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When most of us think of occupations that involve working with dogs, veterinarian, veterinary technician, dog groomer, and dog trainer immediately spring to mind. Those are certainly the best known of the dog-focused careers, but as many people have learned, to their delight, a number of other professions, occupations, and pursuits can focus on dogs. Whether your interest in dogs lies in behavior; canine health, well-being, welfare, and advocacy; human health, welfare, assistance, and protection; sports; or some other area, there’s a good chance that your passion can become your life’s work.

If you’re interested in a dog-related health career, you may have thought you were limited to being a veterinarian or veterinary technician, but did you know that you could pursue a career as a pet rehabilitation therapist, pet massage practitioner, or pet EMT (emergency medical technician)? If you do pursue veterinary medicine, you can specialize in anesthesiology, behavior, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, emergency and critical care, epidemiology, immunology, internal medicine, neurology, nutrition, oncology (cancer), ophthalmology, radiology, surgery, theriogenology (reproduction), or toxicology (poisonous substances). You can serve as a veterinarian for the military or work as a veterinary consultant for a pet-food company. You can open a general small-animal practice, study diseases at a university, or extract the secrets of the canine genome at the National Institutes of Health. Those are just a few of the options for veterinarians.

There are ways other than practicing medicine to ensure a dog’s physical well-being. Dog groomers don’t just make dogs look nice and smell good. They’re keen observers of the canine condition. A groomer can be a dog’s first line of defense, alerting owners to the presence of external parasites, ear infections, and skin problems. Groomers help dogs in poor condition regain their beauty and self-esteem (yes, dogs have it, too!).

Animal-control officers, shelter employees, and humane educators help dogs in need. Animal-control officers ensure that dogs are licensed, mediate barking-dog disputes, and investigate cruelty cases. Shelter employees evaluate dogs and interview potential adopters to help make the best match for all involved. Humane educators visit schools and teach students about kind and appropriate pet care. Other advocates for dogs include lawyers who focus on pet-related legal issues and employees at dog- or animal-related organizations. The latter includes dog registries such as the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club and pet-health institutions such as the Morris Animal Foundation, the Canine Eye Registration Foundation, and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.

The human health field also has a place for dog lovers. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) involves more than just taking dogs to visit nursing homes and children’s hospitals. Health and human services professionals with specialized training provide AAT to clients with the goal of improving their physical, social, and reasoning skills as well as their emotional well-being. Therapists who practice AAT may work with clients individually or in a group setting. Medical doctors work in tandem with veterinarians to find treatments and cures for diseases that affect both people and animals, and psychologists help people overcome their fear of dogs or work out pet-related relationship problems with the goal of creating a happier home for people and their pets.

Dogs assist people by tracking criminals; detecting bombs, drugs, and other contraband; searching for injured people after disasters; indicating the presence of termites; and much more. They don’t work alone, however. They and their handlers form close-knit teams. Dog handlers may work for the military, the police, a federal or local disaster agency, or private businesses.

All dogs need training, and with some 74 million of them in the United States, there’s plenty of work for people who understand how dogs think and how to motivate them. Dog trainers and behaviorists are employed in many different fields, from entertainment, where they train dogs for film and television work, to animal shelters, where they help homeless dogs acquire the skills they need to successfully adapt to a new family. Behaviorists and trainers teach obedience classes, train guide and assistance dogs, and help people solve their pets’ behavior problems. They may work for an organization or set up their own businesses.

If you have an entrepreneurial mindset, you’ll find the pet field rich in possibilities. You can open a pet boutique, become a pet detective, start a dog-walking business, or design pet products. Starting a business that caters to doting dog lovers can be a satisfying and lucrative way to include dogs in your work life.

The pet industry itself is a multibillion-dollar business. Pet-food, pet-pharmaceutical, pet-supply, and pet-insurance companies need product developers, account managers, salespeople, event planners, marketing professionals, public-relations people, and many other types of employees to run their businesses. These jobs may or may not bring you in contact with dogs on a daily basis, but they do allow you to become immersed in a specialized field in which you have a strong interest.

Creative types needn’t feel left out. Writers, photographers, and artists can all find a niche involving dogs. Artists create portraits of dogs, immortalizing them on canvas. Dog photographers work not with supermodels such as Heidi Klum but with the beauties of the dog world. They take photos for dog magazines or calendars and every weekend can be found photographing the winners at dog shows. Writers and editors fill staff positions at companies that publish dog magazines and books or work as freelancers for print and digital media.

If your interests lie in the realm of science, there’s a place for you as well. Genetics is big business these days, and that includes dog genetics. The unraveling of the canine genome is helping to unlock the secrets of dog diseases, history, and even behavior as well as to find links between human and canine illnesses. Have an interest in wild dogs? Consider a career in wildlife biology.

You may have thought that showing dogs in conformation—at dog shows ranging from those of the local kennel club to the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club show in New York City—was merely a hobby, but some people do make a living in show-related occupations. Professional handlers, judges, and show superintendents are all essential to the smooth running of a show. Although breeding dogs is more of a hobby than a profession, without breeders there would be no dog shows, no assistance dogs, no working dogs—no purebred dogs of any kind, for that matter. That would be a great loss, because when we look at purebred dogs or train them to carry out the tasks they were traditionally bred to complete, such as hunting or herding, we see history come to life and experience the bond that has linked people and dogs for more than 15,000 years.

The desire to work with dogs can take you in almost any direction. Let this book serve as your roadmap to the ideal dog-related career for you.