The TRUTH about working at a dog daycare
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
- So I’m a canine coach at a dog daycare!! I love my job and wanted to share some info about it so I did a pros and cons video :) Like if you enjoyed seeing the doggos in this video and subscribe for more content!
Check out tubebuddy!!
www.tubebuddy.com/SonjaMarie
Beware of dog mistreatment, coworker gossip/mockery, unsanitary conditions, low wages and long work weeks, and outraged dog owners. If you have no experience and are about to start a kennel attendant job, you may get culture shock if you work at the wrong location
I swear, gossip is in any workplace. Or at least, anywhere where there's humans involved and a team that you see physically everyday of your life. I feel like for the people who actually know/show the better side, this is something to have to get used to and know how to deal with it.
Yep this is it 100 %
So true, but alot of people really have no clue what working at a doggy daycare really entails. It's not just loving them, sure that's a big part but it's so much more. Hope you really enjoy it. Omg the work out is amazing. I lost soooo much weight just from doing what I love
Dog daycare worker/boarding worker here! I love my job, I work at a good doggy resort, but anybody who asks me if it is a good fit for anyone and everyone will get a big no from me. It is absolutely not a job for everyone, if you go there expecting to only play with puppies you are in for a big, big surprise. Watching over groups also means breaking up scruffles and fights from time to time and picking up dog poop, which a lot of people either don’t want to admit happens (mostly in regards to the fighting) or know it happens but don’t or can’t do those kinds of things. You need to clean: vacuuming, bleach mopping, wiping equipment the dogs lie on as well as the walls, windows, etc is a standard practice where I work at. And cleaning cages and suites and ridding them of crust, dirt, and fur is also common, especially when a dog leaves. Food bowls need to be cleaned, and my place has about 200-300 blankets they use to pass out to dogs who don’t have any bedding. That needs to be replaced when it gets soiled or shedded on to the point of no return. All those blankets and towels make for a lot of laundry! Lol
With dogs, feeding them is specific. You can’t afford to just do what you want and over/underfeed them. If an owner says 2 scoops, you have to do 2 scoops, not 3 or 1 (although with extremely underweight dogs I can understand adding a bit more)
Basically, it’s a job that many people want to have, but very few of those people can truly handle. It’s not like working with your own dog or a friend’s dog. You can love dogs and be completely unfit for a dog daycare. Working with dozens and dozens of dogs is so much different than 1 on 1 and I wish people understood that.
Heya! Question: I have been taking my little poodle terrier mix to daycare for about 5 weeks. He goes Mon, Wed and Fri. They say he does really well and plays, chills out, etc. He's very happy and relaxed when I pick him up at the end of an 8 hour day. However, lately, he has begun barking at me as soon as we get out of the car in the morning. He will walk into the daycare willingly, but bark like crazy and he never wants to go back into the suite area/play area. They kinda have to drag him. However, they tell me that after I'm gone, he eventually stops barking. Does this mean he hates daycare?! Are other dogs bullying him and he's trying to tell me?! Also, my dog has developed some isolation distress or separation anxiety since we moved into our new apartment in May. Prior to that, we were living with another human and another dog, an arrangement we all really loved. But now it's just the two of us. Whenever I have to leave him in the apartment, I come home and he's super stressed, sometimes panting and won't stop jumping and barking at me. He has also destroyed some of my things while I'm gone. Neighbors say that his barking during the day has quieted down some though. I'm just wondering what's going on in his little brain! I realize you may not be a behavior specialist but since you work at a daycare, I'm still interested in your thoughts! Thank you very much!
@@davidmenke7552I work at a dog daycare. There could be multiple reasons for your dogs change in behavior.
It's probably partially because of the mix you have.
Also the hours can be exhausting! My average shift is 6:30 AM-7:00 PM, and on average I walk over 20,000 steps a day!
I went for an interview at one, and they really loved my application and my interview and wanna call me Friday. I always wanted to work with animals. Thought I would never get one, cause I don’t have a GED or high school… But because I was honest but still wanted to try, she is even going to over look that. And said she can train me with everything.
That’s awesome!! Congratulations!🎉
@@SonjaJones01 Ty so much ^^
How did it go? I have an interview on Wednesday
I finished my course for kennel attendant and I got mentally drained at ERs and clinics I was doing stuff that I was afraid to do most of the time I was just a overall mess due to my anxiety from the pandemic and then getting COVID family drama etc and I quit a month working after starting my first job at a clinic wich I was blessed to land with a good pay I always worked at fast food place being payed below minimum and part time so I just feel like a clinic is something I can do part time for 2-3 days a week and a dog day care would be more of my job since I love working in clinics and I was just drains asf but definitely making a dog care as my permanent job thanks for the video it was very helpful thank you
I loved your video! I just started working at a training and daycare facility one week ago, 11 hours per day due to being so understaffed. However, I’m mortified by what I’ve seen. I need to find a better daycare facility. They knee the dogs, and keep them locked away in kennels for over 8+ hours a day. They only have one dog arena/play area. Some dogs will never go play, others get maybe an hour or two a day of playtime per day. We charge $30-$50 per day per dog depending on if it’s daycare or “boot camp” where we will exercise them (sometimes) on treadmills. We are extremely understaffed and have 60 dogs most days for 3 people to manage. The trainers won’t allow us to mange them ourselves. We just have to ask them how high would you like me to jump when they tell you jump 😡. Such a fucking scam to the owners!! I am going to move on and find a better fit, but meanwhile I just feel so terrible for the owners and the dogs! They pee themselves when they see this place in their owners car’s, we don’t have cameras except for the ones the owner used to make sure we are working. It’s abusive and cruel and fraudulent!
Megan, I am sorry that sounds absolutely horrible and disgusting!! I feel so bad for those fur babies! It sounds like a horrible job/company to be working for! I hope you find one that actually cares about the dogs as well as the employees. And I hope that scummy place gets shut down! People who just want to market off of these animals and have no love for them should not have anything to do with them. It’s disgusting and makes me so angry!!
This made me cry poor things thats abuse and neglect and the place should be shut down!
Please go ahead and report this place.
I just joined a dog daycare last week, at the end of the interview she told me I got the job. I was glad because I just moved out here. I didn’t know they were understaffed and the whole business is desperate for money. My biggest issue I have isn’t how people treat the dogs, all my coworkers are excellent with that. My issue is the business is so desperate for money they’ll let ANY dog in. It’s me (had been working for one week) with 35 dogs. The max we’re supposed to have is 25 but we always go past that. That’s one. Two is the dogs at my place aren’t required to be spayed or neutered causing them to be more aggressive than usual and constantly mount each other. We can’t let them mount each other or fight and constantly have to clean pee and poop and mop under crates. They expect me to watch 35 dogs without having them fight, mount, and keep the place clean while level headed. I almost cry everyday but I need the money and love working with dogs. Honestly if they just made it a requirement to have people get their dogs spayed/neutered it would be 100% easier. They also allow any aggressive dog to join which makes me so anxious. It’s at least 2 fights everyday and I have to stop multiple from forming. Just those flaws in the system makes my job 1000x harder. Of course the barking is bad my ear drum blows out sometimes which is annoying but I’m starting to get used to it..because it is literally all day not a second goes by when they don’t bark
I can understand having way more dogs than you’re supposed to in the room. That’s what happened everyday at the dog daycare I used to work at and the pay wasn’t near enough for all the stress it was causing. It’s hard especially when you have a love for animals but like you said the business is so desperate for money their putting everything above safety and your own mental health.
that sounds like a total nightmare
do ear plugs help with all the barking?
@@bellabowwow2204 ur not allowed to wear those or ear buds
Dude….im in the same position. They’re just letting any dog in and we’re under staffed too. I only wanted to work part time but I’m working the same amount of hours as the full time people and getting paid less. Not to mention they put me in a room with 30 big ass dogs alone. I like my manager I’m trying work with her while she tries to hire more people but this job is too stressful for the pay
This is great information for somebody considering this type of job. ❤
Thank you, I appreciate your feedback!😁
Been working at a doggy daycare in England a couple years and absolutely love it my boss is fair and we all get on really well with each other and the dogs love it too! Its only a small one 30 dogs max. Yea the money isn't great but thats just animal care in general for ya! I always knew I wouldn't get alot doing a job like that but its one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had. Don't get me wrong when we have a bad day its really bad but most days its really enjoyable.
I worked at a dog daycare. It was a nightmare, we were “part time” but worked 40-50 hours per week. No benefits.
And we made less than minimum wage. Denver’s city wide minimum wage is 17.29 per hour, but they were paying 14 dollars per hour! I asked my boss is he was aware of the denver minimum wage, and he threatened to fire me.
Everyone hated the boss, he was incompetent and had no leadership skills, yet he made twice as much as everyone else.
It’s not worth it working at a dog daycare.
why didnt you leave.. 3.29$ is a pretty big difference
Ur boss is absolutely disgusting. Blatantly exploiting the labor of employees by not paying what their rightfully owed then having the audacity to whine, cry, and bitch as to why no one wants to work anymore🥴
I love dealing with all sorts of animals I'm starting my first job tomorrow!! for kennel technician but they will also teach me to train dogs and watch them play to make sure they are playing safely ❤ I'm excited but nervous cause I don't want to mess up lol but i know they will teach me everything .. wish me luck!! :)
I bet you’re gonna have a great time, don’t be nervous, you’ve got this!! Good luck!
This was super helpful, thank you
I start on Monday and I’m so excited bc I love animal I’ve loved animals since I have a little girl so this is my dream job and it’s actually my first job so excited to see how it goes 🥰🤭
The loud environment is a big thing for me if you get overstimulated it’s constant overstimulation 100s of dogs screaming at you coworkers on the walkie and every body fluid you could think of on you
i’m going for an interview on monday & the lady hiring said that sometimes in a room there’s 15-30 dogs for 1 canine coach… i’m excited to get the interview but also slightly nervous bc that seems like a large amount of dogs for one person…
I will say for where I worked when there was that many dogs especially if they were larger breeds, it was extremely overwhelming and part of the reason I didn’t stay there long term. (Especially for what I was getting paid) So maybe just be up front about how you’re feeling going into it
I'm going for an interview a dog kennel attendant today! Get to go to the facility walk around watch a few videos and enteract with a few of the dogs to see how I react! I'm so excited I really want to get out of working around people
Good luck with your interview!!
I have always wanted to be a dog walker or work at a dog boarding facility it is justthat they were always far away from . I took care of multiple dogs for 4 years straight in my own home. I cannot wait until I can do this one day
Wish me luck, I applied for a Doggie Daycare job and got an interview. I'm well aware of all the cleaning, but I don't mind hard work if it means it's also satisfying.
Good luck Hannah!!
Did you get the job?😊
@@Love_Live_Creole No. I couldn't handle the amount of noise in the building sadly.
Dogs need to know you are the alpha, this is why it is so important to vet the dogs and put them through the paces before they are introduced too the pack, they also need lots of activities praise and plenty of room to run around at least 2 acres even more for large or active dogs water sports are also ideal. Like all industries their are the Good the Bad and the down right criminal. Staff need to have animal behavioral training, first aid cert, min 2 yrs exp, as well as the right fit for the job you can't have high turn over of staff. Their should be at least 1 vet nurse on hand as well as all the insurance required, my belief is that as much time money and planning that goes into a child care center needs to be put into doggy day care or boarding kennels. Most charge about the same as child care which if set up and run to a high standard is fair after all they are a valued member of the family.
I loved your comment and agree with everything you stated, however child day care has an even worse reputation as the doggie daycares do. Children being abused, left in soiled diapers for hours at a time, understaffed etc. Most do not provide webcams for the patents, I feel that is very telling. Nor can they legally crate them for many hours at time (you can’t crate children at all, I was just trying to make a point).
I’m pretty sure we work at the same “Dog Daycare” franchise. I’ve been there for a year in Atlanta and I’m a Lead. Def plenty of downsides, but it beats any other job at the same pay rate and what you’d have to deal with there. Lol
You like low pay, loud noise, and being under appreciated, while working holidays, long hours and weekends, then working at a pet resort is for you. Been in the industry for over 20 years and the resort industry is all smoke and mirrors.
I agree
I just got my first job (ever) at a dog daycare/overnight care!
Tbh I’m a little nervous about it because I’ve never had a job, I’m nervous I’ll get too stressed out and not be able to talk to coworkers and things like that since Im only 16 and everyone else is adults…
And Im also scared that Im not going to be good at what I do since I’ve never worked at a place like this, and I’ve only ever owned one dog in my life (a long time ago).
How do you deal with dogs who are fighting? Do you physically pull them apart or what?
I start next week so I haven’t gone through training yet but hopefully I’ll be good!!
When I was at the dog daycare I worked at it just depended on if they were actually fighting vs if one dog was ganging up on another. We always wore radios and if the dogs legit started fighting we’d call for backup so you weren’t by yourself trying to break up dogs fighting. And you’d never grab their collars while they were fighting because then you risk them attacking you. We’d pour a huge bucket of water on them because that usually shocked them and they’d stop long enough for you to grab their collar then or they’d have you spray citronella which isn’t toxic to dogs it just makes them sneeze and their eyes get watery. It makes them uncomfortable to where they stop what they’re doing.
@@SonjaJones01 omg that’s genius. I work at a doggy daycare and have gotten bit seperating fighting dogs. In the moment, I don’t even think and then bam get my hand bit lol. We have airhorns but found it doesn’t always work. I’ll have to keep the citronella in mind!
I’m usually with the smaller dogs,only a few times in my 4 years at my job has anything really bad happened. Big dog group on the other hand,is usually a nightmare,non stop rough play,humping,fighting,lately it’s been really bad in bigs for some reason,even the small dogs have been mostly not listening and humping like rabbits!
I can definitely relate!! I think the bigger dogs would just intimidate me too because I’m such a short person in stature so they were harder to control. Also I was new and they didn’t really know me or want to listen, I didn’t have their respect yet. I’m actually no longer working at this dog daycare but my last week was pretty horrible because I kept being in the room with the bigger dogs and they kept getting into fights. It can be really intense and scary!!
@@SonjaJones01 at my job,they put girls your size or smaller with the big crazy out of control dogs,which baffles me,I can barely handle those dogs,I’m a tall thin guy,but putting those tiny girls in there is just beyond me. One girl actually had a kneecap busted from dogs running into her full speed.
@@bugloverspiderlover8490 That’s insane!! I had heard about that happening to people before but I can’t imagine!😰 I hope it heals and she ends up being okay!! I was warned about not locking my knees especially when around the larger dogs, but when it’s a habit you’ve you’ve formed your whole life it’s hard to break
@@SonjaJones01 she was fine after about a month luckily.
Yes, no knee locking! I learned that about 30 years ago!
Cool job I’m looking to at a doggy day care i love dogs a lot actually
If you love dogs and don’t mind cleaning up after them this would be a good job for you
I just quit my job at a doggy day care after two shifts. They said it would be flexible hours but insisted that i work 8 hour shifts. I felt bad for quitting because theyre understaffed, but I couldn't handle being the only person watching both the small and medium dogs (leaving the small dogs alone in another area most of the time) for 8 hours and not being allowed to take a break to eat or go to the bathroom. Also it was really unsanitary as the dogs just pee and poop wherever and the only thing we had to clean the pee up with is a mop bucket full of tap water. And my boss refused to let there be any dog toys, and i could tell some of the dogs really wanted toys because theyd try to play tug of war with the leashes. And a lot of the dogs there are so depressed and sad because they miss their humans, and i feel so bad for those dogs at the location i worked at
I don’t blame you for quitting. It sounds like they were taking advantage of you and not providing the care the dogs needed. I had to leave my job at a dog daycare because it was so stressful I had a panic attack, along with the fact I wasn’t making enough money, it just wasn’t worth it for me in the end. I understand how it feels though because you love the animals and have empathy towards them, but at the end of the day you have to take care of yourself and do what’s best for you.
That doggy daycare sounds awful I would leave too thankfully completely different experience at the one I work at the dogs love it and have loads of toys and affection off us. Our boss is really lovely and fair and you can see she absolutely adores the dogs.The money isn't great but thats animal care in general for ya! Plus on the odd bad day its really bad but the majority of the time its lovely. We have a good time and so do the dogs. Why weren't they allowed toys at the one you were at it seems very odd for a day care not to have them?
@@julieworsley5048 the boss said it was because 'the dogs have other dogs to keep them entertained' which didn't seem like a good enough answer to me
@@spiritsgivemewisdom Its not they still need toys and stimulation otherwise their just sticking them in a room with nothing to do no wonder they were depressed sounds like he's just in it for the money to me I hope it hasn't put you off doggy daycares in general because there are some very good ones out there and I hope more good ones than bad. Also pretty sure not allowing you a bathroom or lunch break in 8 hours is against your human rights and illegal or it is in my country anyway I don't what the law is in yours. Think I can guess why their short staffed
I relate to this so much I just left my doggie daycare I got hired at a clinic the environment was very hum drum and unsanitary at times we also weren’t allowed to have toys for the animals 😔
I start at a dog daycare next week and we get an hourly pay plus tips. I was wondering if where you worked allowed you to accept tips and about how much in tips did you get a week?
That’s exciting!! So where I worked we only got paid hourly and I made $10 an hour. For my bills it wasn’t feasible so it’s part of the reason I had to leave. But that’s really cool the place you got hired at lets you take tips too!
I worked at a place that come Christmas time you hang a stocking for all the employees lol throw a gift card in it and watch everyone follow suit
We make tips at my daycare but only for bathing. cash tips we keep for ourselves, debit card tips we all split!
How does commission work? The place I’m interview for has 16/hour pay plus commission/tips so have no idea how that will work out
Thanks for this! I have an interview next week for a part-time job as a doggie daycare attendant and I'm doing a bit of research for it. Any tips for working with big groups of dogs?
Be prepared to be jumped on and constantly barked at
all dogs need love and attention whether big or small because they cannot help that they are big
Idk the one thing I heard on that we definitely can agree with is dealing with dogs over people
I am wondering how to help with the dogs that do get possessive of you (i.e., behavior where they basically don't want you to show affection or attention to other dogs, etc; the possessive/ "protective"? barking at the other dogs when they perhaps feel the attention to them is just being shared or diverted)? If anyone has any advice, that'd be awesome :) .
I just got back from vacation and went get my cats from the kennel when I was picking them up the Worker "wow your really good at that" and offered me a job I will be old enough for it in a few months what do guys think should I take it?
I would definitely!! Especially if it would be your first time being employed, it’d be a really fun/cool first job to have!
It’s my dream job when I grow up !!
If you find the right place its a wonderful job I
You might want to give it a week and then decide. You like breaking up fights? dealing with angry dog parents? Mopping urine and picking up poop every 3 minutes? Does loud barking for 7 hour straight bother you? If no, congrats, you have your dream job. Plus making 11 bucks an hour is so worth it! 🙌
I've been watching dog daycare videos and although it looks fun for the dogs,it just seems like there are waaay too many dogs together.
Oh I agree 100%. Part of the reason I ended up leaving the daycare I was at was because they started overbooking the dogs per room and it was just way too chaotic to manage! It would just stress me out
How do you handle correcting behavior? Like breaking up dogs that are weary of each other, play that gets too rough, etc?
So when I was still working at a dog daycare, I’d try to get the dogs to focus on something else. For example if a specific dog kept latching onto another dog, I would call the dog who was fixating by name and when it came to me tell it good job. Then I’d try to get that dog to walk around with me and just focus on anything other than the dog it was fixating on. If the problem escalated and one of the dogs would get really “aggressive”, I’d crate both the dogs (where they couldn’t see each other) and then put them on rotations to where those two dogs weren’t out with each other at the same time. Because dogs like people have personalities and sometimes they just don’t vibe well with each other.
As for play the gets to rough, I’d try to break it up and redirect the dogs attention to something else. Where I worked we couldn’t have toys because some dogs get very possessive of them, but we did have bubbles. So I’d pull those out and blow them and some of the dogs would get really excited and try to jump up and pop them, but not all of the dogs were interested in them. If you don’t have anything like that sometimes just calling their name and getting them to sit for you is a good way to redirect them.
Water bottle and Jedi mind tricks.
I just got tired from one yesterday for telling boss the assistant manager kicked a dog in front of me, and they all gaslit and made accusations about me that were untrue. The conditions were horrible and treatment of some workers who weren’t in the clique and the dogs were sub par
That is SICK and I hope you reported them I HATE people who mistreat animals
I'm working at a Doggy Daycare now and had work for many of them in the past the one I'm currently at makes me very uncomfortable being that the manager tells me that when a dog is misbehaving I am to take my two fingers an aggressively jab the dog in the ribcage I find this to be very inappropriate and it really bothers me seeing him do it because the dogs Yelp would love some advice or other people's opinions if this was your dog and you seen this happen would you feel as though it was appropriate I don't
I definitely agree with you. That’s super inappropriate and just inhumane. It sounds like your manager does not know how to properly handle animals or even have empathy for them. I would not feel comfortable working there either.
Do you need any type of qualification in animal care or vet training in order to work there?
At the daycare I was at, they provided training once hired and it wasn’t required to have any vet tech or vet knowledge/background. We had people as young as high schoolers working at our facility. It was a really accessible job to anyone who loved animals
At the doggy daycare I work at you need at least a diploma in animal care and some experience with dogs (not your own) Also once employed you are required to stay up to date with canine first aid
This industry is so unregulated and training is basically "don't text while watching the dogs' that's your training. JOKE.
Are you still working with animals I have a interview at a dog daycare Monday it’s 6 hour shift I’m kinda nervous but ready to work with the dogs and get more experience with animals
No, I’m no longer working with animals. I enjoyed it when I did, but there was a lot of cons to the job I had when I was. That’s how long most of our shifts were. It’ll go by fast and be over before you know it!
@@SonjaJones01 Good for you! The pet industry is all smoke and mirrors and they do not pay! Congrats!
The Volume is very Low.. did not get to hear it clearly
Can you please tell me about the interview questions for a canine coach . Actually today is my interview and i am very nervous 😢
From what I remember they asked me if I ever worked with dogs before, if I liked dogs of all shapes and sizes and didn’t discriminate on certain breeds (because they didn’t). They asked how I would handle a dog fight, if I was gonna be okay picking up dog poop and pee, and if I could handle being on my feet my whole shift since you have to constantly move (you’re not allowed to stay in one spot at the one I used to work for)
@@SonjaJones01 ok thank you
I never see the workers sit down. I would hate part of it
Honestly that was what sucked the most!!
It's brutally painful,
I hate people who mistreat and abuse animals it is sickening
Anyone watching this ever do the 3rd shift?
How much would it cost if you had to take your personal dog to this daycare??
So let’s say you wanted to take your dog Monday-Friday every week because you have to work and don’t want them alone. It would cost you $560 a month!! 😅
When I was still working at this dog daycare, it was free for me if I brought my dog in on a day I was working. Otherwise I’d have to pay like everyone else
😱
I know a dogtopia when I see one :))
Yeah when they bark and you scold them but they keep barking or even louder.. grr.. that’s frustrating. Also really annoying when they pull you. But I am same I would way rather work with dogs than people and I like the exercise too. Worth it!
What is the starting pay I only got a high school Diploma. I just quit my day care job, I was only making $9.50 ,I work from 9am to 5 pm 😭life is so complicated 😭😇you just gotta get through it . I had four jobs already don’t know why people got to be so evil ❤️.
The dog daycare I worked at started at $10 an hour which is part of the reason I did not end up staying..
@@SonjaJones01 😭😢😓 that’s not a lot of money to be working for (thanks for telling me )😭
@@SonjaJones01 This job should be a 20 an hour gig. There are serious job hazards and the stress isn't worth 10 an hour.
how old do you have to be???
16 at least where I was working
16 yrs old!
Ok but are you single? 😍
Physically demanding lol. You don't know what demanding work is. Try laying sod, roofing, industrial construction. 10 hours per day in the sun
ok boomer
Not discrediting your job, but I vouch. 7 hour choas