The Thousand Solutions Blog

McCann Dogs The Leader of the Pack in Online Dog Training

Apr 6, 2024

McCann Professional Dog Trainers, which started as a grassroots group and has now an impressive 42 years of history that has expanded beyond its Canadian geographical boundaries. Currently the organization's global reach extends to 76 countries, with the team training over 100,000 dogs.

Established in 1982 by Deb McCann and Marty McCann in Flamborough, Ontario, McCann Dogs began its journey as an in-person dog training center. In 1999, Shannon Viljasoo, now the director of online training, became an integral part of the McCann Dogs team. Attracted by McCann Dogs while training her own canine companion, Shannon discovered her passion for training dogs and began to study the apprenticeship program. Despite holding a degree in computer programming, she erroneously changed her trajectory to pursue her calling as a trainer for dogs at McCann Dogs.

Since the beginning of time, Viljasoo conducted in-person training sessions. As demand surged for dog training services, McCann Dogs diversified its offerings by establishing a robust online presence, notably through its YouTube channel. The channel currently boasts over 1.3M subscribers and brings in a large percentage of its clients.

Although McCann Dogs was first resistant towards online dog training The team realized that they needed to further support its students. They opted to launch an online training course as a part of the company in. "We decided that so long as we had good training and a good support structure that we'd be able to assist people get the same results with their dogs all over the world," shares Viljasoo.

Flash forward until 2024, where, in addition to in-person courses, the company offers three online courses and workshops a la carte through which people can have an "well-behaved and four-legged pet."

This is the story of how McCann Dogs became a leader in dog-training online:

Skip ahead:

They found

But, Viljasoo says it wasn't enough to meet McCann Dogs' needs. "I am now looking at other platforms to figure out which one would work best," she shares.

A year later after that, the team decided to make the decision to switch in the following year to . "One reason why we decided to use is that it's located in Canada." Canadian firm," she explains.

"Right out of the gate, was much more straightforward," continues Viljasoo. "It was intuitive and guided--and the student experience was much smoother ."

Now, the team offers classes in person and online, with the online part of the business growing to be a major source of the company's annual revenue.

"I enjoy and it's very rare when I have issues when it comes to this," she says. "Most often, I have no problem figuring things out myself and moving forward with the work I'm required to do. When I can't figure something out myself, the support team is great ."

They built multiple programs

McCann Dogs has three main programs available online: Puppy Prep Guide, Puppy Essentials, Life Skills and a range of other online training sessions that vary in subjects.

The three online courses offer a mix of pre-recorded and live material. Through live group coaching calls The team can be able to support their students in a more personalized way than solely through recorded material.

"People are able to participate as little or as much as they'd like," she shares. "If students cannot attend the call with coaching then we will record the calls of calls such a way that they can be viewed by them at a later time. ."

Then, students also have the option to go through recorded lessons which are shared via videos or PDFs. The team also uses a Facebook group as a support network in which students post video clips of themselves training their dogs as well as get feedback. "This can be a fantastic method to keep our students accountable and motivated," she says.

In 2021, the team created a membership program with higher learning named Monthly Members Only that is designed for those who have completed the life Skills program. Each month, the members receive the latest concept. Since launching the recurring membership the company has gathered nearly 300 members monthly.

All of their courses can be enrolled at any time and will expire following certain time frames. As an example, Puppy Prep Guide and Puppy Essentials can be enrolled for 3 months following registration, while Life Skills is open for 4 months. According to Viljasoo that this period of time helps encourage motivation and self-control.

Online learning doesn't have to be just intended for students of the online school; dedicated to providing a better learning experience for learners, McCann Dogs provides online learning to their in-person students by providing additional details. "Students have the option of logging into their online lessons when they get home from their classes. In the course, they'll see repeated instructions and homework challenges," she shares.

They leveraged YouTube for more than 10 years

Since the last couple of years, McCann Dogs has prioritized its presence online.'

The company has a very active Facebook page, with more than 27,000 people following it, as well as its Instagram account with over 76,000 followers, and an extremely popular podcast. The most effective social media platform is its YouTube channel that was launched around 10 years ago, and has since garnered over 1.3 million users.

Due to persistent and consistent commitment to the channel, as and a handful of videos that exploded early on--it has continued to see subscriber growth. Now, the organization has an entire team designated for social media of the business including video editors and videographers on their YouTube channel. These videos as well as the two workshops for free--Luring or Training When You Do Not Have Time To Train--help people to gain a better understanding of McCann Dogs' training style. McCann Dogs training style and invite them to join for the classes.

If you are one of the creators intimidated by YouTube or the idea of putting themselves on the screen, Viljasoo has some words of advice. "It gets easier as time passes," she shares. "Just do it. The things you enjoy in the next year or a few years serves a function and will help you grow ."

"Don't worry about being flawless," she continues, similar to many creators' advice. "There aren't any perfect videos out there--and life isn't perfect. Get rid of the notion of perfection and just jump in ."

Since developing such a strong online presence, the McCann Dogs content has been successful in reaching more than 76 countries. Most of the audience made up of 25-40 year-old females. Since there is a large following in the US, the company currently charges its classes for their courses in US dollars.

They have bundled their course

In addition to selling programs and workshops individually The team also sells bundles.

For example, to save $50 USD, students can purchase this bundle: Online Puppy Prep Guide & Puppy Essentials Bundle; to save $97 USD students could purchase The Online Puppy Essentials & Life Skills 1 Bundle; and to save the most money -- 147 USD--students can buy The Full Online Bundle, which includes all three courses.

To purchase programs individually the cost varies; the Puppy Prep Guide is priced at $97 USD. The Puppy Essentials program is $367 USD, while Life Skills is $397 USD. Life Skills program is $397 USD. Further you can choose the Monthly Members Only program costs $29.95 USD for a month, but isn't advertised to anyone other than those who have completed Like Skills.

"Pricing is such a hard process," Viljasoo reveals. "There aren't many rules in dog training. it is possible to find people who have read one book and then decided to begin the process of training dogs, or even people like myself who have worked in this field for a number of decades ."

"Some people think our pricing is a great bargain, while others believe the price is too high," she continues. "It's highly dependent ."

According to Viljasoo her experience, she's able be more consistent on pricing online versus when you visit the store, as there are less uncertainties. "In-person, we have to contend with issues like the increase in propane used for heating the building as well as the cost of fuel and staff. Online, things stay fairly similar ."

For collecting payments, the company uses Stripe--but they're looking at changing to Payments.

They built a solid team

The team is made by 12 committed staff members. This includes both employees who are part-time or full-time, together with 25 associate trainers that are pursuing training in addition to their main jobs.

Despite being around for so long, she describes her group as an inclusive bunch of people. "We're continually evolving to make our training better and more effective. A lot of businesses that are around for a few decades stagnant in their learning as well as their capacity to bring in new methodology ."

When asked about their biggest key to achievement, she says it's all been because of her team. "We have really good people who work hard. I'm very proud of my team ."

In pursuit of expanding their offerings, Viljasoo's goal is to find more people who will help create course content. "We're always looking to create more programs. The problem is finding moment to finish all the planning, create the videos, and make the courses when we're still active in helping students."

In her reflections on her experience, she advises aspiring online entrepreneurs to jump in with no hesitation. In recognition of the slow pace of progress, she suggests celebrating each milestone, as building a thriving business is similar to running a marathon and not a race.

What is her final words of wisdom? Be a part of the digital world with all your heart, it offers unparalleled reach and potential for influence.

If you're looking to transform your expertise into a profitable business, don't wait. Jump on board with right now and sign up for free.