Okay, where to start. Let me first start by saying how paranoid I was to bring Otis (17 weeks) to daycare. I was worried about dog aggression, if they would watch him enough, etc. I've taken him 3-4 times now and until today I thought I was making a good decision in bringing him. So we got a phone call today saying that him and a lab puppy 2 weeks older than him had an "accident". They play together all the time and have never had an issue, they seem to really enjoy one another. Apparently today they were playing with a ball and according to the trainers they heard a yelp turned around and the puppies were looking at them confused like they didn't know what happened. Otis has small cuts on the inside of his ear and a big gash on the outside of his ear (we're watching closely for need to bring him to the vet). The other puppy DID go to the vet and got two stitches. He will heal but now I'm worried about the long term behavioral effects of this incident. Should I worry about aggression? I'm freaking out over it and overall just really upset. I feel like they couldn't have been watching them very well for this to have happened. Any input would be greatly appreciated as I'm very down over the whole situation . Doggy daycare has been amazing exercise and socialization for him but now I'm worried that I should move him to a different one as this one is obviously doing more harm than good at this point.
I'm really sorry that you and Otis have had this bad experience. I would definitely not call this aggression, just puppy play getting out of hand. Puppies do at times play very roughly and excitement levels can go over the top... But usually there are behavioural signs that things are winding up, and a window during which you can step in. I would tend to agree that there wasn't enough monitoring of what was going on - I would think that staff should have noticed that the play was escalating and stepped in to calm things down earlier. You said that by the time the staff noticed, the pups were both standing still and had stopped. That means the pups did actually self-regulate to some degree - they pulled back when it went too far. That is really good! I wouldn't start to think that Otis has an aggression problem and I wouldn't worry that he will suffer any lasting effects. I would probably use this as an opportunity to check out other daycare options in your area. You may discover that there is something better out there with better monitoring, a bit more structure (so, no 'uncontrolled' play) and a good understanding of dog behaviour. My dog Obi got badly bitten at his first daycare and needed about a dozen stitches (staples) so I know how awful it feels. We ended up moving to a different daycare where everything was much more controlled and there was a higher staff to dog ratio. Everything has been absolutely fine since Obi has not suffered any behavoural problems as a result of being bitten. I'm sure Otis will be fine too.
Thank you, that does make me feel a bit better. I really have no idea what actually happened which drives me crazy, they did allude to the fact that there may have been a "discrepancy" over the ball they were playing with which is why I am so concerned about aggression. Im hoping it was just play that escalated too far. But like I said, it's very unclear what happened. So very very frustrating. I'm kicking myself because it wasn't my absolute first choice for daycare but the other one that's near me doesn't offer the days that I need to bring him. I will certainly be looking for a more appropriate place for him.
I wouldn't be too worried about this single incident in terms of what it means (probably nothing much) or what it tells you about your dog (also probably nothing much). I would though, as you say, think about the type of daycare you are using. I would be really wary of any daycare that has a lot of free play - with a group of dogs activities should be structured I think. Dogs should be doing stuff together while interacting with a human, not spending time left to their own devices.
I agree totally with all the comments above. Young pups have teeth like razors, so it really sounds like they both got a bit overexcited, which is perfectly natural. It also like there is a lot of free playing going on. Do they have any timeout quiet areas for the pups? Or are they just left to play all day? Over tired pups can also get a bit fractious and this is normally when problems can occur.
I think there is quite a bit of free play and likely not enough rest. It happened around 3pm and I pick him up around 5pm, so he was probably way overtired at that point. I'm just so upset over the whole situation, I feel like a bad puppy mom for bringing him there!
Don't feel bad - I think that it's only starting to be known really widely that free running / free play day care models are not the best and anyway, some dogs seem fine with them. Certainly, when I got my puppy I let him play freely with other dogs and it was only later that I began to realise it wasn't a great thing to do too often. Dogs need some playtime with other dogs, for sure - but a lot less playtime than we might expect, and they need a lot more structured interaction and down time than they need free for all playtime. This isn't always an easy things for daycare businesses to provide, so I think it's tricky to find the right kind of place - and so many of us need a solution when we have to go to work!
Fear not, these things happen - pups can misread body language very easily. My Twiglet has had to be kept separate from her brother (except on lead and neutral ground) as she went for him twice, once causing his ear to bleed. She's absolutely fine with him now. My supervisor wasn't worried and put it down entirely to mis-communication. You are right that the day care place need to supervise closer - but I was right next to Twiglet when she took a lump out of Rossi! I also agree that too much free play isn't good for pups, like children, they don't know when to stop - we always limit our two 'till they are old enough to limit themselves (I find they do this around 20 weeks)
