Canine calculation: Steven Appelbaum has taken a big bite of the dog training business by developing a relationship with national pet retailer Petco to offer services across the country.

RECESSIONS come and go, but pet lovers are here to stay. That one lesson has stuck with Steven Appelbaum, president and chief executive of Northridge-based Animal Behavior and Training Associates Inc. and its sister company, Animal Behavior College Inc.

His operation--he claims it is the nation's largest obedience school and academy for dog trainers--has thrived in the downcast economy. According to various surveys, four out of every 10 North American households have dogs, and 70 percent of those animals have behavioral problems.

"This is warm, fuzzy staff but it's also big business," he said.

Dog trainers generally are content to build a local niche around fliers and word-of-mouth advertising.

But Appelbaum has seen explosive growth through arrangements he has made with 750 pet supply stores in North America, including several hundred Petco Animal Supplies Inc. locations in the United States. They promote his operations for a percentage of the fee and the opportunity to sell additional products, such as collars, leashes and training snacks through Animal Behavior.

Relying on a network of 500 independent dog trainers, the company will provide obedience lessons to 45,000 dogs in 2003, up from 40,000 last year. The behavioral college, meanwhile, will turn out 500 new dog trainers, up from 200 in 2002. The company itself has a staff of 34 to administer operations and occupy some of the high-level training positions.

Appelbaum graduated from Grenada Hills High School it] 1976 with plans to become a veterinarian. But he lacked the grades to get into the University of California at Davis, which has the state's only veterinary school. So he went to Animal Trainers Career College in Sylmar. The school no longer exists, but the lessons he learned remain the focus of his operation.

"I picked up that a positive approach was different than a punishment approach," said Appelbaum, who imparts his wisdom on his own 7-year-old basset hound, Buford.

In other words, don't knee a dog in the chest to prevent him from jumping on people; teach him to sit on command. Also, understand that a dog redecorates the living room rug while the owners are away is suffering from separation anxiety, not trying to punish the owner for leaving him behind.

Big business

Appelbaum formed the predecessor to the dog-training operation in 1981, drawing business from local pet shops. In 1987, Petco bought out a store in Chatsworth where he was training.

"I recognized the pet business was moving from mom-and-pop operations to having large corporate players come in and take a (large) percent of the market share," he said. "The only way these chains could grow was to offer one-stop shopping."

By 1993, Appelbaum was running obedience schools at nearly all Petco stores in the L.A. region.

That's when he got a call from someone in Petco's corporate management, who was interested in his business plan. The following year, Appelbaum signed a contract that made him the exclusive provider of obedience training in California for the San Diego-based firm. By 1996, the agreement extended nationwide. He also has similar relationships with 150 mostly small independent stores in the U.S. and Canada.

"It's usually pretty successful because no one wants to have a bad dog," said Angel Daboda, manager of a Petco store in Redondo Beach. "Usually, when they sign up for the program they will shop for their dog here because it's so convenient."

House training

Most of ABTA's $2.4 million in 2002 revenues came from obedience school groups, where five to 15 dog owners pay $69 to $99 (depending on the area) for eight sessions.

L.A.-based trainers also offer house calls for $195 (three lessons) to $700 (10 lessons). The price varies depending on how much the dog needs to learn: basic house training and how to sit, stay and walk with a leash, versus reforming a chronic ditch digger, fence jumper or home destroyer.

"At first glance, $700 sounds exorbitant to some people," said Appelbaum, "until the owner realizes that the dog could destroy $15,000 worth of furniture, carpeting and household goods."

So rapid was Appelbaum's expansion into animal training that by 1998 he didn't have enough qualified trainers to teach all the classes. Worse still, 70 percent of his applicants--people who called themselves trainers--could not pass a 50-question exam Appelbaum created to test applicants' knowledge of dog breeds, developmental periods, vaccinations, health issues and canine reproduction.

The $2,500 program entails 200 hours of audio, visual and written instruction, as well as observing an obedience school instructor at work before finally running a class under the instructor's supervision. The program usually takes four to eight months to complete.

Culver City resident Rene Baker enrolled in the college last year after her business sculpting bronze animals by commission took a downturn after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Actually, you are teaching the students," said Baker. "They are the ones who have to go home and teach these skills that they have observed in class to their dogs."

PROFILE

Animal Behavior and Training Associations Inc.

Year Founded: 1981

Core Business: Housebreaking dogs and teaching people to become dog trainers

Revenues in 20011 $1.6 million

Revenues in 2002: $2.4 million

Employees in 2001: 19

Employees in 2002: 34

Goal: To increase revenues in the U.S. and Canada and penetrate the United Kingdom market late next year

Driving Force: About 39 percent of households have dogs; approximately 70 percent those have behavioral problems