Average Animal Trainer Hourly Wage in the United States
Animal Trainers hourly wage of $12.80. Hourly wages typically start from $8.73 and go up to $27.49.
Average Animal Trainer Yearly Salary in the United States
Animal Trainers earn a median salary of $26,610 per year. Salaries typically start from $18,160 and go up to $57,170.
When Rusty arrives at the 6,000-acre preserve, he's got one thing on his mind: the School Expo that's happening tomorrow and the animals he's working with could use a little more work.
After he assigns his direct reports to specific jobs with specific animals, he heads to the area where he works with individual animals. First up is Lobo, a gray wolf. Lobo was not born in captivity, but he's become so accustomed to human contact that some people mistake him for a particularly long-legged dog, maybe a husky or a malamute. But Lobo is a wolf and Rusty takes care to never forget that.
Everything Rusty does with regard to training each animal is based on the concept of positive reinforcement. No choke collars, electric prods, loud noises, or spraying bad tasting liquid (and certainly no physical punishment). It's all about rewarding the desired behaviors and the clicker helps with that.