The downfalls of employment

I've often wondered what it's like to enjoy your work. I guess I'll be waiting a while to find out.

Flashback about eight years to high school and I'm in exactly the same place. Sometimes it feels like I've come so far only to end up exactly where I started.

I'm not going to talk about my job per say, but I'd like to talk about the things I've learned over the years doing this type of work - I work in a dog boarding kennel currently (just got the job last week), and I worked in a kennel in high school as well. First off, let's get rid of those misinterpretations that working in a kennel is super fun and you just play with dogs all day. It's not and you don't.


When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dogs, like almost on par with my Harry Potter obsession. I used to make long lists of breeds I wanted to some day own. Of the 140-something AKC recognized breeds, I had about 50 on my list. I could once recognize every breed on sight and tell you what group it belonged to. I had vaccinations memorized, dog trivia down, and pretty much anything related to dogs, I could tell you about. I know how to make a muzzle out of a strip of fabric. I can point out every body part on a dog and correctly name them.

Back to the list. I had this list of breeds I wanted, mostly based on looks, and over the years, it whittled down, down, down, until now when there are only about three or four potential breeds of dogs I'd be interested in owning. A lot of this is due in part to working in a kennel.

What I've learned is that I do not want any kind of dog that will grow to be fat, fluffy, and white. In my experience, these dogs all end up ugly, snappish, and can barely waddle around. This cuts out toy poodles, malteses, and probably shitzus. The most vicious dogs tend to be either really big or really small. Of course there are those few in the medium size range that will bite you the moment you hesitate. Been there, done that.

The dogs currently gracing my (now mental) list are: Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier, Bouvier des Flandres, Boxer, and maybe Pomeranian. I once had Giant Schnauzers on there, but after dealing with them in the kennel, they were switched out for the Bouviers. The Pomeranian might be kicked off as well after I pet-sat one for a week in China. That dog was one of the most annoying things ever.

Of course, the list has no bearing on future pets. For all I know, I'll end up with mixed breeds picked up from shelters or out of a box in front of Walmart. I'm that kind of person. All of our cats came from shelters or one from an alley. The best dog we ever had came from a shelter, and our current dog (a Golden Retriever in case you're wondering) came from an owner who thought she was too energetic.

The point of all this, I guess, is that some good does come from every type of employment. I know what dogs I never want to own and which ones are on the "maybe" list. There was a really sweet Doberman in this weekend named Buche (I laughed), and an evil German Shepherd. So. It all comes down to the dog.

I do, however, know exactly what I'm going to name my future pets. For the dogs: Gir and Zin (short for zinfandel), and for a cat: Gary. Now we just have to get to the point where I can get a cat or dog of my own. Working on it.