Meet Emily Haley | Canine and Feline Behavior Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Haley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My whole life has been animals. From the get-go, I was always driven and passionate about working with animals. When I decided to run my own business as a behavior specialist with dogs primarily, but cats as well, it stemmed from dissatisfaction with the typical authoritative structure of normal jobs. My skills were in a special niche that no one around me had, and I felt like I moved at a quicker rate of speed. I was confident that I had the skills and the ability to do it on my own, and so those three factors blended into the decision to start my own business from scratch.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career as a canine and feline behavior specialist has been lifelong in the making.
I began my business at the end of 2010. I had just quit my job working as the park manager of a wild cat park, and I was headed back to Humboldt County where I had originally spent four years going to college as well as working heavily with reptiles. I had an incredible passion for working with dogs, and had rehabilitated/trained my own 3. The challenges I had were first and foremost making money. I supplemented my income by working the early morning shift at a dog daycare, where I stuck it out for 2 years, learning the ins and outs of social pack behavior. Getting my name out there was a combination of me already knowing quite a few people from my previous work with reptiles, and the rest was just proving myself. Once I couldn’t balance both jobs due to the increased workload of my dog training, I branched off on my own. Some days I didn’t make rent until the day before, but it always worked out. People began referring me more and more, and I was lucky they did because I really didn’t know anything about advertising or where to do it other than Craigslist.

When I decided to make the move to Southern California, I was very confident in my skills and my ability to provide for myself.
It was a massive challenge moving to one of the most expensive areas of the country. But I managed to get my reputation up again, and thankfully my yelp reviews followed me to SoCal. After a couple years in San Diego I moved to Orange County in 2016, reestablished my reputation there, and I’ve been blessed to be been here ever since. I call my business The Dog Listener because I always want to be listening to what animals are telling us.

I would never say that it was easy. Each day I had to make sure to answer every phone call, immediately respond to every text. I had no travel limit which gave me an edge to other dog trainers who didn’t want to travel too far out of their home area. I didn’t mind driving, and I gave plenty of free phone consults on the way. Always be available was my idea— and it paid off. My days off were never actually days off, because I wanted to always be reachable to my clients. Until people were determined to wait for me, I wanted to make sure that I was the first person that responded to them. That work ethic has taken me far and kept with me. I always want to make sure that my clients can reach me, even if it’s just for me to send a quick message that I’ve received their request. I’m a mother of three children now, so I cannot always be available. But I will always let my clients know that I’m aware of their need. That’s just good customer service and it’s something that I’ve found my clients really appreciate.

The biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way, are that you must identify with your clients, and learn from your failures/mistakes. The times where someone was unhappy with you offers room for the greatest growth. If your clients feel you are on an unattainable level of skill, they will never feel confident without you, and you will not be successful.

As a dog and cat behavior specialist, I walk into your world and help you connect with your dog or cat to solve the behavior problems you are experiencing. I’m a relationship based trainer, and what makes me different is I am teaching you to be the best version of yourself possible. I will always be ready to look outside the box and modify my technique to find what works for you, if you are willing to make the changes. If you are unwilling to make the changes, there’s not too much I can do but I will try my absolute level best. I work heavily with aggression cases but anything from Puppy raising to obedience work to any puppy issue is what I do. When it comes to cats, I handle all of the same. I run giant free community pack walks with up to 150 dogs, and then I have workshops and group classes to go along with all my private sessions.

Your successes are yours but your failures are mine. That’s what keeps my standards high— I always say I’m only as good as my worst client. And while that’s not actually true, it keeps me from ever getting complacent or self assured. I always want growth. Personal and professional.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
It’s The OC! There’s the beach……there’s a million restaurants. There’s San Diego to our south and Los Angeles to our North!
There’s mountains and beaches and really everything.

But I’d want to take you first to Dana Point Harbor, then to The Drake restaurant, Berke Williams for an amazing spa day, San Diego Zoo, then a trip to Los Angeles for some incredible museums and city time.

My favorite place is Laguna Niguel Regional Park for a good dog walk in the trees and just a few people.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many to whom I can credit my success in this journey. First and foremost, animals get the biggest credit. They’ve been the greatest teachers of my entire life.

But I want to dedicate this shoutout to Craig Wagner, the owner of Great Cats World Park in Cave Junction, Oregon. I worked underneath him with 38 cats and 17 different species, living directly on the premises for 4 very intense years. While he is the absolute opposite of a people person, and has unique qualities that made him a very difficult employer to say the least, (basically he’s a cat) he helped shape a giant part of my mid 20s and gave me the opportunity to work hands on with tigers and leopards and lions and more. He was tough, stubborn, had high standards, and expected a lot of me. And he believed in me from Day 1. He let me learn through mistakes, and showed me the devastating results of complacency which is my greatest fear to this day. Those day to day experiences and incredible amounts of responsibility are why I am the small business owner that I am today and a big part of my uniqueness. There were so many times where I should not have made it out of there alive or without serious injury. Experiencing those very intense situations wasn’t new to me because of many years with horses and reptiles, but knowing I should’ve died put things on an entirely different level. I owe a lot to that park and to Craig for giving me that 4 years.

Website: https://Www.Thedoglistener.Net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoglistener/profilecard/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Emilythedoglistener

Yelp: https://yelp.to/VMLqJX-shq

Image Credits
Gary Vestal