Doggie Day Care

[hallieworthington]

I'm researching some locations to put my 7 year old Lab in Doggie Daycare to wear out some of her endless energy while I'm at work and to try to help some with her separation anxiety when I'm gone. I'm also hoping to find a place that will do boarding, on the off chance I need a back-up when I go out of town, as I live in Colorado and my family lives in Georgia. My neighbor, who has an Aussie that my girl LOVES, is going to check out some places with us, so I'm hoping that'll help her first few times there.

Any suggestions on how to tell the good places from the bad? I think I've narrowed it down to 2 places I'd like to check out, both with great online reviews and one of which was recommended to me by a friend who sends her dog there, but I've never looked into doggie daycare/boarding seriously before, so I'm not sure what potential "red flags" might look like. Any advice, suggestions, or information is welcome!

[doubledip1]

Doreen sends hers to daycare, you may want to send her a PM

[Doreen Davis]

Hi there, this is a random post, sorry for the laundry list but I think this covers everything. We are big fans with 2 2 year olds.

We went on a tour to assess the facility, is it 'secure', how do they manage the day. We also looked at ownership, ours is owned by a retired vet and behavioral trainer.

Look for things such as the screening process to get your dog accepted. Yes, the owner of our facility has turned dogs/owners down if she doesn't think they are 'fit' to socialize. Look at the dog to people ratio in the program......our facility has 3 people on and they have eyes on 25 or so dogs. In the beginning only Anthony went and for awhile it was recommended that Stella not attend with him so that they didn't depend on each other. I invested the time in sending them separately for about a month until Doc felt they were independent enough to attend on the same day. They also have a 'nap time' so that they are not 'fried' from being crazy all day.

I actually don't think having boarding and playing at the facility is a good thing unless the place is staffed and 'professional' enough to handle it. We have a different boarding facility. I think word of mouth is good too, if you have a friend with similar expectations regarding their dog as you do, then that would be one factor but not the only one.

Good luck!

[zd262]

When I was looking at places a big thing for me was how open and willing were they to my fur parent craziness. Basically just asking them so many questions, calling them during his first days to check in and make sure he was okay. Requesting that he be pulled out for a nap time (which I think is really important especially if your dog can't self regulate and gets over excited). If a place is brisk in response to my questions, then they must not understand how hard it is to leave your dog with strangers, in which case that's probably not a place I want to leave my dog.

[Scoutpout]

Scout goes occasionally when i know i can't get home mid-day to let him out, or we haven't been doing too many activities, or if i'm wiped and need him to still get some exercise and stimulation so i can relax in the evening.
I had heard from several people when i had my last 2 boys that the place was nice.
before Scout went, i called and made an appointment to interview them. Got a tour, and got all my questions answered. They do daycare and boarding. They have 3 "levels" of rooms, and all dogs get sorted into different compatable groups, and get rotated into their individual rooms, and out into the group plays. If you don't want your dog doing group play, just say that. They also offer "extras" such as leashed walks, various treats, swimming (in the summer), extra group playtime right before bedtime, and they'll groom or just do a nail trim.
Because Scout wasn't super social or even comfortable with other dogs, they would take him out on his own for playtime thruout the day, and gradually added him in with other dogs they knew were laidback and not pushy (starting with their own dogs). He has since become much easier to put into groups, although he still doesn't go out with the "wild and crazy group", he does actually now interact and play with some of the dogs he;s out with.
They take pictures and video during the day and post to a facebook page, so you can see how and what your dog did during the day.
He gets VERY exciting in the car when he realizes thats where we are going, he absolutely loves it, almost drags me in the door, and heads off down the hall by himself if they aren't quick enough to grab his leash.
The place gets booked up really early for holiday weekends, and even daycare can get full if you haven't reserved your days (some people book them in every Tue and Thurs, others seem to do M W F). I've had a couple of times where i couldn't get him in when i was away for work, and the back-up kennel isn't liked as much.