Wednesday, March 4, 2015

So You Want to Work With Animals, Part 1: There Will Be Poop

If you read this blog, you'll know that I have had several jobs that involve animals; with the exception of working in a vet's office, I have loved each of them. (Apparently I've got a weaker stomach than I thought - click the link to read about that experience!)  I've always bought into the theory that a job doesn't really feel like work if you love it, and who wouldn't love getting paid to spend time with animals?!

While working in a boarding facility, as well as being a substitute in a school district, I have encountered lots of children who would like to work with animals one day.  Of course, I do what I can to encourage this.  But there are some things I leave out when talking about careers involving animals - one thing I never mention is the sheer amount of poop.  

Best. Photobomb. Ever. (from here)

If you are easily grossed out by the sight and smell of feces...a job with animals is probably not for you.  Because there will be a lot of it.  And you will have to pick it up...or hose it down...or scrape it (cringe!) off of metal bars.  Here are some other things you should know about scoopin' poop before signing up to make it part of your job description:

The canine guests at boarding facilities often keep cleaner kennels than their shelter-bound brothers.  In general, the dogs being boarded are neater and make fewer messes.  Most are fully trained and housebroken, simply because they belong to a family.  Shelter dogs do not have that luxury - some are used to living on the street, so they don't know that they shouldn't potty in their kennel.  (This is, however, hard to determine; a shelter is a very scary environment for a dog, so they often act completely different than they would in a home - the messiest, poop-flinging dogs in the shelter could very well never have an accident in their new forever home.)

Puppy poop is in a category unto itself.  If you mention puppies to shelter employees, you might get a tired, defeated sigh in return.  Puppies are messy!  They walk in their poop, play with their poop, roll their puppy brothers and sisters into the poop.  You will have to hose those creative paintings off of the walls of the kennel, and often off of the puppies themselves.

(from here)

You won't notice the smell after a few minutes.  Very few shelters are able to afford the luxury of someone caring for the animals overnight.  Most are run by dedicated volunteers or staff members who are lucky to get a few minutes to eat lunch - these shelters generally close in the early evening, and the animals are left alone until morning.  In these hours, as you can imagine, there is poop!  My first early morning cleaning kennels, I worried that I should have brought some Vick's VapoRub to smear into my nostrils...but after a few minutes had passed and I got cleaning, I didn't even notice it.  "Smell?  What smell?"  (It was always pretty disconcerting when I neared my lunch break, though, to have my stomach rumble in hunger at the same time as I cleaned up a fresh pile.  Yuck.)

You will long for winter.  As the flies buzz around the bucket full of scooped poop and follow you to the dumpster where you hope the overstuffed trash bag won't (gag!) bump into your leg...you'll be praying for cold temperatures and snow.  Until, that is, you have to chip each turd individually from its casing of ice in order to pick it up...then you'll be wishing for summer again.

If you notice poop in a kennel, go to grab the scooper, and return to find the pile missing?  Yeah, the dog ate it.  This will happen a lot.  Just make sure you avoid any licks from that dog for the rest of the day :)

Don't worry, buddy, you're not the only one! (from here)

Sometimes, you might be impressed in spite of yourself.  Great Dane poops are big, people.  Like, really big.  (Like, take-a-picture-and-send-to-your-husband big.)  I also recall one pair of black Labs whose kennels were next to each other...overnight, they would apparently take a dump, then fling it exuberantly anywhere they could.  Into neighboring kennels, and even onto the ceiling.  I couldn't help but be amazed by their flinging skills.

If you're not too put off by the above, yay!  You just might be cut out for an animal-related career!  And listen:  the poop-scooping and all that comes with it...is totally worth it.  For every one complaint I have about working with animals, I have ten more positive things to say about it - it really is one of the most rewarding things you can do!

Share your own stories below - let's face it, everyone loves a good poop story! ;)



14 comments:

  1. I'm still laughing out loud. I also work with animals. And I deal with a lot of poop. I've gotten into my truck and said "Eww, what stinks?" only to realize -- it's me. I've gone to court to testify on a cruelty case with puppy poop all down the back of my uniform. (I was running late and didn't have time to change.) My favorite was when someone told me "You don't know shit." My response. "Oh honey, I KNOW shit. I'm a shit expert. Shit pays my bills."

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  2. With three dogs at our house, there is always plenty of poop and last year when Bailie was a puppy, there was extra poop. Our biggest issues is poop escaping the bag on winter walks. It freezes, gets sharp and slits the bag open sometimes causing leakage which infuriates my mom!

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  3. I imagine it is a 24/7 job. Thanks so much for joining the Barks and Bytes hop.

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  4. Mom works with animals and poop all day long and then comes home to our poop! Yup, she must really love us dogs, except when we snack on them....;)

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  5. Oh My God! I was just starting do to the linkage for tomorrow's post when I scrolled through the hoppers and saw your little icon of the puppy pooping, then I saw the title. I couldn't help but click right over. Thank you for joining the hop by the way. Anyone who reads my blog knows I'm all about the poop. Poop makes the funniest stories!!

    Yesterday I was taking a picture of Sampson pooping (for a future post I've got rolling around in my mind) and when I got home and looked at the photo I realized I actually got a picture of the poop hanging off his butt. LOL I'm not sure whether I will use it or not.

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    1. I think that everyone can appreciate a good poop story :) HA! Eh, there's always a black "Censored" bar if you're worried about grossing people out! :)

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  6. We can't imagine all the poop fests that must go on
    Snorts,
    Lily & Edward

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  7. This is great! I work with young people who are looking are thinking about their first jobs also and we often have this conversation. They say that they want to work with animals until the find out all the cleaning that goes along with working with dogs and cats in a shelter or boarding facility. This post is right on!

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    1. I've run into the same issue - kids are so excited to play with animals all day, and they don't realize that it is quite a messy job. It's worth it, though ;) Thanks for reading!

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  8. I am the first pup Mum and Dad have had that eats their own poop, imagine the look on their faces when they caught me doing it…you will notice my sign off as lickys kisses…theres a good reason for that! Yeuk!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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    1. Haha! Oh no, Leah!! We've never caught Riley doing that, though there was one nasty experience where he couldn't resist his own throw-up :/ You dirty dogs! :D

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  9. You're right, that's the best photobomb ever! Poop definitely comes with the pup package. I have an older aunt who can't take her small dog out for walks (but she could NEVER live without a dog!), so she puts wee-wee pads in the stall shower of her extra bathroom and trained her dog to go there. Easy peasy! :)

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    1. That's actually a fantastic idea for older people or older pets! In the boarding facility where I worked, we had several small dogs that were litter-box trained - very convenient! :)

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