Search and Rescue Dog Trainer Career Profile
- Career Name - Search & Rescue Dog Trainer
- Category - Animal Care / Business / Law & Enforcement
- Skills Required - Life skills 40% - Career skills 60%
- Basic School Subjects - Biology, Science, Geography
- Required Minimum Education - College Diploma
- Species Worked With - Dogs
- Kind of Interaction with Animals - Direct
Do you want to work as a search & rescue dog trainer?
READ: This page helps you to read about the career and the info you need to decide on whether this is indeed the career you want to follow.
RESEARCH: Learn about the skills required and minimum subjects to enter this career, as well as the places where you can study further after school.
PREPARE: If you want to plan and prepare for your career, then join the OZT Community! Members have access to tools while chatting with other students and experts from around the world. Prepare to be amazed!
CAREER MENTOR
UPDATED:
3 July 2023
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What is a Search & Rescue Dog trainer?
Search & Rescue (SAR) Dog Trainers use their skills to train dogs to use scent to find humans that may be lost or difficult to find.
Although the SAR dogs are classified as K9, there are trainers that only work with SAR dogs.
Career Categories
The Search & Rescue Dog Trainer career can be found in the following career categories:
- Animal Care
- Law & Enforcement
Most trained animals?
The animals that are the most trained and produce the most jobs, are dogs.
Chicken training?
Trainers used to practice their new techniques on chickens
What does a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer do?
Groups of animals a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer works with
What is the level of Interaction with the Animals?
- Directly - A person works directly with the animals with some form of physical contact at least once every few days
- Indirectly - The career doesn't require direct or physical contact at all.
What does a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer focus on?
Search & Rescue dog trainers focus on training dogs to use their excellent sense of smell to locate people who have gone missing, or who are trapped under stuff. Some of the dogs are even trained to pull drowning people from water.
With who does a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer work?
Besides working with all of the dogs, Search & Rescue Dog Trainers will need to interact with other people while doing their daily tasks. The people might include fellow staff members or the public.
Fellow staff might include:
- Supervisors/Managers
- Operational staff, such as Human Resources, Finance and Maintenance
- Handlers
What are the daily tasks of a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer?
- train the animals in the specific tasks required
- monitor the animals to ensure they learn
- ensure the safety of the animals while training
- create habitats that will help with training
- mentally stimulate some species with toys or challenges
- communicate with animal owners
- run business
The Working Environment of a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer
Where does a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer work?
Environment –
Animal trainers mainly work outdoors, and in most cases within a simulated setup of what the dog might expect in real life.
Places of Employment –
They are mostly employed by government, and private search and rescue organizations. They may also decide to start their own business and find work through contracts.
What is the average annual salary of a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer?
The average yearly salary of animal trainers is US$29,000.
Can a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer be promoted?
Advancement in the field typically depends on work experience. First year practitioners often begin on a part-time basis, fitting their training commitments around other work demands. Promotion to senior levels are available in all related careers. The levels of each promotion might differ from organization to organization, but generally are the following:
Intern > Junior Trainer > Senior Trainer > Supervisor
What are the difficulties a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer faces?
Animal training careers often experience difficulties associated with aggressive or frightened animals that may bite, kick or scratch, causing injuries. You may also be required to work irregular hours including evenings, weekends, and holidays. SAR dog trainers might also need to go through some of the difficult conditions (searching in extremely bad weather) while training.
Future Growth and Possibilities
The prospects of future growth in this industry is good.
Which Skills does a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer require?
The skills required for a career as a Search & Rescue dog trainer can be divided into two very important groups. The first is the group containing life skills, which are the core skills that are necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life. The second group is career skills, or the specific skills required to allow a person to enter and operate effectively within a specific career. Some or maybe even all of the life skills can assist in strengthening the career skills, and they might even be the same for specific careers.
Life Skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Critical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Decision making
- Problem Solving
- Effective communication
- Interpersonal relationship
Career Skills
- Basic animal handling and care techniques
- Basic instructing techniques
- Basic customer service skills
- Basic wilderness survival skills
- Basic first aid and CPR
- Good health and physical fitness
- Basic computer literacy
Which Subjects must I have at School to help prepare for this Career?
Biology will be a compulsory subject to gain admission in most Colleges and Universities.
Business Studies will give you the best start to having your own training business.
Language is important, as it will be compulsory for most courses you need to study.
These subjects are recognized around the world. The subjects you choose at school are important as they lay the foundation for further studies at college or university. While still at school, it’s also important to learn more about the animals you will work with, as well as gain some experience.
OZT has a list of various tertiary institutions where you can study further, after school. Each of these institutions also have their own Group page on OZT where you will find the exact subjects they require of you to have passed in school. Keep these requirements in mind, and discuss it with your school, guidance counselor and parents to ensure that you are prepared!
What will I need to Study to become a Search & Rescue Dog Trainer?
Minimum Requirements
The minimum requirements for entering this careers is a High School Certificate, but most of the best trainers have furthered their studies with a College Diploma, or excellent Short Courses.
Study Focus
A diploma or Short Courses with a focus in training, survival, emergency rescue, animal behaviour, or a closely related area is preferred.
Study Duration
The duration of most diplomas are between 3 and 4 years full time. The duration of short courses differ, but can range from a few days to a few months.
Possible Career Preparation Paths
If this is your dream career that you want to pursue, then it’s important to plan the way forward.
Why is planning important?
To ensure that you understand the requirements for your career, and that you are always prepared for the next step on the road towards your dream. A Preparation Path is like your road map to where you want to be.
Possible Paths:
Possible Combined Career Paths
It is possible to sometimes combine two or more related careers. This normally happens when you study and practice a specific main career, but the knowledge and experience gained also help you to have a paying hobby or secondary income career.
Possible Alternative(s):
Stepping Stone Career
Being an animal trainer can also be used as a stepping stone career. A stepping stone career is one which is used to help you get to another career, normally because the other career is too difficult to reach (sometimes due to things like high fees etc).
You can begin as an intern dog trainer after basic short courses and expert guidance (maybe working under a mentor). The money made can then be used to pay for studies towards a promotion or another career, and the experience helps in gaining knowledge. One paying to help get to the other.
Some of the possible paths:
Training and apprenticeship
Even though it is important to study to get into some of the animal caregiver careers, most of the skills you will need will be acquired through on-the-job training. This means that you will learn how to perform some of the daily tasks by actually doing it a few times and learning the steps.
In some cases entry level positions (or junior positions) require training sessions even before you are allowed to actually perform your job duties. These sessions are offered by the place of employment, after you have successfully applied.
Apprenticeship as a SAR dog trainer is extremely important where you need to learn skills from a more senior person or expert. In general it takes at least 600 working hours before a dog is even ready to go into the field!
Join the Search & Rescue Dog Trainer Group in the OZT Community to learn more and even interact with the educational institutions that will help you secure your dream career!
Average level of education of those entering the career
Licenses, Certificate, Registration and Professional Associations
Certain animal careers require some form of legal certification to prove that you can indeed do the work, and work with the necessary equipment.
Although not required by law, certifications may help SAR dog trainers to establish their credentials and enhance their skills in certain conditions, such as working with avalanche rescue situations.
Learn more about requirements by joining the OZT Community.
Professional Associations
Where can I study further?
All of the above information will help you understand more about the Career, including the fact that there are different paths to take to reach it. But if you are almost done with High School (Grades 11 or 12), you also need to start thinking about further studies, and WHERE you will study.
See the List of Universities, Colleges and Online Training Academies who offer courses towards animal care and training.
Do you want to Contribute?
Do you have information that you would like to contribute to this career?
Join the OZT community and chat Group
Join us as a special member and learn more about becoming a Search & Rescue dog trainer.
Members of the Platform have special access to:
- Info on the best places where you can study (colleges, universities and online)
- Expertly designed advice to prepare you for the career, and links to places where you can gain valuable experience. For some career experience is necessary, otherwise you wont get the job!
- Top notch info on each of the different species you will work with
- Make friends around the world and share knowledge
- Compete and win points, badges, games, prizes and certificates. Be the best of the best, while you learn and prepare!
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