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Date: 06/15/2025

Animal Trainers

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.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • 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.
    • Retrain horses to break bad habits, such as kicking, bolting, or resisting bridling or grooming.
    • Use oral, spur, rein, or hand commands to condition horses to carry riders or to pull horse-drawn equipment.
    • Cue or signal animals during performances.
    • Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.
    • Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.
    • Keep records documenting animal health, diet, or behavior.
    • Evaluate animals for trainability and ability to perform.
    • Train dogs in human assistance or property protection duties.
    • Advise animal owners regarding the purchase of specific animals.
    • Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.
    • Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.
    • Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.
    • Administer prescribed medications to animals.
    • Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.
    • Organize or conduct animal shows.
    • Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.

    Skills

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    0
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    Knowledge

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 57410/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 27.6/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 1,130
    • Yearly Projected Openings 160

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Dependability
    • Integrity
    • Attention to Detail
    • Self Control
    • Independence
    • Cooperation

    Tools

    • Animal collars
    • Domestic pet training kits
    • Ear plugs
    • Harnesses or its accessories
    • Leashes or leads
    • Muzzles
    • Personal computers
    • Pet grooming products
    • Protective coveralls
    • Reins
    • Safety sleeves
    • Swivel carabiner
    • Therapeutic heating or cooling blankets or drapes
    • Whips
    • Whistle

    Technology

    • Calendar and scheduling software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Medical software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Transaction server software
    • Web page creation and editing software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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