What should you ask when interviewing a kennel attendant?
Kennel attendants are hired on reliability, animal sense and cleaning rigor — three things a résumé alone can't prove.
These questions, grouped by what they screen for, are built to surface all three.
Ask about the things a kennel attendant's résumé can't tell you: whether the candidate will reliably show up for early feed times and weekend shifts, how they behave around frightened or aggressive animals, whether they clean and disinfect like infection control depends on it, and whether they report problems instead of hiding them.
No credential screens for this — the closest thing to one, NAVTA's Approved Veterinary Assistant designation, is voluntary and attests training, not temperament — so the questions you ask, and the notes you score them against, carry the load.
Before the interview
The job you're interviewing for is the one laid out in what a kennel attendant does: BLS describes kennel attendants as caring for pets, often overnight, in place of owners — cleaning cages and dog runs, feeding, exercising and playing with the animals — and facilities that operate 24 hours a day, such as kennels and shelters, may need that care around the clock, evenings, weekends and holidays included.
Then it all happens again tomorrow, whatever day of the week it is.
Our research found no state credential or exam that gates this role.
The closest thing to a credential in the assistant-and-kennel world is NAVTA's Approved Veterinary Assistant (AVA) designation: completing a NAVTA-approved veterinary assistant program makes a person eligible to sit for the AVA exam, and passing earns the designation.
It is voluntary, and it is not a state credential — treat it on a résumé as evidence of training, not of temperament.
Settle your pay answer before the candidate sits down — candidates ask early when you don't volunteer it.
Most listings already state it: on VeterinaryHires (October 6, 2026), 70.8% of kennel attendant listings stated pay (228 of 322), and kennel attendant listings had an employer median of $15.00 an hour across 65 employers.
You may also be bidding against boarding kennels and shelters, not just other clinics — the federal occupational series that covers this work, animal caretakers (SOC 39-2021), spans groomers and kennel and shelter attendants across all of those settings, with a May 2025 national median of $35,360 a year ($17.00 an hour).
Our guide to hiring a kennel attendant covers the pay decision end to end.
The duties themselves come from your posting, not from the room — if the schedule, the lifting and the bite-and-scratch reality aren't already explicit, fix that first with the kennel attendant job description, then interview against it.
An interview only works when you're both being honest about the same job.
One guardrail before you build the list.
The role is physical, so ask about ability, not about health: under the ADA, employers may ask about an applicant's ability to perform job-related functions, but may not ask whether the applicant has a disability, or about its nature or severity, before a job offer (42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(2)).
EEOC guidance also says you may not ask about job-related injuries or workers' compensation history before an offer, and the agency states employers are explicitly prohibited from making pre-offer inquiries about disability.
If you want a medical exam, the ADA allows requiring one only after an offer and before work starts, and only if all entering employees in the job category get it (42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(3)).
That restraint applies to everything else you're curious about, too.
EEOC's general rule is that pre-employment questions should be limited to what is essential for deciding whether a person is qualified — race, sex, national origin, age and religion are irrelevant to that decision — and the agency notes that even questions federal law doesn't expressly forbid can be used as evidence of intent to discriminate unless they're justified by a business purpose.
The rules reach small employers too: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the ADA's employment provisions cover employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year, and the ADEA covers employers with 20 or more, protecting individuals who are at least 40 years old.
Pregnancy is covered as well — the law requires a covered employer to reasonably accommodate a qualified applicant's or employee's known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions unless doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense.
Reliability and schedule questions
Animals here get fed, walked and turned out on a schedule every single day — weekends and holidays included. What does your availability actually look like, and is anything likely to change it this year?
What to listen for: You want a specific answer, not "fully flexible" — follow up on anything vague, because an availability that only works on paper is the first thing this role exposes.
Describe your weekend and holiday policy accurately while you're at it: under the FLSA, work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or regular days of rest does not require overtime pay unless the hours push the workweek over 40 — the federal rule only, since some states have daily overtime or premium rules of their own.
Any premium you pay for a holiday shift is yours to set — the federal rule doesn't require one.
Tell me about the longest you've held a job with early mornings, weekends, or physically hard work. What kept you there, and why did it end?
What to listen for: Listen for dates, durations and concrete reasons rather than adjectives — "I'm a hard worker" with no story behind it tells you nothing about whether they'll be in the run aisle at opening on a Sunday in February.
A short tenure with a real reason (a school schedule, a move, a better-fit job) isn't disqualifying; a story about walking out mid-shift is worth a follow-up.
What hours can you genuinely work this season — and is anything on your calendar likely to change them partway through?
What to listen for: Ask about availability, never about age — but if your strongest candidate turns out to be a high-school student, the schedule you build has to fit child labor law, not just the person.
Under federal rules, 14- and 15-year-olds in permitted non-hazardous jobs may work only outside school hours, no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week, and only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (extended to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day).
Sixteen- and 17-year-olds may work unlimited hours in any occupation not declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.
When federal and state child labor laws both apply, the stricter standard must be followed, and many states require work permits for minors even though federal law does not — state variations weren't researched for this page, so confirm your own state's rules before you publish the schedule.
After morning rounds, the kennels slow down — clean, fed, quiet until the next cycle. What would you actually be doing with that stretch?
What to listen for: There's payroll law hiding in this answer.
Under federal hours-worked rules, an employee who must wait as an integral part of the job is "engaged to wait," and that waiting time is work time — if you keep someone on the clock between feedings, it counts.
It counts toward overtime, too: non-exempt employees must receive overtime at not less than one and one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, and averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted.
A candidate pitching "30 hours this week, 50 next, same pay" is describing an arrangement the FLSA doesn't allow.
Animal handling questions
Tell me about the most difficult animal you've ever handled — terrified, in pain, or trying to bite. Walk me through exactly what you did.
What to listen for: You're listening for a specific, physical account — where they stood, what they watched for, what they'd do differently — not "I've always been good with animals."
The story doesn't need a clinic behind it; a shelter, boarding kennel, farm or rescue-volunteer story tells you the same thing about instinct.
If you want a scoring vocabulary, NAVTA's assistant skills list names what trained restraint is made of: placing and restraining animals on tables and the floor, applying safety muzzles and E-collars, and standing, sitting, lateral, sternal and dorsal restraint positions.
A candidate who describes any of that in their own words has handled animals under pressure; one who hasn't may simply never have been taught — trainable, as long as the instinct to slow down is there.
You open a run and the dog inside is pressed against the back wall, growling. It still has to go out. What are your first few minutes?
What to listen for: You want slowing down, reading the body, giving the dog space and an exit, and a clear line of "I'd get help before I'd force it."
The answer to worry about is dominance framing — "you have to show it who's boss" — because that's the instinct that produces forced handling and bites.
A candidate who escalates early isn't a weak candidate; knowing where their judgment ends and the experienced team's begins is exactly what you want in a kennel full of unfamiliar animals.
Have you ever been bitten or scratched by an animal you were caring for? What happened, and what did you do afterward?
What to listen for: If they have a story, listen for whether they reported it immediately, what they did next, and what they changed afterward — the honesty matters more than the scar.
If they don't, ask about close calls and what they did to avoid getting hurt; years of claimed animal work with no specifics either way is worth checking with a reference.
Be equally honest with yourself about how these injuries get treated: even California's workplace violence standard normally treats an attack on an employee by an aggressive animal at a veterinary clinic as a regular injury rather than workplace violence unless a person directed it, per Cal/OSHA, with qualifying injuries going on the 300 log like any other.
Whatever your state, the instinct you're hiring for is immediate reporting — not a debate about categories.
A dog you've walked all week won't eat this morning and seems off. You're the first to notice. What happens next?
What to listen for: The right shape is observation, documentation and escalation — who they tell, how specifically they describe what they saw, how fast.
What you don't want is a candidate with an opinion about what's medically wrong with the dog: diagnosing is not this role, and a hire who'd guess is a risk in any role.
Attendants who understand they're the early-warning system make your clinical team faster, not slower.
Have you come across low-stress or Fear Free handling? What would it change about how you work a kennel?
What to listen for: This is a live skill, not trivia.
Fear Free offers certification for groomers and trainers as well as veterinary professionals, and its Fear Free Shelter Program is free for shelter, rescue and animal welfare employees and volunteers — so a shelter-background candidate may already hold training a clinic-only résumé would never show.
If you're building low-stress protocols, ask what they know and what they'd want to learn; if you're not, their answer still shows whether they think about the animal's experience or just the task list.
Cleaning and safety questions
Walk me through cleaning a run after a dog that's had diarrhea across the floor and the walls. Every step, in order.
What to listen for: A strong answer is a sequence: gloves on, remove the organic material first, then detergent and disinfectant, then the contact time the product actually requires — and the mop or scoop doesn't travel between wards.
A vague "I'd clean it well" deserves suspicion, because in a kennel, cleaning is infection control.
You can train the products; you can't train whether someone thinks in steps.
What disinfectants and cleaning chemicals have you worked with, and what did you do to use them safely?
What to listen for: Listen for label-reading, gloves and ventilation — and recognize that the training duty is yours, not just the candidate's diligence: OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requires employers to give employees effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical hazard they haven't previously been trained about is introduced, with chemical-specific information available through labels and safety data sheets.
Whatever gaps this answer exposes, close them in onboarding rather than expecting the hire to arrive knowing your protocols.
While stripping a kennel you find a loose needle in the bedding and it scratches your hand. What happens in the next few minutes?
What to listen for: The answer you want is immediate — tell someone now, wash it, get it looked at — not "finish the run first."
Know your own paperwork before you make that promise: employers must record all work-related needlestick injuries and cuts from sharps contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material, without entering the employee's name on the log.
That automatic rule covers human blood; a sharp that has only been used on an animal is judged under the ordinary recordability criteria instead.
Either way, the instinct you're screening for is reporting — and your job is to make reporting feel safe from day one.
Two dogs in the same ward start coughing the same morning, and neither is on your list as sick. What do you do?
What to listen for: Isolation thinking and fast escalation: get the possibility in front of someone with clinical judgment, keep cleaning protocols tight between wards in the meantime, and write down what they saw.
In shared air, "wait and see" is a decision too.
A candidate who starts treating, or shrugs it off, is telling you how they'll handle the next ambiguous situation — which is to say, alone.
Red flags and scoring
None of these should end an interview on its own — each is worth a direct follow-up before you decide.
Score as you go, and write the number down before the next candidate walks in; memory flattens the differences by the time you're choosing.
- Availability that stays vague under a direct follow-up — "I'm pretty flexible" with nothing concrete behind it. This job runs on weekends and holidays; an availability that only works on paper is the first thing this role exposes.
- A "never had an incident" story with no texture, or one that blames the animal entirely. What you're screening for is specifics — an incident or a close call, told with what happened and a lesson attached.
- Dominance framing — "you have to show them who's boss," "never let them win." It reads as confidence in the room and produces forced handling in the kennel — the opposite of the slow-down instinct you're screening for.
- Cleaning treated as the boring part of an animal-loving job — "I'd mostly be with the animals." In this role, cleaning is the job; a candidate who doesn't take it seriously will do it badly within the month.
- Improvisation instincts on the care questions — a plan for the coughing dog instead of an escalation. Helpful is the wrong instinct here; the hire you want moves decisions up to the clinical team, not down into themselves.
After the interview
Score before you decide.
OPM defines a structured interview as one where all candidates are asked the same questions in the same order, evaluated on a common rating scale, and judged by interviewers who agreed in advance on acceptable answers — and its research summary is blunt: unstructured interviews have little value in predicting job performance, with low reliability and low-to-moderate validity, while structured interviews have demonstrated a high degree of reliability, validity and legal defensibility.
Interviews used to make employment decisions are subject to the same legal and psychometric requirements as any written employment test, and a structured interview typically assesses four to six competencies.
Four to six is a workable ceiling for this hire, too.
Pick four — reliability, animal handling, cleaning rigor, judgment — score every candidate against the same four, and keep the completed sheets with your hiring records: EEOC regulations (29 CFR 1602.14) require covered employers to keep personnel and employment records, including application forms and other hiring records, for one year from the date the record was made or the personnel action taken, whichever is later.
Interview scorecards give you the template end to end.
Check the résumé's animal claims against a person who watched the work.
Ask a previous supervisor the same questions you asked the candidate — what their attendance was actually like, how they handled a difficult animal — and listen for the same specificity.
If a candidate lists the AVA designation, confirm it: completing a NAVTA-approved veterinary assistant program is what makes a person eligible to sit for the exam, so "AVA" on a résumé should mean someone passed it — and it verifies training, not temperament and not legal scope.
If you run criminal background checks, the EEOC's 2012 guidance (No. 915.002) says an arrest alone does not establish that criminal conduct occurred, and excluding someone based only on an arrest is not job related and consistent with business necessity; convictions get weighed against the Green factors — the nature and gravity of the offense, the time elapsed, and the nature of the job held or sought.
And one bar applies exactly where it's written: a DEA registrant may not employ, in a role with access to controlled substances, anyone convicted of a felony relating to controlled substances, or anyone whose DEA registration application was denied, whose registration was revoked, or who surrendered a registration for cause (21 CFR 1301.76(a)).
If your kennel attendants hold keys to the drug locker, that rule reaches this hire — and if they don't need that access, keep it that way.
The Kennel Attendant Hiring Market Right Now
The kennel attendant openings you are competing with, from the 318 active listings on VeterinaryHires as of October 22, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Where the openings are
Pay employers post
- Median $15 an hour; the middle half of posted pay runs $13.50–$16 (83 listings that state an hourly rate)
- 26% of kennel attendant listings state any pay at all, so posting a range helps yours stand out.
Benefits listings name
- Pet Care Discountnamed in 70%
- Health Insurancenamed in 51%
- Dental & Visionnamed in 50%
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 34%
- 401k Matchnamed in 12%
Source: active kennel attendant listings on VeterinaryHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range). Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
See the listings →Ready to interview kennel attendant candidates?
Post your kennel attendant opening, or go back to the full guide to hiring a kennel attendant for pay, screening and onboarding.