A day in the life of an animal carer

Where do I start?

With how much I put into it? With how much I love it? With my routine?... It hard to start with something when there is SO much that goes into this job I adore so deeply it makes my heart ache.

Lets pick a topic... Routine!

I wake up at either 5am or 6am, depending on what jobs I have on that day.

Mondays:

These are my less busy days, so I can either choose to have a lovely lay in or get up early and start other jobs such as, clear my car, sort my animals earlier or just become more prepared for the day. Which involves, messaging clients, sending invoices, catching up on payment, blogging, advertising or updating my website.

I then start my day (once I decide to get up at an appropriate time) by getting up with my two dogs, (Miniature Jack Russell’s at the great age of 12 years old) who then follow me to the loo, where I then wash my face, get myself washed up and dressed. We then head downstairs where they are let out into our 150ft garden to roam around, do their business and protect their property, before they come running inside for their breakfast. Water is changed and breakfast is served. While they’re eating I get my other animals foods ready, Clyde (12 year old tortoise), Kyza (7 year old bearded dragon) and Rain & Mari (my 2 and 3 year old rabbits). This doesn’t take too much time but I like to make sure their enclosures are clean, fresh and they have all the things they need to keep them busy throughout the day. With my rabbits, for example, I clean out their litter trays and refill with fresh hay, scatter feed them in their straw so they have the enrichment of hunting for their food. I then get some enrichment toys out for them and hide their food in there, some boxes where they can hide/chew and toys such as large tunnels for them to play in.

Once I am all set with all my crazy lot, I get myself prepared for work. I grab my bags, my lanyard, keys, phone, and head out to work.

I drive to my first destination which is only a 10 minute drive away. I get out the car, lock the car and head to the clients front door. I unlock the key box where their spare key is safely inside. I struggle to open the door (everytime) as it’s a bit stiff, as the door opens this crazy little cockapoo comes running full pelt at me in excitement and it just spreads joy throughout my entire body. I talk to her like she understand what gibberish I am saying, such as “lets go and get your lead” while we walk upstairs together... well, she runs and jumps, and bounds all over the place. I get her lead and head back downstairs where she will already be sitting at the front door mat waiting for me all excited and ready to go. I pop her harness, collar and lead on and we are all set to go. She runs out the door as soon as it opens and I have to prepare myself to not fall down those stairs, again, this is hilarious to me but we are now currently working on threshold and that it isn’t good for her to be doing this.

She jumps straight into the car after I have unlocked and opened the door for her and sits quietly while I buckle her in safely. Now we are ready to head to our destination.

We get to our destination safely after the chaos of traffic and I grab my dog walking bag, which is consistent of fresh water, dog bowl, torch, treats, poo bags, first aid kit and a spare leash. Clip that on myself and get the dog out the back.

Car is now locked up and we start our walk. During the first 10 minutes we hardly see anyone but the excitement to have a sniff is uncontrollable. We both finally settle down and have a lovely hours walk consisting of meeting new dogs, friendly faces and new smells and sightings. We walk around some beautiful fields filled with birds chirping, dogs running and other walkers enjoying their morning. What more could you ask for? Other than the dog not pooping 100 times in the space of 60 minutes, right?

After our on lead walk, I offer fresh water which is always gratefully received and lots of treats before getting back into the car.

We head back home where I then safely take off her lead, collar and harness inside the house and head upstairs. I check her food, water and disposal area to make sure all is updated, fresh and sanitary. If this is all good. I say my “goodbyes”, “love yous” and head out the door. If it isn’t, I refill the water, the food and clear up and stools, wees and/sick (very rarely) and let the owner know. I then get in the car, and update the owner of any photos/videos I have taken of our adventure and any pros/cons about the walk, where they are all very much satisfied.

After this, I head to my next destination, again, 10 minutes away. This time, I get the key out of my locked key safe, and head inside. There is usually an owner inside so I call out a “hello, it’s Jade” to make them aware of my presents. The dog is usually fast asleep on the sofa or her bed. She is a LOT calmer than the first dog I cared for. She greets me slowly with kisses and stretches while I talk to her owner while he puts on her harness, collar and coat. We then say our goodbyes and head out for our half an hour walk.

This dog, bless her, only has three legs. BUT, it doesn’t stop her, she’s off like a rocket and is so eager to get to our field just up the road. I talk to her the entire time throughout our walk, telling her how much of a good girl she is and how well she is doing. We usually have passes by stop us to greet her also, which she loves. Treats aren’t given on this walk as she then clocks on I have more and will stop every 5 seconds to get more.. cheeky girl! This does make me laugh! We get to our favourite field and have our well deserved sniffs and photos taken, before heading back home. She is a lot slower going back home so needs a lot of encouragement but all well received and I love doing it. Once we are home, I take off her coat, harness and collar and greet the owner again. I hand over about how our walk went which is always greatly received and say my goodbyes while handing her some treats.

I then get back into my car where I then head home for the afternoon. Mondays I have the afternoons off (for now). I send updates, photos and more to the clients I had seen today which always makes my day. I then add them to my laptop and post on my Instagram page and Facebook so others can see these beautiful faces I saw today, as well as any funny things they had done during our walk.

I then give my car a clean, disinfect any toys/bowls used and get it prepared for the next day.

I take out any important information such as client files, key boxes, money, etc and keep them safely locked inside my house in a filing cabinet ready for the next day. While these things are inside my car, they are not visibly seen by any outsiders for safety and GDPR.

I usually spend my afternoon catching up on messages sent from new clients, and enquires I had missed, emails and phone calls that had gone to voicemail. Usually these are new clients trying to get my services which I love so dearly, I then spend a few minutes booking them in for their consultations. Which will be discussed in a sperate blog.

Sometimes, rarely, I get messages from the public saying there is a dog loose, a missing cat or an injured wildlife animal. This is where I stop everything and head to my car to help in any way I can.

I end the day with logging off my laptop, watching some telly with dinner, and having cuddles with my own animals. It’s a never ending life, and I LOVE it!