Daycare can't handle my 10mo old

[mrudderman24]

My 10 month old has been in daycare the past month, and it has been going great, so they've been telling me. The other day, (out of the blue) the owner politely suggested I get my dog into obedience school, because he is "always jumping up on them and plays rough with the other dogs." He does not jump on my family or I, so I'm thinking this is all them. She was pushing a local trainer who I've never heard of. My dog has already been through a 2 month obedience course and graduated. It was the top school in the Debary area, by a well known instructor. While he could use additional training for other issues (distracted easily during walks/doesn't like strangers near me), he is a pretty good dog with us over all. I used to constantly check with the daycare to make sure he wasn't too much to handle and the answer was always "No, he's fine."

I am on the fence about this and could use some feedback. I am paying them for a daycare service. This place does not have anyone on staff with ANY training experience , and I think that is part of the problem. It is a grooming place, which advertises doggy daycare. The people there are very nice and their prices are much lower than the competitors.. It sounds like he has too much energy/drive for them to handle and they are trying to give me an ultimatum. I guess they are afraid a big GSD will scare off potential customers (there are only a handful of medium/large sized dogs there). It kind of sucks, because I really liked this place. They want me to pay for the trainer to come into the daycare and train my dog.

Opinions?

[onyx'girl]

Why is your dog in daycare? I would put the money into continually training WITH a trainer, not having a trainer work your dog with you not there,(training doesn't stop at a two month graduation) and crate or kennel your dog at home during the day.
If you fear your dog is left alone for too long a time, then hire a dog walker to come in and give your dog a break for a bit.
IMO, our dogs don't need to be in daycare if they get quality time when we are with them. They usually will sleep all day when we work, anyway. Daycare can be overstimulating and even in the quiet down time, the dogs are still stimulated with scent and sound of other dogs.
If the daycare is a sideline of the grooming business(focus is on grooming more than daycare), then maybe spend a bit more to get in a better daycare if you really think he needs to go.

[Shaina]

Find a new daycare. Find one that has experienced staff in WORKING DOG breeds. The facility I work at is owned by two pro schutzhund trainers - we handle the dogs differently than other daycares. If your dog is jumping on the staff, he obviously doesn't respect em much, and they probably aren't capable of correcting the behavior (some facilities have a strict HANDS OFF policy with the dogs, where as here we tell clients we don't allow that behavior and will correct it if it becomes a problem).

[mrudderman24]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

Why is your dog in daycare? I would put the money into continually training WITH a trainer, not having a trainer work your dog with you not there,(training doesn't stop at a two month graduation) and crate or kennel your dog at home during the day.
If you fear your dog is left alone for too long a time, then hire a dog walker to come in and give your dog a break for a bit.
IMO, our dogs don't need to be in daycare if they get quality time when we are with them. They usually will sleep all day when we work, anyway. Daycare can be overstimulating and even in the quiet down time, the dogs are still stimulated with scent and sound of other dogs.
If the daycare is a sideline of the grooming business(focus is on grooming more than daycare), then maybe spend a bit more to get in a better daycare if you really think he needs to go.

You are right Onyx, and I do plan to continue training. The trainer I originally went to is doing a house visit with me next month. The reason he is in daycare is because I crate him at night and don't want him spending 8 hours during the day (when I'm at work) in there too......But like you said, it may be better to spend the money on training and just crate him during the day. I will have to think about that

[chelle]

Originally Posted by mrudderman24

My 10 month old has been in daycare the past month, and it has been going great, so they've been telling me. The other day, (out of the blue) the owner politely suggested I get my dog into obedience school, because he is "always jumping up on them and plays rough with the other dogs." He does not jump on my family or I, so I'm thinking this is all them. She was pushing a local trainer who I've never heard of. My dog has already been through a 2 month obedience course and graduated. It was the top school in the Debary area, by a well known instructor. While he could use additional training for other issues (distracted easily during walks/doesn't like strangers near me), he is a pretty good dog with us over all. I used to constantly check with the daycare to make sure he wasn't too much to handle and the answer was always "No, he's fine."

I am on the fence about this and could use some feedback. I am paying them for a daycare service. This place does not have anyone on staff with ANY training experience , and I think that is part of the problem. It is a grooming place, which advertises doggy daycare. The people there are very nice and their prices are much lower than the competitors.. It sounds like he has too much energy/drive for them to handle and they are trying to give me an ultimatum. I guess they are afraid a big GSD will scare off potential customers (there are only a handful of medium/large sized dogs there). It kind of sucks, because I really liked this place. They want me to pay for the trainer to come into the daycare and train my dog.

Opinions?

Have you been able to watch how he plays with other dogs? Maybe he does play rough? Mine does. Some dogs love it, others sure don't. I kinda doubt they'd "make it up." The dog daycare I used in the past had a doggy-cam. Anytime I could get computer access, I could watch what was going on. It was awesome.

Congrats on the graduation from class, but I think that's only the beginning. My pup and I are just gearing up to start classes and I'm looking at it as an on-going, never-finished process.

Is your dog getting the opportunity outside of daycare to get some good aerobic exercise? Maybe he's just got too much energy for the other dogs.

[mrudderman24]

Originally Posted by Shaina

Find a new daycare. Find one that has experienced staff in WORKING DOG breeds. The facility I work at is owned by two pro schutzhund trainers - we handle the dogs differently than other daycares. If your dog is jumping on the staff, he obviously doesn't respect em much, and they probably aren't capable of correcting the behavior (some facilities have a strict HANDS OFF policy with the dogs, where as here we tell clients we don't allow that behavior and will correct it if it becomes a problem).

Yea I think that is part of the problem. There is not much around here, but I will check

[mrudderman24]

Originally Posted by chelle

Have you been able to watch how he plays with other dogs? Maybe he does play rough? Mine does. Some dogs love it, others sure don't. I kinda doubt they'd "make it up." The dog daycare I used in the past had a doggy-cam. Anytime I could get computer access, I could watch what was going on. It was awesome.

Congrats on the graduation from class, but I think that's only the beginning. My pup and I are just gearing up to start classes and I'm looking at it as an on-going, never-finished process.

Is your dog getting the opportunity outside of daycare to get some good aerobic exercise? Maybe he's just got too much energy for the other dogs.

Hi there, I have no doubt he plays too rough. I just don't know why it's an issue all of a sudden with them. They have never notified me about an incident in where he has hurt another dog. The staff is always pleasant and happy to see him. Yes, when he gets home from daycare, he gets a 1.5-2 mile walk and playtime. I do obedience during the walk (sit, down, stay, stand and stay etc). He is normally WORN OUT after all of this. He also goes for lots of car rides when I visit my parents during the week

[e.rigby]

Some breeds of dogs do not do well in daycare; and even though he may have done well previously -- as he gets older he's likely to become more and more of a bad fit for a day care environment.

Regardless, I don't typically recommend daycare -- so much can happen that you are not aware of. Bad behaviors can start, especially if the staff isn't well versed in interpreting canine body language.

As far as how your dog acts around you and how he acts around other people when you're not in the equation -- it can vary greatly! Again, which is why I, personally, wouldn't want to leave my dog in such an environment!

Hiring a dog walker would be a better means of exercise during the day! Some dog walkers even offer (for an extra fee) outtings where they'll take your dog to a park for an hour. Also, at 10 months old I wouldn't stop with just one 2 month training course! I'd be training continuously until about 2 years and then you can re-evaluate where and what you want to do from there!

[MicheleMarie]

that sucks. i used to work at a grooming/doggy daycare center. when we had a lot of dogs i would seperate the dogs into groups that like to play with eachother. we had one german shepherd but all he wanted to do was play fetch-he could have cared less about the other dogs lol. if we had a dog that jumped on people we dealed with it-i mean, it's a DOG DAYCARE center. it's bound to happen. the only thing we would never tolerate is aggressive dogs. if a dog started a fight we would take them out and they would sit in a kennel all day.

sorry it didn't work out

[jennyp]

The daycare near my work doesn't accept GSDs because they are too "mouthy". Breedists! But I think, like in your situation, it's really a matter of the staff not being knowledgeable so I wouldn't want to put my dog in a situation like that anyway.