[Rerun]

I will admit that doggie daycare has its benefits for certain families and dogs. However, we socialize our dogs a ton and we darn near have our own doggy daycare with 4 other dogs in the house.

Dante is enrolled in training classes and they gave out a coupon for a free day of daycare at their facility. This is a VERY reputable facility. Just to be clear..

However, I didn't take him for a number of reasons. Almost no one in class did actually. We got reprimanded for that in the last class and although it's not required it wasn't really presented as super optional....they really want all the puppies to come in for socialization and to "be a puppy" as well as give the owners a break one day.

Help ease my mind! My SO thinks I'm over protective of the little fellow.

1) Pickup and drop off at during peak city rush hr and we have to take a stretch of highway that is the WORST. It'll be at least an hr from the time I leave, get there, drop off, and get back in my car to head home.

2) Although in class he has exposure to other puppies, it's a true training class and not just puppy playgroup, so direct contact is limited. He's only had two sets of shots.

Honestly, I love my pup. I very much enjoy raising puppies and find it disheartening that so many people are so ready to get rid of theirs for a day. I LOVE him. He is very well house trained, he doesn't chew things up, he plays great with our other dogs, and he's enjoyable to train and play with. Why would I want to get rid of him for the day?They use the reasoning that everyone should be ready for a break from nipping, chewing, and obnoxious behavior and use the time to clean their carpets. But for only one day, I see little benefit of taking him (it won't be a regular thing) and I worry that he may pick up something (IE kennel cough, parvo, worms etc!!!) and get sick, or bring it home to the others.

He's so well house trained that I don't want even one day of pottying whereever in an "inside" place (which it is) because I'm concerned he'll start thinking it's ok.

And frankly, I like clean dogs and all the dogs I know that go to doggy daycare stink. I don't want to put him to bed wet and he won't have time to dry if I give him a bath right when I get home.

Do I sound nuts? Should I just suck it up and take him to make the trainer happy? The trainer is great, I understand socializaton. I just prefer that it be on my terms (our dogs are all very well socialized....we don't have issues with this kind of thing, so I'm not the least bit worried about him being in a bubble and undersocialized).

I won't be offended if you tell me I'm nuts!:help:

 

[irongrl]

Well, for what it's worth, I agree with you. You gave very valid reasons for not wanting to take your pup to day care.

Judy

 

[Jax08]

I don't think you are nuts. I think their reasoning in a little over the top though. It sounds more like they want the business and are pushing it on their training clients.

 

[cshepherd9]

I don't think you are crazy just for the drive alone. I kind of know where you are and I know where you take Dante. I wouldn't want to make that drive in rush hour!

 

[LeftyGinger]

I do use a doggie daycare but not for any reason because of being "led" to. I love the socialization part of it & being able to escape once in a while. Although I don't work, I do put in a HUGE day a couple Tuesdays a month and I don't like them being cooped up all day. It's also the place I board when I needed to recently and I wanted the pups to be familiar with the place. I have yet to have an issue with my place, but I am lucky.

I absolutely do NOT think you're crazy for not wanting to be pressured into using the daycare. Some people simply don't have the need and I would be weird about being pressured about it and there are some very valid reasons for not sending your pup there. I don't think you're nuts anyhow

 

[Rerun]

I don't think you are crazy just for the drive alone. I kind of know where you are and I know where you take Dante. I wouldn't want to make that drive in rush hour!

Are you stalking me?

That stretch of highway between 4 and 7 is just ridiculous isn't it? I avoid it at all costs.

 

[cshepherd9]

Are you stalking me?

That stretch of highway between 4 and 7 is just ridiculous isn't it? I avoid it at all costs.

Maybe....HA! No, I just put it together from some other posts. We have taken our dogs to similar places so I assume we live on the same side of town.

 

[Rerun]

ah gotcha, yes, I think we're pretty close

 

[CHawkins]

Hey I'm loving see people from nearby on here! I"m from Jeffersonville, IN which is 5 minutes from Louisville. Do any of you belong to any shepherd clubs around here? I have a 4 month old female GSD.

 

[Whiteshepherds]

Don't think you're nuts at all. We're real protective about where we leave our dogs too. (no where basically...)

If the trainers are gung ho about socialization they could add an additional 15 minutes on to the class time so the pups can run around and play with the other pups but also be exposed to all the other people.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

I don't know that I'd go way out of my way to take a puppy to daycare, especially if it would mean getting up earlier than usual - I like my sleep!

But we have a great place that's just 5 minutes out of my way on my way to work, so I used it. Part of the reason was that I wanted my puppy to be exposed to other dogs WITHOUT the older dog around as backup, and also because we were going to use this place for boarding when we went on vacation and I wanted it to be a fun place that they were excited to go to, with happy, positive associations.

The minimum age for daycare or boarding is 15 weeks, and dogs over 7 months old need to be spayed or neutered. So I took each of them twice a week for a couple of months, and then I stopped, because I planned to wait longer than that for speutering.

 

[Pattycakes]

I wouldn't think you are crazy if you don't want to take your dog to daycare. Its a personal preference/choice.

I take my dog to daycare twice a week so she can have some time to play with other dogs. She is my only dog and otherwise she would have to be home all day alone. Where I take my dog is on the way to work and I pick her up on my way home. Daycare is run by a woman out of her house and she has the dogs inside and outside all day long. She interacts with them and my dog gets to play and be crazy with other dogs too. LOL

 

[Chicagocanine]

Do I sound nuts? Should I just suck it up and take him to make the trainer happy? The trainer is great, I understand socializaton. I just prefer that it be on my terms (our dogs are all very well socialized....we don't have issues with this kind of thing, so I'm not the least bit worried about him being in a bubble and undersocialized).

You're not nuts. I would not do it just to make the trainer happy. While there are many valid reasons for using a dog daycare (and I've been considering doing that for extra socialization if/when I get a puppy)-- if you're not comfortable with it, don't do it! It's your dog, and the trainer should respect your decision.
At any rate, I agree with you on the smell part. I wouldn't want to take my dog to any daycare where the dogs come home smelly! The one time I used a daycare for one of my dogs she came out stinking... I had researched carefully to find the best daycare, we were going on vacation and I had to have a place for her to stay for the day we were coming into NYC. The place I reserved for daycare was supposed to be really great. My dog was not the type who roughhoused with other dogs (or really played with other dogs in general, she liked other dogs but would rather play fetch or get petted) and I explained that to them. When I came to pick her up, I realized why they had asked me if I wanted them to bathe her before I picked her up! I can't figure out how she got to smell so bad, because she wouldn't have been playing rough and gotten dirty that way, and was not the type of dog to roll in anything... The worst part is we were about to check in to a bed and breakfast with her! I ended up buying some waterless shampoo and getting rid of at least some of the stink.
The thing is, I've worked in two dog daycare/boarding kennels and none of the dogs at those places smelled bad after daycare.

 

[Shadow's mum]

Your trainer must get some form of kick back if you ever reuse that day care center. My son did a couple of shifts at a dog day care center, he said the place stunk even though they were constantly mopping and picking up dog poop. Most of the dogs seamed happy, but not all of them. They didn't get long walks, just a couple of quick walks each. Basically they were put in the right pens with other similar sized/temperament dogs and then they would wait for their walk. When I asked my son if he would ever have Shadow stay there he said no. I think your right in also thinking that your toilet training could go out the window, they are indoors and the only place they can toilet is the floor of their pen. Take your pup to a dog park, at least the human to dog ratio is better.

 

[PDXDeutschhund]

I've heard both ways. Some people say it's good to use daycare for socialization. Others say that they don't like having their dog around other dogs without them around. I know some daycares have webcams so the owners can log onto their site and watch their dog. That's a nice perk, but I tend to agree with most of you. I'm not really comfortable leaving Dutch in that kind of environment. There's other options for socialization.

 

[Rerun]

Your trainer must get some form of kick back if you ever reuse that day care center. My son did a couple of shifts at a dog day care center, he said the place stunk even though they were constantly mopping and picking up dog poop. Most of the dogs seamed happy, but not all of them. They didn't get long walks, just a couple of quick walks each. Basically they were put in the right pens with other similar sized/temperament dogs and then they would wait for their walk. When I asked my son if he would ever have Shadow stay there he said no. I think your right in also thinking that your toilet training could go out the window, they are indoors and the only place they can toilet is the floor of their pen. Take your pup to a dog park, at least the human to dog ratio is better.

The trainer is the owner of the facility. It started out many many yrs ago as training, now as with most facilities it also provides boarding, day care, grooming, etc. Which is really nice if we need those things (we don't board our dogs - we have family watch them - we groom them ourselves, we don't utilize "day care" because I'm home with them...)

 

[vat]

I took my last 2 pups to daycare. Now the person running it is a friend of mine and I know I can trust her. I would go once a week but it was not out of my way either. I did it for socializing and making him comfortable away from us.

I would not make an hour drive in rush our traffic for it and not if I was being pushed. And most puppy classes will allow some play time at the end for anyone that wants to hang around.

 

[Chicagocanine]

Your trainer must get some form of kick back if you ever reuse that day care center. My son did a couple of shifts at a dog day care center, he said the place stunk even though they were constantly mopping and picking up dog poop. Most of the dogs seamed happy, but not all of them. They didn't get long walks, just a couple of quick walks each. Basically they were put in the right pens with other similar sized/temperament dogs and then they would wait for their walk.

That's weird because the places I worked at didn't smell strongly at all. There was a slight doggy odor but nothing bad. They weren't constantly picking up poop either, the dogs were walked multiple times a day (short walk to the outside potty area) before each play session and most of the time they did not make a mess while in the playgroups (if they did it was immediately cleaned, and all the daycare areas were also completely vacuumed and mopped daily (I don't know how many times a day that was done, I worked in the afternoons/evenings and they were done at least once on my shift.)
The play groups were matched up by the dogs' size, temperaments and energy levels (dogs are evaluated before they can be accepted into daycare) and the groups were rotated into the play areas for their play times, then back to their individual pens in between to rest. Employees were always in the room with the dogs for the play times, and walked through the kennel areas often to check for any messes in the pens and clean up.