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.
18,770 people do this job in the US. $39,990 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 1%
- 1%
- 98%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 1%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.Done daily by most who do it. | 30% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Train dogs in human assistance or property protection duties.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Retrain horses to break bad habits, such as kicking, bolting, or resisting bridling or grooming.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Evaluate animals for trainability and ability to perform.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Use oral, spur, rein, or hand commands to condition horses to carry riders or to pull horse-drawn equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Cue or signal animals during performances.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Advise animal owners regarding the purchase of specific animals.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 1% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Animal Caretakers11% now, 16% by 2028
- Animal Breeders24% now, 33% by 2028
- Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers18% now, 19% by 2028
- Animal Control Workers38% now, 38% by 2028
- Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals2% now, 2% by 2028
- Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors56% now, 67% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).