Must Love Dogs

By Kari Vanick

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I hear so often that I have the greatest job in the world.

I get to play with dogs all day. It is, indeed, the greatest job in the world, but we don’t quite get to play with dogs all day. What is the job of a certified camp counselor at Camp Bow Wow? The first requirement: must love dogs.

It seems obvious that if you’re hoping to get a job at Camp Bow Wow, then it is safe to say you must love dogs. What you find out about yourself when you start working at Camp Bow Wow is how much you really do love dogs and what lengths you’re willing to go for them.

The first thing I tell people about the certified camp counselor position at Camp Bow Wow is it’s 80 percent cleaning. Eighty. We clean the camp from top to bottom every day. We mop the aisles, wipe down the fence toppers, mop the lobby and clean the slimy peanut butter out of the Campfire Treat KONGs that were not eaten the night before.

We dry mop, vacuum and wet mop the play yards. We scrub the playground equipment, we wipe down the refrigeration strip doors. We sweep and mop and fluff the bedding for all the cabins in use by our lunchtime and overnight guests. We do dishes, we do laundry and we deep-clean all the overnight campers’ cabins. Every day. That’s just the daily cleaning. Just that can test how much you really love dogs.

But then there is the “dirty-job” cleaning. The picking up poop, mopping up pee, cleaning up chunky vomit or drawing the short straw in the morning for the job of “Doing Messes” which means being the chosen one to clean up any messes in the cabins from overnight.

Some days you hit the jackpot and there are no messes, other days you turn the corner down the next row of cabins and there it is. Max pooped in his cabin overnight. But he didn’t just leave you a pile of poop, he did a little dance in it, with all four paws, and finger-painted a mutt masterpiece on the walls of his cabin. It’s everywhere, and it’s all over him. So when you’re done “Doing Messes,” you have to give Max a bath.

Still think we have the greatest job in the world? I haven’t even mentioned taking out the poop cans yet.

The most challenging and most important job at Camp Bow Wow is managing the Big Dog Yard. The safety of the dogs is the No. 1 priority, so you really need to be on your toes. There is always something going on in this yard. One, two, three different playgroups going at the same time.

You have to watch each playgroup to make sure the dogs are matched up appropriately in energy level. You also have to make sure each dog is taking a short break from playing every few minutes to ensure the play does not escalate out of control. You have to make them take breaks if they are not doing so on their own. And you have to give them timeouts when they are misbehaving.

Or, how about a game of “chase” breaks out between two dogs, and five other dogs decide they want to play, too, and so they’re all going around and around the playground equipment, and you have to slow them down before someone unexpectedly puts on the brakes and a pileup happens.

Managing the Big Dog Yard requires you to be in charge and be the pack leader. If you’re not, the dogs know it. And just like kids, they will take advantage of you. The energy level in the yards changes with your moods. If you’re having a bad day, the dogs know it, and they are a little crazier than usual. The more calm and assertive you are, the better behaved your dogs will be, creating harmony in your yard.

Taking care of the Little Dog Yard can, at times, be just as challenging as the Big Dog Yard. Sometimes they get their own game of “chase” going, and it’s hard to catch them! Other times you can sit down in that yard and pile as many of them on you as will fit in your lap. Ah, how that can make you smile from ear to ear. Want some relaxing cuddle time with the dogs? Visit the Little Dog Yard.

Then there are the other parts of the job. The camp counselors also conduct first-day interviews, assist the clients, check the dogs in and out of the computer and tell stories to all the moms and dads of who their new BFF was today, whether it be for a first-time camper or someone who comes to see us three times a week. We love to tell the stories of how much fun their dog had today.

So, the job comes down to how much do you love the dogs? Are you willing to clean up their diarrhea, vomit and poop any day of the week? Are you willing to bathe someone who has poop all over themselves because they had an upset stomach last night? Are you willing to sweep up dog hair and more dog hair all day long every day? Are you willing to clean, clean, clean to provide the best environment for the dogs?

If you love dogs, none of this seems like a chore, or ever gets tiring. If you love dogs, you want what’s best and safest for them all the time. If you love dogs, this is easy to do because you love each and every one of them like they are your own. You just naturally do what the dogs do: love unconditionally.

It’s a sweaty, smelly dirty job. You’re going to get peed on, pooped on and vomited on. You’re going to have to pick up pile after pile of poop and, inevitably, you’re gonna get it on you. You’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes you’re gonna have to touch the poop. And you’re going to get kissed by a dog who just ate a pile of poop. Eww.

So, do we have the greatest job in the world? Absolutely. The only requirement is that you must love dogs.