dog walker

BowDog Canine Specialists

bowdog does not focus on the safety or wellbeing of the dogs, they care more about "crunching" and "watching" their numbers, hence why no staff EVER gets a raise regardless of how long they've been there and ALL breaks are unpaid. they have things like a giant keurig and order boxes and boxes of creamer and these k pods or whatever they are but they would rather cut staff and be shorted A LOT than get rid of the unnecessary things like that. that's really sad. bowdog did NOT have workers compensation the whole time i was there and its been that way for years, which is REALLY scary because of all the injuries you can easily receive at this job.  that is so unacceptable for a job with such dangers involved. there are no hard workers who genuinely love and care for the dogs. there was a long time where dogs that came with food, were not being fed. dogs will go hours without water. all of the workers are selfish and will say anything about anyone to get what they want. dogs have been kicked, punched and just dealt with completely wrong. the "discipline"or "correction" these workers use, is just plain force and also if you have a hyper dog, or dog that is intact (mainly males), they spend almost the entirety of the day in a kennel in the "zen" room and are often forgotten about. working in the back is like being with a bunch of lying, dramatic, lazy/unmotivated high school girls who spend the whole day gossiping about you. you get no respect at all. front desk workers rarely will get a break. everything management says is very personally hurtful, though they insist they treat everyone equal and are "correcting" other staff, (they DO NOT) some are allowed to have some things but some aren't its noticeable and unfair. all the people i know who have worked there also felt bullied, not appreciated and singled out all the time. you are belittled all day if you aren't a "management favourite". speaking of management, it's AWFUL. they do not care about their staff at all. it is disgusting. i've heard higher up's say horrible things about not only the other staff or dogs but EVEN some clients. it makes me sick. for a manager of such high staff numbers and someone who thinks so highly of herself to lack ANY empathy, and even any people skills whatsoever, at all, is appalling. they are hyper critical about things that don't have to do with the actual job. they couldn't care less about the things that matter like the safety of the dogs OR staff. it does not feel like a safe or happy or friendly environment. a lot goes on behind closed doors. i could almost say i was embarrassed to work at such a heartless dog daycare. the dogs deserve so much better, and i pray nothing happens to all the dogs i care about and made such personal relationships with.

If there is one thing that is AMAZING at Bowdog is the staff. They care about the dogs. They care about each other. It is definitely a family away from home and I looooved spending every single second with them.

The clients are also AMAZING. Once you get to know clients and their dogs, they are the most sweetest people. Most come on a regular basis there you build very strong relationships with them. During holidays we are showered in love and treats. During the winter holiday, there is never a shortage of sugary treats. 

Unfortunately, the management SUCKS. They do NOT care about their staff and their well-being. They will work you to the ground and in gratitude you will have to fight tooth and nail for what you deserve and for what the dogs deserve. Pet care manager will NOT help you with anything, she does not care. She does not have a back bone and will let the rest of the managers walk all over her. General manager is also a back stabber and will say she supports you and understands you but will go around your back to complain to others about you- which doesn't sound very professional to me. The office manager is passive aggressive and as lazy as she can be. If you have questions about pay or benefits, she will say she will get back to you but never does unless you remind her 1.5 million times

If there is still an assistant general manager, she is amazing and actually listens and cares for her staff. She is the only one who will fight for what she thinks is right and even if she gets all the rough end of the job she will always give praise and recognition to who deserves it. She is the only reason Bowdog gets one star for Management, because if not I would have rated it 0. Unfortunately I could not rate it 0.

Owners will host "staff" meetings and provides great food (which is always a plus) but will only be there to brag about how much money they spent for the facility and will rub it in your face. If you ask questions about staff care and compensation, the answer will always be "I spent a LARGE sum of money on blah blah blah, isn't that enough" . They need to understand that caring for dogs is one, but caring for staff is another as they are the ones who are with the dogs 24/7.

I was really excited about my opportunity to work here, as the job seemed promising and everyone appeared to be nice. ONE of the managers there is incredibly nice and welcoming.  The rest of them are RUDE.  I felt extremely exiled and despite my best efforts to make conversation I was usually shrugged off or ignored.  
They don't train you.  They throw you in and tell you the bare minimum of what you're supposed to do, but don't actually take the time to train you on anything.  The only reason I learned anything was because I asked, and even when I asked they were reluctant to put in the effort to show me.  Most people would just come in and do it themselves rather than showing you so you can do it yourself next time. The worst part is, they would be SUPER passive-aggressive about it if you weren't doing anything.  Instead of saying "hey, when you have some downtime you can do this, and let me show you how to do that." They just ask you what you're doing and if you say nothing, they roll their eyes and walk away.  MANAGEMENT does this!! Not even the employees!!
10/10 for working with dogs, because dogs are awesome.
0/10 for the actual workplace.  Unless you like feeling awful every day at work, just don't.

Some of the staff are pretty cool, but other than that, others, including the management are so passive aggressive and abuse their power. They could care less about the dogs here and never in a million years would I bring my dogs here because they treat the animals so unfairly. They toss them in a cage and yell at them once the dogs cry. You will spend hours outside in the heat or the cold for several hours. It gets extremely boring and I hate to say this but this job made me despise dogs, which I never thought I could. They expect you to know everything that you’re supposed to do and they treat you like you’re INVISIBLE. And don’t get me started on the drama. Every single day there’s a new one, and according to what the staff members told me, they are absolutely miserable working there. Imagine being in a place filled with such loving dogs and going home feeling like the life is drained out of you? The dogs did not do that, the workplace did. Do not ever bring your dogs here if you actually care about them. 

BowDog Canine specialists started off as a home away from home and I often felt comfort in going to work as my coworkers were a second family. All of this changed when the focus shifted from the care and compassion of the dogs to the potential profits that could be made. The pricing structure is confusing and is built to extort customers for every dollar they have. The marketing ploy of BowDog "provide the best for mans best friend" is completely corrupt. They are ALWAYS understaffed, and most of the employees don't care because management doesn't/didn't care about them. There is little to no advancement within this company and you can kiss any hope of a raise goodbye. Management is basically a glorified clique from Mean Girls and the entire culture reminds me of a toxic high school film. 

The hours were flexible, the dogs are cute, if you need something to simply pay your bills and you can tolerate melodramatic, petty managers then BowDog is the place for you.

It has been a number of years since I was employed with BowDog, many things could have changed. 
During my time the company underwent multiple ownership changes.  A new manager started her role as I began my role there. Although she was not new to management this role was new to her.  I primarily worked in the office and office politics was an understatement. If someone was upset, the next person must be upset with you. Unfortunately this was rooted and continued by management.  Unfortunately I was privy to conversations I should not have been included in, which added stress to my role. 

The care of the pets is a top priority. The staff are incredibly caring and will do anything for your pet to ensure they are taken care of.  Notes are taken regularly and often and always uploaded to the clients files. 
The pet care providers are the real backbone of the company.  The management was reactive and not supportive. 

Loved working with the dogs but found that, overall, the environment was unprofessional and that most employees were poorly trained.
I personally never received any official training when I started. Many employees had no background working with dogs which I found surprising and were also not trained or barely trained. The dog to staff ratio was also rarely 1:20 as advertised, if you are hired here expect to be placed with a MUCH higher amount of dogs at a time (1:30+). Also had to deal with problems such as running out of supplies or being frequently understaffed as managers were unorganized with restocking and staffing efficiently. 
Definitely was not paid enough for the work and absolutely no pay raise is given to employees, even senior staff.

Let me put it this way: how badly would you have to be treated by management/ownership to make you quit a dream job like working at a dog daycare? Now imagine how bad management/ownership are that SIX people have done just that in the last couple months. I used to be excited to go to work, by the end I dreaded it. That's right, I dreaded going to spend my day with dogs. You'd have to be a really terrible manager/owner to make that many people hate such an amazing job. I'll leave it at that. That's all you need to know.

Very unhappy place to work. They take entry-level employees and DO NOT TRAIN THEM. They stick them in with small dogs, and basically just pretend like the new human doesn't exist. You are often left to figure out what you don't know on your own. Once things get busy, you'll be thrown into a pack of 25 large dogs and be expected to handle them by yourself. So basically while it's slow you'll do nothing, then everything. Supervisors try to help, but they get overwhelmed and frustrated since they don't have support from management. 
YOU WILL NEVER SEE MANAGEMENT. They are not around and rarely even come to work. Not a place to work if you want to move forward or learn. Run while you can. 

New management has recently taken over Bowdog, they promoted from within. These people actually worked on the floor and understand the day to day operations, employees are now treated fairly and the dogs are benefiting the most from it all. They truly care about the employees and the dogs, its an amazing place to get animal experience for your career in the industry or even work your way up to supervisor. 

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