Daycare...

[TrickyShepherd]

Doggy Day care...... What do you all think about that?


My opinion.... I've never been open to dropping my dog off with other people. Not comfortable with strange people and other dogs around mine when I'm not present. I also like to enjoy my dog having fun too... it makes me happy to see her happy. I like being able to watch her play. AND I like making sure things are going how I like them to go.... make sure she's behaving (not picking up bad manners), and others are not harming her. She's a huge baby.... I'm not worried about other dogs being harmed from her.... though, she's always a target for the mean ones.


However.....

Recently, I went to Pet-a-Palooza (a pet event here in Central FL).... there was this vendor there, with some of her other employees, that saw the three of us with our shepherds and called us over. They were from a daycare/boarding facility that is literally right around the corner from me and very nicely priced. They were so excited to see shepherds and kept telling us how they always love getting shepherds and how they have a few regulars with shepherds and so on. Very shepherd friendly. Seeing their information, it looked great! Lots of fun I am sure.

This is when I kind of let my mind actually have a chance to think about it. I haven't made a decision yet. Still on the side of "not happening".... but the more my hours go up at work, and the more I see her bored since it's too late when I get home to do much with other dogs (She LOVES other dogs... she thrives off being around others).... the more I think about it.

I obviously wouldn't do this without first going there with her for a little bit, see how she acts, meet all the people and view the property.

But, what I was wondering was.... what is everyone's thoughts on this? Anyone bring their dog to daycare? How's your experience been? I want both the positive and the negative. Why do you like it.... why do you not like it?

(Btw, their ratings were very good online when I checked quickly last week... didn't get around to reading reviews... I will be doing that soon)

[shaner]

I have from time to time taken my dog to daycare if I know I am going to be too busy to do much with her for a couple days. I only take her to places where she isn't locked in crates. I do not want her locked in a crate or a run, that defeats the purpose of me even taking her there. The place I take her is great. They love her and she likes it there. As long as the dog likes going there, you have little to worry about. If ever your dog seems scared about going, then there could be something going on that is concerning. As with all things, you have to read the signs your dog is giving you. If your dog enjoys going there, it's likely your dog has fun there and nothing bad happens.

[bocron]

Well I'm biased since I own a daycare place. You need to go with your gut, go on the evaluation and see how you feel and how your dog reacts. If they are psyched about GSDs then great. So many daycares tend to cater to the little dogs or labs/goldens and seem to not be very clued in to managing the working/herding breeds.
Our daycare does crate the dogs for naptime every day. We have found that the dogs have a much better afternoon if they are all given a chance to sleep for an hour or so in the middle of the day, so don't let that be a deal breaker if they do a break once or twice during the day. Also don't go by the online articles that you read that tell you how to find the best daycare. They all insist that you be allowed to tour the daycare, anytime, anyway. Depending on how they are set up, that is not always feasible or wise. Most of the daycare owners I know absolutely will not allow strangers into the play areas, it is dangerous for the visitors (you never know how dog savvy they are), it is dangerous for the dogs, especially those with confidence issues, it can rile up the group and cause issues among the pack, plus most daycare's insurance policies strictly prohibit non-employees being allowed in play groups..
Hopefully they have video you can see, or maybe webcams, but don't assume they are hiding something if they won't just let you in to "play with the doggies". I have even had people ask if they can bring their kids along so they can play with the dogs??! Needless to say my first priority is the dogs in my care, not entertaining people and their kids.
It usually takes a dog 2-3 visits to totally acclimate to daycare if they didn't start coming as a puppy. By the 3rd visit, usually the dogs are clawing at the gate to come in, which we love to see!

Annette

[chelle]

I have mixed feelings based on several factors.

Does you dog enjoy playing with other dogs, being the most important. I used to take my two oldest to daycare. They didn't particularly care for it and ended up pretty much hanging out with each other! So, it was pointless, really.

The other factor being the daycare itself and the employees. I liked the owner of the place. She required you bring the dog prior to actually going into daycare to sort of temperment test it. It wasn't much of a test, but I liked that she did that. What I REALLY liked was they had a doggiecam, so if you had Internet access, you could watch your dog in real time. (other than the afternoon naptime.) This is how I figured out how disinterested my dogs were in playing with the others.

Then, one day, I was watching the cam and one of the employees went into the play area. My American Eskimo, about 22 lbs at that time, jumped up at the guys butt. She's my butt tapper dog. Not good behavior, no, but she used to do it out of playfulness, not biting, not aggressiveness in the slightest. His reaction was way overkill - he twirled around and knocked her back fairly forcefully. I was pretty pissed off. If I hadn't been 2000 miles away, I would have driven there and picked them up. Now I do understand the employees have to deal with unruly dogs, but that's certainly not what she was. She's a very mild-mannered, mild-tempered dog. She gave him a butt-tap and he was clearly angry about it.

I've flirted with the idea of daycare for my youngest because he *loves* other dogs, but he might love them too much. He'd probably be a pest, trying to play nonstop with them all. And I'd even probably go back to the same daycare -- because of that doggiecam.

[Dooney's Mom]

Originally Posted by TrickyShepherd

Doggy Day care...... What do you all think about that?


My opinion.... I've never been open to dropping my dog off with other people. Not comfortable with strange people and other dogs around mine when I'm not present. I also like to enjoy my dog having fun too... it makes me happy to see her happy. I like being able to watch her play. AND I like making sure things are going how I like them to go.... make sure she's behaving (not picking up bad manners), and others are not harming her. She's a huge baby.... I'm not worried about other dogs being harmed from her.... though, she's always a target for the mean ones.


However.....

Recently, I went to Pet-a-Palooza (a pet event here in Central FL).... there was this vendor there, with some of her other employees, that saw the three of us with our shepherds and called us over. They were from a daycare/boarding facility that is literally right around the corner from me and very nicely priced. They were so excited to see shepherds and kept telling us how they always love getting shepherds and how they have a few regulars with shepherds and so on. Very shepherd friendly. Seeing their information, it looked great! Lots of fun I am sure.

This is when I kind of let my mind actually have a chance to think about it. I haven't made a decision yet. Still on the side of "not happening".... but the more my hours go up at work, and the more I see her bored since it's too late when I get home to do much with other dogs (She LOVES other dogs... she thrives off being around others).... the more I think about it.

I obviously wouldn't do this without first going there with her for a little bit, see how she acts, meet all the people and view the property.

But, what I was wondering was.... what is everyone's thoughts on this? Anyone bring their dog to daycare? How's your experience been? I want both the positive and the negative. Why do you like it.... why do you not like it?

(Btw, their ratings were very good online when I checked quickly last week... didn't get around to reading reviews... I will be doing that soon)

You know I bring Dooney to the one up the road from me once or twice a week. I went in and completely checked the place out, saw how they let the dogs play, how they are monitored and separated due to different personalities. Dooney loves it (as long as they don't put her in with the bulldogs- hehehe-) If you stay to watch Zira, keep in mind she will be different when you are around than she would be if you weren't around, see if there is someplace you can "watch" her where she can't see you to get a true feel for how she will be.

Of course there are bad things that can happen, but bad things can happen anywhere, I know it is not a solution to things, but like you, I like for her to be happy and play around with other dogs... its not for all dogs, bring her and at least check it out for an hour, see what happens. YOU will be the best judge of if it will work out for you

[AgileGSD]

I posted this awhile ago on another daycare thread:

I worked at a daycare for 9 years and GSDs were one of the most common "daycare failures" along with APBTs and Rotts. We did not have one GSD client who was able to do well in daycare long term, other than mine who came to work with me. I think we had one who lasted about a year but she hated being left there. she was indifferent to the other dogs but spent the whole day waiting by the fence or gate for her person. Most of the GSDs passed the initial screening and many were fine for awhile but as they got more comfortable and/or more mature, they became unsuitable for daycare in some way or another. So the initial screening and fact the dogs will only be with known dogs/people doesn't mean much long term. We had a GSD who seemed like a great dog. mature male, easy going, indifferent towards the other dogs but liked to play ball with the humans. I would have never guessed this dog would have ever been a problem but he ended up ripping another dog's side open after months of coming without any aggression at all.

My GSD came with me for years and never had any issues but I would never have left her at daycare. She didn't care about the other dogs or other daycare employees, she liked to go because she could follow me around all day waiting for me to throw her ball. Like many GSDs, being left with strangers/non-family members and strange dogs would not have been her idea of a good time. I can't say she would have been "bad" but it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience for her.

GSDs are supposed to be family oriented. As they mature they should like their people, their friends and be indifferent towards strangers or outsiders. They mature into dogs who have guarding instinct and a more serious "don't push me around" sort of temperament. That isn't really the sort of dog which daycare is suitable for. Some breeds/dogs retain more juvenile characteristics even as they mature, being gregarious with strangers into adulthood. Those are the dogs that are ideal for daycare.

There are other potential issues with daycare that aren;t breed relate dbut could cause more issues with GSDs. There is definitely a tendency for daycare to make dogs overly dog orientated, which at the very least can make training more difficult. IME many dogs who go to daycare or dog parks on a regular basis become leash reactive/barrier aggressive. I believe it is because daycare sets them up to be in a state of over-arousal around other dogs, which leads to frustration when they can't get to the other dogs. With GSDs being sort of prone to being leash reactive/barrier aggressive anyway, there is a concern that daycare will trigger that. IME that overstimulation, almost "over socialization" with other dogs can also trigger other dog aggressive tendencies. Most of the APBTs and some of the GSDs/Rotts that passed evaluation but failed to be long term daycare dogs had no signs of dog aggression until they were exposed to group on a regular basis but afterwards, it became a real issue. These dogs were not attacked or bullied at daycare, normal daycare interactions seemed to be enough to trigger the issues. There is also a lot of room for young dogs to practice undesirable, self reinforcing behaviors at daycare such as ignoring recall commands, jumping up, barking, chasing, etc that can cause problems later on with training.

This article is about dog parks but IMO much of it applies to dayacre too: http://www.apdt.com/petowners/park/d...Parks_King.pdf

Also IMO the best person to raise your dog is you. If you don't know the people personally, you really have no idea what's going on while your dog is in their care. Daycares are very often manned by people who love dogs but aren't all that knowledgeable about behavior.

[Sambuca]

We take our GSD to daycare once a week. Even though I work from home it's nice to have that one day where I don't have to take him out to play and where he can get all his energy out. The key thing is finding a place you trust.

We have taken him to around 5 different places. The place we liked the most had webcams so we can watch him play plus they had a pretty good evaluation process to ensure that dogs are friendly and not possessive or aggressive.

The one we liked the least seemed understaffed and we'd find some little "scuff" marks on his face with no explanation. We stopped taking him there right away. If my dog gets into it with another dog it's not the end of the world but I would at least like to know what happened and some assurance that it won't happen again.

We now have a place close to our home in a home enviroment with two very friendly resident retrievers. We feel very comfortable with him there and have even left him overnight occiasionally.

The best peice of advice I would offer is to go with your gut on whether you feel comfortable leaving your pup there.

[TrickyShepherd]

Thanks everyone for sharing your opinions, knowledge, and person experiences! I will certainly take all of that into consideration!

I think once the new year starts, I will go talk to them. I believe they do have the webcam thing as well... so, that's a big plus. If anything, I will drop her off on one of my days off, watch the cam through out her time there and see how she does. If it's not for her... then obviously that idea will be out the window.

The only reason I thought about it was the fact that she LOVES other dogs!!! I wish I could have a second pup for her. She does cling to me, and cries when I leave.... however, that only lasts for at most 10min. After that, it's like she's forgotten I even exist! I think she'd really love being able to play for a while with some others and get out of the house/backyard.

But, we shall see.

[GSKnight]

I take Viktor to day-care weekdays while I am at work.

He has not been left home alone much in the <2 months I have had him. The place has individual runs, which I want for him, as he is somewhat dog reactive. I trust the people there and bribe, I mean tip, them to take extra good care of Viktor. I am hoping to start taking him there less after the new year. But, we shall see...

[stolibaby]

I take mine to a daycare one day a week as I'm a nurse who works nights and sleep during the days when I'm working. Stoli is such a trouper but I realize he needs to play and not just hang out with me sleeping. He's been going since about 7 months and he LOVES it! He knows the minute were heading to daycare and gets all excited in the car, they also have a webcam so I can watch him online and check him out. A few things I like is they do enforce a nap if he's there for more than 6 hours, they do an hour I believe. They ask in the morning when Stoli ate to make sure he doesn't need to sit out at first and avoid bloat. All of their employees are animal CPR certified, they also do an "interview" and have your dog interact with a dog one on one to see how comfortable he is and which group of dogs he wuld be best in (mine is considered one of the more hyper ones lol). As for having shepherds I have seen 5 or 6 different shepherds in this daycare almost every day so it's nice to know they are experienced with the breed. So check a few out and find something that makes both of you comfortable and ask other people you trust and their experiences too.