Sindy: How did you get involved in this line of work?
Katie Brock: I've been training animals between cats, squirrels, creepy creatures like cockroaches, maggots and all sorts of things. It was simply because I had so many years training with marine mammals at Sea World in Australia, so I was able to transfer the experience across.
Sindy: Are there any particular animals you love working with?
Katie Brock: I feel the most comfortable with rodents, believe it or not! I love training rats, they're lots of fun. I had a good time training mice on Babe 2, where we trained them to retrieve jelly beans from a monkey's hand.
Sindy: What's the most rewarding aspect of being an animal trainer?
Katie Brock: It's getting what we had with Abigail, an actor who really wants to be there and getting the shot quickly. And the animals love going to set. That's the goal - to take animals you know that want to be there because it can be stressful, so you want to take animals that want to be there. And you find out quickly which animals are appropriate.
Sindy: And what's the toughest part of the job?
Katie Brock: You prep as much as you can, but at the end of the day you only hope everything goes your way because so many factors change because every scene is highly unpredictable. Just the unpredictability of a set.
Sindy: Do you have any advice for kids who want to get into the animal training industry?
Katie Brock: There are a few animal training colleges in California. One's called Moorpark College and they have the Exotic Animal Training and Management program. It's called the EATM program. And animal world because it's really about getting to know the animals and proving you're dedicated because animals take a lot of dedication.
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