My 4 month old lab goes to daycare x2 per week sometimes two days in a row. When he comes come my usual crazy, biting, wild tornado turns into a docile sleepy boy. Even the next day at home all he seems to want to do is sleep! Is this normal? He seems to absolutely LOVE going and I can tell it’s been helpful for his socialization and reinforcing basic commands. However I’m worried he is getting too much exercise? Should I be worried that all the running around and wrestling is making him too exhausted and potentially injuring his growing joints and bones? I appreciate any responses about your experiences with your doggos at daycare!
Hi Kat, I think it's pretty normal for them to be shattered after a full day of daycare - my dog only goes on an ad hoc basis, and he always sleeps well afterwards! I'd expect the staff to be aware of the risk of over-exercise to young joints though, and protect him accordingly - is it something you've discussed with them?
I know this is going to sound stupid as I assume he's in daycare because you are busy at that time but can you go and see once what is going on? I know if you had the time to do that he wouldn't be at daycare but just as a one off?
One of the Doggie daycares around us has web cams so you can watch your dog. We don't use them because we work from home/retired, but some of our friends do.
It sounds like it's worth discussing this directly with the Day Care people, to see how much "downtime/quiet time" they are giving and whether that could perhaps be increased at least until your pup is a little older? My Cassie is now 16 months old and has been to day care from around 14 weeks. We realise now though how incredibly lucky we've been with the day care we found - they are a home from home type with limited dogs in day care. Initially they had Cassie play separately and only gradually introduced her to other dogs that had a similar play style (I think as much to protect them from her "bounciness" than anything !!) and always ensured she had plenty of quiet time as well. She does now occasionally come home tired but never so much that she has to sleep all evening or into the next day. And in the positives, she really has learned excellent socialisation skills from going to day care, is great around other dogs and has learned to be more gentle and "read the signs" from other dogs when she's getting too lively. So day care can be a really positive experience, it just sounds like maybe your day care needs to introduce a bit more quiet time to get the balance right. (and I'm almost glad our day care don't have web cams, I'd never get any work done as all I'd do is watch Cassie all day !!!)
