Pet Care Realities – Know the Good and the Bad

Published on : 07 February 20182 min reading time

I stumbed across a great article today about the downsides of pet care careers.  The author Aimee Amodio makes some great obervations about the not so enjoyable aspects of various pet care careers. Of course every job has it’s drawbacks – usually that you have to be present from 9-5 every day if you work a standard office job! Seriously though, you should educate yourself about all aspects of any new career or business and decide if you can live with the downsides.  Here are a few that Aimee mentions:

1)  For a pet sitter or dog walker the weather isn’t always great but the dogs still need to be walked. Pet sitters have to feel comfortable going into other peoples homes to meet with them for interviews and to visit their pets. Some dogs may act agressively on first visits until they get comfortable with the sitter.

2) A doggy day care operator has a lot of logistics to consider such as deciding whether to care for the dogs in their home or if they are going to rent or buy a location. They must also be able to screen dogs for suitability and break up fights if they happen between dogs in their care.

3) Grooming can be a dirty job – you may find dogs that have skin problems or insect infestations. Some dogs may be reluctant to take that bath so groomers often risk scratches and bites.

4) Animal shelter staff must deal with owners who surrender their pets,  difficult to place pets and euthanasia of pets if they work at a kill shelter.

Talk to other pet care professionals that work in the career you are interested in pursuing before taking the plunge into something new. You can also test drive the job by offering to help for a day in a shelter or vets office, or accompanying a pet sitter or groomer on their daily visits.

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