Just a quick note on this top five: these come from the experience of my wife who works as a vet technician. She wanted to be clear that these are blatant generalities and your pet’s “mileage” may vary.

5. Any Injured Dog or Cat - obviously, being in pain and afraid can lead to biting

4. Male Neapolitan Mastiffs - tend to be aggressive, plus they are very large and hard to handle

3. Chihuahuas and Dachshunds - just plain mean, these generally suffer from “little dog syndrome”

2. German Shepherds - tend to be squirrelly and untrustworthy, and on top of that if they are aggressive they are big dogs with big teeth

1. Scared and/or Spoiled Felines - some of the most sweet-innocent cats at home become little fur-balls of terror the minute they arrive at the vet’s [for instance, take our darling cat Callie: small, gentle, quiet at home . . . but becomes a tiny Tasmanian Devil at the vet's and has to be "put under" for the simplest of checkups]

One other interesting observation from my wife: the best breeds to work with as patients are Labradors [and other retrievers] and Standard Poodles

5. tossing shingles - like sheetrock, these babies are non-dumpable [if that's a word]. Each bundle must be hand-tossed and hand-straightened.

4. carrying sheetrock - the most heavy-awkward thing you will carry upstairs and around corners. We use the “slap-stack” method for maximum efficiency [in case you were wondering]

3. forklift operation - Certification optional. One cool thing to try is to pick up two pallets of sakcrete and balance on the front wheels - make sure your coworkers are watching.

2. creative customer service - “Yes, Ma’am, that’ll probably drill through concrete”

1. dumping lumber - no better skill at a lumber company than “dumping hard” [this is the technical term]. Offloading beneath carports and in crowded construction sites can be extra tricky.

- This top five list brought to you by Micah Foreman. Thanks Micah!