Apprentice canine carer Review

This apprenticeship involved many duties at the dog day care. For example, taking photos of the dogs for social media, entertaining the dogs using ‘brain games’ etc, this helped the dogs to use their senses more and find hidden treats. To do a long list of cleaning which involved hoovering the whole room, wiping down the play equipment, and the windows and doors. Washing stuff up in the kitchen, and tidying all the toys away and many more.

From this apprentice I was able to attend a dog first aid course which I passed, and also obtained a level 2 diploma in animal care. I also learnt how to deal and look after a great deal of dogs on my own at any given time, such as when we had a temp test (this is where a dog gets tested to see if it can come and play with all the other dogs) this was sometimes 15 at a time.

This apprentice was good and a lovely job, however attending ‘puppy parties’ was mandatory, and if someone phoned in sick it was down to you to cover them, due to little staff. Obtaining the level 2 diploma was fun as I got to learn loads of different aspects of the animal care world and this helped to extend my knowledge.

The training provider keits was wonderful throughout the whole process, they were always a quick text or phone call away! And we’re very helpful and so lovely! 10/10! However the actual employers didn’t give me enough time to complete all your apprentice work so I would have to use my ‘own time’ to do it.

My employer gave little/to some support when it came down to the keits work, for example if I had any queries about any of the dogs in our care, etc, etc. However as they expected me to be fully flexible whenever and cover my other colleagues shift If they phoned in sick, I didn’t get much time there to complete my work.

Keits training services were absolutely wonderful! They were always a phone call away, a text or email away too! They were always there to help me with any queries I had! And when they came to check on us every 2-3 months or so and check our work and help us complete any work we struggled with. It was always a joy to see them! 10/10!!!

My level 2 diploma in animal care is through the training provider Keits. They helped me understand all the different aspects of animal care such as prescriptive and preventive medication for animals (especially dogs) and how to handle dogs (difference breeds and sizes etc) and how much exercise a dog requires- depending on their age. The different types of food dogs have such as wet and dry dog food. Raw food (from a freezer) and all the good properties of it. And also helped my understanding of different animals such as cats, horses, etc. My research also aided in this.

We had puppy parties which were around every 2 months, this were mandatory and Involved anything between 1-20 puppies and all their owners. This was the time to help bring customers in and get them to book their dogs in. These lasted around 4 hours and food and drink was provided for people, (teas, coffees, cupcakes, strawberries, biscuits, squash and many more!) At the end of the puppy party the owners got to take a gift bag home and this included a free day voucher to use, bubbles for their dogs and some treats and leaflets.

No

They expected me to be fully flexible whenever, and you got left to do a great deal of cleaning on your own. - which took around 2 hours. You also had a long list of photos to take of every dog! And was not given the correct amount of ‘study time’ to complete the keits work. Sometimes 1 hour a week if lucky.

If you want to apply for this job be prepared to do nearly every job. Such as answering the phone, to taking payments. A long list of cleaning, looking after a great deal of dogs. Also be prepared to be fully flexible and work between 30-40 hours a week. And take photos of every dogs including on their own, in a group and activity.