A Day in the Life: Being a Puppy Store Employee

“Even though it’s a lot of responsibility...I’m doing something that I love, and it’s fulfilling to me,” Rabkin-Bekker said.

By FARIHA AHMED

Imagine a world where every week you get to play with loving and affectionate puppies, feed them, walk them, teach them tricks. Every week. Now, imagine also getting paid while doing so. Sounds like paradise, doesn’t it?

Luckily for Nicole Rabkin-Bekker ’21, this paradise comes every Tuesday where she clocks in at the puppy store. 

She works there part-time, interacting with all types of breeds from Boxers to Huskies. The store sells everything growing pups could need, from unique collars to specific breed vitamins. 

Rabkin-Bekker prepared for the job by working with animals at an internship in the summer at the Genovesi Environmental Study Center.

Rabkin-Bekker gets quality time with 20-25 puppies each week. Despite the high numbers, she gives “special attention” to “every single dog,” she said.

But a job taking care of puppies isn’t the easiest.

She said, “People don’t understand often times that you need a lot of skill to actually work with animals; there’s a lot of knowledge that goes into it. That includes giving them a bath, exercise, checking their gums for gingivitis. If they’re sick, I have to give them shots.”

“You have to be very meticulous when examining them,” she continued. “Sometimes, you can hurt a dog by accident if you cut their nails the wrong way or pull their hair.”

Patience is a virtue that is especially important for taking care of the pups, even when it’s frustrating.

“Very often, I’ll give a dog a bath, and they won’t like the smell of the shampoo,” she said. “So when I put them down, they’ll pee and poop and roll in it to restore their natural scent.”

She has to teach the pups proper qualities they will take with them into adulthood.

“It’s important to fix wrong behaviors starting at an early age because it can turn to aggression when they get older,” she said. “Whenever we put two dogs to play together, we’re always watching their behavior. We have to make sure they are playing correctly and calmly.”

Not becoming too attached to the pups is also important.

“When I first started working, there was a Boxer who didn’t get sold for a very long time,” she said. “I would play with her all the time and I taught her tricks; she was really sweet!”

“There was a day I wasn’t working when she got sold,” she said. “That was upsetting because I miss her.”

Her role in the puppy’s life became a bittersweet memory, she explained. “But I was very happy for her because she had found a loving home. That’s really our goal. So even though we might have a specific favorite, we always want them to go home to a happy place.”

Having to deal with annoying customers is the bane of all store workers, and it is no different in a puppy store.

“We have a rule we tell people when they come in not to put their hands in the cages,” she said. “There was a time when we had a bunch of people coming in and they were not listening to the rules.”

She continued, “Half of our dogs became sick! We had to disinfect the whole entire store. And I mean the whole entire store. We took these rags of bleach and we were wiping down every single [cage] bar, the display cases that were full of puppy food and puppy vitamins, every single bottle of shampoo, every single collar, every leash, every toy, the floors, and the walls. We bleached everything.”

Still, no matter what is demanded of her, Rabkin-Bekker loves going to work.

“Even though it’s a lot of responsibility and actual hard work, after a while [those things] just become routine,” she said. “I’m doing something that I love, and it’s fulfilling to me.”

Of course, how could she not love going to work when there are always adorable puppies to welcome her? 

She said, “I end up looking forward to just seeing the dogs and playing with them. They are always so happy to see you. They’re so pure and innocent and love you so much!”