Bonding At The Ball: East students at the doggy daycare On The Ball bond through their jobs

The boarding room is lively. An alt-pop station plays in the background as East senior Lydia Goodrich sits inside of pitbull Olivia’s kennel — she doesn’t like other dogs — and Rocca makes fun of Adele, a small frenchie, who’s breathing is as loud as an AC unit. 

“I can’t hear you over the sound of me having an asthma attack,” Goodrich said, imitating Adele.

Seven East students who work at the doggy day care On The Ball, located at 3909 Prairie Ln in the Village Shops, have gotten closer in their time working together, using the dogs as a way to bond and make friendships — whether that be through a common like or dislike of certain dogs or tasks that they’re assigned.

“I think it’s kind of funny that the way that I started bonding with them is when you’re picking up dog poop,” sophomore Lauren McGuire said. “Everyone understands and has everyone’s back.”

Senior Lydia Goodrich agrees, and on staff bonding over a common hate, like scooping poop (or something like that), can be the ignition of a friendship.

McGuire has worked at On The Ball for just over two months, and has learned the ins-and-outs of taking care of dogs. Everything from learning how to stop a dog fight to playing with the puppies is taught from day one.

Dog fights can happen, like on junior Emily Rocca’s first week at her new job, a doggy daycare, when a dog-aggressive dog latched onto another dog’s neck. This particular instance, the fight ended up with a few of her coworkers needing stitches. Since it was her first week, she wasn’t actively looking for the telling factors of an aggressive dog: ears back, whites of their eyes.

“It depends on you as the person who’s watching them, how you present yourself, because dogs can sense your energy,” Rocca said. “And if you’re in a crabby mood, then they will reflect that. And that’s when a fight is more likely to happen.”

Because of the importance of positive energy in the workplace, the staff has come up with helpful traditions to keep up the good work and energy. One of which is a compliment board in the break room, littered with little notes that the staff write to each other.

“We wanted to find some way to spread more positivity, because sometimes it can be mentally draining here,” Rocca said. “[It helps] people get noticed for their hard work. And just make sure everyone is enjoying themselves.”

That feeling of being mentally drained can happen to the workers at On The Ball, but according to junior Blake Joplin, just knowing that you’re going to see dogs like Bella and some favorite people is a good enough method of staying positive.

“I feel like because there are so many [East students], it doesn’t necessarily feel like a job,” Joplin said. “It feels more like an activity or a club. It feels like a second family to work [here].”

The job invites openness among the staff, the ability to say things that you maybe wouldn’t tell other friends, according to Joplin. The dogs provide that window to do so, and give everyone there a common interest.

Senior Evelyn Zukaitis uses a similar method of positive thinking, through remembering the good days and forgetting about the bad. 

“It’s just my job to take care of them and try to stay positive and be in the right mindset,” Zukaitis said. “I don’t really get drained that often, but I do get beat up by the dogs a little.”

Lots of the students working there have their phones filled to the brim with pictures of dogs and funny videos of coworkers that can range from someone breaking a shelf to trying kickflips in the playroom, a testament to the job’s environment.

“​​They’re like a second family to me,” Rocca said. “But that’s what’s really nice about having as a small business is you get to be close with almost everyone. We just get along, like friends hanging out.”