Animal Trainer Train animals for riding, harness, security, performance, or obedience, or for assisting persons with disabilities. Accustom animals to human voice and contact, and condition animals to respond to commands. Train animals according to prescribed standards for show or competition. May train animals to carry pack loads or work as part of pack team.
Animal Trainer is Also Know as
In different settings, Animal Trainer is titled as
- Agility Instructor
- Dog Obedience Instructor
- Dog Trainer
- Guide Dog Instructor
- Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (GDMI)
- Guide Dog Trainer
- Horse Trainer
- Racehorse Trainer
- Service Dog Trainer
- Trainer
Education and Training of Animal Trainer
Animal Trainer is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Animal Trainer
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Animal Trainer
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Animal Trainer
- Bachelor in Animal Training
- Associate Degree Courses in Animal Training
- Masters Degree Courses in Animal Training
- Bachelor in Equestrian/Equine Studies
- Associate Degree Courses in Equestrian/Equine Studies
- Masters Degree Courses in Equestrian/Equine Studies
- Bachelor in Anthrozoology
- Associate Degree Courses in Anthrozoology
- Masters Degree Courses in Anthrozoology
Training Required for Animal Trainer
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Animal Trainer in different industries are
- Animal Caretakers
- Animal Breeders
- Animal Control Workers
- Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
- Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors
- Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
- Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
- Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials
- Athletes and Sports Competitors
- Self-Enrichment Teachers
- Veterinarians
- Athletic Trainers
- Animal Scientists
- Training and Development Specialists
- Coaches and Scouts
- Training and Development Managers
- Exercise Physiologists
- Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
- Amusement and Recreation Attendants
- Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
What Do Animal Trainer do?
- Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.
- Cue or signal animals during performances.
- Administer prescribed medications to animals.
- Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.
- Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.
- Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.
- Keep records documenting animal health, diet, or behavior.
- Advise animal owners regarding the purchase of specific animals.
- Instruct jockeys in handling specific horses during races.
- Train horses or other equines for riding, harness, show, racing, or other work, using knowledge of breed characteristics, training methods, performance standards, and the peculiarities of each animal.
- Use oral, spur, rein, or hand commands to condition horses to carry riders or to pull horse-drawn equipment.
- Place tack or harnesses on horses to accustom horses to the feel of equipment.
- Train dogs in human assistance or property protection duties.
- Retrain horses to break bad habits, such as kicking, bolting, or resisting bridling or grooming.
- Train and rehearse animals, according to scripts, for motion picture, television, film, stage, or circus performances.
- Organize or conduct animal shows.
- Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.
- Evaluate animals for trainability and ability to perform.
- Train dogs to work as guides for the visually impaired.
Qualities of Good Animal Trainer
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Animal Trainer
- Agility A-frames
- Agility dog walks
- Agility jumps
- Agility pause tables
- Agility see-saws
- Agility tire jumps
- Agility tunnels
- Agitation sticks
- Agitation whips
- Bite sleeves
- Bite suits
- Bite tugs
- Clicker targets
- Dog cooling vests
- Dog muzzles
- Dog training collars
- Draw reins
- Equine ear plugs
- Equine training harnesses
- Flat halters
- Lead ropes
- Long leashes
- Personal computers
- Pin brushes
- Rope halters
- Side reins
- Slicker brushes
- Stud chains
- Swivel carabiners
- Training forks
- Training surcingles
- Training whistles
Technology Skills required for Animal Trainer
- Atlassian JIRA
- Customer information control system CICS
- Database software
- Epic Systems
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft Word
- Oracle Database
- Oracle PeopleSoft
- SAP software
- Tracks Software
- Work scheduling software