Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The Truth About Being A Kennel Worker

*Hey Guys, I have been hella busy at work and haven’t really had anything to talk about so that’s why it’s been so long anyway on the focus of the post*

This is just based on my experience at my job. It may not be the same anywhere else this is just my personal experience. 

The truth of being a kennel worker is it’s not a cake walk. We have had so many people come to work with us and then it ended up not working out because they come in with the mindset of ‘OMG I get to play with dogs all day, BEST JOB EVER.’ No. While we do play with the dogs, that’s not all it is. There is a lot of work involved in what we do. There is a lot of cleaning, walking, and multi-tasking involved. You work your ass off the whole shift. There will be dogs that come in that hate you. I have had a dog come in that I literally had to feed with a spoon from outside of her kennel because she would attack me if I went in. No matter how much I tried to talk to her and calm her down and give her treats to show her I’m not an evil person and I’m not gonna hurt her, she still hates me. You will have dogs that will drive you crazy barking your whole shift. We had one not too long ago that I am convinced damaged my ear drum because he would bark so much and so loud. You will have dogs that will not come in the doggie dog and you have to pull muscles in your arms/shoulders just to get them in. You will have dogs that think it’s a game to run in and out as you are trying to lock them in. You will have dogs with special needs. There will be some that are blind, deaf, paralyzed in their back legs, diabetic etc. and you have to care for them too. You will have some dogs that will pee in their inside room nonstop. No matter how long you leave them out or when you take them out, they will still pee. It can be hell. You will have other employees that will not do their job right and you have to do your work plus theirs. You will have to stay over and come in early because people get hurt or stuff happens.

BUT despite all that it can be the best job in the world. You will have dogs that you will see are coming in and you are so happy. You will want to take them home with you. We have one coming in tomorrow named Beatrice and I love her to pieces. She is staying for 10 days and I’m gonna love all 10 of those days that I have to work with her. You will have dogs that adore you. We have one that loves me so much he literally jumps out of his mom’s arm, over the gate and ran and jumps into my arms. It will be the best feeling in the world to know a dog loves you that much. You will give all your favorites nicknames. You will think of them as your children. You will watch dogs come in terrified of everything and will slowly open up to you just because you spend time petting them. Like Beatrice, who I call B or BB. She came in and was scared of everyone and wouldn’t even come to me. By the end of her stay me and her were playing and she would give me hugs and sit in my lap. You will learn the dogs that come in frequently personality. You will be able to look at them and say ‘Are you ok? You aren’t acting like yourself today?’ You will have your heart broken when one of your favorites passes away. You will dread when certain ones go home because they are what you look forward to everyday. It’s dogs like that that make all the hard days and rough moments worth it. You will talk to them like they are your kid: ‘Jeff, leave Lola alone.’ ‘Happy, sit down.’ ‘Max, be quiet. No one wants to hear your loud mouth.’ Happy quit crying you’re fine.’ Remi, get in here.’ ‘Beags quit eating dirt.’ ‘What’s wrong lil Anna is big man Daddy picking on you?’ ‘Nash, quit picking on your sister.’ All the previous sentences are literally things I have said to dogs at work.
In conclusion, being a kennel worker isn’t easy. You will have days where you can’t wait to go home and you know the dogs are gonna be hell. However, you’ll also have days where you don’t ever wanna leave and contemplate going in early just to see your babies sooner. It’s a thankless job, but seeing those smiling faces every day and knowing some of them love you so much makes it all worth it.


That it. Thank you guys for reading this long post lol. As always if you have any question or comments feel free to leave them below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Now I'm off to work to play with the kids. Thanks guys. Bye.


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