I work at a boarding kennel looking after dogs while their owners are away. It’s been a particularly busy day where the reception bell has not stopped ringing to alert me to a new customer either collecting or dropping off their dog while I try and race around in between exercising, cleaning, and feeding the dogs currently in our care.

I’ve just handed one dog over to its owner and I turn around to see a young boy march straight through the “staff only” door at the back of reception. I quickly give chase while his mother is apparently oblivious to the fact her crotch-goblin has wandered off.

Me: “Excuse me, can you go back to your mum in reception, please? This area is staff only.”

Boy: “I just want to say hello.”

He starts yelling, “Hello!” at every dog he sees.

Me: “Sorry, but you can’t be back here; you need to go back to reception now.”

Boy: “I’m saying hello.”

I am internally screaming and trying to body block him, knowing that further down this path is a dog that cannot be trusted.

Me: “All right, you’ve said hello; now go back to your mother. This area is staff only!”

Back in reception, the boy’s mother didn’t even seem to notice he’d been gone. In fairness to her, he was definitely old enough to read “staff only” and just chose to be a brat instead, but I really do not want to get into trouble or potentially lose my job because some brat hasn’t been taught to behave and gets bitten.

Our cat tends to only eat a small amount of food each day — usually a portion of dry food in the morning and wet food or fish at night. She also has a sensitive stomach so she tends to be unable to eat foods in jelly as they make her sick.

My family is going away and we need to find a cattery to book her into for a few days. I call a cattery and all is normal until:

Me: “I just wanted to check on what wet food you give the cats?”

Owner: “We use [Brand] jelly food.”

Me: “Oh, would you be able to make an exception on the jelly? It tends to make my cat sick.”

Owner: “No. Jelly is cheaper.”

I think to myself, “No, it’s not.”

Me: “I’m happy to provide the sachets myself if that’s required.”

Owner: *Louder* “NO! Jelly is cheaper. You’re indulging your cat.”

Me: “If giving her food that doesn’t make her sick is ‘indulging’ her, I’ll continue to do so. Thank you for your time.”

Owner: “You’ll be sorry for indulging her!” *Click*

I found a cattery who was happy to take on her dietary needs, and when I came back from the trip, my cat was very happy. The owner of the other cattery turned out to have only just started and was trying to establish rules and cut costs.

I work in a vet clinic that also boards dogs and cats while their owners are on vacation. A client is picking up her dog after it has boarded with us for about a week, and because she did not leave a leash or collar with us or bring one to pick the dog up with, I bring the dog out on a disposable nylon slip leash that she can keep. The dog is very excited to see her owner and pulls on the leash to get to her, which is unusual for her. 

Me: “Here she is!”

Owner: “Be careful with her; don’t pull the leash so hard! She had surgery to remove a tumor from her neck a few weeks ago!”

Me: “She’s just excited to see you; don’t worry. She never pulls on walks.”

I return to the back and talk to my coworkers.

Me: “If she was so worried about her dog’s neck, she should have brought us her harness, or at least a collar.”

Coworker: “Some people just don’t get it.”

Three days later, the owner’s husband came back to bring the dog to board with us again. He brought her in on the same blue plastic slip leash. When I took the leash, he reminded me to be careful of her neck, despite the fact that if he’d bought a harness nothing would ever even need to touch her neck. I put her in a run and banged my head against a wall repeatedly.

I work in a dog boarding kennel, we are a large kennel with a few thousand clients, and “Charlie” is such a common name you mide as well be asking someone if they know “John from Canada”.

Custamer phones:

C- hi, I have my dog booked in with you but I need to change the date to a day earlier
Me- of coarse! Can I get your last name please?
C- its a dog..for boarding
M- yes I just need your last name to bring up your booking
C- it’s for boarding!
M- Um..yes I just need your name
C- oh! His name is Charlie
M- ok and what was YOUR name?
C- oh! I will spell it for you
M- perfect! So I will just get those dates changed for you!

The kennel I work for offers multiple sizes and types of runs for our guests. They range from simple sheet metal with concrete floors, to sliding glass doors with a doggie door, to a private fenced patio and a TV and fancy dog bed in the run.

A family with a young girl is dropping off their dog for a week in one of the mid-price runs. They ask to walk her to the run, which we allow.

After we get the dog all set up with her bed and water bowl, the little girl says:

Girl: “So, where is Spike going to sleep?”

I’m a bit confused because the dog’s name is not Spike.

Mom: “What do you mean, honey?”

Girl: “Dogs can’t go to Disney, so Spike has to stay here, too.”

The girl pulls a stuffed dog out of her backpack.

Girl: “Where does he sleep?”

Me: “Well, why don’t I give you the tour? You can decide which run he gets.”

I take the family on the full tour just like I would anyone that asked, and the little girl decides Spike should get the super deluxe extra-large suite, of course. So, I set it up for Spike, and she puts him on the bed, pats him on the head, and tells him to be good for the week and she’ll bring him something from Disney.

As we are walking out, her father whispers:

Father: “So, how much is Spike’s room going to cost me?”

Me: “As soon as y’all are off property, Spike is getting wrapped in a plastic bag, labeled, and put in the storage closet.”

He slipped me a $50 bill!