Also called: Psychiatric service dog trainer, Assistance dog trainer
Raises and trains dogs that help veterans with PTSD, mobility injuries, and other disabilities.
Trainers teach dogs tasks like waking a veteran from nightmares or retrieving dropped items, then match each dog with a veteran and coach them together. Some programs pair dog training with prison inmates or veterans themselves.
BLS animal trainers, May 2024; nonprofit pay varies.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. High school diploma; apprenticeship with a service dog organization or a dog-training certification.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Certification, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Animal Behavior, Animal Science.
Growing faster than average. BLS projects strong growth for animal care and training workers.
Low risk for 10 years. Raising and training service dogs stays hands-on.
Classes: Animal science / FFA, Psychology, Biology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-2011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.