Dog trainers are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, dog trainers rate their career happiness 3.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 13% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy dog trainers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Animal breeder | 4.0 | $19k |
| Beekeeper | 3.9 | $29k |
| Dog trainer | 3.9 | $26k |
| Rancher | 3.9 | $10k |
| Aquarist | 3.8 | $28k |
| Animal caretaker | 3.7 | $3k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are dog trainers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do dog trainers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as dog trainers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are dog trainer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are dog trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Are dog trainers happy with their salary?
Dog trainers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Dog trainers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked dog trainers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
323 dog trainers
18% of dog trainers rated their compensation 5 stars
17% of dog trainers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of dog trainers rated their compensation 3 stars
25% of dog trainers rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of dog trainers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do dog trainers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, dog trainers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, dog trainers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become dog trainers.
We asked dog trainers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
327 dog trainers
38% of dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
28% of dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
7% of dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
8% of dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as dog trainers?
Dog trainers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of dog trainers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked dog trainers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
356 dog trainers
52% of dog trainers rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of dog trainers rated their career fit 4 stars
12% of dog trainers rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of dog trainers rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of dog trainers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a dog trainer’s work environment?
As a whole, dog trainers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of dog trainers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a dog trainer.
We asked dog trainers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
357 dog trainers
43% of dog trainers rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of dog trainers rated their work environment 4 stars
15% of dog trainers rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of dog trainers rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of dog trainers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are dog trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Former dog trainers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most dog trainers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a dog trainer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked dog trainers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
354 dog trainers
33% of dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
4% of dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars