Professional Pet Care Assistant - Field TeamDog Walking & In-Home Pet Care Professional pet care is a responsibility—and a career to be proud of. At Dog Days Pet Care, our Field Team does much more than walk dogs. Our clients trust us with two of the most important things in their lives: their pets and their homes. When they're at work, traveling, caring for their families, or simply unable to be there themselves, we're the people they depend on to make sure everything is safe, secure, and cared for exactly as promised. That's a responsibility we take seriously. As a Professional Pet Care Assistant on our Field Team , you'll travel throughout Central Suffolk providing individualized care in our clients' homes. Some visits include neighborhood dog walks. Others may be backyard potty and play visits, puppy care, senior pet care, feeding, medications, cat and small-animal care, vacation visits, pet taxi services, or simply providing companionship to a pet whose family can't be there. Every visit is different because every pet is different. Whether you're walking an energetic puppy, helping a senior dog safely navigate the backyard, administering an important medication, or reassuring a nervous pet while their family is away, your work matters. This Isn't "Just a Dog Walking Job" It's professional pet care. It requires reliability, good judgment, attention to detail, time management, communication, compassion, and a tremendous amount of trust. Our Field Pet Care Assistants provide care independently in our clients' homes while remaining connected to an experienced management team. You'll have detailed care plans, professional systems, comprehensive paid training, and management support whenever questions or unexpected situations arise. And at the end of a visit, the photo and report card you send isn't simply another task to check off your list. It's the moment a pet parent looks at their phone, sees their pet happy and safe, and knows they chose the right people. That's the job. About Dog Days Pet Care Dog Days Pet Care is a locally owned, five-star rated pet care company that has proudly served Central Suffolk County for more than 10 years. We've built our reputation by providing professional, dependable pet care while giving families something incredibly valuable: peace of mind. Our Field Team provides in-home pet care throughout Central Suffolk seven days a week. As Dog Days continues to grow, we're building a dedicated Field Team of people who enjoy being on the move, building relationships with pets and their families, taking ownership of their work, and being part of a company that takes professional pet care seriously. What Does a Field Pet Care Shift Actually Look Like? This isn't a position where you report to one building and stay there for your entire shift. Instead, you'll follow a professionally managed route from client home to client home, with detailed instructions for each pet and household. Most of our services are 20- and 30-minute visits , with driving time between appointments. Your day might include a puppy who needs a midday potty break, a senior dog who prefers some fresh air in the backyard instead of a walk, a couple of neighborhood dog walks, a kitty whose family is on vacation, and a pet who needs dinner and medication. Some days you'll get your steps in. Some days you'll throw a ball in a backyard. And some days you'll spend part of a visit convincing a stubborn dog that yes, we really should go outside. Not every dog wants to get their steps in—and that's okay! Our job isn't simply to rack up miles. It's to provide each pet with the care, exercise, enrichment, companionship, and routine they need . What You'll Be Doing On any given day, you may be: Walking dogs safely throughout our service area Providing backyard potty, play, and enrichment visits Caring for dogs, cats, puppies, senior pets, and small animals Providing vacation pet care while families are away Preparing meals and refreshing water Administering medications exactly as instructed Cleaning litter boxes and pet-related messes Picking up pet waste Taking great photos during every visit Writing warm, detailed client report cards that provide genuine peace of mind Following individual feeding, medication, exercise, and household instructions Carefully securing doors, gates, alarms, keys, and lockboxes Providing pet taxi services when scheduled Completing small pet-related household tasks when instructed Driving safely and efficiently between client homes Communicating promptly with management when something doesn't look or feel right Assisting with other field pet-care responsibilities as assigned Your Car Is Part of Your Workday This is an important part of the position to understand before applying. Our Field Team travels throughout Central Suffolk providing care directly in our clients' homes. This means driving is a regular part of your workday , not simply your commute to and from work. You'll need a reliable personal vehicle, a valid driver's license, and to be comfortable driving throughout your scheduled shift. Eligible work mileage is reimbursed according to company policy. Some appointments may be close together, while others may require additional travel depending on client locations and the times their pets need care. If you enjoy being on the move, seeing different pets and places throughout your day, and having variety rather than reporting to the same workspace for an entire shift, you may absolutely love Field Pet Care. Scheduling & Availability Professional pet care doesn't always fit neatly into traditional 9-to-5 hours. Our clients rely on us before work, throughout the day, around dinnertime, on weekends, during vacations, and occasionally later in the evening. We're building our Field Team around dependable blocks of availability , which allows our management team to create more consistent routes and productive shifts as client demand allows.

Our common service periods include:

Morning Care:

approximately 7:00-10:00

AM Daytime/Lunch Care:

approximately 10:00 AM-3:00

PM Afternoon/Evening Care:

approximately 3:00-7:00

PM Vacation/Bedtime Care:

occasional later-evening visits You do not need to be available for every time period. What matters most is that the availability you provide is consistent and dependable . For example, someone who tells us, "I'm consistently available Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM," can be incredibly valuable to our scheduling team. Applicants with additional morning, evening, weekend, and holiday availability will generally have greater opportunities for hours. Because our schedule is based on client reservations, weekly hours may fluctuate and are not guaranteed. Schedules are provided in advance, although occasional adjustments may be necessary due to new reservations, cancellations, or unexpected client needs. What It Takes to Succeed Loving animals is important. But loving animals alone isn't enough to succeed in professional pet care. The people who thrive on our Field Team are dependable, observant, trustworthy, compassionate, accountable, and confident taking responsibility for their work. To be successful in this role, you'll need: To be at least 21 years of age A reliable personal vehicle and valid driver's license A smartphone (iPhone or Android) A reasonable commute to the Central Suffolk area The confidence to safely handle both small and large dogs The ability to work outdoors in everyday rain, heat, cold, and seasonal weather Strong communication and time-management skills The ability to navigate between appointments and remain on schedule The confidence to work independently in clients' homes while staying connected and communicating with our management team The ability to carefully follow detailed pet-care instructions, feeding routines, medication protocols, and household requests The judgment to recognize when something isn't right and communicate it immediately Respect for our clients' homes, privacy, property, and pets A willingness to learn, accept coaching, and continue developing your skills We don't expect perfection. We do expect accountability. If you're unsure about something, we want you to ask. If something doesn't look right, we want you to speak up. And if you make a mistake, we expect honesty so we can work together to make it right. What You'll Receive We believe professional pet care providers deserve professional training, tools, and support. When you join Dog Days Pet Care, you'll receive: Starting pay of $19.00 per hour Comprehensive paid training Company-paid Pet CPR & First Aid certification Company-paid Defensive Driving course Eligible mileage reimbursement Ongoing coaching and support from an experienced management team Tips from appreciative clients Opportunities for advancement and promotion from within The opportunity to build lasting relationships with incredible pets and their families A job where the work you do genuinely matters At this time, Dog Days Pet Care does not offer employer-sponsored medical benefits. Your First 90 Days—and Where You Can Go From There Every new Field Team employee begins as a Pet Care Assistant with a 90-day introductory period. Those first months are about learning our systems, understanding our standards, building confidence, and showing us the kind of employee you're going to be. After successfully completing your introductory period, you'll be eligible for a performance and compensation review based on your progress, reliability, performance, and overall contribution to the team. And then? We want great people to have somewhere to go. Our core pet-care growth path is: Pet Care Assistant → Pet Care Professional → Senior Pet Care Professional → Team Lead As you grow, additional opportunities may become available based on your strengths, performance, interests, and the needs of our growing company.

Those opportunities may include:

Client Consultations & New Client Onboarding New-Hire Training & Mentoring Administrative & Scheduling Support Leadership & Management Earned Cross-Training with our Home Base Team There isn't only one way to grow at Dog Days. Bring us your strengths. We'll help you discover where they can take you. Is This Opportunity Right for You? Please apply if all of the following sound like you: ✔ You want to work with animals, but you also want your work to be taken seriously. ✔ You understand the responsibility that comes with entering someone's home and caring for a beloved member of their family. ✔ You're confident working independently while staying connected and communicating with your management team. ✔ You're comfortable spending a significant portion of your workday driving between appointments. ✔ You're equally comfortable providing a neighborhood dog walk or spending a visit providing backyard play, potty time, companionship, feeding, or other individualized care. ✔ You're dependable with the availability you commit to. ✔ You don't mind getting a little wet, muddy, furry, slobbery—or occasionally covered in cat hair. ✔ You naturally pay attention to details and understand that the little things matter. ✔ You'll ask when you're unsure rather than guess. ✔ You're looking for somewhere you can learn, contribute, take pride in your work, and potentially grow. If you've read this posting and found yourself thinking, "This feels like something I'd be proud to do," we genuinely hope you'll apply. A Personal Note From Laurie Thank you for taking the time to learn about Dog Days Pet Care. I know accepting a new job is an important decision, and I truly appreciate you considering us. When I started Dog Days more than 10 years ago, I wanted families to have someone they could genuinely trust with their pets. As we've grown, that responsibility has become something shared by an entire team of people who care deeply about doing this work the right way. Professional pet care may look simple from the outside, but I know just how much responsibility I'm placing in the hands of every person I hire. You're representing Dog Days when you enter a client's home. You're caring for someone's beloved family member. And sometimes you're the only person that family is counting on to make sure their pet is safe, comfortable, and cared for while they're away. That's why we take hiring and training seriously. I'll never expect you to know everything on your first day. We'll teach you. We'll teach you our systems, our safety standards, how we communicate with our clients, how we handle different situations, and what exceptional professional pet care looks like at Dog Days. What I can't teach is kindness, integrity, reliability, a strong work ethic, good judgment, and a genuine desire to care for others. If you bring those things with you, we'll give you the opportunity to learn the rest. If you've made it all the way to the bottom of this posting and you're thinking, "This feels like the kind of company I'd be proud to be part of," I'd love to hear from you. I'd love the opportunity to meet you, hear your story, and learn what you might bring to our pack. Thank you for considering Dog Days Pet Care. —

Laurie Schmeizer Owner, Dog Days Pet Care Pay:

From $19.00 per hour

Benefits:

Flexible schedule Application Question(s): What interested you most about joining the Dog Days Field Team, and what stood out to you in our job posting? This position requires driving between client homes throughout Central Suffolk during your scheduled shift using your own reliable vehicle. Are you comfortable with this, and do you currently have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation? Please describe your current availability as specifically as possible, including the days and time blocks you can consistently commit to each week. Please also include your availability for weekends, holidays, early mornings, evenings, and occasional later-night visits. Field Pet Care Assistants work independently in clients' homes and are trusted to follow detailed instructions involving feeding, medications, home access, alarms, gates, and pet safety. Tell us about a time when your attention to detail or judgment prevented a problem or made a positive difference. This role includes much more than dog walking. A shift may include backyard potty/play visits, senior pets, cats, feeding, medications, pet waste cleanup, driving between appointments, working outdoors in different weather, taking photos, and writing client updates. After reading the full posting, is there anything about the responsibilities, schedule, starting pay of $19/hour, or nature of the work that does NOT align with what you're looking for?

Experience:

Pet care: 1 year (Required)

Work Location:

In person