Internship Testimonials
See what the students say about their experience with Dog Den's internship program.
Summer 2022 Internship - Now Accepting Application - Click HERE for Details
Connor C. | Canyon Hills HS | Sophmore | Summer 2021 | 200 Hours Completed
Working here at Dog Den has been a fun and useful learning experience. Starting out was tough since I was not used to being consistently active for hours but it was easy to get the hang of things pretty quickly. Daniel was able to teach me how to do things and do them right, and it was a lot to learn! Also, it was a lot more enjoyable to learn how to do everything while also being surrounded by Man’s Best Friend, and making sure that the dogs are all comfortable, clean and having fun made me feel like I was doing something useful for everyone who visits Dog Den. This internship even taught me how to do things at home, like creating spreadsheets, writing emails and how to tell if my dog does not like someone else. It has also helped build my confidence to talk to other people since we had to talk with our clients. This used to be significantly more difficult for me before I started, but now I have found that I’m able to start a conversation with people I’ve never met before with ease. Overall, I have found this internship to be a great use of my free time and it has been very helpful with learning how a job will work in the future.
Kayode O. | Cal State Fullerton | Freshman Summer 2021 | 200 Hours Completed | GoodWill STEP
I learned many details about having a job in the workforce and about myself while working at Dog Den. I worked alongside other interns and kennel attendants who were very diligent and efficient at their duties and despite wearing masks, were able to communicate well with one another. I learned that I need to work on speaking up when talking to my peers and that communication is key. Without clear speech and comprehension, it is easy to mistake something one person says for another and could lead to false information affecting someone during their work. My internship at Dog Den helped me to improve my oral communication. I also learned how to do many tasks that were new to me such as power-washing, disinfecting and eliminating waste, grooming, bathing, processing batch-outs, and prepping/feeding dogs their dinner. Although some came easier to me than others, harder tasks such as grooming and checking out pets took longer for me to master. Along the way, I made a few mistakes and when I did make a mistake, I would feel guilty about my error. Daniel taught me to move on and to not make the same mistake again. I developed my skill for being patient when watching over dogs in the play area. Occasionally, I would become frustrated and confused as to the different characteristics each dog exhibited. However, I discovered that each dog had distinct personalities. Whenever I came home from work, I researched different dog behaviors and what they meant. Oftentimes, I would also research a breed I never heard about and look at their characteristics and traits. Seeing them play and interact with their surroundings and each other pulled at my own curiosity. Due to my research, I grew in my understanding of the behavior they exhibited. I became a better kennel attendant and better at understanding behavior. Overall, I loved working with the dogs in the play area and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. If anything, I would say that working at Dog Den helped me improve my work ethic and helped me learn more about myself in ways I never considered until recently.
Shiya P. | Oxford Academy HS | Senior Summer 2021 | 180 Hours Completed
Hi! My name is Shiya Patel, and I was an intern at Dog Den this whole summer. Over the course of my internship, I was able to strengthen my communicative skills by talking to my manager, co-workers, and customers. The first thing that I learned here was that in a business customer service is everything. It is important to know how the customer feels about the service we are providing, since their opinion is what will help boost our business to the rest of the public. I was able to learn several new marketing strategies that could be helpful in the future if I ever choose to have my own business. Dog Den provided me with an environment where I could make mistakes and learn from them. I would say that this internship was a lot more work than I had anticipated from the beginning, but all these work experiences taught me different lessons that I will be able to carry with me wherever I go. I enjoyed being an intern here at Dog Den because it was a great excuse for me to be able to hang out with dogs all day, along with learning the ins and outs of how to maintain a business.
Katelyn R. | Yorba Linda HS | Sophomore Spring 2021 | 140 Hours Completed
"I applied for the spring internship program at Dog Den with the hopes of being exposed to a real-life work environment, and luckily, it was just that. Interning at Dog Den taught me valuable work skills for the future, such as time management, communication, and responsibility. I had a list of tasks needed to be done during every shift, including feeding the dogs, cleaning up after them, and making sure the workspace and play area were clean. Eventually you get used to how long things will take and start to manage and plan when you need to begin tasks. Working with other interns allowed me to understand how to collaborate with others and fully communicate to ensure work is getting done as smoothly as possible. Like real jobs, you must adapt to others’ work habits and learn to function in unison. I had to quickly understand the responsibility of having a job when it came to knowing your availability, contacting your supervisor when necessary, and remembering to come to shifts on time. Balancing schoolwork, my social life, and a job was not an easy task at first, but necessary for the future when you will have a real job and need to organize your time more. Of course, interning at Dog Den was not all work, for I also got to spend numerous hours playing and bonding with dogs of all sorts. If you are looking for a way to build and enhance better life and work skills for the future, I recommend apply for this internship and learning to see what it is like to truly be in a work environment."
Alicen Z.. | Canyon Hills HS | Senior | Winter 2021 | 145 Hours Completed
"Hello! My name is Alicen and I have been interning at Dog Den for the past three months. I can honestly say that it is a great way for any high schooler to gain job experience as well as volunteer hours. You not only get to hangout with dogs all the time (and who wouldn’t want to do that), but also you gain lots of skills that can be applied to any job in the future. Some of the activities we did with the dogs included giving them baths, brushing them out, playing with them, making sure everyone gets along, and more. We also got to do more things like working on the website, interacting with the customers, and becoming familiar with excel which I feel are great assets to have when looking for a job in the future. I felt that the number of hours per week was very manageable with all my schoolwork and extracurriculars. One of the things I appreciated most about the internship was that they were very flexible with hours because they understand that we are high schoolers who have test and finals we need to study for. Interning at Dog Den is also a great way to gain experience with animals and I would highly recommend this internship to any animal lover!
Raigan J. | Canyon Hills HS | Junior | Winter 2021 | 180 Hours Completed
"As an intern at Dog Den, you learn many things. Customer service, organization, and time management skills are just a few examples of what this internship has taught me. The management created a very relaxed environment that I felt comfortable learning in; part of that learning process, for me, was making mistakes, forgetting to do things, or simply doing things wrong. When these things inevitably happened, it was never a big deal. I was told to simply remember what I did and figure out how to improve for next time, something I truly appreciated. I would definitely recommend applying for this internship to other high school students, especially to those who don’t have much work experience. I think this is a great place to start in the “professional world,” and I never regretted applying, nor did I ever dread having to come into work. If anything, I was excited to see which dogs I would get to see every day!"
Lauren L. | Canyon Hills HS | Senior | Winter 2021 | 180 Hours Completed
Interning at Dog Den has been an incredible experience and provided me with a lot of knowledge that I could use later in life as a veterinarian. I had the opportunity to work with a lot of wonderful people and their dogs, as well as learn more about what goes into running a small business. I would highly recommend this internship for people who enjoy working with dogs and are seeking to work with animals or even having their own business in the future.