Dog trainer vs obedience trainer

The differences between dog trainers and obedience trainers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a dog trainer and an obedience trainer. Additionally, an obedience trainer has an average salary of $39,756, which is higher than the $32,811 average annual salary of a dog trainer.

The top three skills for a dog trainer include PET, training techniques and customer service. The most important skills for an obedience trainer are PET, private lessons, and behavior problems.

Dog trainer vs obedience trainer overview

	Dog Trainer	Obedience Trainer
Yearly salary	$32,811	$39,756
Hourly rate	$15.77	$19.11
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	76,324	20,857
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

Dog trainer vs obedience trainer salary

Dog trainers and obedience trainers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dog Trainer	Obedience Trainer
Average salary	$32,811	$39,756
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $46,000	Between $21,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between dog trainer and obedience trainer education

There are a few differences between a dog trainer and an obedience trainer in terms of educational background:

	Dog Trainer	Obedience Trainer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Education
Most common college	-	-

Dog trainer vs obedience trainer demographics

Here are the differences between dog trainers' and obedience trainers' demographics:

	Dog Trainer	Obedience Trainer
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 38.9% Female, 61.1%	Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 7.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 1.7% White, 71.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 7.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 1.7% White, 72.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between dog trainer and obedience trainer duties and responsibilities

Dog trainer example responsibilities.

Accept shipments and manage using AS400 system.
Bathe all types of dogs including clipping nails, cleaning ears, brushing teeth and cleansing anal glands.
Train assigned K9's in explosive detection, obedience and control aggression, building searches, area and article searches.
Conduct training programs in order to develop and maintain desire animal behaviors, husbandry and well being for all animals.
Include cutting the animals hair, giving them a bath, blow dry also clips their nails and clean their ears.
Train dogs in show handling, tracking, k-9 work, bite work ,

Obedience trainer example responsibilities.

Accept shipments and manage using AS400 system.
Acquire knowledge in animal husbandry, natural history, and animal conditioning principles through reading materials and participating in training sessions.
Assure proper annotation of administrative MWD utilization and training records used for legal reviews.

Dog trainer vs obedience trainer skills

Common dog trainer skills

PET, 82%
Training Techniques, 14%
Customer Service, 1%
Behavior Issues, 1%
Various Training, 0%
Front Desk, 0%

Common obedience trainer skills

PET, 59%
Private Lessons, 22%
Behavior Problems, 19%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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