Take time to make short and long term goals.
Kim Paciotti CPDT-KA, founder of Training Canines, LLC specializes in early puppy development. Kim is a certified trainer with the Council of Certified Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) and many refer to her as a Canine Scientist, and Puppy Specialist. Kim is also a Professional Member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). She is a graduate of Highland Canine Training in both on- and off-leash obedience. Kim continued her education at Animal Behavior College for training rescue and shelter dogs. She completed the Dog Cognition & Emotion course offered by Brian Hare at Duke University. Being an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, she knows what is expected to pass this test. Kim is an approved evaluator for the National Therapy Dog Registry.
Her research within the field of puppy training led Kim to create The Empowered Puppy Program, an exciting approach to training the whole puppy—mentally, physically, and socially. Kim believes that solving the ongoing issue of dog surrenders to shelters and rescues begins with a solid foundation in puppyhood. Kim’s research has proven over and over that training puppies from an early age, and to their individual personalities, stops unwanted behaviors before they begin and builds a strong relationship between dog and owner. It is her desire to change the way people understand and ‘do’ training by teaching them that it’s about working with your lifestyle and your puppy, not against them. Kim is passionate about changing the world one puppy at a time!
Kim lives in Statesville, NC with her husband David, and her two English Mastiffs Sammy and Bernard.
Where did the idea for your company come from?
I have to thank my English Mastiff, Sabre. When she was 10 months old our black lab passed away, and she didn’t know how to grieve. We hired several trainers to help us and they told us that she couldn’t be fixed. That wasn’t an option for me, so I had to figure out what to do. So I turned my career from a professional chef to learning how to train dogs.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Even though I have a plan for everyday what I want to accomplish, often I need to adapt to the happenings of the day. When working with puppies, we could end up with all sorts of adventures. Even a minor bee sting can cause an unexpected trip to the vet. It took me a while to learn to “go with the flow” as by having that attitude, lets me accomplish more of what I need.
How do you bring ideas to life?
If I have an idea that I feel will help our business grow, we implement it immediately. I don’t wait and say lets do that next month or next year. I utilize my excitement and my team’s excitement to bring the idea into play immediately. I think this comes from the fact that we are on a limited time of learning stages with our puppies. Therefore we don’t let grass grow under our feet.
What’s one trend that excites you?
There are several! I am beginning to see the shift of people caring more about what their dogs eat and how they learn. Both items, which are all of what, our company is about. We recently even developed a cooking show “Healthy Dog Eats, with Dr. Cos” where we make a meal for the dog that people can eat. We are using whole healthy foods, and foods geared to help prevent cancer.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Multitasking, and thinking ahead. I was a professional chef for over 20 years, running events, and that gave me the learned skills of doing 100 things at once.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Take time to make short and long term goals.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
That I need to be involved in every aspect of my company. I am often told that I need to hire more help and delegate more. The issue is there are not many people that are going to give it there “all” cleaning after ten puppies. It is just easier and quicker for me to do it all then to get aggravated with someone who just will do a poor job.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Always give 110%. No one will love your business as much as you do. No one has any greater stake in it than you do. So why would you not do your best in each and every aspect of your business. Never ask someone who works for you to do something you wouldn’t. You must know everyone’s job in your business and how to perform it.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Always push to learn more. We bring a mom and her litter of pups to our facility when they are ten days old and begin training. We may try new techniques, and improve upon what we have already learned. We then take that into the next litter, using what worked, and changing what didn’t. With all the research we do we share what we learned with our clients and future clients via Facebook and Instagram daily. This keeps our goal of educating just how smart these animals are in the forefront. Who doesn’t love watching cute puppies!
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Looking back I have started several businesses. All I did on a shoestring. I always felt my drive hard work and passion would carry me through. I never did market research; I just jumped in face first. With my current company, I gave it much more thought, and decided to take it slower.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Dog nutrition is so hard for the average person to understand. Think of how many choices of dog food there are! With every dog as individual as a person, their specific nutritional requirements are just as individual. The trends are turning to more home cooked feeding of our dogs and with this it opens up a vast amount of niche markets someone could pursue.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I recently purchased KDP Rocket. It is a software program that helps you analyze the categories on Amazon for listing your book. This was a great time saver, and taught me how to push our book, A Puppy’s Perspective 101 Puppy Training Tips You Need to Know, to an Amazon Bestseller.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
We use a company called Click Placement they manage our Google Ad Words account. I used to do this and it was just so frustrating always trying to figure out what the next thing Google was going to require or change. This is something best left to professionals. However, do your homework as not all companies that work on Ad Words know what they are doing. I had tried two others that sent my account into a tailspin that took months to recover.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I don’t have much time to read, however I am an avid fan of Shark Tank, so I did purchase Lori Greiner’s book, Invent it, Sell It, Bank It. We were looking into having a dog bed we made manufactured, and she certainly has the knowledge on bringing a product to market.
What is your favorite quote?
“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand forever.” Confucius
Key learnings:
• Understand your industry, learn all you can about your trade and continually educate yourself. Trial and error is often the best teacher.
• Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box, even if others say it will never work.
• Give 110% all of the time, and never ask someone on your team to do what you would not.
• Don’t be afraid to fail, as failing is a learning experience, that truly makes you stronger.
Connect:
Foundational Trained Puppies for Assistance-Therapy-Pets: http://www.trainingcanines.com
Training for Breeders and Trainers: http://www.empoweredpuppy.com
Online Puppy School for New Puppy Owners: http://www.empoweredpuppyschool.com
Healthy Eats with Dr. Cos and Empowered Pups Fan Page: http://www.empoweredpups.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trainingcanines
Twitter: @empoweredpuppy
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/empoweredpups
Instagram:
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/empoweredpuppy
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trainingcanines/
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.