Behind the Gates: Dog Daycare

Dogs and puppies gathered at dog daycare, San Clemente William King | Lariat

When it comes to Dog Daycare Facilities, what exactly goes into keeping the dogs safe and dog owners content? At my doggy daycare facility, I explored many different aspects of its operation in San Clemente, California and it helped me understand the business. The business model revolves around the idea that a dog should be in a place that they are cared for if it is in a situation where the owner is away from them. 

A fundamental idea of business and marketing is that dogs are supposed to be connecting with one another. The business’ primary customer is dog owners and caretakers. Occasionally, it will house a dog who needs adoption through a program the company runs titled ‘Mars Pet Adoption Weekend.’ 

The way the surveillance system works at dog care facilities is unique to other workplaces in that customers have access to some of our security cameras. They have access to the security cameras in the play yards and if people pay more money to give their dogs a room instead of a cage, there are cameras that customers can watch as well.

The reasoning behind the play yard observation access is to give customers transparency as to what goes on at the dog care. The other service of giving access to the room creates a system of 24 hour surveillance for the owner of the dog all through the website. I believe that all the different parts of security work to keep the dog safe, the customer more involved in the operation, and the employees more accountable. 

The surveillance operation is definitely unique because a lot of other surveillance systems in business take away power from the customer in a sense while our surveillance enhances their power and ability to take action from home. It opens up the employees to criticism as they are being monitored by both their co-workers and the dog owners. 

I’ve heard of numerous complaints of people calling because their dog was getting humped, attacked, played too aggressively with, or not in the camera’s view so they are unable to survey the playing. Customers have complained about employees not picking up poop fast enough and the counselors’ use of the spray bottles. 

One two-star Yelp review reads “they required my pup to get bordetella as they require it to be within 6 months. A week later he spent 3 days there and came down with a terrible case of kennel cough. Doesn’t seem like they screen the dogs well enough.”

The complaints are given to the desk workers who have no control over these situations but to notify the counselors via the leads or television screen. This adds more back and forth to the employees’ lives because the employees working the desk have to report the claims to the people in the play yards.

There is a hierarchy to employment at dog care facilities. At the bottom there is me, a play yard worker, also known as a camp counselor. I’m responsible for monitoring up to 40+ dogs during playtime in the yard while picking up poop and a few other small tasks.

The desk workers up working the front are also monitoring the play yard to ensure safety of the dogs and employees, alerting the camp counselors of any issues in the play yard. The desk’s ways of communicating their needs to us is either through telling a lead to tell the counselors or writing a message that appears on a television next to the play yard. This makes it so the desk workers don’t actually interfere with the counselors. 

They also have access to all the other security cameras in the facility so they can watch anyone, including our leads. The only people who have more control and higher pay than the front desk are the two managers and the owner. I asked the managers what they do and they organize employment, train the leads, find groomers, and create the weekly schedules. The leads of this daycare do not go into the play yard and do other tasks like cleaning cages, feeding food, cleaning and organizing dishes, as well as administering medications from owners for any dogs who would need it. 

They interact with the counselors when dogs have to be put back in the cages. During the time where dogs are being put back, they are released one at a time to be given to a lead who will return the dog to its cage. There are a lot of dogs whose names can get lost in translation over the noise of dog barks and some might escape from the play yard unexpectedly and run around the facility. These situations lead to some funny chase downs but everything is sectioned off by gates so the dogs never get too far. 

Some of these dogs are known as ‘escape artists’ and the counselors tell each other which ones try to find their way out. The employee culture revolves around talking about all the different dogs, how they are acting that day, dog stories, and anything to do with dog daycare.

From personal experience, we don’t chit chat too much about non-work topics because one we are being watched with an expectation to watch dogs and two, there is too much barking to talk and conversation happens for only a few minutes of silent dogs at a time. 

The dogs hindering our ability to communicate does lead to misunderstanding as well as a stunt in developing a proper work relationship with some of these people. 

A lot of people expect the job to be petting puppies all day before they are met with the realities of preventing war of animals and picking up vomit or dog poop. 

For me, I never know if I’m being watched or not unless I receive notice to fix something or a complaint comes through a desk worker or the television screen at work. The surveillance system is layered in a way, with the dogs being surveilled by counselors, the counselors are surveilled by the leads and desk workers, the leads being watched by the desk workers and the desk workers working hand in hand with the managers and owner. 

The foundation of dog daycares business model is a chain of surveillance to ensure safety and quality care of the dogs who come in. The owner only comes in Monday and Friday mornings to make sure the operation is running smoothly and gives her dogs free baths. She has the cultural capital to get any service her dog wants for free while she is there because she fronts the bills. 

Being at a dog daycare facility often and gathering all the unique stories can give you cultural capital as the co-workers love the dogs they work with and hearing any stories to do with them. 

An example of this is my coworker, Guillermo, who was there when a fight broke out between the dogs, leading to one of the daycares favorite dogs getting his ear pierced and a little blood. 

Him telling this story led to everyone repeating to me about Guillermo’ same story, so I noticed it was significant to others around me. People within the dog community or realm might appreciate what you do more than the average person without a pet. I’ve had great conversations with pet owners in my daily life, stemming from the fact I work at  and deal with dogs everyday. Within work, I’m easily replaceable and just another cork in the screw to a point where desk people limit their interactions with you because of the turnover rate.

Working under this environment, I tried to limit myself to only knowing my duties so I wouldn’t be held to a higher standard or expected more out of. I made the decision to act this way because I feel as though $16 an hour is significantly low to other minimum wage jobs so I didn’t want to be exploited. 

 The few places where I’m not on camera I do find myself more relaxed and that might speak to my personality. And when I am on camera constantly I feel subjugated to constant criticism in situations where I’m trying my best but ultimately have no control over. Learning other people have felt the same has been a highlight of mine in my research.

Throughout the years, and with a revolving door, there have been trends in behaviors of the dogs based on the gender of the counselor, similarities in what breed of dogs are in our location for years, and an increase in customer complaints as the business has increased its influx of clients. 

It can be isolating only hearing the sound of dogs barking all day as we work in these camps and when the time does come around for someone to talk, it is often hard to hear. Overall, my time in the workplace conveys the complications of what’s thought to be a simple job, watching a dog.

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