Meet Victoria Swanson: Dog Trainer Extraordinaire

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

Hi Victoria, what do you attribute your success to?
Relationships! Building strong relationships by giving my clients the sense of importance and priority they deserve and are. Over the years, working in sales and customer relations in a multitude of industries has taught me to build a road on trust, empathy, listening, and resolving in my own business. This road I have built has lead my success in growth and building solid referrals. I have not had to pay for marketing to encourage new clientele for years, as my clientele speaks and markets for me! I am truly so honored to have this in my business! My clients become family and friends. I treat them as such, because they deserve to have priority attention just as much as anyone else in my life. Why? Because they hired me to help and assist them with their fur baby struggles. My job is to be their sounding board, share my expertise guidance, and to provide 24 hour support. I hold their ‘hand’ during their journey of learning and growing with their new family member. I want to be 100% their support system until the very end.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am Life Coach to Pet Parents (aka dog trainer to many) — why do I classify myself as a Life Coach? Because my field, to me, is personal. I become invested with my clients and their fur baby, I want to travel their journey with them as they overcome obstacles and learn new ways to improve their communication style to achieve the long term behaviors of what a Good Little Dog will bring their family. I have been in the industry of training and educating pet parents for 14 years. During this time, I was honored to have my own weekly TV segment that showcased my knowledge, promoted my business as well as promoting available adoptable pets through local rescues that I partnered with, which is a huge passion of mine! I also had the opportunity to write over 300 blogs for a company based in Michigan, in regards to pet related concerns. I volunteered at shelters/rescues sharing my knowledge on how to help pets that have been abandoned or abused overcome their fears. By establishing strong relationships, using positive training techniques, and being with my clients through their journey has helped my business grow for 14 years in a market that can be scrutinized closely based on training methods used. I have always strived to have my clients feel good on how they were establishing their new relationship with their fur baby and the methods being used to achieve the results they desired. Definitely lessons have been learned, as I feel that is how you grow your business to be the best it can be for you and your clientele. I had to understand my strengths and weaknesses by accepting where I was failing and focus on where I could grow. I learned to understand where my knowledge was most valued, how I wanted to work with pets, and to not say yes to just anything to grow my profit. I want the ‘World’ to know that you do not have to be cruel or abusive towards your fur baby for any purpose ever. They are a completely different species than us and therefore communicate differently. We must respect that all animals need gentle touch and love. There are better methods and techniques to teach, grow, and learn. Let’s grow together in relationships with our fur babies!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I have only been in Phoenix for 2 years, moving here from Michigan. I have been blessed on having many experiences in just a short period of living here and trying new things! Sedona, Jerome, and Prescott hit the top of my list for visiting. But I definitely enjoy taking family to Scottsdale for some fine dining and shopping! Cave Creek offers the biker and off-roading experiences! Superstitious Mountains and the surrounding area to hike are just part of my hiking and trail list; you really can’t go wrong no matter what mountain or trail you pick! 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?
All the extraordinary pets that share(d) their life with me! My parents for raising an animal lover, a go-getter with strong work ethics, and to always have faith! My children for their support as their mom went after her dream! My friends for their encouragement and believing in me, when I had doubts! To many professional dog trainers that showed me what I wanted to strive to be and not!

Website: goodlittledog.com
Instagram: @goodlittledog
Facebook: Good Little Dog Training Services @goodlittledog

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