We recently connected with Melissa Thomas and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have animals my entire life and I developed a strong passion, love, and bond for them from a very young age. Everywhere I went, there was an animal of some sort and I always gravitated toward them. I had a special place in my heart for each and every one.
Fast forward to high school and we had two cats and a small dog at the time. We took a family trip out to the West Desert one weekend, and on that trip, we found 7 Great Pyrenees puppies abandoned in the middle of nowhere. There were empty food and water bowls, but no people and no mom dog around. We had been searching for latitude and longitude markers all day and had covered the area pretty thoroughly, so we loaded all of them up, took them home, and to our vet. After checking them out, he said it was common for local sheepherders to take the puppies away from mom because they wanted the mom to pay attention to the sheep, not the puppies, so he figured that’s what had happened to these puppies. They were only 4 weeks old.
This was a time when the no-kill movement in shelters wasn’t very well known, so my grandparents kept the puppies at their house. They took care of them until they could find homes for each one, except one. We kept Taz. Unfortunately, because he had been abandoned at such an early age and didn’t get the proper time with mom or his siblings, he developed some pretty significant reactivity issues later on in life. We went to several trainers, all who used choke chains and shock collars, and his reactivity got worse with each one. We finally learned to keep him away from everybody, but family (he was fine with us) as much as possible and he lived a long life with us, but it wasn’t a very enriching or full life because of his behavioral issues.
During that time, I became interested in dog training, but I was fiercely against using the punitive methods based on hurting the dog or causing fear and pain. I was looking at it from the dog’s point of view, and if I didn’t want to have a choke chain or a shock collar on me, I didn’t want it on Taz. At that point in time, there was a new training method going around called Positive Reinforcement. It focused on rewarding the dog and teaching the dog through positive associations rather than punishing the dog when he did something wrong. I watched television shows and learned more about it over the next several years. It was too late to help Taz unfortunately, but I was drawn to those methods.
I came of age and went to college in the late 90’s and there really were no career opportunities outside of vet school available at that time. I knew I didn’t want to be a vet, but none of the schools around me offered any kind of dog training programs and I didn’t think about it as an option for a career, so I went to college, studied graphic design and marketing and began a career in those fields. My passion for animals continued, however and over the next decade or so I volunteered in shelters and with animal rescues in various capacities.
As time went by, I always found myself wanting to learn more about dog training and eventually one of the trainers I had followed on tv created an academy for aspiring dog trainers. It was just a dream at first, I really had no intention of attending, but the stars aligned and in 2018, I signed up, went through their program, and became certified. Since then, I have been running my own business on the side (I still work full-time), with the intention of spreading awareness of positive reinforcement and humanity in not only dog training, but the animal and pet industry as a whole. My goal is to improve animal’s lives through teaching positive training techniques and continuing to spread the knowledge that all dogs can learn without fear or pain, regardless if it is basic obedience, reactivity, or specialty areas like avoiding rattlesnakes on the trails. I also have a secondary goal of teaching-Teaching people about dogs, body language, communication and what they can do to not only help their dog, but how they can help animals in general, from rescues and shelters, to working through fear of snakes, and more. My business is focused on dogs, but my passion is making animal lives the best they can be.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Taz’s story is really what got me interested in being a dog trainer, so with that, and my deep passion for animals as a whole, it was a natural progression for me to start something where I could help animals. I have volunteered with rescues in various capacities, including training dogs, being a neonatal kitten care volunteer, general volunteering, etc., so that progression has taken several forms and has currently landed with me starting my own business. I hope that passion will continue to grow as the years pass. Who knows what opportunities may arise, but as I continue to grow my business, I hope to continue supporting shelters and rescues and do my part in helping animals everywhere.
In my business, I specialize in training not only dogs, but their owners as well. Most of dog training comes down to people training, so I focus on building trust and deepening the bond between owners and their dogs, one team at a time. I teach private lessons, along with group classes and workshops in various dog training areas. These include puppy classes, adult dog training classes, and rattlesnake safety. My most popular class is my rattlesnake class because of our beautiful mountains and outdoor community we have here in Utah. There aren’t very many trainers nationwide that teach rattlesnake avoidance using positive reinforcement techniques (aka, no shock collar), so I am happy we have that option here in Salt Lake.
So far, what I’m most proud of is the clients I work with who devote to their training and show so much progress. I’ve worked with clients who are dealing with reactivity and fear in their pups (among other things) that have come leaps and bounds with their dogs and when I see them getting excited at their success, that is what warms my heart and makes me proud of what I have created so far.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is a beast all of it’s own. I am a very small business and have no employees outside of myself, so I run everything, which unfortunately means I can’t do as much as I want to as quickly as I want to. Over the last year or so, I have really been working on my social media presence and the biggest thing I can tell others is to plan to be frustrated and create content that you know very few people will see and even fewer will engage in. Algorithms change, people come and go, toxicity and unhappy people will make comments just to be mean, and more, so it’s really something that you have to learn not to compare yourself or judge yourself against what others are doing or how quickly they are growing. Despite spending hours and hours on content, I am have a very small following on most of my social media platforms and if I’m not careful, the frustration can grow and I can get burnt out quickly. When you live in the land of social media, take a break as much as you need. The number of people following you isn’t worth your own mental health, so find your niche, write down your ideas and start making content. You’ll learn as you go, your content will get better, and gradually, people will follow you. Don’t aim to get hyper focused on the number of followers, likes, etc. because you may never get what you really want, so set baby goals so you can celebrate your successes often.
And lastly, what I am learning right now, is engage with other’s social media! It’s really easy to get caught up in your own content and whether or not people are responding to it, but if you get out there on all platforms and engage with others, it helps your own social media grow as well. For introverts and people who deal with social anxiety, this is hard and it transcends through the computer screen, but I’m learning it helps to be brave and engage with others!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Building a business is hard. The monetary side of it is a struggle, building clientele is hard, and as you grow, keeping up can be hard. I’ve certainly had my fair share of challenges over the last several years, but with each one, I’ve dug deeper and told myself, this situation isn’t going to stop me. Whether it’s a monetary struggle, a business relationship struggle, wanting to move more quickly that you are able, etc. every situation is a learning experience and the struggles are what make you stop and think how much you really want something. There will always be something or someone who stands in the way of your success and you have to be ready to pivot and/or fight through it to push forward.
One such example for me was 2020. Like so many other businesses, my business came to a screeching halt and I was just getting some momentum when the shutdown happened. I had to step back and say, okay, what I thought was going to happen, isn’t going to work, so what can I do to push forward? I couldn’t meet face-to-face with clients, so the next best thing was virtual options. It was a great opportunity to learn that dog training can, in fact, be done virtually. And many dog trainers continue to work that way and offer those services even now. It was also a great opportunity to evaluate how I can create other lines of business that would serve as static income. I had more down time and it allowed me to re-think what could be done, and then allow me to jump in developing other ideas like online workshops, merchandise, etc. In looking back, COVID forced my business to grow rather than shut down like it very well could have had I not reevaluated. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://trainingtoat.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/training2at/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Training2aT
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@training2at
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@training2at
Image Credits
Main Image: The Photobox Photography