Just need to get some bits off my chest... I feel at a bit of a crossroads. There is something I cant put my finger on which doesn't make me 100% confident in Rolo's daycare. I dont want to leave my baby with someone I am not 100% comfortable with. As I've said he got bitten a few weeks ago I had a stern word with the manager & assured me it was a one off, this week he has a small ear cut (looks like a scratch rather than a bite) and he also has had dirt in his eye from the dry mud they played on on 2 occasions. Now I know he is a very very bouncy puppy but I still don't expect to be back and forth the vets when he is under their care. I just feel like its a lot of injuries/incidents to deal with and I don't know if they are being as responsible as they should be.... I need to look into some other options before making any decisions as my OHs work has took a turn for the worst and he cant take Rolo as many days so he was in Daycare 3 days a week!
Stanleys had 3 day cares while he's been with us. The first was where he did dog training and it was a proper facility - it was OK. I wasn't a fan of leaving him there every day. Then he went to Janine and I just knew he adored it. It was in her home and basically she just treated them as they were family. She had 2 dogs of her own and would have 2 or 3 more but would spoil them all rotten. Organising games etc took them for 2 lovely walks and whenever I'd go and pick him up they'd always be snuggled up on the couch just watching tele. He now goes to Michelle who is similar to Janine. She only has 1 dog of her own and has 2 other dogs and Stanley loves it there too. She said she takes him for his walk, he has a play and he sits on the couch with her. Then he has an afternoon walk, more cuddles and it's home time. If he gets too over excited she pops him in a crate for a while and she says he's no bother at all. Although I know they're maybe not as professional, they're licenced and I've always liked the personal experience better. I get lots of pics of him throughout the day and it's nice to know he has people who genuinely care about him as they're smaller and have a much smaller client base. Maybe you could look into something like this? Stanleys never had an injuries and I've never had any concerns. Poor Rolo - I can see why your concerned!
I think that much of the problem here is that, having had the biting incident , trust has gone . Please don't take this the wrong way, but once that trust has been damaged , you will feel anxious and be waiting for the next issue to arise . Our dogs are precious to us , far too precious to risk in someone elses care , if that care is falling short . I do so hope you can find an alternative soon , good luck
Looks like they may be allowing over-boisterous play. When this happened with Tatze I looked for alternative day care even 'tho they were great in every other way. She ended up somewhere quieter - of course she didn't enjoy it half as much ...
Thanks @JenBainbridge , How did you find the personal daycare's is this just through word of mouth etc? I dont have facebook So find myself out of the loop sometimes. I used a website called Dog Buddy once, verified dog minders, with insurance etc. So i visited the house with Rolo she left a lot to be desired. She was pregnant but failed to mention this. There was no structure, no crates in the house for over excitement. and wasn't overly knowledgeable about positive reinforcement. No notable garden or yard no vehicle or local parks. I have enquired with one a little further away but who only take a max of 3/4 dogs for daycare. These have about 10 and whilst they do have bags of land It seems like too many on top of each other during the day. They seem more business minded than dog foucsed and personal. @kateincornwall I think you are totally right. I think its more difficult too because I get home and think, well does this happen to other dogs there? or just my Rolo.... Does he injure dogs like someone has injured him. @Boogie Thanks Mags, I do like the facility, I just think as above its ran too much as a business rather than for the dogs now they probably expanded too fast. I think 3/4 dogs would be ideal for Rolo as they learn each others personality and there isn't TOO many other personalities floating around the play so when they want to rest they all know it. With 10+ dogs there is never going to be full quite time.
Janine was word of mouth - someone at Nathan's work told him about her and we went to meet her. Michelle was on Facebook and she had good reviews so I went to see her and had a chat about the way she runs it etc. It's nice as well because if we're going away for the night if family can't have him I know he's going somewhere he likes and feels happy with so I don't worry (as much).
Ive found two potenitally positive day care arrangements and im going to meet them both with Rolo tomorrow. However a third lady had this to say... "The testosterone in Un neutered males within a day care environment doesn't really work. Un neutered males together always target each other. So maybe that is why he is coming home with bite marks. We don't take entire males anymore. You say Rolo is bouncy but friendly. He would be less boubcy if he had been neutered and other dogs may not go for him" Man, i want to give her down the banks but you cant educate these people
Can't argue with stupid. I came up against it the other day and I just walked away. Sure there are loads of medical behavioral and legal reasons why we do castrate, but she was doing it because she just couldn't be bothered to find an alternative. Even if you explain it's a behavioral problem and can be trained away you just get a shrug and told the only problem she could see was she wouldn't be able to use him as a stud. his crime was humping a 2 year niece once . He's just a young dog who needs training and attention not an owner who walks him while talking on her mobile and ignoring him.
The most ridiculous conversation I had about neutering was at Stanleys first daycare where he does training. Unneutered dogs aren't allowed to go after 7 months. I explained we appreciated he needed doing for daycare but we were waiting until he was older to ensure development etc. They were like oh yes definitely - don't even think about it before he's a year. Why have the rule then?!
Snowie was in a big day care and never got injured - and he was over the top boisterous. Am guessing it was 30-40 dogs, separated into four pens by age, size, energy, etc. There were two guys full time in the pens making sure the dogs didn't get over boisterous with each other. Plus the owner keeping an eye on everything. The dogs were walked and moved about from pen to pen and outside to the sandpit. It was run as a business. I can totally appreciate that, they had to make money. But they ran it well. It did smell a bit of dog wee on the fake grass and carpeting. I wouldn't send Snowie now that he's an adult and not interested in playing all day. But as a puppy it was essential for us. Anyway they also won't take unneutered dogs after six months.
When I come accross websites of other dog sitters who have pretty pictures of lovely purpose built facilities I sometimes wonder if H would be better off if we moved him. One does an early 7:30 pick up which is tempting at the moment, but their facilities are out of town with up to an hour drive in a van. But then H has been with his sitter since he was 4 months old, they have never let us down, I can change days or ask for him to stay overnight at the drop of a hat. Walks are on a large communal field and on the common so lots of space around, and limited to six dogs per person. He stays with them in their home the rest of the time. Over the years H has had some minor scrapes. Once I got a call to say he had a nasty cut on his ear because he had been annoying another dog who told him off, his ear got caught in the process. Once it stopped bleeding the cut was quite small. I felt like the mother of a naughty child at school. I persevered and we've been through the whole neutering thing and his boisterous teenage years and they accept him as he is. They've also been very supportive with his noise anxiety. To move him now would be taking him away from his second family.
There have been discussions on the forum before about how neutered males can react aggressively towards young, entire males, simply because of the excess testosterone the young boys produce. It doesn't sound unreasonable to me that a daycare would require all dogs/bitches to be fixed, especially if it's a large daycare and not just a couple of dogs in somebody's home.
My daycare / dog walker is a wife / husband set up. Faye does daycare where she has a max of 6 dogs and 2 of her own. They have the run of the living room, conservatory and kitchen for the first hour, then she separates them into 3 rooms and they each get playtime in the garden, nap time in the living room and have a choice to settle or play in the conservatory. They have a walk around 11am, then all settled in the 3 rooms for a few hours, then rotation starts again. Obviously she regularily checks on all the dogs and will swap rooms if one needs it. Their garden has a ball pit, lots of grass and a mini agility area. Harley goes to Faye if I have a long day or go away. Oli does the walking - he collects Harley from home, has a max of 5 dogs - some off lead, some on lead. He usually has 3 little dogs and 2 larger dogs. He does 2 walks a day with each group (collects from home & drops them back) for around an hour per walk which means Harley is out for 1.5/2 hours each day with him. I love their set up and they will always help out when I'm stuck (like being poorly this week - Oli walked her everyday). Might be worth looking and seeing if you can find a more homely set up. Personally I don't like kennels, nor does Harley, so I wouldn't leave her in that type of set up.
Many years ago we found lovely lady called Heather who has a dog of her own, a nice garden, and gives visiting dogs the run of the house and garden. She is licensed and insured, and likes to have one dog at a time. Every morning she meets her friend, also a dogsitter, and they walk the dogs in some local woods. We sometimes go there with Holly and bump into them, and Holly is always pleased to see Heather. Our last Lab adored her, and Holly enjoys the occasional stay if we have to go out for a long day or overnight. Small setups like this can be wonderful for dogs and quite inexpensive.
An old university friend of mine does dog walking in Bexley and surrounds, U.K. She has her own Lab but she only walks two dogs at a time. I'm guessing she does a lot of walking in the day! She picks up the dogs and returns them. She'll also do home visits for dogs that can't be walked. Her website is houndsabout.co.uk. I'd trust her completely since I've known her for 30 years (yikes!!!). Argh. Just looked at her website - no availability, waiting list only. I guess that's a good sign.
Update I think fingers crossed I may have found a really great option. A lady called Leanne does daycare from home is very professional and seems lovely i asked lots and lots of questions and she made me feel very comfortable. She also didnt mind when rolo got super excited and dived all over her Having a trial day on monday. Hopefully he gets on with the other few dogs there. Very homely feel but with the right level of professionalism.
