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Boston Career Explorer

Personal Care and Service

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.

Also called: Agility Instructor, Dog Obedience Instructor, Dog Trainer, Guide Dog Instructor, Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (GDMI), Guide Dog Trainer

Compare with my current job (Animal Caretakers)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$42,180
$20.28/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
500
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+7.6%
80 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$33,670$33,670$42,180$57,160$82,810

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Cue or signal animals during performances.
  • Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.
  • Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.
  • Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.
  • Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.
  • Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure25 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 19
  • Language-model AIOE 26
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 29

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for animal trainers is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. Most of the work is hands-on: working with animals in person, cueing them, and caring for them. AI tools may help only at the edges, such as planning training programs or keeping notes on an animal's progress and health.

Likely to change

  • Planning training programs and schedules
  • Keeping notes on animal progress and health

Still relies on people

  • Cueing and working with animals in person
  • Spotting illness by watching animals closely

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

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