Obviously, in an ideal world I'd be able to be with our puppy all the time. I'm lucky in that I work from home 3 days a week, and Yalom can come to the office with me on the other 2. However on occasions where both my husband and I are teaching on the same day, he can't come with me. I have found a small independent dog day care in our town, and he went there for a few hours today as a test run. The woman who runs it has 2 of her own dogs, and then looks after 1 or 2 others. He was a bit wary at first but in the end seemed to enjoy himself. He'll only be going a couple of times a week once a month or so. I was wondering what people thought of Daycare like this? He's only 14 weeks old so I definitely don't want to leave him often. The other option is to ask her to come give him so play and a wee and for him to be in his crate apart from that, but to be honest I think he'd rather have the company!
I think that spunds a good arrangement. I know a couple of people who offer that sort of daycare in their own homes and the dogs seem happy and relaxed. I would just check with the woman who runs it that your puppy will be given rest times regularly during the day.
Thanks @Joy Yes that's a good point. I mentioned to her that he isn't always very good at knowing when to sleep when there's lots going on, so today she brought down one of her crates and popped him in there and apparently he slept for over an hour! I will definitely make sure to underline the importance of continuing that though.
That sounds great. Our puppy is in a similar in-home, family daycare arrangement and it works very well for us. We get regular updates about his behaviour and interactions with the other dogs and all is well.
Ruth, I would personally do almost anything other than leave a puppy in daycare. I have had clients who've come back to find their dog had a broken leg and the person running the day care hadn't even noticed - this was caused through over-rough play with other dogs and leaping on/off furniture. The problem is that all dogs should have their interactions with other dogs closely monitored. Closely monitored means someone is really standing there and watching what's happening and - more importantly - knows when to intervene. It can take weeks or months for a puppy to integrate into a home with older dogs successfully, and it is a big job to achieve that sometimes - what with a puppy harassing an older dog - whereas at daycare they are just all thrown together. When puppies have bad experiences with other dogs, they will remember them forever. If they occurred at daycare, you won't even know about them because you won't be told (unless there is a physical injury of course). You will just have a dog which, around 9-12 months old, suddenly starts to be reactive towards other dogs, or afraid - and you won't be able to work out why. And even when experiences with other dogs are positive, they can be TOO positive: And you can end up with a dog which just loves other dogs too much and seeks out play with them and gets much more into that, than into relating to you. This can result in a dog bogging off on walks to every dog they spot on the horizon and becoming a 'canine bully'. Here's an article I wrote about that for Pippa: http://totallydogtraining.com/over-friendly-dog/ If you can work something out with a pet sitter coming to the house to break up the time, that would be far preferable, I would say. Otherwise I do know experienced dog folk who bring their dogs to work and leave them in the car (parked in a multi-storey or underground), and go out to visit them and give them toilet breaks and mini-training sessions during tea breaks and at lunch time. I may be too much of a control freak, but personally I never want my dogs interacting with other dogs unless I (or my husband) are there to watch this - OR unless I really really do trust the supervising person and know that they are literally standing there 'on guard' during interactions (not replying to emails, answering phone calls and running a home business).... Good luck!
I agree with Jo here. Roamin' has been home now for six weeks and I still cannot allow him in a room with any of the other dogs without CLOSE supervision because what begins as a nice controlled bit of play (well as controlled as Labradors can be in play time) will inevitably ratchet up because Roamin' has latched onto someone else's cheek or ear or neck and is causing pain. This results in the older dog basically "throwing" Roamin' rather than biting back. We immediately distract and separate to prevent either Roamin' suffering an injury from landing wrong or from his biting enough to break the skin of one of the older dogs. In the beginning we would be lucky to get to three minutes of play before separation, last night we got to 10 minutes. Progress! Our girl Dreama completely avoided Roamin' for about two weeks showing clear signs of a desire to be put in another room if he entered one. We gave her her wish to protect both of them and to avoid their long term relationship being affected by his temporary behavior. Over the last two days, she has voluntarily entered a room where he is and engaged in a minute or so of play before letting us know she was done. Again, either she or Roamin' is removed from the room immediately. She is now venturing outside with him voluntarily because she has learned that she is faster than he is and so her play with him is a game of "chase me" rather than allowing body contact. I'm not a fan of dog parks or daycares. I understand that sometimes they are necessary but if they can be avoided, I always advise avoidance.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I think, given @Aisling Labs and @Jo Laurens comments we will try and avoid day care where possible, particularly when he's so young. His experiences with other dogs so far have been positive and he has a good mix of interest in other dogs without expecting he can play with them all, so I don't want to jeopardise that. I have managed to reconfigure my teaching so he won't need to be on his own until he's 6 and a bit months old, by which point he might be happier to chill in his crate in my office at uni with a kong for a couple of hours if I have to teach 2 sessions back to back. He won't be on his own as there will be a couple of other people in the office too. Hopefully when we do need to leave him and it's unavoidable our friend who has an ex guide dog will have mended her ankle, as I know he will be under supervision constantly with her. Thanks everyone, your thoughts and perspectives are so helpful.
My dog went to daycare from 15 weeks and it’s never done him any harm. He went to one with an arrangement like you’ve described where it was play and walk on a mornings , then chill for a few hours, then play and another walk and chill until he was picked up. He’s brilliantly socialised and has amazing Doggy manners. I definitely preferred him in daycare to being sat in a crate by himself. He’s 2 and a half now and will only play with dogs when I let him and still plays nicely.
I agree that a puppy daycare is definitely better than a puppy left in a crate for 8 plus hours per day. But if they can be avoided, I still prefer that they are avoided. If necessary, then I would recommend that the owner stay with the puppy for the first visit to observe the way the daycare is run. There are age appropriate levels of play and activity that are recommended to protect the rapidly growing puppy until all growth is completed. A daycare that is ignorant of these recommendations and allows a free for all should be avoided. One that implements a routine and applies techniques to protect the younger dogs from the older ones and too much activity is a great alternative to a crated and lonely puppy.
