Dawn Gilkison

Positive Solutions Dog Training

Career Roadmap

Dawn's work combines: Science, Education, and Teaching / Mentoring

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Dog Trainer

I work with dogs and their owners to create attentive companions and focused performance dogs.

High School

Bachelor's Degree: Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Graduate Degree: Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Certification: Computer Programming, Vendor/Product Certification

My path in life took a while to figure out

1.
First, I was born on the day that a dog, Laika, was launched into space on Sputnik II.
2.
Then I grew up with dogs in the family and preferring stuffed animals to dolls.
3.
Then I got interested in science, especially biology and ecology.
4.
Then I studied biology in college, taking a class in animal behavior which led to my thesis.
5.
Then I went to graduate school where I continued to study animal behavior.
6.
Then I got a teaching certificate and became a high school science teacher.
7.
School district ran out of money, my job became awful, I quit.
8.
Then I went to the Karen Pryor Academy to get a dog trainer certification.

THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
You should keep your job, you will never be successful in your own business
How I responded:
I made a list of all the skills I did have to bring to my new venture and also a list of skills I needed to gain. I realized I did have what I needed in abundance, and my passion about what I wanted to do gave me the energy to keep working toward my goal.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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Start small. I still have a part-time job that helps support me as I build my business. You can build a great-looking website yourself very cheaply and do a lot of face-to-face marketing that is very low cost.

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