Jay57 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) My grand daughter who is 15 years old was doing work experience for a Doggy Day Care Centre in an affluent Melbourne suburb, she was asked to groom a doberman , who was growling while being groomed, she complained to staff and was politely told that it didn't matter,to keep grooming him, while walking a dog , the dog pulled, got off the lead, my grand daughter fell over on the road trying to stop him and was hurt, what is scary, is that you think your dogs are safe and are being well cared for, when they are being put in the hands of inexperienced teenagers who are also getting hurt, my grand daughter is used to dogs, she has 1 dog of her own and when she visits she plays with my JRT's , but she is a little bit timid, she could have been seriously hurt, she didn't mind the tasks of cleaning doggy doo ect, her parents and the school decided that it was not safe for her to go back to the Doggy Day Care, if you put your Dog into Day Care, make sure what thier policy is with staff and if they have work experience students, Edited December 31, 2011 by Jay57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 My grand daughter who is 15 years old was doing work experience for a Doggy Day Care Centre in an affluent Melbourne suburb, she was asked to groom a doberman , who was growling while being groomed, she complained to staff and was politely told that it didn't matter,to keep grooming him, while walking a dog , the dog pulled, got off the lead, my grand daughter fell over on the road trying to stop him and was hurt, what is scary, is that you think your dogs are safe and are being well cared for, when they are being put in the hands of inexperienced teenagers who are also getting hurt, my grand daughter is used to dogs, she has 1 dog of her own and when she visits she plays with my JRT's , but she is a little bit timid, she could have been seriously hurt, she didn't mind the tasks of cleaning doggy doo ect, her parents and the school decided that it was not safe for her to go back to the Doggy Day Care, if you put your Dog into Day Care, make sure what thier policy is with staff and if they have work experience students, That is very scary, and terrible that she was hurt. Unfortunately there are no minimum requirements for places like these or their staff. We had an employee of a dog walking company once post here to tell us how she hit a dog across the face for growling. It was growling because of the situation she placed it in. She didn't even realise that what she had done was so wrong. I think if people want their dogs cared for then a traditional style kennel is going to be safest. Day care is more about capitalising on some people's anthropomorphic tendencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I think people need to do their research into any potential animal related services they may want to use. Vets, kennels, dog walkers, daycares etc vary hugely when it comes to quality of care, knowledge and experience (not to mention price). I generally find word of mouth recommendations to be pretty useful, sometimes a business will have a flashy website, but it really tells you nothing about what goes on behind the scenes when you aren't there. I don't think any of the tasks given to your grand daughter were unreasonable in themselves; however ignoring her concerns about aggressive dogs, and giving her a dog to walk that was too strong for her and obviuosly not giving enough supervision is wrong It is a shame your grand daughter was put in such a bad situation, I hope it hasn't turned her off working with animals I prefer to send my dog out with a dog walker for the day, than put her in doggy daycare where she'd likely be in a cage for a lot of the time or else running around in an enclosed space with a large number of unknown dogs. Our dog walker is great and takes Mindy back to her home in between walks, she also goes out on each walk where there are only 4 dogs at a time and she's much cheaper than a doggy daycare. Obviously there are still risks involved (like her running off) and its not as safe as a kennel, but its much more enjoyable for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Ho jay could you please pm me the name of the daycare? Thanks megan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay57 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Ho jay could you please pm me the name of the daycare? Thanks megan Megan Sent you a private message, let me know if you don't get it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha bet Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Work experience kids should not be left alone with dogs in a professional business. 1. These kids are meant to be learning, which means they should be supervised. Walking a dog out on the road is just not on, they do not have the knowledge or ability. The day care centre should be contacted by the school and advised of this. I have had work experience kids with us and they are never left in charge of a clients dog. 2. There is a responsibility to the client. They do not expect that their dog will be out on the road with a kid. If the business cannot provide adequate supervision then they shouldnt take the kids on. There is nothing wrong with a well run day care. This would actually be my preference to any dog walker. It is better for the dog to be in an enclosed area than out on the road. Some of the dog walkers can have 4-5 dogs with them... how can they possibly be expected to cope with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Miss Emma Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Depending on whether it was work experience or structured work place learning the responsibilities and requirements differ. However, it sounds like they have probably breached the contract they would have signed to take the student on, particularly in reference to not listening to and actioning her concerns (ohs issue). I once had a student placed in a dog day care. Interesting learning experience for all concerned. The owner did not employ enough staff for the number of dogs and so she counted the work exp student in her ratios. She didn't like dogs, so got everyone else to deal with the dogs (why open a business for dogs if you don't like them!!). But our biggest concern was that she would go to lunch for 1.5 hours and lock my student inside the dog day care in her own with the door locked from the outside (so the student was unable to get out and she wad the only person on the premisis with about 20 dogs!). Unfortunately we only found this out at the conclusion of the students work placement, and due to a variety of things it was left to the family to take action if they felt they wanted to. But the school did blacklist the place, we got the word out to others in the area organising placements and had a stern informative chat to the owner. Unfortunately there are some really dodgy employers out there that don't take work exp seriously, it can be such a great thing for kids to try before they go in to years of study or training in an area to find they don't like it. Hope she isn't put off and tries again and gets a good employer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lavendergirl Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Dog daycare, like pet grooming, is an unregulated industry so standards vary greatly. Some charge the client a "behavioural" assessment fee which is carried out by one of the workers who have nil qualifications in the field on top of the daily charge. My experience is that the dogs are just placed in a room with sporadic supervision - often between grooming appointments. Some don't even separate the small and large dogs which is a recipe for disaster IMO. I agree that a kennel is a better option for occasional care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay57 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 No, she hasn't been put off, but it was a big learning experience for her, it is a shame as she loves all animals and has been brought up with animals all her life, we live on a farm and she spends holidays here and every second week end as well, we have ponies, cows, goats and my JRT's , so she is very confident around animals, the bruises are starting to heal and she has a laugh about it now, her school will not be sending any more students there for work experience any more , which is good, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 In NSW it would be illegal for her to walk the dog alone. Not sure about VIC It's certainly not a place I'd want to work for or send my dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 My understanding is in WA you have yo be 18 yo to be in charge of a dog so walking it etc. If a student is doing work experience they should be fully supervised when handling the dogs. Sorry your grand daughter was injured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankari Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 That is utterly appauling that she was hurt, and supervision should have been done to ensure that wouldn't happen. Especially given the dog was growling! I am a groomer myself, and if a dog is growling or showing aggressive behaviour we muzzle them immediately it is our Policy to prevent injury to ourselves. We frequently have work experience students with us and they are NEVER left unsupervised. We have juniors who are under 18 working with us, and they do the bathing and drying, so essentially unsupervised but we check on them frequently and if a dog is showing aggressive behaviour or they are concerned about a dog's temperament they come and get one of us to assist with a certain dog. I think it is a very good idea the school will not be sending any other students there. Glad the bad experience hasnt tarnished her view of working with animals. There are definitely some pretty unethical workplaces, however thankfully there are MANY excellent places to work with animals :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakbelgian Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 I did 4 days work experience at a Melb Doggy day Care facility recently, and I came back thinking I wa not happy with some of their practices. Their regular staff work in 4 or 5 hour shifts during the day but I had to be there all day and I got soo bored as the owners weren't very helpful. I hope this experience hasn't made your daughter scared of Dobermanns? BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Age Outlaw Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 (edited) I went for a job interview at a doggy day care place once. I had been there about 2 minutes when I realised there was no way I would have worked in this particular place. I had never been to one before and I confess I was a bit shocked at the way it was run. I am sure there are good ones out there...this just wasn't one of them. I do think it is an industry that urgently needs some form of regulation. Edited January 1, 2012 by New Age Outlaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MavericksMission Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 (edited) Sorry your grand daughter got hurt, that's horrible! I got given a $100 voucher to spend at a certain dog day care in Melbourne a little while back. We went to suss out the facilities and it only took a minute to realise that it certainly wasn't somewhere I wanted to leave my dogs. The first thing we heard when we walked towards the building was 2 people screaming at the top of their lungs "shut the **** up!!* They wouldn't let us in the gate to see where the dogs were kept and the place from the outside reeked of urine. We turned around and didn't even bother any further. Edited January 1, 2012 by MavericksMission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankari Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Sorry your grand daughter got hurt, that's horrible! I got given a $100 voucher to spend at a certain dog day care in Melbourne a little while back. We went to suss out the facilities and it only took a minute to realise that it certainly wasn't somewhere I wanted to leave my dogs. The first thing we heard when we walked towards the building was 2 people screaming at the top of their lungs "shut the **** up!!* They wouldn't let us in the gate to see where the dogs were kept and the place from the outside reeked of urine. We turned around and didn't even bother any further. Must be the same place i went to hand a resume into.. the second i walked in all i could smell was a massive whiff of urine and that was just the office section and i wasnt allowed past the gate to look at the place and i was going to work there!! I sure as hell walked out immediately, as I have this thing with hygiene that any animal facility regardless of whether it is grooming/day care/ boarding etc should be clean and smell clean, 4 days later i scored this job I have now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakbelgian Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 There is an excellent dog day care in melbourne city near port melb I think. I had a job interview there and it was very flash & clean. Had a tour around the whole LARGE building and even had different air con set up for different parts of the building. Can't remember the name of it now BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I think the dogs spendmmkst of the day there in small pens bb? Also, there is no outside, "natural" environment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I know of a few doggy day care places in Melbourne with questionable practices, I would never send my dogs there, nor would I recommend them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabel964 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 There is a football oval near me that I use for running around for myself and I often drop through with my dogs. One day I was there I saw a van pull up and two young ladies got out and from the back of the van were a dozen dogs of all different types and sizes. They all got leads put on them and were taken out to the grassed area. I just looked at them, and though there was nothing wrong - it felt wrong. To have 12 dogs who probably do not know each other well in a small van all together is not something I would want my dogs to experience. The girls seemed young and it seemed chaotic....the dogs were trying to run off in different directions and it was just weird. I just remember thinking I would not want my dog to be left with these girls. Bad experience for your gran daughter. I think its terrible!! imagine being told to keep grooming a dog that was growling! No Way!!!! That would only be for the experienced to handle. Even if a growling dog was muzzled, no 15 yr old should be doing it - even muzzled, an attack would be traumatic for such a youngster. and being given dog stronger than she can handle.....OMG, so wrong on SO many levels. Seems to me these people are NOT responsible and went on the list for work experience to get some slave labour for their own gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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