r/DogDayCare

I’ve been looking for a part-time job that I can do while I’m still in school, and recently saw a listing for a kennel attendant. I thought it would be a great fit for me because I love animals and plan on become a vet in the future.

But my biggest concern is that it’s one of those animal boarding places with dogs only, and I really don’t have a lot of experience with dogs. I’ve had some in the past but they never lasted long since my dad isn’t a fan of dogs, so I never got the hang of being around a dog in general and learning more stuff about them, like body language and such.

I would really love this job but it seems like they want someone with more experience with dogs. Should I still give it a shot?

Also, if anyone reading this works as a kennel attendant, can you give me a summary of what you do, and how it is working as one? Thanks!!

Location: Texas

wish I had left This badly run dog daycare immediately like my gut told me to but here we are with a tragedy

nervous to name as a former fired employee in Texas especially since dog died after they weren’t brought back in, and management says it was ultimately on the tech employee who forgot, when it was middle management on site that day did not notice for hours after the tech left for the day because even though middle management on site had been told that was their responsibility to check after the techs, they would grumble and simply not do it so it seems like in the company/HRs eyes it falls solely on the tech and were they fired.

management had been warned multiple Times by text and verbally by that same tech that responsibilities were not being completed for months before this and that they needed more support and supervision

the conditions of the facility were sorely lacking, dirty kennels, outdoor areas run down, so much that people paying extra had their dogs in standing water with dirt, rocks, poo, bricks to cover holes, and dirty water in bowls not regularly replaced

employee training and support was horrible so now worst case scenario happened and dog died.

Meanwhile they’ll continue to take in dogs of all temperaments and conditions then expect overworked back of house to deal with it.

I’ve submitted a complaint with the city of the conditions along with photos but if I post on like google reviews they may go after me? Is that a thing?

So the one I worked at was nice but also horrible. Here’s a few reasons why
1.quite a few aggressive dogs were allowed to join the playrooms
2. Only one employee per room, ex: one employee with 25 small dogs (manageable) one employee with 25 medium sized dogs (golden, some doodles, German shepherds, labs, ect.) and one employee with 5-15 big dogs (bigger doodles, Newfoundland’s, great bearness, like big dogs, normally there big dogs are nicer)
3.employees of the rooms (one employee in each one) are supposed to watch for the dogs peeing and pooping and clean it up immediately (makes sense right?) but than comes that fact that many dogs there eat other dogs shit.
4.6 hour shifts and the mop heads are only closed during dog nap time and at end of day which means, same mop head is used for 5-6 hours to clean up, dog poop,pee, and vomit. And by poop I mean the leftovers of it
5.the cleaner used during nap time (prob mandated cleaning supplies) could possibly hurt your pup, very unlikely but could.
6.if you call for help or a restroom brake, I could take a while before anyone comes (ex.ask for bathroom brake, someone could come immediately or in a hour) I never had to ask for help for a dog fight
7.you must justify and tell front desk every time you crate a dog even if they know that dog is aggressive
8. There’s only one fence, so you have to ask the other rooms if you can let your dogs outside. Which means lots of dogs end up going inside.
9.ive seen that Dogtopia is a sap place,(they advertise it) unless requested by parents (costs more money) dogs are only given baths if they rolled in poop, or they’re on there last day of boarding

Personal thing about it that I didn’t like, those are just some fun facts,
They will ask you to come in while sick. They only allow 1 sick day and your supposed to call out 24 hours or 12 hours before I’m unsure as I was told 12 hours before mutiple times but than got told that you need to give 24hr notice. They might give you 3sick days or not. They also want doctors notes, which your shit out of luck with being sick if you don’t have insurance, even on weekend dates when most doctors aren’t open they want a sick note. They also will not let you know when your fired/let go.

Just a beware post for people who might want to work there, and a beware/behind the seens for the pet parents who are looking for somewhere to go.

weird question maybe, but my family is making me feel really unjustified in my decision to quit my job. i worked at a boarding and daycare, i loved it so much.... until i started to get anxiety after noticing patterns and issues that didnt ever get addressed. i just can't justify some of the steps the company made the managers take in i can only assume the sake of more money

for example, here are some things that would happen;

- daily physical fights, typically with the same dogs who would start it

- a dog with 40+ (reported) incidents on file, ALL about being violent & randomly snapping with other dogs in camp as well as (badly) biting an employee when being pulled away. still allowed in camp just allegedly being put in training

- two dogs who dislike eachother (which everyone knew) biting an employee when they inevitably fought and had to be pulled apart and then when requested it got denied to have them separated and switch every couple of hours (which is something that's offered, and not taken advantage of enough likely cuz it's annoying to do)

- one dog being sick, still allowed to stay, and causing an outbreak throughout the facility

- continuing to board dogs that were infectious and very ill (who were brought in that way)

- pushing 50+ large dogs in camp with typically 2-3 employees for them all

- evaluations only ever allowed to be denied if a manager says so, managers 9/10 would say yes when they weren't there during the evaluation. almost every dog would be a pass even when everyone agreed they shouldn't, and only didn't if it was seen as super dangerous

- two dogs who prior got into a physical altercation, one being left in stitches... the aggressor was allowed back into camp
- on top of that the injured one was brought back to camp barely being healed because the owner wanted us to take him (and we didn't say no)

- boarding dogs that had warnings on their doors like "do not linger" because they would go insane in their room if you stood near it too long or "do not leash or harness" when it's a big dog so... how do we take them from place to place without that? but then doing it they're aggressive towards us?

also want to mention the staff physically having to pull and restrain dogs was because of the fact spray bottles did not work, neither did noise paddles, and typically things get too crazy for anyone to think.

and anytime i brought something up it was always one of those "oh well, we deal with it cuz nothing will ever change"

i just really.... really don't feel like it's fair to the dogs we have. it's not fair that we have to spend out time watching a specific couple of dogs because they could snap at any moment. it's not fair we put other dogs in possible danger. it's not fair we put employees in possible danger. isn't it bad to work at a pet place, and know that you yourself would never bring your pets their for THEIR safety??

is this really how every dog daycare is? that's why my family is telling me, and if it is... then yeah i'm never taking my dog to one ever. and i want to still work with animals of course.... but definitely not at facilities that allow this

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EDIT:
i just wanna add this and say thanks to everyone who helped me realize this truly isn't okay. i wanted to trust my gut but was being told that that's just "how it is when you work with animals" and with the fact im so desperate to find my way into this field i tried to believe it at first.

i've been trying to get into the animal field my whole life, im starting college soon specifically to get a degree in animal care because it's what i want my career path to be. which, if you know, getting ur way into some of these animal focused jobs prior to having ur degree is so hard. but it's super helpful for the long run to.

so, i got super excited at the opportunity of this job and i feel like that made me kinda try to tell myself i was overacting. but as time went on i just couldn't justify it anymore. i just felt so bad, and i felt even worse when sharing my views and having everyone agree yet NOTHING changed.

i have already quit, and am moving on to try and find other opportunities with animals, moreso exotics since that's what i truly want to work with in the long run. but i will settle for anything if i must, and at least this job gave me professional experience so finding something else might be easier this time.
wish me luck <3

Our doggy daycare takes our dog's collar off and there is no identification on her when she's in the playroom with 20 other dogs. They brought us the wrong dog last week at pick up. That dog was almost identical to ours. Do other places generally have identification on the dogs during the day? Has this happened to anyone else?

I need someone to take care of my friends Pet Dogs (A adult female lab and her semi adult female lab) Dm me. It is only for 10 days.

I work at a dog daycare. We sometimes have to give the dogs a bath. My coworker loves doing baths. It gets him out of work for 5 - 10 minutes, he doesnt have to be so close to he barking (which is a major bother for him), and he gets to "relax" (give a half assed bath and be on his phone most of the time).

I'm able to ignore the terrible baths, even when the dog is still dirty after, because much of the time it was free and was to get something like pee or poop off them. What bothers me is when he does a full bath, put them in their little area to dry, then gets annoyed with how loud the dryer is and takes the dog out still wet. If I'm here, I'll try to bathe the longer or thick double coated breeds because the absolutely need the be fully dried, but sometimes he beats me to it. He's left an Alaskan Malamute wet to the touch and an Australian Shepherd damp on the body with it's chest dripping water.

He says he doesn't like to leave them in the dryer so long. I say, use a towel first, then the high velocity dryer, and then the normal dryer. He says all of that isn't necessary.... It is very necessary when the risk of hot spots and matting are high. We don't have good air flow or air conditioning in our building, and it's all indoor so they can't dry "naturally" as he puts it. Some dogs are wet for literal hours. And if I try to properly dry them, he makes an issue about me "playing manager" and "undermining him and acting like he's not doing his job". And he'll simply wait until I go on break or lunch to turn the dryer back off.

Don't even let me start about how he loves bathing the poodles (they're usually used to getting groomed and well behaved in the bath), but doesn't like to fully dry or brush them after.

Currently looking for the most recommended/durable slip leads for staff, please comment your faves

Prefer something thicker. Looking at Fida currently.

I’ve been looking at different boarding/daycare options for my dog, and one thing I’ve been thinking about is what happens when customers have a bad experience or suggest something that could be improved.

Personally, I think I’d feel more comfortable with a place if I could leave feedback through their website and actually see what they did about it afterwards — not just get a “thanks for your feedback” reply, but know whether they looked into it, responded, or actually made a change.

I feel like that would make me trust the provider more, especially if I was deciding whether to use them again after something didn’t go well.

Would something like this matter to you when choosing a boarding/daycare provider? Or would it not really affect your decision?

I'm looking at dog boarding options, and some places can get pretty expensive.

For dog owners who use boarding services, what makes you feel the price is worth it?

Would things like daily photos, feeding/walk updates, or being able to check how your dog is doing make a difference?

Curious where you draw the line between too expensive and worth it for peace of mind.

My facility just made the switch to Gingr for our operating system and oh my god it SUCKS.
This system is the most unnecessarily complicated and slow POS I’ve ever dealt with. The work flow is agonizingly slow when you have to go back and forth clicking tiny icons over and over again. Any advice for dealing with this before I just leave? And yes, it is THAT bad.

I’m leaving my job at a dog daycare and one of the reasons is the roaches. I know it sounds dumb, but I just can’t stand cockroaches and working with them I just can’t handle.

I want to add it to my exit paperwork. How bad are roaches for the dogs? Am I being dramatic? Is there anyway to sanitize the building without closing down?

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Hey, if you have a pet, how was the last time you booked a groomer or walker and how did it go? How did you find them, and did they show up on time or was it a mess?

Asking because I've been trying to find someone to walk my dog and it's been hard to find someone reliable, so wanted to know if others feel the same or if I'm just doing it wrong.

I just finished my second day as a daycare attendant and I am completely exhausted. My feet are so sore and I need a shoe recommendation. I also found myself the most overwhelmed by how loud the large dog group was, which surprised me. I handled a large number of small dogs for the small dog group well on my first day, but I was overloaded with new information. I’ll gladly take any advice!!!

I am currently seeking a responsible and experienced house sitter to care for my pets and look after my home while I am away.
Key Responsibilities:
• Providing attentive, daily care and affection for my pets.
• Maintaining basic home security and keeping the space clean.
• Following a general daily routine for feeding and pet care.
If you love pets, have reliable references, and are interested in this opportunity, please feel free to reach out directly with your availability and experience.
Best regards,
Collins

Any owner and/or crew got recommendations for dog equipment. Ramp, stairs, platforms etc.
I found puppy playground .com and pretty pricy for a set. Thanks