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This female business owner adapted her dog training business during COVID-19 and found customers all over the country.
Hope Cogen, like so many of us, had to make a quick adjustment to Covid-19 if she was going to stay in business. As owner of High Hopes Dog Training, she’s been named Best Dog Trainer for eight straight years by The Roanoker, so her competence was not the question. It was a matter of facing the reality of social distancing.
Before the virus became the center of our lives, she did both individual and group classes, concentrating on positive reinforcement, for a wide range of training (ranging in price to as much as $2,595 for 20 individual lessons over 10 weeks.)
“Once the pandemic started,” she says, “I knew I had to figure out a way to continue working. I was recently separated from my husband and had to support myself and my son. I learned how to use Zoom, contacted all of my clients and asked them to give the online training a try.
“It took a little practice, but the online classes were a hit. Everyone clicks on the Zoom link, and we all join the class together. Everyone sees all of the participants, anywhere from four to 12 screens of people in their homes with their dogs. I explain the behavior I am teaching as I demonstrate with my dog, Spartacus, while everyone watches. I then tell everyone to practice the behavior with their own dogs.”
Cogen grew up in Massachusetts with stuffed animals, but no live ones. She became an elementary school teacher upon graduation from college, but after adopting a puppy, she realized she knew little about dogs, “so it was back to researching. I was fascinated with what I was learning and found many similarities between working with children and dogs. A whole world opened up to me, and it soon became an obsession.”
“I volunteered at a humane society and worked for a dog training company for two years. I knew I had found my calling. I quit teaching and started my own dog training company. For 10 years, she was the only employee of her company. Since Covid-19 moved to the center, Spartacus has been her primary demonstration animal.
“I could not have made this change in my business without him,” she says.
Cogen relocated her family and business to Roanoke, even though “I did not know anyone, did not have any connections. I had to start my business from scratch. I spoke to every veterinarian and groomer in town. I stopped people walking their dogs and gave them my business card. I had to continue my work with dogs. It was my passion. Within about six months, I was gaining more and clients and was building a reputation for myself.”
The online classes meet on Zoom and those taking part “discuss the problems they are having with their dogs, list goals, and create a training plan. Like in the group classes, I demonstrate the behaviors with Spartacus, and then watch as my clients practice at home with their dogs. I am able to coach them along – remind them of how to stand, what to say when, etcetera.”
She has expanded High Hopes and “now have clients all over the country.” When the virus finally decreases as a threat, “I would like to return to doing in-person private lessons and group classes but also be able to offer people online training for those who may live elsewhere, are homebound or have dogs that would not do well in a group setting. I am also working on creating pre-recorded instructional videos that people can purchase and watch at their own pace.”
She didn’t say if the video would come with a stuffed animal.
The story above is from our March/April 2021 issue. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!
