Staffing Tip #5: Offer Incentives

If you are just starting out you most probably will not be in a position to offer healthcare, bonuses or high pay rates. What you can offer your staff is free use of the daycare for their own dogs while they are working and while they are not. However, you do need to be aware that for some reason, professional dog people often have the worst behaved dogs! I don't know why this is exactly. Perhaps because they spend so much time with other peoples dogs that they neglect to properly train their own? Not sure. So you must make it clear that the very same rules and warning systems apply to their dog as do to client dogs.
Another idea is to work out some freebies & discounts for your staff with your own retail suppliers. Then maybe strike some contra deals for your staff with veterinary clinics & other pet services in exchange for word of mouth promotion of their businesses to your clients or put up posters for their services in your facility.

Staffing Tip #4: Pay Your Staff What They're Worth

Whatever you do, don't take advantage of animal lovers. If you've been through the hiring process already, you know that good staff in the daycare are very hard to come by. Establishing a fair pay rate is a must. It is a lot of people's dream job to work with dogs but at the end of the day, if it doesn't pay the bills, any job no matter how much you love it can become a burden. A decent pay rate in the animal industry only confirms to the staff member that they have made the right choice coming to work for you. I know it may be hard to come up with a decent figure when you are starting out so really rack your brains to think of any other incentives you could offer your team to make it worth their while.

Staffing Tip #3: Establish your Staff/Dog Ratio and Stick To It

A good staff/dog ratio to work with when deciding how many staff to hire is up to 10 dogs to each person. Once you have been going for a little while or if you have very experienced staff, you can run it with up to 15 dogs per staff member. However, at this level staff must implicitly follow all aspects of the daycare processes you have in place and adhere to these with no exceptions. That includes following detailed safety precautions, avoiding putting staff & dogs in danger & preventative measures where possible.

Remember - at the end of the day, if a fight breaks out in the daycare you are essentially dealing with a pack of wild animals. The last thing you want is a staff member in a position where they feel threatened or worse, where a staff member is injured or bitten.

Staffing Tip #2: 'Previous Experience Working with Animals Required'

When you advertise your jobs, make sure to put 'previous experience working with animals required'. Working with animals is very different to living with animals, or growing up with a family dog. You need staff that can walk in to the daycare & exhibit the right energy & attitude from the get-go. Make sure you sort through the resumes you receive and only take people seriously if they have a) worked with pack animals before (not necessarily dogs) or b) studied animal behaviour or canine psychology papers. Owning a dog and taking it to puppy training by no means qualifies someone to work with animals. You can be sure that more than half of your applicants will still not have had any experience working with animals, but at least it may discourage some people from applying and reduce your work load.

Once I had a very nice guy show up pulling a crumpled up, wet resume out of his pocket while opening his wallet at the same time to show me a photo of his beautiful Staffordshire. When I asked where his dog was he told me he had left it on the other side of Canada while he went traveling & was missing the animal contact, had seen my ad and thought he'd be a shoo-in. He had been a delivery driver prior to this point & was now applying to be the Manager of a very high-end dog daycare!

Staffing Tip #1: "Don't Hire the "I Love Dogs!" Person

It may sound harsh, I mean of course your staff have to love dogs, but there is a lot more to it than that. One of the first things you will notice when you begin hiring is that there are an awful lot of people out there who 'love dogs'. They will come rushing in droves when they see your advertisement for staff, with no experience, some with photos of family dogs, others with just a passion for playing with dogs 24/7. Don't hire these people no matter how much you may feel they should be given a chance.

In saying that, if someone is absolutely desperate to work for you and won't take no for an answer, consider taking them on as a volunteer for a few shifts working alongside your current staff. Don't think of it as a money saving option and put them on the schedule in a regular shift. If you then decide to train them up bear in mind that the valuable time you take training them could be wasted if you (or they) decide they're not cut out for the job. Make sure they are aware of the hard work involved in the job, that it is not just about 'playing with dogs', the potential hazards involved in working with animals and what kind of remuneration they can expect for their time.