What does a pet care associate do?
Pet care associates, though holding a small position, will find its scope much larger than one would initially expect. This position requires an individual with gentleness, patience, confidence, carefulness, diligence, and a hard-working attitude. Paying out at around $33K per year, those who choose this career will be required to help customers with questions and issues related to small mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds.
Pet care associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real pet care associate resumes:
- Achieve detailed grooming including skin, ear, nail care, coat clips and dental care.
- Prepare foods for various animals to include reptiles, snakes, hamsters, and birds etc.
- Communicate with customers about events/concerns in which include their pet.
- Assist patients in meeting their personal care needs and provide individualized interventions while encouraging patient involvement and promoting independence.
- Used touch point and SMS and can quickly adapt to other computer software's.
Pet care associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 55% of Pet Care Associates are proficient in PET, Customer Service, and Sales Floor. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Pet Care Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 55%
Cleaned and maintained pet habitats under general supervision.
- Customer Service, 21%
General pet care and customer service, family business, multiple references and customer referrals available upon request
- Sales Floor, 4%
Provide pet parents with quick and reliable feedback when asked either in a class setting or on the sales floor.
- Quality Care, 3%
Work closely with other team members to ensure the animals receive quality care.
- Administer Medications, 2%
Clean live animals' habitats, provide special care, administer medications, and conduct health checks on live animals.
- Fish Tanks, 2%
Maintained assigned fish tanks in Specialty/Aquatics division.
"pet," "customer service," and "sales floor" are among the most common skills that pet care associates use at work. You can find even more pet care associate responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a pet care associate to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what pet care associates do because "animal care and service workers should understand pet owners’ needs so they can provide excellent customer service." Additionally, a pet care associate resume shows how pet care associates use customer-service skills: "feed and make sure guests have clean water. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform pet care associate duties is detail oriented. Pet care associates responsibilities require that "animal care and service workers are often responsible for maintaining records and monitoring changes in animals’ behavior." Pet care associates also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "pet care associates must have an eye for detail and a passion for caring for fish, reptiles, and birds. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of pet care associates is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday pet care associate duties, as "animal trainers must be able to assess whether animals are responding to teaching methods and to identify which methods are successful." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "handle daily transactions for pet parents, including assistance and solutions for customers * daily maintenance and care for animals"
Reliability. pet care associate responsibilities often require "reliability." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "animal care and service workers need to care for animals on schedule and in a timely manner." This resume example shows what pet care associates do with reliability on a typical day: "cited for excellence in interpersonal communications, teamwork, customer service, flexibility and reliability. "
Compassion. Another crucial skill for a pet care associate to carry out their responsibilities is "compassion." A big part of what pet care associates relies on this skill, since "animal care and service workers must be compassionate when dealing with animals and their owners." How this skill relates to pet care associate duties can be seen in an example from a pet care associate resume snippet: "provided compassionate and enthusiastic customer service routine daily husbandry of animals treated and administered medication under veterinary instruction"
Patience. Another skill commonly found on pet care associate job descriptions is "patience." It can come up quite often in pet care associate duties, since "all animal caretakers and animal trainers need to be patient when working with animals." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day pet care associate responsibilities: "practice patience, compassion and empathy in all interactions with residents. "
The three companies that hire the most pet care associates are:
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Compare different pet care associates
Pet care associate vs. Dog groomer
A dog walker provides dog walking services to pet owners at scheduled times, ensuring their safety. They first meet with pet owners to discuss their preferred schedule and use this opportunity to learn more about the dog and understand its needs. There are instances where a dog walker may walk multiple dogs, consider weather conditions, pick-up and dispose of waste properly, and feed dogs with water or food. Moreover, a dog walker regularly updates pet owners with the duration or location of walks, including the dog's behavior.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a pet care associate are more likely to require skills like "quality care," "quality customer service," "administer medications," and "fish tanks." On the other hand, a job as a dog groomer requires skills like "scheduling appointments," "coats," "animal handling," and "front desk." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, dog groomers reach similar levels of education than pet care associates. Dog groomers are 0.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Pet care associate vs. Dog walker
A dog sitter is primarily responsible for taking care of dogs while their owners are away. Their tasks include feeding dogs, taking them to walks or daycares, bathing or cleaning their ears, and providing owners with regular updates. Most dog sitters typically meet with clients beforehand to learn about the dogs and their needs, as some of them may require medicine or particular care. Should there be any problems, a dog sitter must report to the owners right away.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that pet care associate responsibilities requires skills like "sales floor," "quality care," "quality customer service," and "fish tanks." But a dog walker might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "walkers," "cpr," "good communication," and "clients homes."
On average, dog walkers earn a lower salary than pet care associates. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, dog walkers earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $30,722. Whereas pet care associates have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $32,765.dog walkers earn similar levels of education than pet care associates in general. They're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pet care associate vs. Animal shelter worker
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, pet care associates are more likely to have skills like "pet," "customer service," "sales floor," and "quality care." But a animal shelter worker is more likely to have skills like "crisis intervention," "mental health," "direct care," and "emergency shelter."
Animal shelter workers typically earn similar educational levels compared to pet care associates. Specifically, they're 3.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pet care associate vs. Dog sitter
Types of pet care associate
Updated January 8, 2025
