If you work with animals...

[TomboyFemme]

In any capacity, please talk to me about it!
What do you do, how is it day to day, how did you get into it. Etc

I currently have a part time job in a dog boarding kennels and cattery. Love love love the job, mainly walking, cleaning out, feeding etc. Pay is shit, and hours are shit - there aren't enough hours!

Animal jobs are so competitive, often very low paid, and hard to come by.

Unfortunately I'll have to look for another job in the new year, I'll be very sad to leave.

That's a shame Kittykat, will you look for something non animal related?

Used to work in horses. Got into it as a teenager. Loved it - loved being outside, fresh air, the summer weather, that feeling physically knackered at the end of the day, not the mental strain as current job. Money was fairly good. Downside though was it's pretty much the same thing every day. I couldn't do it every day forever. Work in education now and every day is totally different. I think I need more of a mental challenge.

I worked at a stables (dressage ) for 15 years i got the job literally by knocking on doors.
I love the job but as PP said pay is absolutely shocking I was paid the below the minimum wage as part of my wages was 2 hours riding lessons a week which I rarely got time to take.
Out in all sorts of weather and if you get wet you'll never get a chance to get dry again but I loved the job.
I left because of the poor pay.

I volunteer in the canine industry and love it. I'm also doing a degree in the subject area.

I worry about the poor pay, especially because my current full time job has good pay and lots of benefits. However, I'm so happy when working with dogs and find it extremely rewarding.

I volunteer in dog training classes a lot with qualified professionals and have spent time in kennels. Happy to answer any questions I can...

I worked with horses many years ago. I had come up through the pony club and used to compete a lot. The best paid grooms job I had was working in the racing industry, as the pay structure is regulated. All the rest the pay was crap. It is hard, physical work - keeps you fit and slim, but exhausted by the end of a very long working day. Working as a groom is really for younger people, as injury catches up with you, and you don't bounce so well when you fall off. I left for better paid work at 24, having done it since 16. I am now in my 60's and recently had additional surgery for a riding injury I received in 1977. It's a hard way to earn very little money, working with horses, although I still love them dearly.

I don’t personally work with animals but I have one friend who works for the rspca and one friend who is a vet nurse. Both are on under 20k per year and have to work horrible shifts and weekends. They love the jobs though and seem happy enough

wolfray I'm thinking of doing a foundation degree in canine behaviour and care. Do you think this would be worth doing?

There was a similar thread on here a while ago and the advice from a vet was to get a job that pays well and gives you free time so you can spend time and money with your animals or volunteering with animals rather than work with them
I think the rationale was that working with animals was poorly paid and long hours which didn’t give you much time or energy to enjoy the animals

I'm 34 and have worked with horses all my working life. I'm currently freelance, I do approx 19 hours a week on one yard and currently 4 on other yards. I charge £13 an hour.
Love it - it fits in with school etc, I ride for 4 hours a day and every day is different. I never ever dread going to work. It is a hard slog though.

One of my friends bought a franchise grooming dogs and earns well from it. Also flexible hours

I've been a dog groomer for 24 years, I trained at a groomers then set up on my own when I was 19.

I love my job, plus points are being with dogs every day, flexible hours, relationships built up with the owners over years.

Down sides are customers who don't maintain the dogs coat inbetween and expect it to go home like a Crufts champion, sadly there are a LOT of owners like this especially with the rise of the -poo crossbreeds, I refuse to do anything that would be painful and distressing for the dog and although removing a few knots is fine I think it's wrong to attempt to dematt a dog all over, it's kinder to clip short and start again.
It's also not a job I can see me doing to retirement, I'm 43 now and have already limited myself to small/medium breeds as it's taken it's toll on my back lifting large dogs then standing with my arms up drying them.

I don't but my dog walker obviously does, she charges £10 for an hour walk and does 3 walks a day approx 5 dogs on each walk so £150 a day 5 days a week before taxes. She starts around 10:30 finishes around 15:00 So fits well around family life. And she's very fit and healthy! So I'm sure there are difficulties but from my outsiders perspective it looks amazing.

I’m self-employed with my own pet sitting and dog walking business. I qualified as a Veterinary Nurse and worked inpractice for 10 years, then qualified as a College Lecturer teaching Veterinary Nursing and animal care for 17 years. I then took redundancy and set up my own business 18 months ago. I often earn more per month than I did previously (with a lot less stress!)

There was a similar thread on here a while ago and the advice from a vet was to get a job that pays well and gives you free time so you can spend time and money with your animals or volunteering with animals rather than work with them
I think the rationale was that working with animals was poorly paid and long hours which didn’t give you much time or energy to enjoy the animals

That's a really good point, actually! I sort of fell into the work I do now, it's the only thing I'm qualified for but I don't love it and it doesn't pay terribly well. I used to want to be a vet but was put off by unsupportive parents. Definitely too late for me in that respect. Maybe the answer is to stick with the less fulfilling job and surround myself with animals in my free time

On the other hand, dog walker sounds like a lucrative business so maybe that should be my next step!