website or the URL is theonlinedogtrainer.com/letstrainyourdog

I think that is pretty much a wrap, it's been fun.

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah.

Doggy Dan:

It's been…

Cindy Christensen:

[00:49:30]

Yeah, it has been fun and it's always nice to talk to you. I would say to people too, if you're not 100% sure about the academy at this particular juncture then at the very least, get on to to the Online Dog Trainer. It's for $37 or whatever it is a month. It's the best money you'll spend and that's what'll sell you because you'll see it in action. Then that'll get you the fever that it got me.

Then you can jump over to the academy, if you're afraid and I understand that, that's a way that you can do it. That you can get to see him in action and that's really rewarding.

[00:50:00]

Doggy Dan:

That's a great idea, thanks Cindy. Thanks for that prompt.

Cindy Christensen:

Yeah, [inaudible 00:50:03].

Doggy Dan:

Yeah, I totally get it. You don't want to be spending a lot of money if you don't trust me or you don't know who I am or you're not sure or certain of what the method is or what on Earth we're talking about.

[00:50:30]

Yeah, go to… I'll put that link up on there too, you'll have to be on the link to find the page. It's theonlinedogtrainer.com and that is my home website where you can get on and just check that out. There's some very good deals, there's usually a deal on there for $1 for three days so you could check out the Online Dog Trainer for three days for $1 and that's the same method that I then share with you if you actually want to become a dog trainer.

Wow, all right. Anything else you want to add Cindy? Or you're all…

Cindy Christensen:

I just want to tell people, “Be brave, be brave.” Because you're going to look back some day and you're going to wish that you'd given it a shot if you love it. Be brave, you can do this.

[00:51:00]

Doggy Dan:

You got this, exactly. All right everybody have a great day. It's been fun chatting to you Cindy. Thanks for listening everybody and all the best, have a great day and always love your dog.

Voiceover:

You've been listening to another episode of the Doggy Dan Podcast show, bringing you one step closer to creating harmony with your dog.