Every Walk, Every Dry, Every Pet — Tracked and Cared For
DepartmentBoarding & Kennel Operations
Reports ToShop Manager
Updated2026-08-23
About Bark & Purr
Bark and Purr Pet Grooming & Boarding is Allen, Texas's premier pet wellness destination. Located at 803 W. Main Street, we are home to the only Nationally Certified Master Groomer in North Texas and are a certified Fear-Free grooming salon. Our proprietary Tranquil Tail Grooming® method creates individualized, stress-free experiences for every pet and every PAWrent. We do not just groom pets — we care for them holistically and become trusted members of their extended family. Our team is our brand. We hire only individuals who combine technical excellence with genuine, natural empathy for animals.
Role At A Glance
Department
Boarding & Kennel Operations
Level / Tier
Entry — Hourly
Reports To
Shop Manager
Location
803 W. Main Street, Allen, TX 75013
[CONFIRM: "Reports To: Shop Manager" is inferred from org structure — not separately confirmed for this role in any source document.]
Position Summary
The Kennel Tech is responsible for the safety, comfort, and timely care of every boarding and daycare dog in our care — walks, drying supervision, and approved medication administration. You do not own one of the three main client-facing notes (Front Desk, Bather, Groomer) the way other roles do — instead, every tap you make in Compass/staff.html (Mark Walked, Kennel Dry, Dry Done, CBD Given) is itself the record of care. Timing integrity is the core of this role: a dog that goes unwalked or unattended is a visible failure, not a private one — the system flags it for the whole team, including Linda checking remotely.
Core Responsibilities
Walk & Movement Care
Watch the Day Board for the walk reminder — fires every 3 hours from check-in, dog-only.
Walk each dog when due; tap Mark Walked immediately to log the timestamp and clear the reminder.
Never let a card sit orange (3+ hours without a walk tap) — this is a visible overdue flag the whole team and ownership can see.
If a walk was completed but the tap was missed, tap it late and add a note explaining the delay — the timestamp doesn't change, but the walk still gets its record.
Drying Supervision
Monitor any dog drying in the kennel (not at a groomer's dry station) at all times — never leave a drying dog unattended.
Tap Kennel Dry to log the pause when a dog is drying in the kennel.
Tap Dry Done only when the coat is actually dry and ready for groom — do not confuse this with Kennel Dry, which just logs the pause.
Medication Administration (CBD)
CBD is a strict two-step process: CBD Approval must be logged before CBD Given can be tapped.
If approval is not logged, do not administer — flag Front Desk instead. This gate exists for dosage and owner-consent reasons and is never to be worked around.
Kennel Cleaning & Setup
[CONFIRM: Opening (start-of-shift) and closing (end-of-shift) kennel cleaning/setup duties are not yet documented anywhere in the system — the existing training checklist flags this same gap rather than guessing at it. Needs Linda or the Shop Manager to specify before this section can be completed.]
Safety & Documentation
Treat every tap as the permanent record — there is no separate paper form for walks or drying.
Report any pet incident, near-miss, or health observation to the Shop Manager within the shift.
Qualifications & Requirements
[CONFIRM: No formal qualifications, certifications, or experience requirements have been documented for this role anywhere in the system. Left blank rather than invented — needs Linda's input.]
What You're Measured On
Per the Kennel Tech role card, this position is currently in a 30-day data-only period — dimensions are tracked, but no numeric targets have been set yet. Scores will count once standards are finalized.
Dimension Tracked
Target / Standard
Care compliance (walk timing, CBD two-step followed)
Not yet set — 30-day data-only period
Time-vs-standard (dry time vs. goal minutes for coat/size)
Not yet set — 30-day data-only period
Completed dry cycles vs. scheduled
Not yet set — 30-day data-only period
Punctuality (clock-in vs. scheduled start)
Not yet set — 30-day data-only period
Quality score average
Not yet set — 30-day data-only period
Career Pathway
[CONFIRM: No documented advancement path from Kennel Tech to another position exists yet — needs Linda's input.]
Training Agenda
Kennel Tech training is built around learning the tap-based system correctly the first time — a missed or wrong tap reads as a missed walk or an unmonitored dry, even when the care itself happened. Structure below follows the same phased pattern as other Bark & Purr training agendas; exact day counts are a reasonable starting structure, not yet confirmed against a real onboarding run.
Phase 1 — Days 1–3: Orientation & Shadowing
Shadow an experienced Kennel Tech for a full shift; observe the walk-reminder cycle, a Kennel Dry / Dry Done pair, and a CBD approval-and-give sequence.
Learn to read the Day Board's 5-second screen: who needs a walk / who's overdue; who's drying.
Review the safety rule set: never leave a drying dog unattended; CBD is always a two-step.
Phase 2 — Days 4–7: Supervised Practice
Perform walks and drying supervision independently, with a Lead/Shop Manager spot-checking taps at the end of each shift.
Practice the late-tap-with-note process for any missed real-time taps.
Shadow a CBD approval-and-give sequence end to end at least twice before performing one unsupervised.
Phase 3 — Days 8–14: Independent With Spot-Checks
Run a full shift independently; Shop Manager reviews the day's tap history for orange-card incidents and Kennel Dry / Dry Done accuracy.
Complete the Kennel Tech Competency Checklist (Checklists tab) with sign-off.
Watch & Learn
External professional references until Bark & Purr films its own — techniques shown may differ in small ways from our Tranquil Tail method; your mentor's instruction always wins.
Dog Body Language – Signs of Stress (Sherrie Yuschak, VTS-Behavior) · VetVine Hub — strong Fear-Free alignment; helps you read a boarding dog's stress signals early, before a walk or dry becomes a struggle.
Dog Drying Techniques – Cage/Kennel/Fluff/HV (CMPG) · Love of Grooming — directly covers safe kennel drying, the exact situation you're monitoring during a Kennel Dry tap.
Competency Checklist — Sign-Off Required
Trainee: Date:
Supervisor: Date:
Accountability Checklist — Every Shift
Opening (Start of Shift)
Closing (End of Shift)
Compass Taps — Your Taps ARE the Record
Tap it, and it's the record. Your taps ARE the record — there's no separate form to fill out.
Walked the dog but forgot the tap? Tap it late and add a quick note on the delay. The timestamp doesn't change, but the walk still gets its record.