PetSmart Jobs in the USA: Working With Animals for Retail Wages -

PetSmart jobs are great if you love animals and want to work with them. Maybe you need a job, and they’re hiring. Maybe you’re hoping to turn your passion for pets into a paycheck. Let me give you the real picture of what working at PetSmart actually involves—the genuine joy of working with animals, but also the retail wages, the cleaning, and the reality that loving pets doesn’t automatically make this job fulfilling.

What PetSmart Actually Is

PetSmart is one of the biggest pet retail chains in the US—over 1,600 stores selling pet supplies, food, toys, plus services like grooming, training, boarding, and veterinary care in some locations. If you’ve got a pet, you’ve probably been to PetSmart.

Working at PetSmart jobs means you’re in retail, but retail with living animals. That makes it different from selling clothes or electronics. The animals need care regardless of whether customers are in the store. Habitats need cleaning. Fish tanks need maintenance. Animals get sick. And you’re responsible for their welfare while also being expected to hit sales targets and provide customer service.

It’s retail work with an added layer of responsibility and emotional investment that not everyone anticipates.

The Different Jobs and What They Really Involve

Pet Care Associate / Pet Care Specialist

This is entry-level work caring for the animals PetSmart sells—fish, reptiles, birds, small mammals like hamsters and guinea pigs. You’re feeding them, cleaning their habitats, monitoring their health, and helping customers who want to buy them.

The reality? You’re cleaning a lot. Fish tanks need regular maintenance—water changes, filter cleaning, and removing dead fish (yes, fish die regularly in retail). Small animal cages need to be cleaned daily. Birds need fresh food and water. It’s physically active work that involves getting wet, dealing with animal waste, and being on your feet for hours.

You’re also the person customers ask about pet care, which means you need to actually know about these animals. PetSmart provides some training, but if you don’t genuinely understand reptile care or fish compatibility, you’ll struggle to help customers effectively.

Pay typically starts around $12-15 per hour, depending on location. For the physical demands and responsibility involved, that’s not much. But if you genuinely love animals and want hands-on experience caring for different species, it’s one way to get it.

The emotional challenge nobody mentions: animals die. Fish die constantly. Small mammals get sick. Reptiles sometimes arrive from distributors in poor condition. You’ll bond with animals, and then they’ll be sold, or they’ll die, and you just have to keep going. If you’re sensitive about animals suffering or dying, this will wear on you.

Sales Associate / Customer Engagement Associate

You’re helping customers find products, answering questions about pet supplies, running the register, stocking shelves, and cleaning up spills. It’s standard retail work that happens to be in a pet store.

The animals make it more interesting than selling phones or clothing, but you’re still in retail, dealing with all the retail frustrations—customers who want discounts you can’t give, people returning half-used bags of food, dealing with messes (pets shopping with their owners sometimes have accidents), working weekends and holidays.

Pay is similar to pet care roles, around $12-15 per hour starting. You’re not getting rich, but it’s accessible work that doesn’t require prior experience or special skills.

The challenge is that PetSmart jobs, like all retailers, has sales expectations. You’re supposed to recommend products, upsell services like grooming or training, and push their loyalty program. Some people don’t mind sales work. Others find it uncomfortable, especially when you’re supposed to sell things you’re not sure the customer actually needs.

Grooming Salon: Bather and Pet Stylist

The grooming salon is where PetSmart makes serious money, and it’s a different world from the rest of the store.

🔥 ALSO READ • Electrician Trade Schools in the USA

Starting as a bather, you’re bathing dogs and cats—getting them wet, shampooing, drying, basic brushing. It’s physically demanding work. You’re lifting dogs onto tables, restraining animals who don’t want baths, getting soaked, dealing with shedding fur everywhere.

Pay for bathers starts around $12-14 per hour. It’s not great money for physically taxing work that leaves you wet and covered in pet hair daily.

But bathers who stick with it can move into the grooming academy—PetSmart’s training program for becoming a pet stylist (groomer). This training is a mixed blessing. It’s free training that teaches you a skill, which is valuable. But you’re committing to working for PetSmart for a period afterward, and during training your pay doesn’t jump significantly.

Once you’re a certified stylist, you can make better money—potentially $15-20+ per hour depending on location, plus commission on grooming services. Experienced groomers at busy locations can make $35,000-$45,000+ annually if they’re fast and good.

But grooming is hard work. You’re on your feet all day, handling anxious or aggressive dogs, working with sharp tools around wiggling animals, and dealing with matted coats and neglected pets. Some dogs bite. Some panic and hurt themselves trying to escape. It’s stressful, physically demanding work that requires real skill.

And you’re dealing with pet owners who have unrealistic expectations. They want their matted, never-brushed dog to look like a show dog, and they blame you when that’s not possible. Also, they drop off aggressive dogs without warning you. They pick up their freshly groomed pet and criticize your work.

If you can handle all of that and genuinely enjoy grooming, it’s a skill that can turn into a decent income, either at PetSmart or eventually working independently. But it’s not easy money, and a lot of people burn out.

PetsHotel / Boarding and Daycare

This is caring for pets who are boarding overnight or attending daycare while their owners work or travel. You’re feeding them, walking dogs, cleaning kennels, monitoring their behavior, administering medications if needed, and giving them attention.

The work is physically demanding—lifting dogs, cleaning up waste constantly, being on your feet for hours. You’re working in an environment that’s often loud (dogs barking) and smells like animals no matter how much you clean.

Pay is typically around $12-15 per hour. The schedule includes evenings, weekends, and holidays because pets need care 24/7. You’ll work Christmas Eve taking care of other people’s pets while they’re celebrating with family.

The upside is if you love dogs especially, you’re spending all day with them. Some people find that genuinely fulfilling. The downside is you’re basically a kennel attendant making retail wages for physically and emotionally demanding work.

Pet Trainer

PetSmart offers training classes—puppy kindergarten, basic obedience, advanced training. Trainers lead these classes, work with pet owners, and help solve behavior problems.

To become a trainer, you go through PetSmart’s certification program. You need to understand dog behavior, training methodology, safety, and how to work with both dogs and their owners effectively.

Pay for trainers is typically $14-18 per hour, depending on experience and location. It’s better than basic retail work, but you’re also taking on more responsibility and need more skills.

The job can be rewarding if you enjoy teaching and working with dogs. You’re helping people build better relationships with their pets, solving problems, and seeing progress. But you’re also dealing with challenging dogs, owners who don’t follow through with training at home, and the pressure of running classes that keep people coming back.

Store Management and Corporate Roles

Store managers and assistant managers at PetSmart can make $44,000-$93,000+ per year, depending on store size and location. But getting there typically requires years working your way up through retail positions—associate to team lead to assistant manager to store manager.

Corporate roles (HR, marketing, operations, IT) exist at PetSmart’s headquarters, but these aren’t the jobs most people are applying for when they walk into a store. Getting corporate positions usually requires relevant professional experience and applying through their corporate careers site, not working your way up from the retail floor.

🔥 ALSO READ • Surgical Tech Jobs in the USA

The Pay Reality: What You’ll Actually Make

Let’s be honest about money because that matters.

Entry-level retail and pet care positions start around $12-15 per hour in most markets. That’s $24,000-$31,000 annually if you’re full-time. After taxes, you’re taking home maybe $20,000-$25,000.

That’s not a living wage in most US cities. You’re probably working a second job, living with roommates or family, or struggling to make ends meet on that income alone.

Experienced groomers, trainers, or team leads might make $30,000-$40,000 annually. Store managers can make $50,000-$90,000+ depending on location and store volume. But getting to management takes years, and most people working at PetSmart are not managers.

The benefits vary based on whether you’re full-time or part-time. Full-time employees get health insurance, 401(k), paid time off, and employee discounts on pet products. Part-time employees get minimal benefits beyond the employee discount.

If you’re taking this job because you need income, be realistic about what $13/hour actually covers. If you’re taking it because you love animals and want experience, understand you’re essentially volunteering your passion in exchange for retail wages.

The Schedule: Retail Hours With Animals

Retail means working when stores are open, which includes evenings, weekends, and holidays. PetSmart is open seven days a week. Animals need care even on Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Expect to work weekends regularly, especially if you’re part-time or new. Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days—families shopping for pets and supplies, people bringing dogs to grooming appointments, and training classes happening.

You’ll work closing shifts that run until 9 or 10 pm when the store closes, then additional time cleaning and closing duties. You’ll work opening shifts starting at 7 or 8 am to care for animals and prep the store before customers arrive.

For PetsHotel staff, hours are even more irregular because animals need care around the clock. Early morning feeding shifts, late evening walking and care, holiday coverage—it’s all part of the job.

The schedule makes it hard to have a consistent social life or maintain other commitments. When your friends are off on Saturday, you’re working. When everyone’s celebrating holidays with family, you’re at PetSmart taking care of other people’s pets.

What Nobody Tells You About PetSmart Jobs: The Hard Parts

Animals Get Sick and Die

You’ll deal with sick fish, stressed reptiles, and small mammals with respiratory infections. Some will die despite your best efforts. Others arrive from distributors already in poor condition. You’re expected to care for them professionally, dispose of bodies, and move on with your day.

If you’re emotionally attached to animals, watching them suffer or die repeatedly is genuinely difficult. Some people develop emotional callouses. Others carry the sadness home with them.

Customer Complaints About Pet Care

Customers blame you when their goldfish dies three days after they bought it, even though they didn’t cycle their tank or follow any care advice. They get angry when you won’t sell them a pet because their setup isn’t appropriate. They think you’re being difficult when you explain they can’t keep that reptile in a too-small tank.

You’re often the messenger for policies or care standards that customers don’t want to hear. And you’re making $13/hour to stand there and take their frustration.

The Physical Toll

This work is hard on your body. You’re lifting heavy bags of dog food, bending down constantly to clean habitats, standing for 8-hour shifts, getting wet in the grooming salon, and dealing with animal scratches and bites.

Your back hurts. Also, your feet may hurt. Your hands get chewed up from handling animals. You go home smelling like animals, no matter how much you wash. It’s not office work, and the physical demands are real.

The Emotional Labor

Working with animals means managing your emotions constantly. You can’t show frustration when a dog nips you during grooming. Also, you can’t cry when a favorite fish dies. You have to be patient with customers who know nothing about pet care but think they’re experts.

🔥 ALSO READ • Low-Cost Health Insurance in the USA: Your Options When You Can't Afford Full Price

You’re performing emotional labor—projecting enthusiasm and care and helpfulness—even when you’re tired, frustrated, or sad. That’s exhausting in ways that aren’t always obvious until you’re living it.

Career Growth for PetSmart Jobs: What’s Actually Possible

PetSmart jobs provide growth opportunities, and they promote from within. But let’s be realistic about timelines.

Going from pet care associate to team lead might take 1-3 years if you’re good and a position opens up. The team lead to assistant manager is another 2-4 years. Assistant manager to store manager is another few years. You’re looking at 5-10 years minimum to reach store manager from entry-level, and that’s if everything goes well and positions open up in your location.

Some people make that climb successfully. Others stay stuck at associate or team lead level for years because management positions don’t turn over frequently or they don’t want the increased responsibility for the modest pay increase.

The grooming path is more straightforward—bather to apprentice to stylist is a defined program. But becoming a really skilled groomer takes years of experience beyond just certification.

If you’re hoping PetSmart is a stepping stone to veterinary work or animal care careers, understand that it provides some experience but won’t replace formal education or training for those fields.

Who Should Actually Work PetSmart Jobs

Take PetSmart jobs if:

You genuinely love animals and want hands-on experience with multiple species
You need accessible entry-level work that’s hiring now
You’re okay with retail wages for the benefit of working with pets
You can handle the physical demands and emotional challenges
You’re interested in grooming and want free training in exchange for a work commitment
You want a part-time job while in school or transitioning to something else

Look elsewhere if:

You need to make a living wage immediately (this won’t cut it alone)
You’re sensitive about animals suffering or dying (you’ll see it regularly)
You hate retail and customer service (this is still retail despite the animals)
You can’t handle the physical demands (lifting, standing, getting dirty)
You need a predictable schedule with weekends off
You’re hoping for quick career advancement (progression is slow)

Conclusion

PetSmart jobs give a mixed experience. If you love animals, there’s genuine satisfaction in caring for them, helping customers with their pets, and being around dogs and cats all day. The animals make it more meaningful than typical retail work.

But you’re still in retail, making retail wages, dealing with retail schedules and customer frustrations. The animals don’t change the fact that you’re working weekends for $13/hour and going home exhausted and smelling like fish tank water.

For young people, students, or those transitioning careers, PetSmart jobs are a reasonable entry-level job, especially if you’re exploring whether animal care is really for you. For people needing full-time career income, it’s hard to make it work long-term unless you move into management or grooming and can eventually work independently.

Go into PetSmart jobs with realistic expectations. The animals are great. The pay and conditions are typical retail, which means not great. If that trade-off works for you, PetSmart can be a decent place to work. Just don’t expect your love of animals to fully compensate for the reality of retail employment.