Updated:
28.7.2026
When the carpet got so bad that even the dogs were giving it the side-eye, Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust knew something had to change.
No two days are the same at Dogwatch. On any given morning at their five-acre site in Bromley, Christchurch, there are volunteers on shift, dogs in the building, and unexpected visitors coming through the door.
The carpeted reception area sits at the heart of it all. It’s the first thing a potential adopter sees when they walk through the door, and where the dogs get to do what they do best. Every dog gets a rotation through the space throughout the day so no one misses out, and as Bridget, Dogwatch’s GM, will tell you, there are no favourites here.
“There’s no better way to get our dogs adopted than to be hanging in the office to meet the people,” she says.
But for that to work, the space needed to be somewhere you’d actually want to spend time, and for a while, it wasn’t.
Dogwatch has been running since 1982, entirely on donations, fundraising, and around 120 volunteers who show up because they want to. Every dollar spent on maintenance is a dollar that doesn’t go toward feeding, housing or rehoming a dog.
“We are fortunate to have a big family of Dogwatch supporters,” Bridget says. “When we need help with something, we ask and our people usually deliver.”
What they didn’t expect was for the tradies who responded to their Builderscrack job post to offer to do it for free.
Meg gives the old reception floor her honest opinion | Photo: Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust
The carpet had a problem. If you know dogs, you can guess…
“Not sure how much you know about dogs, but when one pees on the carpet, the rest will follow. Our carpet got very manky and we don’t ever want to stop having our dogs by our side while we work. It became urgent,” says Bridget.
The carpet in the reception portacom and office had simply had its day. Before anyone had organised a tradie, a volunteer had already lifted the carpet squares.
“We’re a large family who all pitch in whenever needed,” Bridget says.
Left: the reception portacom with carpet lifted. Right: the office with carpet removed from the concrete floor | Photo: Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust
Enter Builderscrack
With bare floors in both spaces, Volunteer and Events Manager, Patria, posted the job on Builderscrack. Two spaces needed vinyl: the reception portacom with carpet already lifted, and an office where the carpet had been pulled up from a concrete floor.
Marc from Precision Building Solutions responded the same day.
Marc McCavitt, Precision Building Solutions | Photo: Marc McCavitt
“That kind of drew me to it”
Marc had worked at Dogwatch before. He’d seen the volunteers, watched the care that went into dogs that had come from difficult situations.
When the Dogwatch job came through on Builderscrack, his mind was already made up.
“Back then I saw what they do, the effort they put into the dogs, some of those dogs haven’t had the best upbringing, and just seeing the volunteers put their own time into the place. That kind of drew me to it.”
Marc grew up with rescue dogs. “We were raised with dogs that came from bad homes, so yeah, it hit close to home.”
He decided to donate his labour before he’d even visited the site. Dogwatch would cover the cost of the vinyl. Marc would take care of the rest, including pulling in his mate Stefarn from SR Flooring.
“I’ll match ya”
When Stefarn got the call from Marc, he thought it was just another job. Marc explained he’d worked at Dogwatch before, knew what they were about, and was donating his labour. He’d handle the prep, could Stefarn come in on day two for the vinyl.
“Just with the nature of where it was, I was like alright sweet, if you’re going to offer your labour for free, I’ll match ya,” Stefarn says.
Stefarn had a rescue dog of his own for 14 years.
“Got him at nine months out of a bad situation. He was one of the best dogs I’ve had.”
What the job involved
Marc went in on the weekend, when the building was empty. Volunteers had already lifted the carpet before he arrived. He had two spaces to get ready before Stefarn arrived.
The portacom (22.92m²) was thick with old adhesive from the carpet squares, the concrete office (19.95m²) had years of glue and dog pee ground into it. Marc worked both surfaces back with a grinder first:
- The portacom had so much old adhesive remaining that vinyl couldn’t be laid directly over it, so it got a 4.75mm MDF substrate, stapled in place, to give Stefarn a flat surface to work on.
- The concrete office got a fine feather finish compound trowelled across the whole surface to fill every imperfection. Air pockets under vinyl cause it to lift, so getting the surface right first is crucial.
“Most of the work is in the prep. The install isn’t too bad once that’s done right,” Marc says.
Stefarn arrived on day two and laid the vinyl across both spaces in a day.
The vinyl cost Dogwatch $2,279. If Marc and Stefarn had charged for their time, the total cost would have been almost double.
Left: feather finish compound trowelled across the concrete office floor. Right: Stefarn laying the vinyl | Photo: Marc McCavitt
The bark of approval
“It certainly smells and looks a lot cleaner,” says Bridget.
The reception is the first space a potential adopter walks into. For the volunteers who moved furniture and lifted carpet before Marc arrived, the difference was obvious.
“Lots of people have commented on how great the rooms look,” Bridget says.
As for the dogs, Meg, a regular shelter day guest, gave her own verdict. According to Dogwatch’s Facebook post, the new vinyl gets top marks for slobber dribble and mini-zoomies, and reception visitors will think they’ve gone posh.
Left: the new floor gets the seal of approval. Right: the finished reception, ready for visitors | Photo: Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust
What’s a Saturday worth?
Marc and Stefarn had some candid thoughts when we asked what they’d say to others thinking about doing the same.
“Good. Satisfying. Rewarding. I don’t do the help I do for any kudos, I just get my own satisfaction from it. I think people naturally just help if they want to. Without even thinking about it, I just knew,” Marc says.
Stefarn agreed.
“Eight hours of my life is nothing compared to what they do. If you think it’s a good cause, what’s a Saturday to you? Even once a year. It’s not a big deal to you, but it’s probably going to impact a lot more people than you think,” Stefarn says.
More than a shelter
“As business owners ourselves, you know how expensive things are to run. When you see the amount of volunteers working there and think about what they have to come up with each week just to keep the place afloat, it’s a surreal feeling,” Stefarn says.
Bridget shares that rehoming dogs is just one part of Dogwatch; they also run community vaccination programmes, desexing support, and provide food and equipment for owners who can’t afford basic care.
“We undertake a huge amount of community support every year,” says Bridget.
A dogwatch resident settles in on the new floor | Photo: Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust
A big thank you
Thank you to Bridget and the whole Dogwatch team for sharing this story and for everything they do for Christchurch’s rescue dogs. And a huge thank you to Marc from Precision Building Solutions and Stefarn from SR Flooring for showing up for Dogwatch.
If you’d like to support Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust, visit dogwatch.co.nz.
