How to become an animal trainer in Australia: Australian careers in animal training

As the title suggests, a horse trainer specialised in horses and provides their expertise and in-depth knowledge to help owners teach their horses certain behaviours and ensure the animals are kept in the best conditions, including diet. Most horse trainers work in the racing or dressage industry. As a trainer in racing, you will assist the animal reach its peak speed and stamina to become a top competitor. In dressage, you will help riders perform tricks on their horses as well as ensure the horse is groomed to perfection. Other jobs a horse trainer can specialise in are stunt horses or other performance areas. Because you require to understand horses inside out, most trainers will require at least a Certificate IV or equivalent in something horse related, such as equine science.

Animal wranglers who work on film sets are able to quickly pick up on an animal’s mood as well as provide their knowledge on animals, including legal requirements for animal wellbeing. On a film set, animals usually repeat a scene several times in order to get the shot right. With lights and a multitude of people around, this can be somewhat stressful on the animal so it is up to you to decide when it is time for the animal to take a break to ensure they are always feeling comfortable and happy with the other actors. Working in the film industry can often be long days so you will need to be available at all times all the while ensuring the set is to the industry health and safety standards for your animals.

Working with guard dogs will mean you will work with a defence or security company, training your animals to use their intelligence and strength in some form of protection, be that people, other animals or property. Security dogs are usually larger breeds so you will need confidence around big dogs with the ability to teach them to be completely obedient to their handlers. You can also branch into other security types of jobs such as at international and domestic airports. 

If you would like to help those with a disability, it can be very rewarding to train guide dogs that will help people with an impairment, such as with their eyesight or a type mental disorder. Guide dogs become a vital part of a person’s life and are heavily relied upon, so it is a great responsibility to turn dogs into such a valuable asset, that will greatly improve someone’s life. As a guide dog trainer, you will teach dogs to guide their owners through streets, shopping centres and to remain focussed and well behaved at all times, completely ignoring irrelevant distractions.