What is it like becoming a dog trainer? What is balanced dog training? Good questions! Kaitlin shares her story of why she got into dog training and what led her to start her own successful balanced dog training program.
Jacob chats with Kaitlin Stankowski, a balanced dog trainer and founder of KANE9 Dog Training and Advocacy in Madison Wisconsin, where she helps dogs and dog owners live their best lives together. We talk about her personal story of becoming a dog trainer, how she made the jump to start her own business, and the mindset behind building a stronger relationship with your dog.
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Kaitlin Stankowski
One of the greatest things that I did do is the fact that I started my own company. That was something that was really scary for me because it's like, Okay, well, I guess I have a company now. I just decided, you know, I have, I have to try, because I'm afraid to fail. And if I stay in this, like, I'm afraid to fail, I'm afraid to fail. I'm not going to do it.
Jacob Miller
Hey, there, you're listening to never done this before, a podcast where I interview humans that had the courage to start something new and take action. This podcast is for those that want to discover their purpose, to understand what is possible, to be inspired to start their own journey into something new. Whether it's a new career, a hobby, starting something in your community, or changing the way you live your life. None of those things are simple. They're not easy. I hope you find valuable insight and gain fresh new perspectives from each episode. I'm your host, Jacob Miller. On the internet, some people call me kinetic bear. Either way, I'm glad you're here. So thanks for joining us. All right, episode number five. In this episode, I talked with Caitlin Stan kowski, a balanced dog trainer and founder of canine dog training, where she helps dogs and dog owners live their best lives together. We talk about her personal story of becoming a dog trainer, how she made the jump to start her own business and the mindset behind building a stronger relationship with your dog. Alright folks, let's get to it.
Welcome to the show. Caitlin. It's so great to have you here. I met you recently because I had my dog Duke actually go through one of your programs. So I'm super excited to share your story with with other people. So how about you introduce yourself and kind of share who you are, what you do and what you're all about. Sure.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, I really appreciate you having me on Jacob. Well, my name is Kaitlin Stankowski. And I'm located in Madison, Wisconsin. And I own my own dog training, business KANE9 Dog Training and Advocacy. I've been training full time for about a year and a half now, but working with dogs for a much longer period of time, and just now living my dream, which is awesome.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, very cool. Yeah, I remember my friend Milena, I spoke with her she introduced me to, to what you were up to and the impact that you're making for other people and their dogs. And when I adopted a dog, actually, even before I adopted a dog was like, when I when I do get a dog, I'm gonna go through Kaitlin. I'm gonna work with her and to help me have a great relationship with my dog. So I love that so yeah,
Kaitlin Stankowski
yeah, it was such a pleasure to work with Duke He's so cute.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, he's, he's definitely a gentleman although although it's funny, although All the old lady's like going like walk on the trail like for some reason he just like totally like clicks with old ladies and they all get excited to see him but
Kaitlin Stankowski
that does not surprise me whatsoever. He's definitely a little charmer.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, for sure. But cool. So So what's your what's your personal life? Like, you know, obviously you, you have this business out of your home. So how do you know what do you like to do for fun, like outside of all the dog stuff, though, like family, friends or any other hobbies that you have?
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, so I will tell you definitely it's been a learning curve to kind of still learn how to enjoy my own personal time as well with having my program based out of our house. It kind of puts this little bit of pressure in me of feeling like I need to be doing dog stuff all the time. So definitely making sure that I don't lose sight of the things and like the hobbies that I love doing with family and friends. And typically I will say that actually does like incorporate my own personal dogs have, you know, my husband and I love to take our dogs to go hiking too. You know even just go hang out somewhere and get some takeout and go sit and hopefully enjoy the weather. When we do have like three months of good weather and Wisconsin, we also love enjoying our boat. We just got one last summer so in summertime boating, and definitely home bodies so our family lives in Lhasa and any you know, free weekends and stuff like that. We like to go visit our family or friends. And really just, you know, kind of take the time that I'm not busy busy with the dogs to kind of unwind
know enjoy kind of the simple things in life.
Jacob Miller
Awesome. So what what kind of music I like to ask some music questions, you know what kind of music I've been listening to lately? And is there any reason like maybe you're going back to music you lose, you still listen to in high school for some random reason? Yeah, it's kind of curious.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Um, well, honestly, like if I'm in my house. I'm usually like talking to my Google Home saying like, hey, Google Play. cerebral Ellis and she's kind of more of like your coffee house. Anytime I kind of want to feel inspired to start singing, singing again, because I've always really been into singing. I'll just have, you know that Pandora radio going or I'll say, you know, Hey Google Play Sam Smith if I'm feeling like I want to be a little bit like emotional and have that kind of side of things. And I'm really enjoying Mary Morris right now, too. I kind of like an array of everyone. And then sometimes I'm just like, I want to go back to my roots of like the 90s and planes saying and Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, because there's nothing like a mood lifter when listening to insane you might Yeah,
Jacob Miller
yeah, I've actually it's funny. I've actually been like jammed into like a 90s pop rock playlist. Yeah, for the last like, couple weeks. It just like, makes you feel good. It's just things it's like nostalgia and all that stuff. It's all good stuff. Yeah, totally. Yeah, well cool. Um, and then what I've one other question I'd like to ask before we kind of jump into your story. You know, if you weren't doing what you do right now and money wasn't really an issue, what could you see yourself doing with your life instead?
Kaitlin Stankowski
So if money was an issue, I mean, honestly, I would like to take some like major time and like see the world and travel and things like that. But actually, like my day to day I'd still want to be doing something that I feel like super fulfilled by And personally, it actually would still have to do with helping people like with their dogs more of like, I'd love to own a home or like multiple homes in different areas, like one in the mountains, one on the beach and do like wellness and lifestyle retreats. Focusing on like kind of lifestyle fitness and mindful dog ownership. This is like a goal I could potentially see coming to fruition in some shape or form. But what I mean by like lifestyle fitness is I feel like so many people kind of put a pressure on doing things the right way or having to, you know, be all in or not in at all where I want, you know, people to find ways to like authentically move their body that feels good to them without putting this pressure of meaning to look a certain way. I want to help, you know, people learn to just feel a certain way about themselves. And then with that, I'd love to incorporate, you know, people feeling a certain way about themselves as they own their dog. And I know a lot of people don't look at dog ownership, maybe as in depth as I do, but I really do think it's a super important relationship, just like every relationship you have in your life. So helping people understand how to be more mindful and you know, kind of in tune with that relationship as well is like a major goal of mine. So owning lots of houses. And basically, you know, enjoying a long weekend retreat with with other people.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, that sounds awesome, actually. Yeah, super cool. Yeah, I think that was one of the things that even drew me, to us that you have this mindset of, you know, there's not really, there's no such thing as a bad dog. It's like, it's just, you know, bad leaders basically. So because we're all we're all humans, and I know, you'll dig into that. But I think it's so true that the dogs are a reflection of who we are what we do. Exactly, because they're, I mean, just like when we raise a child, like, they, they see what we're doing, they hear, they don't always hear what we say. But they see what we do. So it's kind of interesting.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, and I'm always really, you know, intentional of understanding and empathetic that, you know, we're not always we don't all get a super easy dog either. So it's like, you know, giving ourselves a little bit of grace as well when it comes to dealing with some of the tougher, tougher behaviors and things like that, so long as we're doing our best. You know, that's really what I what I asked for from the dogs when I'm working with them and the owners.
Jacob Miller
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I when I think about Duke, it's like, he'll kind of not listen, sometimes I'm like, oh, sometimes I don't listen to myself. So it's all good.
Kaitlin Stankowski
We're not all gonna be perfect at all times whatsoever.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, for sure. Well, cool. Yeah. So let's let's, I like to call this next section back to the beginning, you know, the roots of kind of how you got to where you are right now. So, you know, let's go back to the first time you considered starting getting into like, dogs and like in dog behavior and helping other people have a better life with their dog. So you know what was going on in your life and kind of what was going through your head just kind of like paint a picture of what was happening?
Kaitlin Stankowski
Well, what kind of stemmed everything for me was more of going through my own challenges with my own dog, not even really realizing yet. The impact to that I could have another people's lives. But about five years ago, I was well, more than that now. I'd call it probably back in high school. So I'm 2728 I just turned 2828 now. So back in high school, I was really involved in local shelters and volunteering for dogs, you know, in most often would walk the dogs that other people didn't want to walk. So I really found a love for dogs in that way and kind of the ones that you'd kind of consider the underdogs. And then fast forward a few years, which is now five years ago at this point. Um, I adopted our first dog and you know, he was the sweetest pie, you know, four to five month old puppy that I'm like, Oh my gosh, you know, I have to have him got him from the Green Bay Humane Society. And everything seemed perfect until it wasn't so I you know, brought them into my home and he seemed like this You know, sweetest pie little puppy and I started seeing some behavioral issues which I just didn't even understand them at the time where, you know, he was lunging and growling at the end of leash and I couldn't walk him, you know, freaking out anytime he'd see another dog. You know, people would come over and it's constant barking, things like that, mainly the leash reactivity at the time, which I didn't know what that was. And then like, I need help, like, I don't know what to do here. You know, I was walking my dog at like 2am because I'm like, I'm not going to see anybody else and my dog needs to be walked. So I guess this is the time I have to do it. And then I realized once I went through quite the journey of, you know, let's get a trainer and then I had zero success with the first couple approaches that we were told to try until I found a balanced trainer who was able to give us you know, kind of like a handle on our life and give us you know, a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel of You know, helping our dog but also helping ourselves because it's hard living with, you know, a dog who does have behavioral issues. And then the more and more I started working with my dog, I realized, wow, there's such a need for people to understand that there is a better way to live with your dog. It doesn't need to be, you know, constant stress or the dog ruling the roost. And I also felt like there was a gap of what could be offered, and I wanted to do it in a new way. And, you know, my personal dog Brody is really the driving force of what's made me realize so many people need help with their dogs. But also dogs with behavioral issues can also be amazing and kind and sweet with the right leadership, so that's really what got me started. Was my own personal dog.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, awesome. Great. So what was what was kind of like the the First step, so you obviously you went to a to a balanced trainer, and maybe described before we kind of go into what is a balanced trainer? If anyone's I'm sure there's people asking. Yeah, I don't even mean
Kaitlin Stankowski
so definitely. Yeah. So when I was first when we first tried with our dog was what you'd consider purely positive training. So that's only positive reinforcement, which is positive reinforcement is super important part of the equation, but it's basically only telling a dog Yes. So keep doing what you're doing. So basically, what we were told is to throw cookies at our dog and tell him good boy when he was lunging at people in lunging and other dogs. And it didn't resonate well with me because I'm like, Okay, I think back to it. I'm like, if I was like throwing a tantrum, or, you know, hitting another kid, as a child, my parents would not tell me good girl and reward me for that there would be a consequence. So I decided that wasn't the right fit. For us, and found a balanced trainer, which is we do heavily, heavily positive reinforcement. But we also hold our dog accountable for things that are unwanted behaviors. So with that comes consequences. So it's truly a balance in your dog's life of we don't do these certain things. But we do lots of these things and making sure that we paint a clear picture of what we are looking for from our dog and giving lots of reinforcement for that. And then also teaching our dogs what we're not looking for. And that's things like unwanted behavior. Does that make sense?
Jacob Miller
Yeah, yep. Yeah. Good. So you went Yeah. So you went through that that train for yourself? To help with roadie and then what was what was the point where you're like, I think I want to do this and help other people like experience what I'm experiencing.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, so it wasn't long after. I really got a good hand. See, like a year after, you know, really working with roadie, I was like, starting to help my friends with their dogs. And I was like just kind of doing it for a hobby at that point. And then I'm like, Oh my gosh, like, I'm actually pretty good at this. And then I had a trainer that actually helped us with our dog. He told me, like, you know, you should start working with people. And I was like, really, so he actually recommended my first paying client and I did it on a private session basis. And that kind of just started things for me where I'm like, you know what, like, if I can do this on the side, because this was not my career at this point, I was, you know, in college and then ended up having a sales job and a completely different avenue of life. So I was like, well, I'll just do this, you know, kind of a side hustle and work with people on the side, which I did for a couple of years. until a year and a half ago, I decided to Completely go all in and give it my absolute all. And now make this my full time.
Career.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, awesome. So that that first kind of like opportunity you had to work with someone else's dog. What was that? Like? I mean, it's like kind of like first time for everything. You know, obviously you did it with roadie, but like when Yeah, charge in charge of leading someone else and their dog, like what was kind of like that feeling like, Oh, am I gonna do this right? Like, oh yeah, you know, I'm just kind of curious what that was like,
Kaitlin Stankowski
Oh, I was so nervous. But when I was actually working with her and her dogs, like, luckily, she was such a cool client, like, about my age. So we're probably both, you know, 24 at the time, and I'm just such a kind person. So I immediately had like a, I can take a deep breath. And now looking back, I'm like, Oh my goodness, that dog was so easy. So like, at first I was like, Oh my gosh, am I gonna be able to help this person like, you know, it am I going to do Okay, and I kind of just went into it and telling myself like, after I had my moments of freaking out nervousness of, I've got this, like, if I can handle you know, even some of my friends dogs who are a little bit more handfuls, I'm like, I can do this. I'm really good with people. So I'm like, this is gonna be no problem. And I kind of went into it that way. And it really went, it went awesome. There was, you know, no issues whatsoever. The owner was very happy, the dog was great. And, you know, she had nothing but really good things to say to me, about, you know, how she felt the training went. And it just kind of proved to me that, you know, I can do this.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Yes. So when you kind of first were doing that, especially with like a paid client, did you kind of create, based on your experience, like kind of like, I guess a blueprint to follow like a day to day type thing? Or did you kind of have guidance like you from that first trainer that you worked with, personally? Here's how you kind of developed your own kind of mindset and approach to what you do now.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, so what I did back then is very different from what I do. Now I just did a couple private sessions with those clients, where, you know, we would work together. Typically, the owner would like drop their dog off with me for like 45 minutes, we would talk about, you know, goals and things like that, that they have. Typically, it was something like my dog pulls really bad on leash or has crate anxiety or things like that, I would start to work with the dog on even just some basic things of leash manners and all of that, and then the owner would come back when we'd work together. So I didn't have a huge like blueprint of this is what I'm going to do from moment to moment because each song was so different, and I had such limited time. So I definitely had to go based off of Okay, what does the owner need to be successful when I only have an hour and a half to work with them? So that was a lot different than what I'm doing now with that My boarding train programs. And I will say that I definitely once I transitioned and really, you know, grew into what I'm doing now, I definitely had a blueprint of like, day one through day three follows XYZ, where now I feel like I've evolved so much where I still have, you know, some day one protocols and like things that I need to make sure that I'm keeping, you know, on track, but I definitely now and so much more in tune with dog behavior as a whole, that typically the dog will show me what they're ready for. So I don't follow like a, here's what we have to do every single day type of thing. I know what we need to get accomplished by the end of the program, depending on the length of it. And I kind of like I will write out like my daily schedule, but I'm always ready for that to change because when the dog comes out of their crate, and we're working, they might show me that it's going to change and we might have to deviate and do something completely different than what I thought my day was gonna look like. Does that make sense?
Jacob Miller
Yeah, no, absolutely. I think that's like, you know, just the almost the definition of of a coach is to understand, like, what's happening, what the needs are of that specific person, you know, even with an athlete, they're not gonna matter, not every athlete that comes in or even person, if you're getting a trainer at a gym, you're not going to give everybody 200 pounds on the bench press right away, understand and evaluate and then just read the room every week to like, Hey, how you doing this week? Oh, actually, like, I got really sick. So I'm feeling like super weak, but I want to get back in I'm feeling better. You know, it's like, how do you get back into the swing of things? So Exactly. And that's
Kaitlin Stankowski
actually, you know, an analogy that I talk with my clients a lot on is, you know, fitness and things like that is, you know, we have goals, you're not going to let if you want to lose 40 pounds, you're not going to do it in two weeks, and that's okay. Don't put that pressure on yourself. Or someone else might, you know, want to tone up and maybe lose five pounds. But yeah, maybe that can happen in two weeks. thing with dogs where it's like, they're all going to be so different that putting a pressure that's not fair. Or an expectation that's not realistic is definitely not my mo to just be like, well, this is what we accomplished in the dock with the dog two weeks. It's like no, I'm gonna always do what's fair and right by the dog and, you know, right by my, my clients and the owners with knowing that there's going to be deviation of my quote unquote plan that I have to move forward.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, it just reminds me of like, the whole comparison game we play with ourselves even like, with anything like on Instagram or the internet. It's like we see everybody else doing cool stuff. And we set those expectations for ourselves. And it's like, no, if we do that, we're just gonna fail. So yeah,
Kaitlin Stankowski
exactly. Yeah, yeah.
Jacob Miller
Well, cool. So at what point like you said you were doing it part time for a while. What was like the kind of thing that happened that where you're like, I'm gonna go all in and do this. Like what was coming? going on in your head for that part.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah. Well, previous to us living in Madison, Wisconsin, we lived out in Portland, Maine for only 10 months. And I was doing a part time while doing a sales role where I traveled a lot. It was just starting to find even though I loved my first career out of college and the people that I met through the company, and everything I did, I was still very passionate about it. But I knew that it was not my forever and that's was totally okay, but it was hard from animals felt like a bad breakup, because I love the people that I worked with so much, but I didn't love what I did anymore. And to me, even though, you know, I was young and still am young. I don't want to be like, Well, I have my whole life to do this because I don't know, I'm, you know, I don't know if I'm gonna have my whole life to do this. So we decided that we were going to be moving back to Wisconsin, and we've had To place basically on, where do we feel a dog training business can be successful. So we really picked Madison because we lived in Green Bay, and we loved it. But we didn't want to go back to Green Bay at that time. And there's already a lot of trainers that did similar to what I do in that area. And we want something fresh and new. So we decided on Madison, so when we moved here, I'm like, you know what, like, let's get settled in and let's see, but I want to give this my All I wanna, I want to do this. So I started basically targeting, you know, my social media posts, before we even move back to Wisconsin just getting people following and interested and things like that. And I booked to two week board and trains and I'm like, you know what, that is scary to think. But if I get too booked, I'm gonna quit my job and give this my all and I did that and we moved back in September. And I quit my job. My last day was January 3 of last year. So I just decided, you know, I have, I have to try, because I'm afraid to fail. And if I stay in this, like, I'm afraid to fail, I'm afraid to fail. I'm not going to do it. And my husband was so supportive of my decision and my passion. So we just decided, you know, let's give it a go. And worst comes to worse. I have to go get a different job. But so far, so good.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, that's awesome. It's so cool. And it's, it's also great that you kind of were, you were thinking like, well, how can I reduce like my risk of starting this like, Hey, I'm going to get to, to like to customers right away, before we jump in, and it kind of validates your like, your idea and yourself like, oh, people are willing to pay. like they've never met me in real life, but they're willing to work with me and they trust me and yeah, that's cool. Um, so the next thing I want to kind of go into his kind of like mentorship and obviously you had that the person early on with roadie that kind of mentored you in the beginning but as you kind of grown in your craft, helping dogs and people like who, who have been people, or treat other trainers in your life that have kind of shown you the way and guided you to get better at what you do.
Kaitlin Stankowski
So when I was breeding this portion and prepping, I was like, Oh, this is kind of like the mentors of the craft portion is a little bit more challenging for me actually, because the dog training world unfortunately, can be really ugly and not very kind at times. But then there's other people that are just such beautiful people and so nice and it doesn't necessarily mean that they taught me a ton on like my dog training skills, but of being you know, kind of a light in the industry, when there is a lot of politics If you will, so mentors in a way of teaching me so much about dogs and training and not just training but I'm really assessing a dog for exactly who they are and what they can be, would be Josh hurlburt he actually is from Julie's canine Academy. He is one of the most talented people that I've ever seen work with dogs. I've had the privilege of not only having him work with roadie for four weeks and help just finesse things that I've already done with him. But also I did two different shadow programs with him where I went out to Maryland and learn from him. And basically just got to see exactly what he does on a day to day basis with the dog and he was the person that really showed me that be ready for everything. A moment in your day with the dogs to change, like, you're going to have a game plan but be ready to change it because you need to do what the dog needs, even if there's tough moments in that situation. So he really is the person that I would say is a mentor of the craft of dog training to me even though I've learned so much from other people as well. He always definitely sticks out in my mind.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, so it sounds like he kind of set like a foundation and some maybe some I guess like critiquing over time but then it sounds like you working with with with the dogs and experiencing them every day in all different walks of dogs walks of life. It's they they they're teaching you more and more. I guess more than any other I guess mentor could because it's like, like you were saying, they all have different needs. They all have different attitude just like we do. We wake up with a different feeling of about ourselves every day. Dogs, you know, even we all have confidence issues some days instead of dogs. So yeah, how do we, how do we, I guess, like, navigate that each day. So I think that's great that you're more about assessing situations versus just assuming that it's going to go a certain way.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah. And that's a great point that you make is literally, the dogs are my mentors, because I'm theirs, but they're also mine. Because every moment that I'm spending with them, they're teaching me something new, even if it's the same application of what I need to do with each dog. They really are. The hands on work with dogs is priceless. Like that. That is where people really thrive as owning, you know, a dog training business is letting the dogs teach them along the way.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, yeah. I mean, even for me, it's like, when I see Duke, like, kind of not following the rules and so on. So I'm like, Well, actually, if I think about the last couple days, I've been a little too lenient and like totally guiding him prick and that makes sense. Like, okay, that's why he's not like, you know, responding to me right now it's like, Okay, I need to, I need to I need to get myself back on track so he can get back on track. Oh yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. Well awesome and then I also like to talk about you know mentors of your life you know those are people that support you sounds like your husband was very supportive your decision to dive in this but you know maybe if you want to talk about how he supported you or if there's anyone else in your life that has provided compassion, support and maybe even tough love to like, help you make a decision and just jump?
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah. Well, obviously my husband, he is like my number one fan and extremely supportive and never like completely extreme on either side from a standpoint of, you know, pressuring me to, you know, come on, take the leap, but also not on the side of do whatever your heart wants to do. It's very much like, obviously we have you know, things that we You need to be aware of but he's like I he's like I know you he's like you're so hard working you're gonna you're gonna do it like I have no doubts in here so he's definitely you know right up there with you know the support level that I definitely needed because we can all tend to kind of not see our own you know we were always going to doubt ourselves more than other people are going to doubt us and then definitely my parents and my sister so my family very tight knit we're very close. And my mom and dad are like very opposites but very similar in a way of my dad has always been, you know, wearing the business hat and entrepreneur but also tend to stay a little bit on the safe side of things throughout his career. And I remember a conversation that I had with him of, I wish I took more risk earlier on of you know, following the entrepreneur life versus waiting till I was 60 to take the leap of actually doing what I love to do so I actually thought I was going to get the opposite from my dad when I first said that you know I'm going to quit my cushiony like totally corporate job that makes sense with really good benefits and you know salary and on all of this and I thought he was really like hey like come on. It's dogs like are you really gonna have a you know career out of this but I was pleasantly surprised with the absolute opposite where he was so supportive and like, you know, you've got this like, this is the time to take risk and to follow what you want to want to do and we know you're going to do it. And then my mom is my number number number one fan. So she's, she's my cheerleader that's always on the sideline where you know, whatever Kate is gonna put her mind to my mom knows I'm gonna I'm gonna at least attempt to accomplish Even if there's road bumps along the way, she's always been the person that, you know, is cheering me on, and just so much compassion. And really just more people need people like my mom and their life because she just radiates kindness. And that was the other side that I needed to it where, you know, I did get a little bit of toughness from, you know, my dad and Casey of, you know, still keeping in mind the things that are important in life that you need to be able to provide and things like that. And then the the compassion from my mom was definitely another driving force of knowing that I can do this. Yeah,
Jacob Miller
awesome. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, the and this other. This other part like to talk about is, you know, are there passive mentors, you know, whether it's, maybe it's an online community, or there's books that you've read that kind of helped you. Maybe look at your relationship with dogs in a new way or in a better way? Or just a different a different way to help you better understand like how you can approach each dog and the issues that they have.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, so I definitely have read some really, um, you know, top notch Dog Training books that I really enjoyed. But I will say that you know, more podcasts and I listen to ebooks and stuff. I really find that like a passive mentor to me is like Ellen DeGeneres where it's like, just be kind to one on one another. So she's a person that I feel like, if I can be a really good person, then I know I can be a good coach to my clients and in the dog training side of it was already there for me. So I definitely find more connections of kind of like self development type things that can connect so much dog so so many times. I'll read you know, books by like Rachel Hollis or something like That's talking about, you know, you really need to focus on you. And the rest falls into place. And that's so often of what I need to talk to my owners about. So I find much more kind of like, guidance and ambition through more content like that, then I actually do like, how to train a dog type books. Yeah. And that's really where I find it also helps me connect more to the owners that I work with.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, well, just from my experience of following what you do and just working with you, it sounds more like it's not really about training a dog. It's about training ourselves to communicate better with the dog.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, and I always tell people, dogs are actually the easy part, even if you get tough ones. You know, obviously, there are some out there that in some that I've worked with, and I'm like, wow, they've got me. Like, I gotta, I got to get creative here. But I will say that nine times out of 10 transferring it and training the owner. And the owners mindset is much harder than working with the actual dog.
Jacob Miller
Yeah. We know too much for own good we think.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Exactly. I'm guilty of it myself. I have to look in the mirror at times and be like, Okay, why is birdie being pushy? Oh yeah, that's because I'm allowing it.
I'm there with ya.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, for sure. What and then what what's kind of like, your favorite like aspect of like, working with, with different types of dogs and with different backgrounds like what you know, in the day to day like, what are kind of your favorite moments that you like to experience as you're working with different types of dogs and people?
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, so with the dogs, I'd say that. I genuinely I don't like to say that. I like to work with tougher dogs because Don't get me wrong. I don't want to get like man eaters coming in and that's what I'm working with. But I do like the dogs that really need my guidance and needs leadership and needs. structure, because seeing a moment of your dog, a dog going from confusion and uncertainty and potentially even brattiness to Oh, like you see a shift in their eyes if I get it, that is one of the most like, awesome moments that I as a dog trainer could experience is seeing a dog connect the dots. But I'm not making them connect the dots on their own. I'm helping them but I'm also not leaving them in a state where I'm giving them I'm managing them through every little thing because I do want them to learn how to be thoughtful and how to think versus just react in a situation. So seeing a dog connect the dots is so awesome and also seeing like an anxious dog relax is like right up there as well. And then with my clients. Seeing them connect the dots is even better than seeing the dog Connect. Connect the dots because when they can See their dog that they've struggled potentially with for years. do better with me and a day gives them like, okay, least I know my dog has potential, but then it's like, Alright, I've got some work to do on myself. And that typically gives people like a need to step back and really, really digest everything Caitlin's kind of thrown in my way. And I really love that I love seeing an owner be ready for change, because it's not a quick fix training is a lifestyle and I want it to be that way for my clients. I don't want them to send their dog to me because they're annoyed of it and they want a quick fix. At that point. It's not the right client for me, and I'm not the right trainer for them. So I really want it to be a team effort and seeing an owner commit to that. Teamwork is very, very rewarding for me.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, awesome. Yeah yeah very cool I have mouse so kind of curious you kind of like tease that at the beginning with like dream scenario doing like these retreats and stuff. But where do you kind of see you know yourself going with with your with your program right now do you see yourself because obviously you work with a another trainer right now to to help you kind of like carry carry the weight of having multiple dogs each week. But I guess what do you see next? Or do you feel like no, I like having the smaller capacities because I feel like I have more control or I you know, I get to be in the weeds more and understand what's happening. Yeah, it's kind of curious where you're at with that.
Kaitlin Stankowski
So I have a lot of goals and where I want things to go. I will say that I do want to keep my program on smaller scale from a standpoint of we will not be in like the current location or current house that we're in right now for long I'm guessing a couple more years and then my goal is to I have a bigger house with land that the training facility is still on our property but disconnected from the home you know kind of in the backyard and having it still be a home setting because I find so much value in being able to train the dogs out of my home because when they go home I see the transition thing so much smoother. So you know, maybe five years down the road, I'd love to be in a new location and you know, taking on maybe one extra dog a month, maybe two if I if I can have my my current assistant work full time for me, I would love that. And then I'm partnering up with two other trainers. One that's out of Canada and the other out of Orlando, Florida, two really good friends of mine. And we are starting a basically a workshop for dog owners and you know, other dog trainers They'd like to come but definitely dog owner focused called more than the dog and we were supposed to have it This may but with everything going on in the world right now pushed off
Jacob Miller
within the shoulders, you'll find things like
Kaitlin Stankowski
dog workshop where there was a man
Unknown Speaker
the episodes kind of
Unknown Speaker
all like to potentially do as a trio
Jacob Miller
wherever you're listening in, leave a
Kaitlin Stankowski
rating and
Jacob Miller
be sure to tune in. Think that
Kaitlin Stankowski
kind of a year's
Jacob Miller
plan, you know?
Kaitlin Stankowski
What's gonna happen beyond that? I'd love to do more something and I'd love to do this podcast.com
I do feel like I can do it. It's just a
Jacob Miller
matter of the newsletter. No, where's my journey? Gonna take every single episode and get exclusive content that you weren't anyone's listen to this and join us for K thanks again for listening. Appreciate your time you take stories care friends one other thing I was asking because I'm actually curious about it with Duke even is doing like agility runs and stuff with him and obstacles and stuff. Have you ever thought about doing that more for fun like even on a personal level like just kind of curious like other things you've been interested in? Sure yeah,
Kaitlin Stankowski
so I personally don't train sport dog type activities. I'm definitely no family pet trainer but I do have so much respect for those that do train that I love doing, you know, kind of more fun things like that with my own personal dogs. So I won't I don't believe that down the road I'll offer it. Maybe canine will offer it but maybe not me. So you know, maybe another trainer will eventually down the road will offer something like that. And I'll have someone else headed or you know, maybe even a trick class. Or something like that? Yeah. So who knows, but I definitely could see me getting into it as like a hobby with one of my dogs. But I'll let someone else be that expertise in that avenue.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, for sure. Cool. So if you if you were to it's kind of a closing question. If you were to start your path over today, you know, what's one thing that you do differently to help you kind of grow faster?
Kaitlin Stankowski
I probably would have started sooner. Maybe not even full time, but I had a lot of self doubt in the beginning. So trusting my gut and knowing that I could do it sooner would have been awesome. I also always say that I wish I knew more when I first adopted roadies, and you know then what I did, but I also have to remind myself that I probably wouldn't be where I'm at today if I did no more. Because if I had a you know, perfect easygoing dog I don't think I would have even ever Found a balanced trainer. To be honest, I had no idea what it was. I only needed it because I needed help. So I do wish for his sake, I would have known more so that I could have changed some of the things that I did with him in the very beginning but coulda shoulda woulda, I think the, the path that I did take and have continued to take is what's brought me to where I am today. I think I just, you know, I wish I started working with dogs even sooner on because I enjoy it so much. And I love what I'm doing. Even if there's days that I'm like, okay, is it time for bed yet? But majority of the time I really do love what I do. There's tough moments for sure. You know, it's a 24 seven job even if I'm not working with dog 24 seven. I'm never not thinking about them. So I always tell people I don't charge you extra for waking up at 3am thinking about your dog and even though they're in my kennel room like okay, what am I going to accomplish with that dog? Tomorrow, so, just so you know, I didn't charge you extra for thinking about Duke at that time. Yeah, well the night
Jacob Miller
it's just you know, you're in the right spot when you have a job, even if you're working for somebody else, like, if you have a job and you're just always thinking about it, like it's not like your work like you're working like, physically but mentally you're like always thinking about how you can do something better, to like help, you know, help a customer or help your help your team or whatever help just just to make a difference. It's because I do the same thing with my job. It's like, I don't own the company I work out but I think about it all the time. I'll be up on on Twitter or on the internet, looking at articles and blogs, and like, Oh, this is really cool. Maybe we could use this or I think of an idea and then I like go on slack or email somebody or whatever. It's just like I have I just my brain just always going yeah, this I know. There's opportunities and I love being a part of those things. And yeah,
Kaitlin Stankowski
that's so awesome. And they're, you know, lucky to have and valued employees. Like that, because, you know, so many people don't, you know, invest themselves if it's, you know, they don't think they have skin in the game and it's not theirs. But there also are so many amazing people out there working for such awesome companies. And it's like, again, it's a team effort no matter who's, who's owning it and who's not. I will say that one of the greatest things that I did do is the fact that I started my own company. That was something that was really scary for me because it's like, Okay, well, I guess I have a company now. So, like, Who's gonna take me seriously so I could have gone to work for someone. But I will never regret you know, starting my own company and making it how I want it because I know that what I'm doing today is different than what a lot of people are doing, even if it's the same, you know, concept. I do feel like I'm bringing a different value to my clients and for that, you know, I really am proud of Kind of what canine has become today.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, very cool. And one thing I want to ask ask is, you know, if someone was interested in maybe going into this, maybe they've kind of like looked online and tried some things on their own, or maybe they did work with a trainer. And they were like, I feel like I could do this to you know, what would you recommend to them? like would you you know, other maybe some resources online or books or maybe they could, you know, work with you Do you offer mentorship at all? I'm just kind of curious what you would tell people
Kaitlin Stankowski
yeah, so what I would say is getting as much hands on experience as you can. So I offer a shadow program lines a three day where someone comes in basically it's to see the ins and outs of what I do what it's like to actually own a dog training business. And if people don't want to own one still getting to see kind of what a day to day with working with with a dog is like, and then I would also tell people to start working with family friend dogs. Make sure that you're in it not because you just love dogs. If that's the case, I'm not saying don't do it, but I'm saying tread lightly with that because I love dogs as well. But it changes the way you feel about dogs when you start working with them because they are not just your cuddly, you know, family pet, they are, you know, these amazing predators that we have the you know, that we're bringing into more of a domesticated state, but we still need to honor you know, what they were bred to do and all of those kinds of things so if you're just in it because you love puppies and stuff like that, maybe don't do you know, board and training programs or behavior modification or anything like that, maybe do a trick training or something like that. But, um, you know, definitely telling people to start getting their hands on dogs and learn by, you know, seeing other people do it but also doing it themselves. Obviously books and research. Horses are great. But you're going to ask 10 trainers something and get 10 different answers. And then you'll get into this kind of gray area of feeling like you're not enough and all of that and the comparison game. So it's like, just get your hands on some dogs, go do some awesome shadow programs, and really be willing to learn all aspects of how to approach a dog in general and then being really good at starting to create some people skills so that you can really help the owners be successful.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think I mean, regardless of the critical into I think people skills is definitely like, almost the most important part. Just how to properly talk to people and get them to understand like what you're trying to tell them.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Most definitely.
Jacob Miller
Yeah, very cool. So how can people get ahold of you and find out, find out more follow you and learn from you?
Kaitlin Stankowski
Yeah, so head on over to my website, Kane. Nine the number nine Dog Training comm where I have all my programs and pricing and things like that. And then if you want to connect with me on social, I'm most active on my Instagram page at canine dog training I have a facebook youtube definitely connect with me and I'd love to hear from you guys and if you have any questions I also do like live Q and A's and offer a lot of free content so check me out
Jacob Miller
Yeah, awesome. Yeah, I definitely even even though Duke has gone through the program I like always following and seeing if there's anything new or different or any like Oh, she's you know, feel you'll talk about any any commands that I feel like he's struggling with, I'll like kind of revisit those and I'll work on that with him. And especially to when you show specific instances with new dogs that you're working with. This helps me understand like each each command in a new way and like how different dogs will kind of respond to learning them and what you can do to kind of guide them and correct them. So
Kaitlin Stankowski
yeah, definitely
Jacob Miller
Yeah, well, awesome. It was awesome to talk with you and hear your story and share, share everything that you know and what you've learned. So, thank you so much for being here and have a good one.
Kaitlin Stankowski
Right you too. Thanks so much for having me, Jacob.
Jacob Miller
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