What a Kennel Tech Actually Does All Day

My first shift as a kennel tech, I showed up fifteen minutes early, coffee in hand, thinking I’d basically be playing with dogs for eight hours. By hour two I had bleach on my shoes, a Great Dane had decided my shoulder was a good place to rest his entire head, and I still had eleven runs left to clean before the first boarding drop offs started arriving. Nobody told me that in the interview.

If you’re searching around trying to figure out what a kennel tech actually is, whether it’s worth applying for, or you’re already hunting for kennel tech jobs near you, I want to walk you through what the day to day really looks like. Not the sanitized job posting version. The actual version.

What Is a Kennel Tech, Really

If you’re asking “what is a kennel tech” because you’ve seen the title on a job board and aren’t totally sure what it involves, here’s the short answer: it’s someone responsible for the daily physical and behavioral care of animals staying at a boarding facility, shelter, or vet clinic. That covers feeding, cleaning, exercise, basic health monitoring, and a surprising amount of customer interaction.

The job description you’ll see posted usually says something like “responsible for animal care, feeding, cleaning, and customer service.” Technically true. Also about as useful as saying a chef’s job is “cooking food.”

What Do Kennel Techs Actually Do All Day

People ask “what does a kennel tech do” expecting a short list. Here’s what it actually breaks down into on a real shift:

• Cleaning and sanitizing kennels, runs, and common areas (multiple times a day, not once)
• Feeding according to each animal’s specific diet, schedule, and sometimes medication needs
• Walking, exercising, and monitoring dogs for behavior or health changes
• Restocking supplies: food, bedding, cleaning chemicals, bowls
• Basic administrative work, like logging feeding times, noting incidents, updating boarding records
• Handling check ins and check outs, which means talking to pet owners who are often anxious about leaving their animal
• Laundry. So much laundry.
• Occasionally assisting with grooming, bathing, or vet techs if the facility offers those services

The physical labor side surprised me the most. I assumed it’d be more “sit and supervise,” but it’s closer to a mix of housekeeping and physical fitness work, with animal handling layered on top.

A Realistic Walkthrough of an Actual Shift

I’ll break down roughly how my mornings went at the boarding facility I worked at, because step by step is way more useful than a vague list of kennel tech duties.

Step 1: Arrival and overnight check
First thing, you walk the kennels to check on every animal. Did anyone get sick overnight, is anyone showing signs of stress, did any of the dogs manage to destroy their bedding (this happens more than you’d think). You’re basically doing a wellness scan before anything else starts.

Step 2: Morning feeding
Every animal usually has a card or a system entry with their specific food, portion, and any supplements or meds. This part requires actual attention. Mixing up a diabetic dog’s feeding schedule or giving the wrong portion isn’t a small mistake, it’s a real welfare issue. I learned to double check every card, every time, no matter how routine it felt.

Step 3: Kennel cleaning rotation
This is the bulk of the physical work. Spot cleaning happens constantly, but full deep cleans, hosing down runs, disinfecting, replacing bedding, usually happen once or twice a day depending on the facility’s protocol. You get fast at this. My first week it took me twenty minutes per run. By month two, under ten.

Step 4: Exercise and enrichment time
Dogs get walked or let into play yards in scheduled blocks. This is the part people picture when they imagine the job, and it is genuinely the best part, but it’s maybe 20% of your actual shift, not 80%.

Step 5: Check ins and check outs
This is where the “customer service” part of the job description actually shows up. You’re explaining boarding policies, answering questions about how their dog did, sometimes managing a nervous owner who’s convinced their cat hates them for leaving. Patience matters here as much as animal handling skill does.

Step 6: Incident logging and handoff notes
Before you leave, you log anything unusual, like a dog that wasn’t eating well, a limp you noticed, a fence that needs fixing. Good kennels run on good notes, because the next shift is relying on what you wrote down.

How Much Do Kennel Techs Make

This is the question I get asked most by people considering the job, so let’s be direct about it. Kennel tech salary varies a lot depending on region, whether you’re at a boarding facility, shelter, or vet clinic, and how much experience or additional certification you bring in.

Entry level kennel tech pay tends to sit closer to minimum wage or just above it in a lot of areas, since it’s often treated as an entry point role. Facilities attached to veterinary clinics, or ones that expect medication administration and more advanced animal handling, tend to pay more than a straight boarding kennel. If you’re specifically researching how much a kennel tech makes in your area, your best bet is checking current listings on sites like Indeed or Glassdoor for your specific city, since national averages can be misleading when the range swings so much by region and facility type.

What I’d add from experience: pay tends to climb faster than the base rate suggests once you move into a kennel manager role, or if you pick up certifications like pet first aid or CPR, which some facilities will actually pay extra for once you have them.

Real Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Repeat Them)

Underestimating body strength requirements. I didn’t think of this as a “physical job” going in. It absolutely is. You’re lifting bags of food, hosing and scrubbing, and sometimes physically managing large or strong dogs on leash. My first week left me sore in places I didn’t know could be sore.

Not asking enough questions about individual animals. Early on, I assumed all the dogs in a section could go out together for play time. One combination turned into a scuffle that was entirely preventable if I’d actually read the notes about resource guarding on one of the dogs. Lesson learned fast: always read the notes, every single time, even when you’re in a hurry.

Wearing the wrong shoes. Sounds minor, it’s not. You’re on wet, sometimes bleach treated floors constantly. Proper closed toe, slip resistant shoes aren’t optional. I switched to a pair of Skechers slip resistant work shoes after my second slide across a wet kennel floor and never looked back.

Not clarifying the actual chemicals used. Different kennels use different disinfectants. Some use bleach dilutions, some use products like Rescue Disinfectant, which is common in animal care settings because it’s effective but less harsh than straight bleach. If you’re sensitive to strong chemical smells, it’s worth asking during the interview what they use, because you’ll be around it daily.

Kennel Tech vs Kennel Help: What’s the Difference

Worth mentioning, because job postings use these terms inconsistently. “Kennel help” or “kennel assistant” roles are often more entry level, mostly cleaning, feeding, and basic animal supervision, with less responsibility around medication administration or handling difficult behavioral cases. A “kennel tech” role often expects more, like administering medications, recognizing early signs of illness, sometimes assisting with basic vet procedures if the facility is attached to a clinic.

If you’re job hunting, pay attention to which title is being used, because the pay and expectations usually track with that distinction, even if the day to day overlaps a lot.

Where to Actually Find Kennel Tech Jobs Near You

If you’re searching for kennel tech jobs near me, a few practical tips from actually going through this process myself:

• Check listings directly on the websites of local vet clinics and boarding facilities, a lot of them don’t bother posting to major job boards and just list openings on their own site
• Indeed and ZipRecruiter tend to have the most volume for this specific title compared to more general job boards
• Local shelters and humane societies often post kennel tech job openings separately from their volunteer listings, so check the careers page specifically, not just the volunteer page
• If you’re near a veterinary school or vet tech program, ask about job boards specific to that program, clinics often post there first before going public

What Comes After: Moving Up to Kennel Manager

If you stick with it, the natural next step is a kennel manager role. I watched a coworker make that jump after about two years, and the shift in responsibility is bigger than people expect. A kennel manager isn’t just doing more cleaning shifts, they’re scheduling staff, handling client complaints that front line techs can’t resolve, managing inventory and ordering supplies, and often making the call on things like whether an animal needs to see a vet immediately or can wait.

The techs who get promoted into that role tend to be the ones who were already doing the boring stuff well, like writing thorough notes, catching health issues early, and not cutting corners on cleaning protocols even when they’re slammed. If management is a goal for you, that reputation is built in your first few months, not right before you ask for the promotion.

What Actually Separates Quality Dog Kennels From Mediocre Ones

Working in a few different facilities over the years, I started noticing patterns pretty fast in what separates a genuinely well run kennel from one that’s just getting by. It usually comes down to a few things:

• Staffing ratios. A facility that’s understaffed for the number of animals on site cuts corners, even with good intentions. You can’t give proper attention to forty dogs with two people on shift.
• Clear protocols, actually followed. Every kennel has a binder somewhere with cleaning and feeding protocols. Quality ones actually enforce them. The rest let things slide when it gets busy.
• How incidents get handled. Every kennel has bad days, a dog gets sick, a scuffle happens. What separates the good ones is honest communication with owners and quick action, not covering things up or downplaying them.
• Staff turnover. High turnover almost always means something is off, whether it’s management, pay, or workload. If you’re touring a place as a potential employee, ask how long the current staff has been there.

Skills That Actually Matter (That Nobody Tells You About)

• Reading animal body language. This becomes second nature fast, but it’s a real skill. Knowing the difference between a stressed dog and an excited one changes how you handle every interaction.
• Time management under pressure. Feeding schedules, medication timing, and cleaning rotations all overlap, and you often can’t do everything perfectly on schedule. Learning to prioritize is huge.
• Emotional resilience. You will deal with sick animals, occasionally animals that don’t make it, and owners who are stressed or upset. Nobody warns you how emotionally involved this job actually gets, even in a boarding only setting without a medical component.
• Clear written communication. Your notes are read by other staff and sometimes owners. Vague notes cause real problems down the line.

Final Thought

The job looks completely different from the outside than it feels from the inside. It’s part physical labor, part detailed record keeping, part animal behavior work, and part customer service, and honestly, very little of it matches the “just hang out with dogs all day” image people walk in expecting. That said, if you actually like animals, not just the idea of them, but the reality of cleaning up after them, managing their stress, and paying close attention to small changes in their behavior, it’s one of those jobs that ends up being more rewarding than the paycheck alone would suggest. Just wear the right shoes, read the notes, and stretch before your shift. Your back will thank you.

My first shift as a kennel tech, I showed up fifteen minutes early, coffee in hand, thinking I’d basically be playing with dogs for eight hours. By hour two I had bleach on my shoes, a Great Dane had decided my shoulder was a good place to rest his entire head, and I still had eleven runs left to clean before the first boarding drop offs started arriving. Nobody told me that in the interview.

If you’re looking into this job, or you’re on the other side, trying to write a job posting that actually reflects what the role involves, I want to walk you through what the day to day really looks like. Not the sanitized version. The actual version.

The Job Description Sounds Nothing Like the Job

Most postings you’ll see list something like: “responsible for animal care, feeding, cleaning, and customer service.” Technically true. Also about as useful as saying a chef’s job is “cooking food.”

Here’s what that actually breaks down into on a real shift:

• Cleaning and sanitizing kennels, runs, and common areas (multiple times a day, not once)
• Feeding according to each animal’s specific diet, schedule, and sometimes medication needs
• Walking, exercising, and monitoring dogs for behavior or health changes
• Restocking supplies: food, bedding, cleaning chemicals, bowls
• Basic administrative work, like logging feeding times, noting incidents, updating boarding records
• Handling check ins and check outs, which means talking to pet owners who are often anxious about leaving their animal
• Laundry. So much laundry.
• Occasionally assisting with grooming, bathing, or vet techs if the facility offers those services

The physical labor side surprised me the most. I assumed it’d be more “sit and supervise,” but it’s closer to a mix of housekeeping and physical fitness work, with animal handling layered on top.

A Realistic Walkthrough of an Actual Shift

I’ll break down roughly how my mornings went at the boarding facility I worked at, because step by step is way more useful than a vague list.

Step 1: Arrival and overnight check
First thing, you walk the kennels to check on every animal. Did anyone get sick overnight, is anyone showing signs of stress, did any of the dogs manage to destroy their bedding (this happens more than you’d think). You’re basically doing a wellness scan before anything else starts.

Step 2: Morning feeding
Every animal usually has a card or a system entry with their specific food, portion, and any supplements or meds. This part requires actual attention. Mixing up a diabetic dog’s feeding schedule or giving the wrong portion isn’t a small mistake, it’s a real welfare issue. I learned to double check every card, every time, no matter how routine it felt.

Step 3: Kennel cleaning rotation
This is the bulk of the physical work. Spot cleaning happens constantly, but full deep cleans, hosing down runs, disinfecting, replacing bedding, usually happen once or twice a day depending on the facility’s protocol. You get fast at this. My first week it took me twenty minutes per run. By month two, under ten.

Step 4: Exercise and enrichment time
Dogs get walked or let into play yards in scheduled blocks. This is the part people picture when they imagine the job, and it is genuinely the best part, but it’s maybe 20% of your actual shift, not 80%.

Step 5: Check ins and check outs
This is where the “customer service” part of the job description actually shows up. You’re explaining boarding policies, answering questions about how their dog did, sometimes managing a nervous owner who’s convinced their cat hates them for leaving. Patience matters here as much as animal handling skill does.

Step 6: Incident logging and handoff notes
Before you leave, you log anything unusual, like a dog that wasn’t eating well, a limp you noticed, a fence that needs fixing. Good kennels run on good notes, because the next shift is relying on what you wrote down.

Real Mistakes I Made (So You Don’t Repeat Them)

Underestimating body strength requirements. I didn’t think of this as a “physical job” going in. It absolutely is. You’re lifting bags of food, hosing and scrubbing, and sometimes physically managing large or strong dogs on leash. My first week left me sore in places I didn’t know could be sore.

Not asking enough questions about individual animals. Early on, I assumed all the dogs in a section could go out together for play time. One combination turned into a scuffle that was entirely preventable if I’d actually read the notes about resource guarding on one of the dogs. Lesson learned fast: always read the notes, every single time, even when you’re in a hurry.

Wearing the wrong shoes. Sounds minor, it’s not. You’re on wet, sometimes bleach treated floors constantly. Proper closed toe, slip resistant shoes aren’t optional. I switched to a pair of Skechers slip resistant work shoes after my second slide across a wet kennel floor and never looked back.

Not clarifying the actual chemicals used. Different kennels use different disinfectants. Some use bleach dilutions, some use products like Rescue Disinfectant, which is common in animal care settings because it’s effective but less harsh than straight bleach. If you’re sensitive to strong chemical smells, it’s worth asking during the interview what they use, because you’ll be around it daily.

What “Kennel Help” Roles Look Like vs Full Kennel Tech Roles

Worth mentioning, because job postings use these terms inconsistently. “Kennel help” or “kennel assistant” roles are often more entry level, mostly cleaning, feeding, and basic animal supervision, with less responsibility around medication administration or handling difficult behavioral cases. A “kennel technician” role often expects more, like administering medications, recognizing early signs of illness, sometimes assisting with basic vet procedures if the facility is attached to a clinic.

If you’re job hunting, pay attention to which title is being used, because the pay and expectations usually track with that distinction, even if the day to day overlaps a lot.

What Comes After: Moving Up to Kennel Manager

If you stick with it, the natural next step is a kennel manager role. I watched a coworker make that jump after about two years, and the shift in responsibility is bigger than people expect. A kennel manager isn’t just doing more cleaning shifts, they’re scheduling staff, handling client complaints that front line techs can’t resolve, managing inventory and ordering supplies, and often making the call on things like whether an animal needs to see a vet immediately or can wait.

The techs who get promoted into that role tend to be the ones who were already doing the boring stuff well, like writing thorough notes, catching health issues early, and not cutting corners on cleaning protocols even when they’re slammed. If management is a goal for you, that reputation is built in your first few months, not right before you ask for the promotion.

What Actually Separates Quality Dog Kennels From Mediocre Ones

Working in a few different facilities over the years, I started noticing patterns pretty fast in what separates a genuinely well run kennel from one that’s just getting by. It usually comes down to a few things:

• Staffing ratios. A facility that’s understaffed for the number of animals on site cuts corners, even with good intentions. You can’t give proper attention to forty dogs with two people on shift.
• Clear protocols, actually followed. Every kennel has a binder somewhere with cleaning and feeding protocols. Quality ones actually enforce them. The rest let things slide when it gets busy.
• How incidents get handled. Every kennel has bad days, a dog gets sick, a scuffle happens. What separates the good ones is honest communication with owners and quick action, not covering things up or downplaying them.
• Staff turnover. High turnover almost always means something is off, whether it’s management, pay, or workload. If you’re touring a place as a potential employee or even boarding your own dog there, ask how long the current staff has been there.

If you’re evaluating kennels either as a job seeker or as a pet owner, these are the things I’d actually ask about, not just whether the lobby looks nice.

Skills That Actually Matter (That Nobody Tells You About)

• Reading animal body language. This becomes second nature fast, but it’s a real skill. Knowing the difference between a stressed dog and an excited one changes how you handle every interaction.
• Time management under pressure. Feeding schedules, medication timing, and cleaning rotations all overlap, and you often can’t do everything perfectly on schedule. Learning to prioritize is huge.
• Emotional resilience. You will deal with sick animals, occasionally animals that don’t make it, and owners who are stressed or upset. Nobody warns you how emotionally involved this job actually gets, even in a boarding only setting without a medical component.
• Clear written communication. Your notes are read by other staff and sometimes owners. Vague notes cause real problems down the line.

Final Thought

The job looks completely different from the outside than it feels from the inside. It’s part physical labor, part detailed record keeping, part animal behavior work, and part customer service, and honestly, very little of it matches the “just hang out with dogs all day” image people walk in expecting. That said, if you actually like animals, not just the idea of them, but the reality of cleaning up after them, managing their stress, and paying close attention to small changes in their behavior, it’s one of those jobs that ends up being more rewarding than the paycheck alone would suggest. Just wear the right shoes, read the notes, and stretch before your shift. Your back will thank you.

Read more hands-on guides at TheGlobalMag.org.