Dog Handler or Trainer
Teaches dogs to obey commands and undertake specific tasks.
ANZSCO 2013, the edition the department applies to the points tested visas (189, 190 and 491).
Duties
Published for unit group 3611 Animal Attendants and Trainers
- teaching animals to obey verbal and non-verbal commands and addressing behavioural problems
- training animals to accept riders and pull vehicles
- training animals to perform in competitions
- bathing, cutting, combing, blow-drying and styling pets' coats, clipping their nails and cleaning their ears
- inspecting, preparing, cleaning, disinfecting and maintaining comfortable animal cages and enclosures
- transporting food, filling water troughs and feeding animals according to their individual needs
- maintaining animal health records, treating minor injuries and reporting serious conditions to Veterinarians
- exercising and playing with animals, answering visitor questions, and transferring animals between enclosures by leading or carrying them
- dusting and spraying insecticides on animals and immersing them in insecticide baths, to control insect pests
This is what the occupation is, not what a skills assessment requires. The assessing body applies its own criteria on top of this, and those criteria are not published here. Check them with the body itself.
Who assesses this occupation
Last confirmed against the department's list on 30 July 2026.
This occupation reads differently for the 186 and 482
Two editions of ANZSCO are current at once, and the department applies ANZSCO 2022 to the employer sponsored visas while everything above follows ANZSCO 2013.
The definition is identical in both editions, but the published duties are not:
- teaching animals to obey verbal and non-verbal commands and addressing behavioural problems
- training animals to accept riders and pull vehicles
- training animals and conditioning horses to perform in competitions
- reporting to trainers on horses’ progress and performance
- bathing, cutting, combing, blow-drying and styling pets' coats, clipping their nails and cleaning their ears
- inspecting, preparing, cleaning, disinfecting and maintaining comfortable animal cages and enclosures
- transporting food, filling water troughs and feeding animals according to their individual needs
- maintaining animal health records, treating minor injuries and reporting serious conditions to Veterinarians
- exercising and playing with animals, answering visitor questions, and transferring animals between enclosures by leading or carrying them
- dusting and spraying insecticides on animals and immersing them in insecticide baths, to control insect pests
If you are going for a 186 or a 482, this is the wording that governs you. Everything above governs the points tested routes.
Where Dog Handler or Trainer stands right now
Vizard tracks the live queue for this occupation: how many people are waiting at every points score for the 190, 491, the recent invitation round cutoffs, and how far down the queue your own score puts you.
Updated to 1 July 2026, from the department's own SkillSelect data.
See where you standWhere this comes from
Definition and duties: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZSCO
Assessing authorities and skilled lists: Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list
Vizard is not a registered migration agent and nothing here is migration advice. It is published government information, organised. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered migration agent.