US pet spending exceeded $157 billion in 2025 and continues growing at 5–7% annually, with projections reaching $200 billion by 2030. Inside that total, one segment stands out.
Pet care services — training, grooming, daycare, boarding — are the fastest-growing major segment, and within services, training and enrichment is the highest-growth sub-category.
The training market specifically
The US dog training industry is growing at about 6% CAGR, reaching roughly $824 million in 2026.
Pricing has moved with it. There are more than 15,000 certified professional dog trainers in the US, with average hourly rates around $45, up 8% from 2022. Roughly 68% offer package deals, averaging six sessions for $350.
That package price works out near $58 per session — above the hourly average, which tells you packages are typically bundling structure and follow-up rather than discounting.
Who is spending
Millennial dog owners spend an average of $1,200 per year on training — 30% more than Gen X.
The drivers cited are the humanisation of pets, urbanisation, and rising demand for professional help with behaviour and socialisation. Urbanisation matters more than it might appear: a dog in an apartment with shared corridors and close neighbours has behavioural requirements that a dog with a garden does not.
Spending is holding, but getting more deliberate
US pet ownership held steady at 95 million households. Even as consumers turn cautious generally, ownership is not wavering — people are adjusting how they spend rather than whether they do.
Persistent inflation has raised costs across food, veterinary care, grooming and accessories, prompting more careful decisions particularly among younger owners.
The direction of that carefulness is interesting: consumers are consistently trading up to higher-quality products and more specialised services. Personalised training programmes are growing faster than conventional alternatives.
In other words, tighter budgets are producing fewer, more considered purchases rather than cheaper ones.
What this means if you are choosing training
Packages are the norm, so compare what is inside them. Six sessions for $350 is the benchmark. Whether that includes between-session support, written plans or follow-up varies enormously and is where the real difference sits.
Certification is worth checking. With 15,000+ certified trainers, there is no shortage — but the field is unregulated and certification bodies differ substantially in rigour.
Specialised beats general if you have a specific problem. The growth is in personalised programmes because generic obedience classes do not resolve reactivity, separation distress or resource guarding.
Enrichment is not an upsell. It is grouped with training as the growth category for a reason: mental work resolves a large share of the behaviour problems owners book training for.
