Professional Animal Care Specialist and Dog Handler
Location: Irthlingborough and surrounding areas
Starting rate: £12.71 per hour
Guaranteed work: Minimum payment equivalent to 30 hours per week
Contract: Initially offered on a self-employed contractor basis
Vehicle: Company van provided to take home, with all work-related fuel paid
Schedule: Primarily Monday to Friday, with varied working times based on client bookings
Build a professional career in animal care
Paragon Pet Care is looking for an experienced, dependable and adaptable animal-care professional to join our growing team.
This is a varied, hands-on role combining professional dog handling, multi-species pet care, animal-welfare monitoring and the management of clients’ homes while they are away.
Our work extends far beyond ordinary dog walking. Depending on our bookings, you may care for dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, poultry, parrots and other birds, reptiles, fish and a wide range of companion and exotic animals.
You will be trusted with animals, clients’ homes, a company vehicle and important welfare decisions. We therefore need someone who can remain calm under pressure, think critically and resolve unexpected situations safely without needing constant supervision.
In return, we offer guaranteed weekly pay, structured increases, a company van, paid fuel, professional equipment, veterinarian-led first-aid training and genuine opportunities to develop within the animal-care industry.
Guaranteed pay and progression
You will receive a guaranteed minimum weekly payment equivalent to 30 hours at your applicable hourly rate.
This payment remains guaranteed even when the number of available client assignments temporarily falls below 30 hours, subject to the terms of the contractor agreement and the required availability being provided.
Our structured pay progression is:
- Starting rate: £12.71 per hour
- After six months: £13 per hour, plus veterinarian-led Canine Emergency First Aid CPD
- After 12 months: £13.20 per hour, plus eligibility for an annual bonus
- After 24 months: £13.80 per hour
- After 36 months: £15 per hour
- Beyond 36 months: Opportunity to progress to £16 per hour and undertake an agreed professional development pathway towards an appropriate animal behaviour or training qualification
Progression is subject to continued satisfactory performance, completion of required competencies and fulfilment of the terms of the contractor agreement.
Consistently high-performing team members may also receive a performance reward of up to £150 per month, based on agreed standards including reliability, quality of care, communication, professional development and overall performance.
Additional paid assignments
There are opportunities to earn additional income through:
- Overnight pet and house sitting
- Evening daycare and pet-care assignments
- Weekend bookings
- Busy-period and holiday cover
- Additional animal-care assignments
Overnight stays are paid at a separate fixed fee determined by the requirements of the assignment.
Evening and weekend work is normally paid at the applicable standard rate, with occasional enhanced rates for particular assignments or high-demand periods.
The ideal candidate will be able to offer some flexibility for evening, weekend and overnight work, although these duties will vary according to bookings and will not necessarily be required every week.
What you will be doing
Your responsibilities will include:
- Conducting private dog walks for individual households
- Progressing to structured group dog walks once fully trained and assessed
- Safely handling strong, excitable, nervous, fearful or reactive dogs
- Transporting dogs safely in a company vehicle
- Visiting clients’ homes to care for a wide variety of species
- Following detailed feeding, medication, habitat and care instructions
- Monitoring animals for changes in their health, behaviour and welfare
- Identifying information that is missing, contradictory or potentially unsafe
- Making appropriate decisions when unexpected situations arise
- Providing clients with professional written updates, photographs and videos
- Maintaining the security and cleanliness of clients’ homes
- Supporting evening daycare duties where required
- Providing overnight pet and house sitting where agreed
- Assisting with occasional weekend bookings
- Supporting animal behaviour and training work where appropriate
- Completing ongoing practical and online learning
The person we are looking for
This role suits someone who wants responsibility and a genuine career in professional animal care.
You should be able to:
- Remain calm and focused under time pressure
- Think critically and solve practical problems safely
- Notice small details before they become larger problems
- Recognise when information is missing, unclear or potentially unsafe
- Make responsible decisions without constant supervision
- Know when to act independently and when to seek support
- Adapt calmly when schedules, routes or circumstances change
- Manage several appointments while remaining punctual and thorough
- Follow detailed procedures accurately
- Communicate promptly and professionally
- Report mistakes, incidents and welfare concerns immediately
- Take responsibility for the quality of your work
- Accept feedback and apply it constructively
- Work independently without requiring constant reassurance
- Remain committed to learning and professional improvement
- Maintain high standards even when nobody is directly supervising you
Honesty is essential.
Essential requirements
Applicants must:
- Live within approximately 10 miles of Irthlingborough
- Be aged 23 or over due to company vehicle insurance requirements
- Hold a full UK manual driving licence
- Have professional or substantial practical animal-care experience
- Be available at varied times from Monday to Friday
- Be able to provide the agreed availability for 30 hours of work each week
- Be confident working alone for most of the day
- Be comfortable working outdoors throughout the year
- Be able to manage physically active work
- Be comfortable using a mobile phone and digital systems throughout the day
- Be willing to care for and learn about a wide range of species
- Participate fully in the company’s training and competency programme
- Complete assigned learning and assessments within the required timeframes
Applicants who can also offer occasional evening, weekend and overnight availability will be strongly preferred.
Please do not apply if you do not meet the location, driving or animal-care experience requirements.
Training and professional development
This is a training-led role with significant opportunities to develop professional animal-care knowledge.
Successful candidates must enrol in the Paragon Pet Care learning system and participate in our structured training and competency programme.
Training may cover:
- Canine Emergency First Aid delivered by our veterinarian
- Dog behaviour and body language
- Safe handling of strong, nervous and reactive dogs
- Structured group-walking techniques
- Safe loading, unloading and animal transport
- Multi-species husbandry and welfare
- Reptile and exotic-animal care
- Avian and poultry care
- Rabbit and small-animal care
- Feeding and medication procedures
- Recognising changes in health, behaviour and welfare
- Client communication and professional reporting
- Property access and home-security procedures
- Incident management and emergency decision-making
- Practical shadowing and supervised assignments
- Written work and knowledge assessments
- Regular performance and competency reviews
Responsibilities are introduced gradually. You will begin with suitable visits, private walks and supported assignments before progressing to group walks or more challenging cases.
Progression is based on demonstrated safety, knowledge, judgment, reliability and practical competence.
Company vehicle, equipment and workwear
A company van will be provided for you to take home.
The van is not provided for general personal use.
Paragon Pet Care will pay for all authorised work-related fuel and provide the equipment and materials needed to complete your assignments.
Additional benefits
The role includes:
- Guaranteed minimum weekly pay equivalent to 30 hours
- Structured increases up to £16 per hour
- Potential monthly performance rewards of up to £150
- Eligibility for an annual bonus after 12 months
- Opportunities for additional paid assignments
- A company van to take home
- All authorised work-related fuel paid
- Professional animal-care equipment and materials
- Branded contractor workwear
- Veterinarian-led first-aid training
- Access to our online learning platform
- Practical handling and behaviour training
- Multi-species professional development
- Ongoing coaching and competency development
- Potential progression into behaviour, training or care-leadership work
- Potential future opportunity to move into an employed position
- Up to £400 towards a new mobile phone after two years of qualifying service
The realities of the role
Animal care is rewarding, but it is not always easy or predictable.
You will work outdoors in rain, wind, heat, mud and cold weather. Dogs may pull, jump, mouth, scratch, bark or require washing and cleaning. Some animals may be fearful, reactive or have a history of challenging behaviour.
Most days involve working independently. You will spend considerable time driving, walking, managing appointments and resolving problems on your own.
Schedules can change. Clients sometimes provide incomplete information. Animals do not always behave as expected. You must be able to adjust your approach while protecting the animal, yourself, the public and the client’s property.
Your mobile phone will be an essential work tool. You will use it to:
- Access schedules and care instructions
- Record completed work
- Take photographs and videos
- Send client updates
- Communicate with the team
- Report concerns and incidents
- Access company systems and training
This role will suit someone who enjoys responsibility, independence, variety and continued learning.
It will not suit someone looking for an easy, quiet or entirely predictable job with animals.
Contract and future opportunities
The position is initially offered on a self-employed contractor basis.
An employed position may become available to the right candidate based on their performance, reliability, competence, availability, long-term suitability and the future requirements of the business.
Full details of the working arrangement, guaranteed payment, availability requirements, additional assignments and performance standards will be provided before the contractor agreement is entered into.
About Paragon Pet Care
Paragon Pet Care provides professional home-based animal care across the local area.
Our standards are built around:
- Excellent animal welfare
- Skilled and knowledgeable handling
- Dependable and consistent service
- Honest and prompt communication
- Respect for clients and their homes
- Critical thinking and responsible decision-making
- Continued professional learning
- Attention to detail
- Taking responsibility when something goes wrong
Every team member directly affects the safety of the animals in our care and the reputation we have built with our clients.
We are looking for someone who wants to contribute to those standards and develop a genuine career in professional animal care.
How to apply
Please submit your CV and complete the application form on the Careers page of the Paragon Pet Care website.
Indeed applicants must also apply through our website. Applications that do not complete this step may not be considered.
Pay: Up to £16.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: On the road
