FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
General
Is coursework involved or is VSPDT purely a marketing tool?
What are my responsibilities to the Victoria Stilwell Foundation?
Can I join VSPDT if I’m not the the US?
Do I have to attend a VSPDT Evaluation Day?
Branding
Can I keep my existing business name and brand?
How is the Positively brand marketed beyond the VSPDT program?
What other platforms represent and promote the Positively brand?
What’s the brand philosophy?
I have been in business for 5 years. If I co-brand with VSPDT, won’t my own brand suffer?
Marketing Tools
What kind of Positively website address & email alias will I get?
How does the VSPDT Client Survey work?
What is the Positively website and how does it help me?
What is the Positively Private Print Shop and how does it help me?
Can I be featured on Victoria’s podcasts?
How many referrals should I expect from the Positively website?
Applications & Licensing
How much is the application fee?
How much does a Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training license cost?
Can I pay the annual license fee in installments?
Do you accept multiple VSPDT licensees in one geographical area?
Do you accept dog training facilities or just individual self-employed trainers?
How do I know other Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Trainers will be as qualified as me?
GENERAL
Is coursework involved or is VSPDT purely a marketing tool?
The VSPDT program is designed to be the most valuable marketing tool in your arsenal as a small business owner. VSPDT is therefore purely focused on providing you with opportunities to align yourself professionally with Victoria and her brand—opportunities that give you a leg up on your local competition. We also give you access to an invaluable sounding board in the form of other VSPDT members who can tell you how they made the most of their affiliation.
For those looking for continuing education or for a professional dog trainer education, please visit the Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training & Behavior (VSA). The Academy offers courses for aspiring dog trainers of all levels, from total beginners to those with some experience looking to fill gaps in their education and experience. VSA’s Dog Trainer Course is the ultimate choice in dog trainer education, allowing for an all-online experience (including weekly live online Office Hours meetings with a dedicated Faculty Advisor) as well as an in-person add-on track. For more information about VSA’s course offerings, visit the VSA website at www.vsdogtrainingacademy.com.
What are my responsibilities to the Victoria Stilwell Foundation?
The Victoria Stilwell Foundation is a US-based, national 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded by Victoria Stilwell. The organization’s mission is to provide financial support, dog training expertise, and fundraising support for canine assistance training and placement organizations and smaller rescue shelters.
A portion of all license fees received by Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training, LLC are donated to the Foundation. So, as a licensee you can advertise a charitable component of your dog training business. All donations to the Foundation are already included in each yearly license fee, and there’s no additional requirement to support the Foundation. Of course, additional contributions to the Foundations are welcome, but by no means required.
Can I join VSPDT if I’m not in the USA?
Absolutely. VSPDT is a global network with members in multiple countries and continents. When you request an application, you’ll let us know where you’re located and we’ll send you the appropriate type of application.
When is the next VSPDT Evaluation Day?
VSPDT Evaluations are now conducted entirely online using an enhanced video submission and review process. More information about video submission requirements can be found on the VSPDT License Application form. Request a license application here.
BRANDING
Can I keep my existing business name and brand?
Absolutely. As a VSPDT member, you are welcome to use the Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training name and logo as part of your business to whatever extent you wish. Sometimes that means completely rebranding a business or creating a new brand identity if you are just starting out. Still others have a strong brand identity in their community already and simply use their association with Victoria as an invaluable co-branding opportunity.
We are here to help your business grow and there are many ways we can achieve that by working together.
How is the Positively brand actively marketed beyond the VSPDT program?
Victoria Stilwell Positively is Victoria’s cornerstone public identity across many different platforms, projects, and media outlets. The brand enjoys widespread awareness and popularity among the dog-owning public due to its strategic placement in all relevant categories and is anchored by the popular Positively website.
Significant resources from the Victoria Stilwell Enterprises, LLC budget are reserved for marketing and advertising of the brand both online and in the marketplace to ensure that its reach is comprehensive and that it continues to target the appropriate dog-related demographic. VSPDT members enjoy the net benefit of these broader marketing efforts in the form of both increased web traffic and wider general awareness of the Positively brand.
What other platforms represent and promote the Positively brand?
Victoria has developed multiple programs and opportunities which continue to expand the reach of the Positively brand. These include:
- The It’s Me or the Dog TV show
- Consistent high-level media coverage (print, radio, and TV appearances)
- Live tour events
- Regular columns in dog magazines
- Five bestselling books
- Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc)
- Positively podcasts
- ‘Ask Victoria’ video blogs
- Apparel and merchandise
- Positively TV channel
What’s the brand philosophy?
Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training is truly a team. While Victoria is the world’s most recognizable positive dog trainer, she has never claimed to have invented the concept or created an entirely original approach to dog training. On the contrary, on her TV show, on social media, and in public appearances, Victoria has long been an admirer and proponent of those trainers, scientists, ethologists, and behaviorists who helped develop the core of what is now known as positive dog training. (We recognize that ‘positive training’ is not a scientific term – click here to read Positively’s definition of positive training.)
Nonetheless, the runaway popularity of It’s Me or the Dog, her other TV projects, and various other platforms has created a wide-reaching, global awareness of Victoria and her brand, and she feels compelled to further the cause of those many thousands of fantastic positive reinforcement trainers who are helping to educate the public about science-based dog training.
Victoria views her role in this network as being one member among many, even if she happens to have a more visible platform through which to practice as a dog trainer. As such, she created Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training with the philosophy that all members of VSPDT are equally valuable assets to the overall strength, visibility, and quality of the brand name and have a vital role to play in the global movement to educate the public.
I have been in business for 5 years. If I co-brand with you, won’t my own brand suffer?
On the contrary. Membership in VSPDT would add a dimension to your own brand that makes it even stronger. If people in your community know and respect your business as the place to go for science-based, positive dog training, they won’t be surprised you are now certified and endorsed by Victoria Stilwell Positively, the best-known name in that world.
Aligning yourself professionally with Victoria adds further credibility to the brand values you have established as a positive trainer—and it gives your business the visibility and impact that only comes with a globally recognized face and name. (Also, don’t forget that the level of co-branding can be as subtle or as strong as you want it to be. For more on this, visit How It Works.)
MARKETING TOOLS
What kind of Positively website address & email alias will I get?
As a VSPDT member, you are entitled to a free, forwardable www.trainername.positively.com domain which you can point towards your existing website.
You are also provided with a re-directable Positively email address alias ([email protected]).
How does the VSPDT Client Survey work?
As a VSPDT member, you are welcome to invite your dog training clients to complete an online VSPDT Client Feedback Survey. This short survey provides you with valuable feedback directly from your clients about their impressions of your overall experience, training methods, professionalism, and expertise.
The survey has a built-in testimonial generator, which provides you with valuable quotes and recommendations from past clients to use in your future marketing materials. We make it worth your clients’ while to complete the survey by promising them a chance to win a quarterly draw for a signed copy of Victoria’s book (or other similar promotional material).
What is the Positively website and how does it help me?
Victoria has assembled a world-class panel of dog training experts, celebrities, veterinarians, and organizations on her Positively website as Positively Contributors. These writers regularly post entertaining, informative, and inspiring pieces on the site.
As a VSPDT member, you benefit from the public association and from having the live feed from the blog prominently featured on your Positively site. In other words, you have the most well-known and accomplished minds in the field of animal behavior blogging on your site.
You also have an inside track to become a Positively Contributor yourself!
What is the Positively Private Print Shop and how does it help me?
VSPDT has created a custom-built Private Print Shop (PPS) exclusively for VSPDT members. The PPS contains pre-designed, customizable templates for all your printing and marketing needs including business cards, car magnets, stationary, envelopes, postcards, tri-fold brochures, and more.
Can I be featured on Victoria’s podcasts?
Yes. All VSPDT members are eligible to be featured guests on Victoria’s globally available Positively Podcast series. You will join Victoria to discuss topical dog-related issues and work with her to answer listeners’ questions during the popular ‘Ask Victoria’ section of the broadcast. These exclusive segments are available to listeners all over the world and can be used as valuable marketing tools on your website and in other advertising outlets.
How many referrals should I expect from the Positively website?
That’s something we can’t predict. The number of referrals our members report getting from the website varies from none to a steady stream. But the referral service on the Positively site was mainly created as a service to the dog-owning public. When people use it, great. That’s an extra bonus for VSPDT members. But it isn’t, and was never intended to be, a pillar of the program.
The primary benefit of the VSPDT program is its members’ ability to align themselves personally and professionally with Victoria—and to trumpet that affiliation to the public.
APPLICATIONS & LICENSING
How much is the application fee?
The current application fee for individuals is $150, and the fee for facilities is $300 plus the cost of travel expenses incurred by sending a VSPDT evaluator to the facility. All revenue from application fees goes directly towards the processing of applications.
How much does a Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training license cost?
Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training licenses for individuals cost $295 per year. For facilities or businesses employing more than one trainer, the license fee is $1,495 per year and covers the entire business.
Can I pay the annual license fee in installments?
In certain circumstances, VSPDT can make payment arrangements, although the initial license fee is usually due in full upon joining the network.
Do you accept multiple VSPDT licensees in one geographical area?
The short answer: in certain cases. VSPDT’s primary goal is to help our members increase their visibility and profitability, and having too many VSPDT trainers in one area dilutes their ability to leverage the Positively brand to their unique advantage.
Consequently, we limit the licensee density in any given geographical area. We grant only one VSPDT license in each geographical area whose population numbers 100,000. If a commonly recognized geographical boundary (city or town limit or radius) has a population of greater than 100,000, one VSPDT license will be eligible to be granted for each multiple of 100,000 people.
In certain situations, VSPDT can offer the first licensee in a particular geographical area the right to purchase a Premier License, which ensures that no additional VSPDT trainers will be accepted in that area in the future.
Do you accept dog training facilities, or just individual self-employed trainers?
We accept applications from both self-employed dog trainers and larger dog training businesses with multiple employees and physical locations. The core criteria for eligibility remain the same for both types of applicant. In larger businesses, the VSPDT team must individually approve all employees responsible for providing dog training services.
The application fee for a facility license is higher than the application fee for an individual license, as the process requires VSPDT team members to personally visit and evaluate each employee and the business’ physical facilities.
How do I know other VSPDT trainers will be as qualified as me?
Victoria and her team have gone to great lengths to ensure all Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training members are of the highest quality, promote positive reinforcement methods, and are held to the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct.
Victoria has designed the comprehensive and involved application process herself to guarantee that all eventual licensees are worthy team members who operate their business with integrity, skill, professionalism, and a high level of business acumen. All applicants must supply client references, written essays, business documents, and must pass background checks, phone interviews, live or taped training evaluations, and one-on-one interviews with Victoria.
In addition, stringent safeguards are in place to ensure all VSPDT trainers continue to employ positive reinforcement training methods and eschew traditional, dominance-based methodologies.