Handle Animal Skill

Check
The DC depends on what you are trying to do.

Handle an Animal
This task involves commanding a beast to perform a task or trick that it knows. If the beast is wounded or has taken any damage, the DC increases by 2. If your check succeeds, the beast performs the task or trick on its next action.

“Push” an Animal
To push a beast means to get it to perform a task or trick that it doesn’t know but is physically capable of performing. If the beast is wounded the DC increases by 2. If your check succeeds, the beast performs the task or trick on its next action.

Teach a Beast a Trick
You can teach a beast a specific trick with one week of work and a successful Handle Animal check against the indicated DC. An beast with an Intelligence score of 1 can learn a maximum of three tricks, while a beast with an Intelligence score of 2 can learn a maximum of six tricks. Possible tricks (and their associated DCs) include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following.

Attack (DC 20): The beast attacks apparent enemies. You may point to a particular creature that you wish the beast to attack, and it will comply if able. Teaching a beast to attack all creatures counts as two tricks.

Come (DC 15): The beast comes to you, even if it normally would not do so.

Defend (DC 20): The beast defends you (or is ready to defend you if no threat is present), even without any command being given. Alternatively, you can command the beast to defend a specific other character.

Down (DC 15): The beast breaks off from combat or otherwise backs down. A beast that doesn’t know this trick continues to fight until it must flee (due to injury, a fear effect, or the like) or its opponent is defeated.

Fetch (DC 15): The beast goes and gets something. If you do not point out a specific item, the beast fetches some random object.

Guard (DC 20): The beast stays in place and prevents others from approaching.

Heel (DC 15): The beast follows you closely, even to places where it normally wouldn’t go.

Perform (DC 15): The beast performs a variety of simple tricks, such as sitting up, rolling over, roaring or barking, and so on.

Seek (DC 15): The beast moves into an area and looks around for anything that is obviously alive or animate.

Stay (DC 15): The beast stays in place, waiting for you to return. It does not challenge other creatures that come by, though it still defends itself if it needs to.

Track (DC 20): The beast tracks the scent presented to it.

Work (DC 15): The beast pulls or pushes a medium or heavy load.

Train a Beast for a Purpose
Rather than teaching a beast individual tricks, you can simply train it for a general purpose. Essentially, a beast’s purpose represents a preselected set of known tricks that fit into a common scheme, such as guarding or heavy labor. The beast must meet all the normal prerequisites for all tricks included in the training package. If the package includes more than three tricks, the beast must have an Intelligence score of 2.

A beast can be trained for only one general purpose, though if the creature is capable of learning additional tricks, it may do so. Training a beast for a purpose requires fewer checks than teaching individual tricks does, but no less time.

Combat Riding (DC 20): A beast trained to bear a rider into combat knows the tricks attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel.

Fighting (DC 20): A beast trained to engage in combat knows the tricks attack, down, and stay.

Guarding (DC 20): A beast trained to guard knows the tricks attack, defend, down, and guard.

Heavy Labor (DC 15): A beast trained for heavy labor knows the tricks come and work.

Hunting (DC 20): A beast trained for hunting knows the tricks attack, down, fetch, heel, seek, and track.

Performance (DC 15): A beast trained for performance knows the tricks come, fetch, heel, perform, and stay.

Riding (DC 15): A beast trained to bear a rider knows the tricks come, heel, and stay.

Rear a Wild Animal
To rear an beast means to raise a wild creature from infancy so that it becomes domesticated.

A successfully domesticated beast can be taught tricks at the same time it’s being raised, or it can be taught as a domesticated beast later.

Epic Check
You can handle creatures other than beasts, and can teach or train in much less time than normally required.

Action
Varies. Handling a beast is a movement action, while pushing an beast is an action. If the check fails, your attempt to teach, rear, or train the beast fails and you need not complete the teaching, rearing, or training time. If the check succeeds, you must invest the remainder of the time to complete the teaching, rearing, or training. If the time is interrupted or the task is not followed through to completion, the attempt to teach, rear, or train the beast automatically fails.

Try Again
Yes, except for rearing a beast.

Synergy
If you have 5 or more ranks in Handle Animal, you get a +2 bonus on Ride checks.