When we decided to start up our Daycare service we thought long and hard about how best to do it. We researched other daycare facilities, spoke to daycare owners, thought about the procedures, equipment, types of dogs, activities and it took us a whole year to locate a suitable facility. Actually we never stopped thinking about it once we started on this adventure.
Lisa and I were almost divorced by our husbands because we planned everything from how many KONG’s to what kind of KONG’s, to KONG recipes right up to getting everyone certified in Canine First Aid, safety and the daily plan for the dogs. In fact we were so excited about the idea that even after we had done the research, made the business plans and found the location we were planning and talking about Daycare while on the plane to our holiday, while on the chair lifts at the ski resort, we spoke in the evenings when dining and on the plane home again! So we can safely say that we thought and planned a lot!
Since January 2009 we have grown and worked together to build what we feel is a great Daycare facility. We are a one of a kind in this country.
I think it is vital that the dogs get the care they need everyday and that they have opportunity to be a dog with other dogs. This means giving them lots of feedback when they play nice or get something right. Activities include whistle recalls, sits for for treats, sit to get in and out of doorways, walking on loose lead outside and of course how to settle and relax.
So what makes us different from other daycares? Well if you log onto the internet and put in the phrase “daycare webcam” you will see webcams of daycares all over the world, mostly the USA and care attendants with water spray cans. The dogs are sprayed for getting too over excited, humping, barking etc. We have a different stance on this. We like to interact with the dogs, play tug, play fetch, sit and rub the dogs, use opportunities to create good feeling and nice place for the dogs to be. We have tunnels and throw toys. We do collar touches with food. We reward dogs when they are called off other dogs or toys.
We do not integrate aggressive dogs into our daycare as this would be too dangerous but we do allow shy, fearful or dogs lacking socialisation into daycare post assessment. This is where it gets VERY rewarding. We have had a number of dogs who have successfully been introduced to daycare who were afraid, shy or had other issues. Their owners report improvements on a daily basis and both the dogs lives and owners lives at home are so much easier. This is really what it is all about. And we are careful not to fix one problem only to create other problems. We take a holisitic approach to Daycare.
We have 2-3 hours sleep and rest time during the day. This is so that the dogs can learn to settle and they don’t simply get fitter and fitter and addicted to daycare as this would be unfair to the dogs and the owners. We do not tolerate bully behaviour and punishment is always in the form of loss of reward or a “too bad” and into bed. Some dogs can be resourcers and we work with them always swapping and lowering the value of items making it worth their while to give them up.
The dogs that come to us fall into several categories:
Home Alone Dogs: Dogs who would be alone in a garden or home during the day for more than 8 hours at a time. Many were stone eaters or destructive before they came here.
Puppies: Speaks for itself.
Shy Dogs: Shy of people or other dogs. Controlled interactions, confidence building and increasing coping ability are focused on.
Just to play: Dogs come just to play and be dogs with other dogs. It’s great for them and during play they learn a lot.
We love our jobs and enjoy the time spent with each dog. There are some characters here like little Charlie Power who is a Dachshund x Jack Russell, Bailey the Labrador who has gone from overweight to healthy weight range from his Daycare activities, Jake the GSP who was so afraid at the start and who can now walk out with his owners and he has learnt to play, Toby the little Cavalier cross who was very afraid and difficult to walk and the puppies who need all the cuddles they can get!
If your dog comes to Daycare with us please send us a little note explaining what you feel were the benefits and we will post it to our website.
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Comments
My Pete has been to doggy day care and he was correcting me on my grammar when he came home! never seen him so happy and I was able to see pics of him during the day, playing, when I was in work. He even met his ex foster sister Millie there!! I got a little report when i went to collect him in the evening from the staff. He was all played out and had his dinner by the time i got him!