Eric is booked to be neutered on Friday. He will be 7 months. I know this isn't a popular decision and I'm not happy either but we really felt we had no option if we want to continue daycare where they insist on it. However after a long discussion today with our trainer it looks like he has persuaded us otherwise!! In fact he is so against it he has offered to take him to work with him for 2 days a week!! My dilemma then is this. Eric loves daycare. Is very happy there. Loves the doggy interaction. If he didn't go his day would be this: Early morning walk then brekkie. 8am in crate. 12-1 either myself or Hubbie home. Quick walk or run in garden. Maybe food (haven't gone down to 2 meals yet ) 1pm. Crate 3pm. I'm home. Out for long walk/run Normal evening. I'm assured he'll be fine and daycare is more for me!! Any opinions re neutering, daycare or how many meals would be appreciated
I should add that we have fully looked at pros cons of neutering on his health and if it wasn't for daycare we absolutely wouldn't be considering it yet
While I'm not a fan of neutering all male dogs unless there is a good reason, I don't think that it is an unpopular decision. 50% of the UK population make that decision every year. And I do not think that it can be said that neutered dogs come to any harm. Some may have been, in my view, better off not being neutered, or better off being neutered when they are older, but even I with my "shouldn't be a matter of routine" views do not think it's a bad thing to do. I personally wouldn't send my dog to day care, unless it was a very structured day care with a lot of downtime and a lot of training. I think that might be something you think about (although of course you may have an exceptionally good daycare ). It depends on how well your dog would cope being at home for 7 hours with a break mid-day....that's not a lot, to be honest....
Well, it's a tricky one. Will you be 100% happy with the trainer taking your dog to work with him? What sort of entertainment, socialisation and training would he be getting? Are there any risks with that scenario? Would your trainer continue to offer this for as long as you'd need it, or might be change his mind or might his circumstances change? I guess you can always go with this option for a time. It buys you a bit more room.
oooooo my head is in a spin lol Daycare seems good from what I see. However I don't think any training as such goes on. He does get down time but not as much as he needs. He is thoroughly knackered after 4 hours. He is excited to go there and compared to other daycare options She is much better than others we viewed. I am going to speak to her again about keeping on while he is behaving. He doesn't mark and he isn't humping the other dogs. In fact she says he is one of the better behaved. The trainer I expect would be more of a temporary measure. I would trust him completely. He is 100% a dog person and I know his work would be fine. Lots and lots of thinking to do!!
I've never used daycare, I looked at loads and couldn't find a model I was happy with. I'm sure they suit some dogs though. But free running/play is not what I want my dog to be doing for a large part of his day, unless in moderation with lots of control exercises in between. I know nothing about your dog, or your daycare, and it might be the perfect solution for your dog! It's not the only option though - for the cost of daycare, you could use dog walkers too...
I'm looking into dog walkers. we had a bad experience when we first tried! It put me off but I'm going to have a good look again.
I agree; a dog walker for an hour at around 10:00 would break his day up nicely if you left him at home, and wouldn't cost the earth...
The trainer option sounds good then if you're 100% happy with the guy having your dog and if you don't mind that it's not a permanent arrangement. The obvious downside is that your boy has 7 hrs crate time 3 days a week at a fairly young age. That's not necessarily something he can't cope with, but it's longer than I'd want to crate for (my dog is home alone 2-3 days a week but he's got the whole house, isn't crated, and is older). Is there some other option (dog walker) to reduce the crate time to 4 hours max each day? On the daycare side of things.... I can only speak for myself but my dog found 5 days a week of daycare too much. He was exhausted and found it to be too much stimulation (it was the kind of daycare where the dogs just get to play how they like most of the day). The daycare owner suggested to us that we cut it down as she could see that he'd had enough by early afternoon. So we reduced to 4 days a week then 3 when he was a bit older. Now he goes to a different daycare (much more structured and controlled, with 3 x the staff) for 2 days a week. So just a tip to monitor how he'd be coping with a highs level of daycare exposure
I'm lucky, and mostly only have to work half days - but with a long London commute which stretches those half days out. Myself and OH juggle so one of us leaves late, and the other gets back early, we rely completely on a dog walker though. I recently had to change dog walkers, and it was a NIGHTMARE finding a good one. I got one in the end though, and she is very good, just as good as the last one. Good dog walkers are worth their weight in gold.... When I'm really stuck, she will do three walks for me, up to an hour a time if I want, which means even on nightmare days I can keep Charlie's time alone down to a reasonable level. He also goes out once a week for an hour on a group walk, which is the maximum time I'm prepared to have him free running with other dogs. He isn't crated, but is confined to a large pen inside a room off the kitchen. My target is no more than 4 hours alone, but sometimes he does 5 or 6 hours with a dog walker taking him out for an hour in the middle. Plus, we always leave him with a stack of kongs, and the dog walker does the same when she brings him back.
I used a dog walking service in my area and they were very good. I knew the walker from before i had Rory and she has a really good reputation. It meant Rory got out but did not do too much when he was young and I was very happy with how things turned out. He's 2 and entire and I think has benefited from being left with his plumbs, He is very well behaved(mostly he he) seems to be maturing nicely
Well the decision has been made not to get him done just yet! We told daycare and she has said she will keep him while he is not showing any signs of marking etc I'm also going to trial a doggy walker once I can find one I like!
It's good you have a decision. What's with the problem with marking? Does she mean when he is on lead? It's not difficult to train an entire dog not to mark if you don't want him to do so. My dog does mark on lead, but that's because I don't much care about it, so don't often ask him not to do so. She can't mean inside? That's daft. Training an entire dog not to mark inside is a simple matter of proper toilet training. There are some good reasons to neuter a male dog. Marking isn't one of them!
He shouldn't mark in the Day Carers house as he is used to being there. Entire dogs 'can' mark in a new enviroment, but if properly training not to urinate in the house, this shouldn't arise.
That's a very kind offer from your trainer - well worth taking up. Maybe day-care will change their minds too? It's a strange rule
My dog is desexed and he pees on indoor plants (including my in-laws plastic Christmas tree....). He's still allowed at daycare
My dog has been known to pee in Pets at Home if I'm not paying attention but if I'm keeping an eye on him it's not hard to prevent that happening.........luckily the staff are extremely understanding (I think it happens a lot!)
Ah yes - an excruciatingly embarrassing moment is coming back to me of Bones peeing on the wall at the vet's... but then he really wasn't all that clever. He peed on a friend of mine down at the park one time too. I'm sure that had nothing to do with him being entire, just that his attention was elsewhere at the time.
My older dog, Rocco, was neutered when i got him as he's from a lab rescue. Most rescues do this as a matter of course. HOWEVER, after the thread the other week about behaviours etc of neutered vs non neutered males, it got me thinking. I really don't think if i'd got a dog puppy (we have a 16 week old bitch) that i'd even entertain having him done. I'm actually even pondering whether to get Piper done so young. I know my friend has an intact GSD and has no end of trouble even getting him kennelled when she goes away. He is one of the most obedient pleasant well mannered dogs I've met, and just to reiterate what someone already pointed out, my neutered boy still pee's on plants in some houses and in pets at home. lol.
That's a shame your friend has problems with kennels, I haven't had any problems getting my two intact dogs into boarding kennels. I think dog walkers and daycare would be harder as they go into group situations whereas in the kennels I use they don't. Perhaps she might find a different attitude at a different kennels? The place mine go is fairly large and there's a run for each kennel and the dogs get taken into an exercise field on their own. I know some places put groups of dogs into yards and that may be why they don't want intact dogs....
