K is for Kennel Worker

Our second Community Helper for K is Kennel Worker. This is a job I know well since it is the first job I had at a vet clinic. It is an overlooked job that I would say most people would not want! Luckily I was able to make it fun for the girls. We talked about what animals (dogs in particular) needed; they need food, water, exercise, and love.  I provided the girls with 5 different sized stuffed dogs, 5 different sized boxes (for cages), and an assortment of dishes for food and water.

The first thing the girls had to do was find an appropriately sized cage for each dog. This meant they had to order the dogs biggest to smallest and place them in the correctly sized box. I also reminded them how they needed to handle the dogs. Although these were stuffed, I tried to make sure they were carried nicely rather then by an ear or a tail!

Then they got to feed them (we used dried oatmeal to represent food) and water them. This required pouring the oatmeal and water and using the right sized dishes to fit in the cages.

I found a couple leashes and let them walk the dogs. After all dogs need to go outside for exercise and to potty!

They continued walking, feeding, and watering the dogs for over an hour, I actually had to stop them, so we could make it to gymnastics!