Hi all, First post here! I have a 6 month old Goldador (lab cross retriever) called Ralph. Just looking for some advice as he’s our first dog and want to make sure we’re doing things right to make him happy. 2-4 days a week (depending on my shifts) my partner and I are both at work all day. Ralph has a dog sitter in for an hour at lunch to play/toilet etc. It was for his lunchtime feed but now he’s down to 2 meals. Then if I’m finishing work a bit later she comes in again at 3pm for 30mins to let him out for a wee. I’m wondering if doggy day care is a good option now he’s older? Maybe a couple times a week so he’s not at home bored? But then I worry about his joints and not getting enough sleep whilst there…or is that not something to worry about now he’s almost 7months old? I’d still keep the dog sitter for a couple days a week, just so he has rest days at home. Now he’s not having his lunch at that time I may think about him going for a 30min walk with her. I am anxious about someone else taking him out because of his training etc but she is very experienced. Would 30mins walk a day when we’re both at work be enough for Ralph at this age? Or do you think keeping to 2 visits a day-one at lunch and one at 3pm is better until he’s a bit older? Sorry for so many questions!! Would be good to learn from experienced lab owners
Everyone is going to have different opinions on this, but if he needed to be at home I'd still stick to at least two visits a day, with one of them being a longer visit including a walk or some play/exercise - dogs do need a decent amount of company from what I understand. Personally though I would look into day care for him when you're not at home. Maybe I've been super lucky with my day care and I'm sure you'd have to do lots of research to find one that suits, but Cassie has been going to daycare 4 days a week since she was 16 weeks old and we've always been so happy with her care. Initially she was kept separate from the other dogs and only gradually introduced to specific dogs with similar play style (she plays rough, bit too much for the quieter dogs while she was learning her puppy manners!) and always heavily supervised. Even now she's two years old her play with the other dogs is interspersed with lots of rest time - she comes home tired sometimes, but never exhausted and she absolutely loves it there, they never have too many dogs at the same time - it is more like a home from home. And her puppy manners are now excellent - they even use her as the "demo dog" when they have a new dog to introduce to the group (proud mum alert!!), so day care has been a really positive experience for her, and us too. Anyway, that's been my experience of day care and if you can find anything like we have, I would absolutely recommend it. Wish you luck with whatever you decide to do - I guess in the end you know your dog best and what is going to work/not work so if you try something, including day care, you can see for yourself how that affects him and make adjustments accordingly. Good luck !
Thanks for your reply. I’ve booked in to check out 2 daycares so I think that will be a good option for him. It’s the same price per day as getting the dog sitter in 2 x day but at least he’ll have company all day. He does love dogs and people a lot! So far he’s always been asleep in between the visits but now he’s getting into his teenage years he may want a bit more fun. Great to hear Cassie loves daycare, it sounds great - well done to Cassie for being the demo dog!
