Doggy Daycare?

by Bailey Coldwell

When getting a new dog, we find ways for them to interact with other dogs, receive exercise, and give them something to do while we are working or have other daily obligations. Doggy daycare can be a good option for all of this. As trainers, we don’t usually give a straight “yes” or “no” answer to doggy daycare. There are factors you want to take into consideration, and we are going to chat about that today.

Types of facilities: There are various types of daycare facilities for dogs. Traditional day care is where you drop your dog off and pick them up at a facility. The facility typically has large spaces (indoors, outdoors, or both) for dogs to play and interact, while being monitored by staff members. There is also the option of daycare inside someone’s home (often called dayboarding), which typically has fewer dogs than a facility. Dayboarding can also take place at a larger facility, but the dog typically has more time in a kennel or pen. There is also the option of doggy daycare and training combined. This is where the dog engages in play and interaction with other dogs, but will also spend time training with a professional at an additional cost. 

Human-to-dog ratio: You will want to ensure that there are enough people or not too many dogs to keep a good eye on the dogs that are there. 

Experience of employees: While I don’t believe that every daycare worker needs to be a well-established dog trainer, they should be educated on how to handle dog conflict, read dog body language, and refrain from promoting unwanted behaviors (e.g., encouraging dogs to jump on them). 

Rest time: Although we want dogs to be able to interact with one another at daycare, it is recommended to encourage breaks in interactions or provide rest time. This can be time in crates or otherwise interrupting nonstop play. 

Dog screening process: You will want to ask about the screening process regarding what dogs are allowed. This will vary depending on the environment. Some facilities will not allow dogs that are unaltered after a certain age, but will allow dogs that don’t get along with young children. When I take dogs into my home, they must get along well with cats, young children, and adult men. But I will take dogs who are unaltered, given I don’t have any female dogs in season at my home.

Potty system: Some daycares have an outdoor yard and a large indoor play space. Some facilities have one large space where the dogs can potty wherever. Some daycares in homes don’t have a fenced-in yard, so the dogs need to be able to potty on a leash or a long line.

Videos, pictures, check-ins: How important is it for you to receive pictures or videos throughout the day? Some daycare facilities offer these, while others do not. 

Price: Of course, you will need to consider the daycare pricing. While not always true, smaller in-home facilities with more 1:1 care, will likely be more expensive than large group settings. 

Understanding safety risks: Even in the best daycare facility, there is still a risk of injury or disease. Anytime there are multiple dogs interacting, instances could occur where they get hurt or sick, and this is simply good for you to be aware of. 

Vaccine protocol: You will want to ask about the vaccine protocol to ensure that the dogs are healthy and protected. 

Collars/harnesses: Do the dogs play with harnesses or collars on? There can be safety issues with this due to choking risks and the potential for jaw or leg injuries. 

Let’s say that you experiment with doggy daycare to see how it goes. This is what you are going to want to observe about the behavior of your dog: 

Fear: Pay attention to how your dog reacts the second or third time that you show up at the facility. Is the dog nervous? Some conflicting emotions are perfectly normal and acceptable. But if your dog is acting like they don’t want to enter the building and the employees say that the dog is not enjoying it, you likely will want to find another option or see if they can provide a slower introduction with just a few hours of daycare at a time, with just a few dogs who are low key. 

Dog reactivity: This is likely one of the most significant downsides of daycare. Daycare dogs get very used to interacting with the majority of dogs that they see. When in reality, it is best for your dog to see more dogs than they get to interact with. If they are interacting with many dogs all the time, it can lead to the assumption that they get to say hello to every dog they see. This can then lead to fear, overexcitement, or both. If you see an increase in reactivity after going to doggy daycare, you will likely want to take a break and/or work on more exposure to dogs that they see, but can’t interact with. 

Housetraining issues: Accidents are likely to happen at doggy daycare for some dogs. This can be due to overexcitement, marking, the newness of the environment, and new puppies who haven’t been potty trained yet. This could contribute to house training regression at your home. If the daycare has a setup where the dogs are pottying on a different surface than what your dog is pottying on at home, it can cause some confusion. 

Lack of recall: If the dog is frequently called by their name to come to them, but the recall isn’t enforced, it can lead to a lack of recall in other situations as well.

Digging: This is a fun activity that many dogs enjoy doing. But it can be annoying in areas that you don’t want them digging. Chances are, your dog will see another dog digging at daycare. They might then test out the behavior themselves and easily get into the habit of doing so.

Stool eating: This is another activity that your dog can learn from other dogs. A gross one! If a dog is a stool eater, I often recommend avoiding daycare settings, where they can practice this behavior. This would be a good example of a situation where a smaller daycare would be more effective, allowing the person to monitor this behavior and prevent it more effectively. 

Redirectable: If you start to see that your dog is not able to redirect well when around other dogs, it is best to work on this in lower-stimulating situations. We want to help our dogs maintain good energy levels so that we can break their fixation if needed. If your dog is not redirecting well when they are overstimulated, daycare may be exacerbating this behavior.

Leash pulling: As dogs form a positive association with the daycare facility, they often start to pull towards the building or exhibit pulling behavior when they encounter other exciting stimuli they want to approach. You want to ensure that you aren’t heading towards the building if your dog is pulling. This might mean that you arrive early to ensure you can take your time getting the dog inside the building without having to follow a pulling dog. You might bring very high-value treats to give them as they walk into the building. You could also consider putting the dog on a long line to better prevent pulling. Just make sure that if you notice an increase in leash pulling, you don’t end up allowing it to continue. 

Inappropriate interactions with other dogs: Daycare dogs can easily get into the habit of partaking in interactions with other dogs that we don’t want. If your dog is doing behaviors such as humping other dogs, barking at dogs to get them to play, getting into dog fights, or grabbing other dogs’ ears/tails/necks, they likely need a break from the overstimulating daycare setting. We will want to work on interactions in less overwhelming settings where we can encourage breaks, reward good behaviors, and step in as needed. 

Doggie daycare can have some great potential. But, as you can see, there are factors to consider. Not every dog is meant for every daycare setup. I hope that this blog post has helped you learn about the different types of daycare, what daycare could be a good option for your dog, and behaviors to be mindful of.