The Dog Trainer’s Trainer

More than 70 percent of the students who come to the Tom Rose School for professional dog trainers in High Ridge are from out of town—his students come from all over the country and the world.

“We’re trying to get people prepared to start their own business and earn a living,” Rose said.

Rose wrote the book on dog training—three actually. His latest, Dog Training with the Touch, is used as a student textbook.

Students of the Tom Rose School learn to humanely train working dogs in the areas of obedience, agility, tracking, narcotics detection and police/security work. In order to graduate, they must train three dogs and have them pass tests in these skills during the 16-to-20-week course.

Rose also runs a second business at his Antire Road location, the , which caters to local dog owners. The Dog House offers boarding, grooming and obedience training for the general public. Classes are held on Saturdays for a six-month session, and students are allowed to progress at their own pace.

Rose started training dogs for competition in 1965.

“My wife and I got into German shepherds. We did confirmation shows and had a good time with that,” he said.

He also became interested in Schutzhund, a dog sport developed in Germany to challenge working dogs and find those with the traits needed to be police or protection dogs. The sport combines tracking, obedience and protection skills.

He said he got the idea to teach dog trainers when he was looking for an assistant, but couldn’t find anyone with hands-on, dog-training experience.

He started taking on apprentices and gradually built a following. He opened the Tom Rose School in 1978 and is proud of his students who have not only won competitions, but opened their own schools, written books and trained dogs for police departments.

“I teach most of the classes, and I have two other really good people who work with me,” Rose said.

His teachers have graduated from the Tom Rose School. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be qualified to teach,” he said.

Rose encourages his students to come to school with an open mind—and no dog. He said the first week is spent discussing breeds, then the students are allowed to bring in or buy a puppy to train during their course work.

He introduces his students to dog breeders with qualified puppies, but students are also allowed to find shelter puppies or use a client’s dog. Age is an important factor, because Rose believes in “imprinting” a puppy before they learn bad habits.

Rose said his students are required to train three dogs during their stay. He said a well-bred working dog could cost as much as $2,500, but students can see the dog as an investment.

If they do not wish to keep the dog as a pet or for competition, a pedigreed dog that has gone through the Tom Rose School can fetch up to $12,000. Even a well-trained shelter dog with no papers can have a value of $6,000 to $8,000.

Rose owns three dogs himself, a pair of Belgian Malinois show dogs (one retired and one gearing up for show) and a Chihuahua.

“I just enjoy them and enjoy training them,” he said of his dogs.