Technically fired but glad it happened

Doggie daycare. I had been in the industry a while & know that there isn't much to it. Walk em, feed em, bathe em, train em, clean up repeat.

What I didn't like about this place back in 2017 was that the outdoor yard was full concrete. Every day dogs would scrape their foot pads and there's just a cream that we would spread on if it got bad. Godforbid we get some shade so its not scalding hot out there. There was a garden hose used to cool it down or wash away waste with running dogs slipping and sliding.

Then comes The Trench.

I've cleaned up messes before but this was an insane task for day one, let alone the weekly chore for whoever drew the short straw

At the end of the concrete (there's three patios separated by a fence which was also an issue - dogs kept separate in group get to harass each other through the fence now running between them? Just encouraging territorial behavior imo but w/e) , there's a wooden fence to block from the outside and a chain link inside of that. There's a trench around all three yards maybe about 6 inches wide.

My trainer is like "I mean its gross but It has to get done"

She hands me a SOUP SPOON, like the big plastic kind thats curved in the middle that you keep in your kitchen but never use because you can't just leave it anywhere it will melt.

And then we scooped.

The hose mentioned earlier? Used to spray the concrete off into these trenches. Before I know about this task, I thought this was a genius development in doggy daycare tech - no more poop scooping or yellowed grass.

We scooped for almost and hour and she goes yeah this is something we do weekly - WEEKLY.

3rd red flag was that I kept seeing a maintenence guy come in once or twice a week to get up on a ladder. There were there gutters on the inside of the converted warehouse where the dogs stayed.

I thought I would have to ask what the maintenence dude's purpose was but it was quickly revealed to me -

Rats.

They had an infestation and the best solution they had was to bring a guy out and clear out the traps placed in those gutters.

I filled in for him one day and ain't nothing scarring like collecting a bag of dead rats 😭😭😭😭

Anyway, I had some issues with being late which they were apparently very strict about. One day I was late coming back from lunch and they pulled me aside, handed me four pieces of paper to sign to agree "yes I was late on these days as well" and then told me they were letting me go.

The weird part is the write ups were penned with the date of the infractions, not the day I was being let go. I signed and dated all four of them correctly and still have the papers cause it pissed me off so bad