Dog Health Questions: How do I get a career in advanced animal training?

I'm looking to get a career in animal training. I've been working as a trainer at pet stores for a while now, but I really want to advance my career into doing specialized dog training, I.E. Search and Rescue, Service dogs, or I'd like to move into doing more exotics for parks like Sea-world and Busch Gardens. This is the career of my dreams, but I'm having a hard finding a good path into the field. Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as schools, training, and entry-points into the industry? Thank you!

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Recommended Answer:
The different types of careers in animal training have different requirements.
Working with things like guide or rescue dogs probably requires working up through an apprenticeship training program with people who already do that kind of work.

This site has some info on training seeing eye dogs:
http://www.thepuppyplace.org/page16.html

Working with marine mammals at a park like Sea World will probably require a related degree, probably marine biology or psychology (because you will be working with intelligent animals and people in close proximity, in addition to experience with animal training. If you want to go this path, I'd suggest choosing a school in an area with parks like these- probably in Florida or California- and try to get a job at the parks while in school. You will start out as something small, like a helper or tour guide, but can work your way up to the position you want.

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