You know you want to become a dog trainer.
Now let’s actually teach you how to become one.
You’ve watched the videos. You’ve listened to the podcasts. You follow the trainers. You probably watch random dogs walking down the street and analyze them without even realizing you’re doing it.
The From The Heart Professional Trainer Mentorship is the program I wish existed when I knew I wanted to become a dog trainer but was trying to figure out how the hell to actually become one.
Victoria, out working the pack — this is the job.
You probably already know who you are.
- Maybe you already work with dogs.
- Maybe you’ve trained your own dog and realized you are completely obsessed with this.
- Maybe you’re the person everyone calls when their dog is being an asshole 😂
- Or maybe you’re sitting at a job that has absolutely nothing to do with dogs thinking, I really wish I could do this for a living.
I get it. Because I was that person.
This is almost a full year of learning, doing, watching, questioning, practicing, screwing things up sometimes, figuring out why, trying again and becoming a trainer who can actually think for yourself.
Not just someone who knows some dog training techniques.
A trainer.
This isn’t a certification.
It’s not a weekend course.
It’s not five days of following me around and then going home thinking, Okay…now what?
And it’s definitely not 97 prerecorded videos that you buy, watch four of and forget your password to six months later 😂
There are a million places you can learn dog training techniques. YouTube is free. There are podcasts, courses, seminars, trainers, books and about 47 million opinions on the internet about how you should train a dog.
Information isn’t really the problem anymore. Knowing what to DO with all of that information is.
Because eventually you have to stand in front of a dog you’ve never met with an owner looking at you waiting for an answer.
And nobody is standing behind you whispering what to do next.
That’s where being a trainer actually starts.
We have principles. We don’t have a script.
This is probably one of the biggest things I want people to understand about how I train.
Yes, you are going to learn the From The Heart philosophy. We’re going to talk about state of mind, fulfillment, structure, communication, confidence, relationship, pressure and release, leash work, place work, boundaries, tools and all of the things we use every single day.
But I’m not interested in creating eight little versions of me. And I definitely don’t want you leaving here thinking: Dog does X = Victoria says do Y.
Dogs don’t work that way. The nervous dog standing in front of you isn’t the same as the confident dog standing in front of you. A dog who has been running the house for six years isn’t the same as a puppy who has no idea what the rules are yet. And the human on the other end of the leash changes the picture too.
I want you asking:
- What am I actually seeing?
- What is this dog’s state of mind?
- What’s missing?
- What has this dog been practicing?
- What is the owner accidentally reinforcing?
- Is this dog fulfilled?
- Does this dog need more structure?
- Does this dog need more confidence?
- How much pressure can this dog handle?
- Do I push here? Do I slow down?
- And what happens when the thing I thought would work…doesn’t?
That’s the fun part. Okay, sometimes it’s also the frustrating part 😂 But that’s where you learn.
I want you to make decisions. I want you to explain those decisions. I want you to be able to change your mind when the dog gives you different information.
And yes, I am going to ask you WHY approximately 4,000 times throughout the year. Get used to it.
Learn how to think. Not what to copy.
The dog is only half your job.
This is the part of becoming a dog trainer that I think gets wildly underestimated.
You can be really freaking good with dogs and still struggle as a professional trainer if you have no idea how to talk to people.
Because guess what? The dog has an owner. And you’re going to have to talk to them 😂
- Sometimes they’re nervous.
- Sometimes they’re overwhelmed.
- Sometimes they’re embarrassed.
- Sometimes they’re frustrated.
- Sometimes they’ve watched too many TikToks.
- Sometimes they’re convinced their dog needs more socialization when you’re standing there thinking, Actually, please stop socializing this dog for five minutes.
- Sometimes they need a lot of information.
- Sometimes they need you to stop talking and give them ONE thing to work on.
- And sometimes you need to explain, very kindly, that the dog might not actually be the biggest problem in the room.
That takes skill. We’re going to work on how to read the person standing in front of you just like you’re learning to read the dog.
- How do you explain something complicated without making it complicated?
- How do you tell someone they’re contributing to the problem without making them feel like a terrible dog owner?
- How do you run a lesson?
- What questions should you ask? What matters today? What can wait?
- What homework is this person actually going to do?
- How do you write a follow-up that helps instead of overwhelming them?
- How do you have uncomfortable conversations?
- How do you make someone feel like you understand them AND still tell them what needs to change?
Because people don’t keep working with you just because you’re good with dogs.
They work with you because they trust you.
Both ends of the leash matter.
So what are we doing for almost a year?
Build the foundation
Before I care about you handling complicated behavioral cases, I want your foundation solid.
We’re going to work on leash handling, pressure and release, place, crates, thresholds, fulfillment, structure, boundaries, state of mind, relationship and the core principles behind the way we work dogs at From The Heart.
But I’m not just going to show you HOW. I want you to understand WHY.
- Why did we slow that dog down?
- Why did we add structure?
- Why didn’t I comfort that nervous dog in that moment?
- Why did I give that dog more freedom? Why did I take freedom away from this one?
- Why did we change the plan?
You get the idea. Lots of why 😂
Learn how to see
This is where things get really fun.
Instead of watching a lesson and waiting for me to tell you what I think, I’m going to start asking what you think. You might get a client intake and the first few minutes of a lesson. Then I’m stopping it.
- What do you see?
- What’s the root issue?
- What would you ask the owner?
- What would you work on first? What would you NOT work on yet?
- What would you say to the client?
Then we’ll see what actually happened. Sometimes you’ll agree with me. Sometimes you won’t. Sometimes you’ll notice something I didn’t. GOOD. I don’t want a room full of people nodding at everything I say. I want trainers who think.
Okay, now you do it.
At some point I have to stop talking and make you train the dog 😂
This is where you’ll start taking more ownership.
- Building training plans.
- Working dogs. Making decisions.
- Explaining what you’re seeing.
- Practicing client conversations. Teaching concepts.
- Getting feedback. Trying again.
There will be times I disagree with you. There will be times you’re wrong. There will probably be times I’m wrong too. Welcome to working with living things. I’m not looking for perfection. I’m looking for your ability to observe, think, make a decision, explain it and adjust when you get new information. That’s a trainer.
Now let’s make this a career.
Okay, you can train dogs. Now what?
This is another huge reason I wanted this mentorship to be a year. Because I don’t want to teach you how to work a dog and then send you out into the world with absolutely no idea how to turn that skill into a career.
We’re going to talk about it all:
- Clients. Professionalism. Pricing. Services.
- Profitability. Marketing. Policies.
- Boundaries. Capacity. Recurring revenue.
- Hiring. Leadership. Building a team.
- Burnout — and how to build something that doesn’t eventually own your entire life.
Maybe you want your own business. Maybe you want to be an incredible trainer working for someone else. Maybe you have no freaking idea yet. That’s completely fine. We have almost a year to figure it out.
“What would Victoria do?”
“Here’s what I see. Here’s what I think this dog needs. Here’s what I’m going to do. And here’s why.”
THAT is the goal.
4 in-person. 4 virtual.
I want this cohort small on purpose. I want to actually know the people I’m mentoring.
I want to know what you’re good at. I want to know where you’re struggling. I want to see how you think. I want to watch you develop over the year.
I’m not trying to put 100 people through an online program. There are eight spots.
Four students will train with us in person at From The Heart. You’re going to be around real dogs and real situations.
- Working an individual dog.
- Observing a private lesson.
- Shadowing a Training Camp.
- Working on leash handling. Going on a field trip.
- Watching a client conversation.
- Working with a nervous dog — or a dog who thinks the world revolves around him 😂
Or I might hand you a leash and say: “Okay. Tell me what you see.”
You’ll learn from me, Abby and the rest of the FTH team.
And just to be very clear… no, you’re not paying $15,000 to come work daycare for free 😂 Our staff runs daycare. The dogs in our care give us an incredible population of different personalities, challenges, energy levels and states of mind to learn from. Your job is to learn.
Virtual does NOT mean you’re going to sit on Zoom watching me talk about dogs for a year. That sounds terrible for both of us.
You’ll participate in our live education, case studies, video assignments, communication work, dog-training assignments, business conversations and coaching. You’ll work dogs where you live. You’ll submit video. We’re going to watch it. Yes, we’re going to talk about it 😂
- Once per quarter, you’ll come to Michigan for a hands-on immersion with us at FTH.
- I want virtual students getting dirty too. You’re going to train. You’re going to practice. You’re going to get feedback.
- You just happen to live somewhere else. Different logistics. Same mentorship.
Travel and lodging for Michigan immersions are not included in tuition.
I basically built the thing I wanted.
Victoria — From The Heart.
When I decided I wanted to become a dog trainer, I became obsessed. I wanted to know everything. I watched trainers. I listened to podcasts. I read. I studied different approaches. I worked dogs. I asked questions. I tried things. Some worked. Some definitely did not 😂
And over time I got really good at taking information from different places, connecting the dots and figuring out what made sense to me.
But I remember thinking: I just want someone I respect who actually WANTS to teach me. Not someone I could watch from a distance. Someone I could ask why. Someone who would watch me and say:
- You missed that.
- Do it again.
- Slow down. Look at the dog.
- Why did you make that decision?
- What did the dog just tell you?
- And eventually… okay, you’re good at dogs. Now how are you going to make a living doing this?
I wanted mentorship. So that’s what I’m building.
From The Heart has grown from me training dogs into a real business with a team, multiple services, systems, managers and a pretty incredible community of clients.
- I’ve learned how to train dogs.
- I’ve learned how to teach people.
- I’ve learned how to hire. I’ve learned how to manage people.
- I’ve learned how to price things. I’ve learned how to make money.
- I’ve learned how to build services.
- I’ve learned how to let go of things I probably should have let go of sooner 😂
I’ve made mistakes. I’ve changed my mind. I’ve had ideas that worked really well. I’ve had ideas that absolutely did not. And I’m still learning.
I actually think that’s important. I never want to become the trainer who thinks she knows everything. And I definitely don’t want to create trainers who think they know everything.
I want you confident enough to trust yourself and humble enough to keep learning. That’s a really important combination.
Changing the Mindset of Dog Ownership with Victoria
Yes. We’re going to talk about money.
Because if this is going to be your career, somebody eventually has to pay you 😂
Making money isn’t a dirty little secret we’re not supposed to talk about because we love dogs. You can care deeply about dogs. You can genuinely care about people. You can do really good work. AND you can build a profitable career. Those things can exist at the same time.
If you want to own a business, we’re going to talk about pricing, services, profitability, capacity, recurring revenue, marketing, customer experience, hiring, leadership, systems and growth. Not from a textbook. From actually doing it.
And if you DON’T want to own a business? Great. Then let’s talk about how you become an incredibly valuable professional trainer, build a caseload, work with clients, communicate professionally and create a career you actually like.
There isn’t one version of success here.
You’re not buying information.
You’re going to have plenty of information. Trust me 😂 But that’s not what you’re paying for.
- The environment.
- The feedback. The access. The repetition.
- The conversations. The uncomfortable moments.
- The dogs that challenge you.
- The client situations that make you think.
- The ability to ask a question and actually talk it through.
- The opportunity to have someone watch you work and tell you what you’re missing.
- Nearly a full year of professional mentorship
- Twice-weekly live Zoom education and coaching
- Real case analysis and lesson breakdowns
- Hands-on training for in-person students
- Quarterly Michigan immersions for virtual students
- Real training assignments
- Trainer Video Labs
- Client communication coaching
- Business and career coaching
- A private mentorship forum
- Quarterly one-on-one Trainer Development Reviews with me
- Access to our growing FTH case library
- Feedback from me, Abby and the FTH team
- Seven other people who are just as serious about this as you are
You aren’t buying a bunch of information. You’re entering an environment designed to develop you. There’s a big difference.
And when the year ends?
I don’t want December 17th to come and you think: Well…shit. Now what? 😂
The intensive part of the mentorship ends. But if you want to stay connected, you can. Graduates will have the option to join the FTH Trainer Alumni Community for $50/month.
You’ll be able to stay connected to the trainer community, participate in ongoing case discussions and education, access new cases and bring questions to the group as your career develops.
Because the questions aren’t going to stop just because the mentorship ends. Actually, you’re probably going to have MORE questions.
- Your first really difficult client.
- The dog that makes you question everything.
- Changing your pricing. Starting your business.
- Hiring your first employee. Getting stuck on a case.
- Having a moment where you’re like: Victoria, what the hell 😂
That’s normal. My goal isn’t to make you dependent on me. Quite the opposite. I want you to trust yourself. But I also believe the best professionals never stop learning or surrounding themselves with people who challenge them.
The intensive mentorship lasts a year. The relationship doesn’t have to.
The investment.
This is a serious program. It’s a serious amount of my time, my team’s time and your time. And I want people who are serious about doing something with it.
Program Tuition
$15,000
Pay in Full
Save $500
$14,500
Payment Plan
Initial payment secures your spot once accepted, then 6 monthly payments
$3,750 + 6 × $1,875
This is a commitment to the full mentorship. The payment plan is simply that: a payment plan. It is not a month-to-month membership where you participate for three months, decide you’re over it and cancel.
When I accept you, I’m giving you one of only eight spots for the year. I’m committing to you. I expect you to commit to it too.
You don’t buy your way into this.
You apply. And yes, there is a difference.
There are only eight spots and I don’t necessarily want the eight people who know the most about dog training. I can teach dog training. I’m looking for something else.
- Are you curious?
- Are you coachable?
- Do you work hard?
- Can you take feedback?
- Can you be wrong without completely falling apart?
- Can you ask good questions?
- Will you speak up when you don’t understand something?
- Will you go home thinking about something we talked about because you genuinely want to understand it?
- Do you actually WANT this?
What have you done with the resources you’ve already had available to you?
Maybe you haven’t had access to professional mentorship yet. That’s okay. What HAVE you done?
What have you watched? What have you read? Who have you learned from? What have you practiced? What questions are you trying to answer? What are you curious about?
Because I can teach you a lot. I can’t make you want it. And I don’t want to. I want the people who already do.
How to apply.
In-Person Applicants
- Submit your application.
- We’ll talk.
- Selected finalists will be invited to From The Heart for a trial/shadow experience so I can get to know you in the actual environment.
- Then final selections will be made.
I’m not expecting you to walk in already training exactly like us. That would kind of defeat the purpose 😂 I want to see how you listen, how you think, what you notice, the questions you ask, how you respond to feedback and whether this feels like the right fit on both sides.
Virtual Applicants
- Submit your application.
- Selected applicants will complete a video submission so I can learn more about you, your experience, how you think and why you want this.
- Then we’ll interview.
- Then final selections will be made.
You do not have to live in Michigan. You DO have to be willing and able to travel to Michigan for the quarterly hands-on immersions.
Applying does not guarantee acceptance. There are eight spots.
I’m choosing the people I genuinely believe I can help develop.
A few questions you’re probably thinking.
Do I already need to be a dog trainer?
No. If you have experience, great. If you don’t, that doesn’t automatically disqualify you.
I’m much more interested in how serious you are about learning, what you’ve already done on your own, how coachable you are and whether you’re genuinely interested in making this a career.
Is this a certification?
No. I’m not interested in you paying me $15,000 so I can hand you a piece of paper that says you’re a dog trainer. I want you to actually know how to be one.
Is the virtual program basically an online course?
Absolutely not. If you want to buy some videos and watch them whenever you feel like it, there are plenty of programs for that. This isn’t one of them.
You’re expected to participate, train dogs, submit work, show up, ask questions and come to Michigan quarterly for hands-on work.
Are travel and lodging included for virtual students?
No. Travel, lodging and related expenses for your Michigan immersions are your responsibility.
If I finish, am I guaranteed a job with From The Heart?
No. This is an educational mentorship, not a year-long job interview with a guaranteed position at the end.
Now…could someone come through this program and be so freaking good that I want them on my team? Absolutely. I’d love that. But employment is never guaranteed.
Can I stop paying if I decide I don’t want to finish?
No. You’re committing to the program, not purchasing individual months.
We’ll have all of the official boring legal language in the enrollment agreement 😂 but the simple version is: if you choose the payment plan, you’re still committing to the full tuition.
What if I miss something?
Life happens. But this also isn’t a drop-in class. There will be clear expectations around participation, and missed hands-on days or immersion opportunities generally aren’t going to roll over into extra days later.
Part of becoming a professional is showing up.
Thinking about it?
Good. You should. This isn’t a small commitment. It’s almost a year of your life. It’s a financial investment.
I’m going to expect things from you. I’m going to challenge you. I’m going to tell you when I think you can do better. I’m going to ask you questions you may not know the answer to yet. That’s the point.
You don’t need to already be a great trainer to apply. You need to genuinely want to become one.
- 8 people.
- Almost one full year.
- A lot of dogs.
- A lot of questions.
- Probably a ridiculous amount of “why?”
- And hopefully, by December, a completely different version of the trainer who walked in during January.
If you’ve been waiting for someone to actually teach you… maybe this is it.