'They're underpaid to do a dirty job': Dog lover gets hired at doggie daycare filled with burnt-out employees, then shares the gritty reality behind your pup's playtime

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Aug 13, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

We're all human here, right? That means we all have good days and bad days. Some days we're full of pawsivity and feel like rays of sunshine, and others, we're ready to snap at anyone who dares to look at us the wrong way. We all make mistakes and say things we don't mean, but when we do it to humans, we can apologize for it. When you do it to a dog, you just have to hope they understand you. 

Being an employee at a doggie daycare, or any daycare for that matter, is incredibly difficult. It's a messy job, you're probably underpaid, and everyone just assumes it's as easy as pie. Well, anyone who has ever worked in the customer service industry knows that that's not true, because even though they're not the same, they are both jobs that people take for granted. 

After getting hired at one such daycare, one dog lover was surprised at how the other employees were treating the doggos. After realizing that not all dog-care employees are angels (just like not all nurses or doctors are angels), they felt compelled to share their stories about daycares they've worked at. Others chimed in, and we've learned that just like everything in life, it's better when you do your research first. 

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  • 01
    Woman playing with dogs at doggie daycare including 'I would absolutely never send my own dog to one unless I had no other choice.'
    via Hero Images

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I work at a dog daycare and it's my first time working at one so I dont really know the 'etiquette' of staff, but I always assumed it should be similar to treating all of the dogs as if they were your own
    via bunnysplo0t
  • 03
    The daycare staff usually always acts fed up with the dogs and is telling them to shut up if they even bark a couple times. Or if they howl (we have a husky) they get mad at all the noise they make. I get stopping barking behaviors when it's constant, but idk I thought barking or howling was normal behavior they could do from time to time.
    via bunnysplo0t

  • There's a difference between silencing the dogs out of frustration or silencing them so they don't rile each other up too much. When you are dealing with such a large number of dogs with incredibly different tolerance levels, you have to keep the energy in the room as pawsitive and calm as possible. That means not letting one dog turn the whole pack into a barking, howling mess that will make other dogs anxious.

  • 04
    Maybe I'm overreacting lol bc I've never actually worked at one before but they just seem like they hate their jobs and the dogs sooo much but they always greet them when they first arrive with "hey! (Insert dog name)" but it devolves into suchhhh annoyance
    via bunnysplo0t
  • 05
    I usually handle the dog care side sometimes and idk I'm not that easily bothered because... they're dogs. And some dogs are rowdy.
    via bunnysplo0t
  • 06
    OktoberStorms 18h ago Weird Animals . Yeah, after working at a daycare as a teenager, I would absolutely never send my own dog to one unless I had no other choice.
    via OktoberStorms
  • 07
    Man in suit disciplining dog
    via Icons8 Photos

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    Cultural_Side_9677 • 17h ago My dog went to a test at a local daycare. She was a tentative and needed one more test before a decision. I watched the cameras when she was there. Based on what I
    via Cultural_Side_9677
  • 09
    saw on camera, I already made the decision that she would not attend. A dog was pestering her, but she was deemed to be the problem. She was put in a different area and forgotten about. They said she didn't interact with the
    via Cultural_Side_9677
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    attendant, but she was trying to and pushed away. I was honestly stunned by what I saw. Im shocked the place has such a great reputation based on my viewing.
    via Cultural_Side_9677
  • 11
    madele44. 16h ago I've worked in daycares where we had to control noise level due to complaints from neighboring businesses. If the dogs started barking, and a "shhhh" didn't work, we definitely yelled over them.
    via madele44
  • 12
    Burn out is real. Daycare jobs seem really fun until you realize it's 90% cleaning. People come in thinking it will be easy, and then they're underpaid to do a dirty job. I rarely saw people last more than 6 months in a daycare. You can tell when they're burned out and over it.
    via madele44

  • We never thought about how much they must clean up, but then we remembered how much we have to clean our apartment that only has one dog in it, let alone 40. Accidents happen, and when you have that many dogs in one place, we're sure many accidents happen throughout the day. You'd have to pay us a pretty penny to be cleaning that up all day.

  • 13
    Striking_Balance7667 17h ago . I worked at one and all the daycare workers were lovely people who treated the dogs with kindness and care. Yes getting annoyed sometimes but never taking it out on the dogs. The main problem is that there were too many dogs to give each enough attention
    via Striking_Balance7667
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    Now the business owner was a horrible nightmare, treated everyone like sh including some of the customers. When she had a dog alone though, if she didn't baby talk it and treat it like something precious lol.
    via Striking_Balance7667
  • 15
    Dogs waiting for training outside
    via cynoclub

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 16
    Rest_In_Many_Pieces 17h ago Dog Trainer - Owned by a Wh... Have worked in similar places like this (salons, kennels) and have seen many people treat dogs like this (and worse in salons). It's very demotivating. I like working with behaviour problems because of horrible people.
    via Rest_In_Many_Pieces
  • 17
    DrOcean 14h ago . I used to work at a dog daycare as a lead. I made sure this was not the culture because I'd seen it at boarding facilities. I'd tell new employees to let them bark because this is where they're allowed to.
    via DrOcean
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    We wouldn't let them get stuck at barking at the lawn guy though. We would let them alert and everyone would come over to bark at him for a bit. Then we would break it up because too much of that will rowel up the whole group.
    via DrOcean
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    I'd remind the staff that barking is their natural communication style and educate them about the shortcomings of muting a dog. I'd encourage the staff to distract the dog or redirect their attention if they were barking too much.
    via DrOcean
  • 20
    NumerousAd79.13h ago I send my dog to a daycare where most of the staff is folks in job coaching programs (young adults with developmental disa ities). It seems good and my dog likes it there. There's a core staff of typically functioning adults as well.
    via NumerousAd79
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    EvilDan69 14h ago . Shadow: Old English Bulldogge My guess is that it gets old fast. 2 bark can turn into the whole daycare barking/howling. If they consistently know the staff/leaders would be displeased, it cuts down on the behavior. As long as there is no ab e, and they're just insisting on quiet, its probably fine.
    via EvilDan69
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    Also, I've never send any of my dogs to a daycare. Since I see others posting about that.
    via EvilDan69
  • 23
    Fabulous-Reaction488 • 13h ago I think it's like human daycare. You are going to find great and horrible people. Same with nursing homes and hospitals.
    via Fabulous-Reaction488
  • 24
    signguy989 · 11h ago If a human child screams in daycare, the staff stops them or all the kids will start screaming. Dogs are the same, especially if it's a large pack, a little barking can turn into chaos pretty quick.
    via signguy989
  • 25
    . Dr-nom-de-plume 12h ago I will provide an opposite view. We have a wonderful doggy daycare and our dog is tired and happy a full day there. She lives boarding there too. I can see the salon and play areas when I come in and honestly everyone has been very nice. There are well-run and good daycare out there- I'd start looking.
    via Dr-nom-de-plume
  • 26
    Consistent-Wait9892 · 3h ago Awe that makes me sad. I bet a lot of the employees are there for a while and the others just followed suit and do it. If you stay, which maybe you should to be the kind person the dogs need, just don't fall into the
    via Consistent-Wait9892
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    same pattern as them. If it continues I would for sure have to say something or even record it as evidence. If they are that impatient with the dogs maybe they need new jobs without dogs.
    via Consistent-Wait9892
  • 28
    isayeret 14h ago . Daycare stuff definitely don't handle dogs as their own. It's a mass product and service. There's a reason why Rover.com exists and has taken over globally.
    via isayeret
  • 29
    tahcamen 12h ago It's like nurses and teachers, most go into the job with good intentions but get worn down by the constant needs of their charges (and all the different personalities, issues, demands of patient/student/dog's relatives, etc.). Eventually the job sks and everyone starts and get resentful of to be said charges. I'd start looking for a new job.
    via tahcamen

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daycare dogs job doggie daycare pupper underpaid employees doggo burnout dog lovers dirty animals
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