Good or bad? I was of thinking of taking him once a week for one hour. Socialization purposes mostly. We have what looks like a few good ones in our area. What should I know?
I would say it very much depends on the daycare itself. My pup has been going to daycare roughly 3 days/week since he was 3 months. He loves it and from a socialisation perspective its been brilliant. The one thing to look into, in my opinion, is how much exercise they're getting and how much interaction they'll be getting with adult dogs who may be more likely to play too roughly with a small puppy. My pup would play all day non stop if I let him and this is obviously a concern for his developing joints. I was lucky to find a smaller daycare with an owner who was very receptive to my concerns and she ensures he gets a lot of rest and not too much rough play.
I have recently sent my 7 month lab puppy to a day care centre 2 mornings a week but I am still not convinced I’m doing the right thing. It is very noisy and hectic and she is exhausted at the end. I’m on my own and it is really respite for me but mow I’m worried all the time!!
Day cares vary massively. In my book, free running daycares are the worst, and I'd never send a dog to them. Tipping a load of strange dogs into a field together and letting them run riot (or freeze in fear....) just has to be pretty much the worse thing you could do, 'care' wise. At the other end of the scale is knowledgable people, taking a very small number of dogs, that spend the day in a sensible routine with a lot of downtime, appropriate socialisation (not mad free for all play), and individual walks. Socialisation, ideally, should mean something like becoming familiar with lots of other types of dogs, and doing stuff with you while they are around. It doesn't mean he gets to play, or even necessarily interact with, a lot of other dogs - although he should of course get some social interaction with well socialised, adult dogs so he learns good doggie manners. And the thing about most day cares is you don't get to decide who your dog socialises with unless it's a very small one.
A doggy daycare centre opened near us at roughly the same time as Pongo arrived. We started using it when he was about 3 months old. It was fabulous for him - lots of socialisation, he learned to "speak dog" really well, and he enjoyed it immensely. Yes, it was tiring for him but we only used it about once a fortnight or so, so it was a "treat" for him rather than daily exposure. He developed some lovely doggy-friendships and came home tired but relaxed. However, that daycare centre became a victim of its own success - they got busier and busier, more and more dogs, louder and louder, more and more chaotic, and they re-designed their facility in a way that put a barrier between staff and dogs so supervision was much less direct. The result was not good - Pongo started coming home stressed, panting, exhausted. So I think there are some things to look at very hard in any day care set-up. I would look for: how many dogs are running free together at any time? More than a dozen? do they separate big from little? nervous from happy? bouncy from fragile? How do they do that, is it by keeping them in specified separate areas, or do they supervise very closely and have nice chill-out spaces for any pup getting over-stimulated? I think there are lots of good ways to handle it but I would always ask lots of questions about what they're particular approach is. is there a barrier between humans and dogs? my day care centre put up a glass barrier between reception and the dog area, to reduce noise. It meant they could still see the dogs, but I very much believe it actually got in the way of real supervision and interaction - the pups couldn't sniff the humans' presence, the humans couldn't really hear things happening, it really felt wrong. are there some qualified staff around? does anyone have vet experience? any dog training qualifications (preferably affiliated to positive dog training bodies)? and finally, ask whether you can come and just observe for an hour or so (with or without your pup). They should say yes. Pick a busy time, and just watch how they interact with the dogs. Having said all of that, I still believe that doggy daycare is fantastic for pups, and it was one of the very best things that we did for Pongo when he was young - I don't regret one minute of it, and I'd highly recommend it if your local centre is a good one!
Stanley went to Doggy day care twice a week until he was 18 months. We started at a large facility which was well ran and the dogs were cared for but as Julie says it was a bit bonkers and a bit too much for him. Instead, we found a woman who ran it from home. There were 3 dogs max at any time and their day was a bit of play on the morning, then a walk and a chill. Mid afternoon walk then snooze until I picked him up later. It was just like him having a second family. Stanley now has lovely doggy manners and knows how to read other dogs body language very well. Also gave me peace of mind knowing he was safe and happy!
Hi Franhu and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you are concerned about your dog's day care. Centres do vary widely. We have another thread just started on this same topic. I have popped your post over in here to keep all the answers together.
Thank you so much. This is fantastic. I'm going to copy this to bring with me so I know what to look for.
