Doggie Daycares

Doggie Daycares
By Robert Forto, PhD

People in Denver Colorado love their pets. Per capita Denver has one of the highest dog-to-owner ratios in the country. Dog owners in Denver make a higher wage on average than the rest of the major cities in this country and they pamper their pets. When I moved to Colorado from Duluth, a small town of 85,000 in Northern Minnesota, I had never heard of a doggie daycare. I could not fathom such a thing. Take your dog to a place where they run and play all day. Was there nap time? Did they finger-paint? Did they provide snacks? All joking aside, doggie daycare in Denver is a big business. If you do a search on the Internet you will literally find scores of them. This week’s article is how to pick a doggie daycare which is right for you, and more importantly right for your dog. Denver Dog Works is a training school in Colorado. While I would be reticent to say that all doggie daycares are created equal. I would be wrong. Denver Dog Works offers a daycare of a different sort. We offer day boarding. A little different than your typical daycare but I will let you decide for yourself.

How will I know which daycare is the best one for my dog?

Ask questions. Visit multiple facilities. Talk to the staff and go with your instincts. Is the environment calm and controlled? Do the dogs seem stressed or happy? Are the staff members interacting with the dogs? If not, they cannot know them well enough to detect or avoid trouble. Do they offer any sort of training or is it just a free-for-all. Is the daycare sufficiently staffed? Are the staff certified trainers or are they just seven dollar an hour college kids? Does the daycare have a screening process? If they do not demand proof of vaccinations from you, they are not requiring it of anybody else. Does the daycare have a relationship with a veterinarian that is close by? Are there specific strategies in place for handling problems as they arise? Is the daycare a member of the American Boarding Kennel Association? Are they licensed by the State? In Colorado, dog daycares, training schools, and boarding kennels are supposed to be licensed by the State Department of Agriculture. In order to be licensed a daycare must have a yearly inspection and meet stringent requirements in order to qualify. You would be surprised how many daycares and training schools are not. Do your homework!




How do I find a daycare in my area?

Word of mouth is a great reference. Search the Internet, ask your veterinarian, or check the local yellow pages. Once you find facilities you think you will like, go visit! The most important factor for choosing a daycare is its suitability for your dog and your instincts about the facility.

The trend in American society today seems to be work, work, work, and this requires leaving the loyal family dog at home for extended periods of time. Owners then come home to find a stressed out pooch, rampant destruction, either of the house, or the yard, and neighbors who complain of barking and howling due to separation anxiety. After working your 10 to 12 hours, you then need to exercise your pet— even in inclement weather. You have heard about dog daycare. You are thinking about it, but you aren’t sure it is right for you and your dog? This article is designed to give some insight into the growing trend of dog daycare facilities and their benefits, to help you decide if daycare is for you and your dog, and to help you choose the best option for your dog’s needs.

So what is doggie daycare?

It works just like daycare for children. Drop your dog off in the morning on the way to work, and while you slave away, your pampered pooch is pampered indeed! Dog daycare is an organized, controlled and monitored environment, in which a group of friendly dogs, from multiple families, can interact and play throughout the day in an enclosed building or yard. Depending on both your dog’s activity level and the curriculum set by the daycare owners, your dog may enjoy the day by playing with other dogs, playing with people, inside or outside, or whiling away the hours ensconced on somebody’s couch, getting loving attention. There is a daycare for every kind of dog, and it’s important to find one that fits the needs of your dog the best.

How do I know if daycare is right for my dog?

Most dogs that have had prior social experiences with other dogs will enjoy attending daycare. You may not know if your dog is a good fit for daycare until you apply and the facility performs its temperament test. Professional daycare managers will provide an assessment of your dog’s fit to their facility and recommend the best way to integrate them into the routine of the existing pack. Daycare is not a fit for all dogs. Some dogs do fail temperament testing due to aggression that is often fear based. Other dogs pass testing, but exhibit more stress than enjoyment when attending daycare. Some of these issues can be resolved with behavior training, so discuss your dog’s needs with the daycare manager.

How much does dog daycare cost?

Costs can vary widely, from a few dollars to $30 or more a day, depending on the provider and whether the daycare is operated out of a private home or a multi-staffed, full service facility. Some daycares offer pre-pay packages and others are simply pay as you go. Do not select your daycare by cost alone. The lowest priced daycare may not be suitable for your dog.

Facility specifics

A fully staffed facility offers much for a social dog. The number of dogs participating each day at these facilities often ranges from less than ten to eighty or more, all ready to make friends. The staff, whom are not always trained in canine behavior, keep the dogs busy with indoor or outdoor play, or even, in some cases, happily munching snacks and treats, and watching movies made just for the entertainment of dogs. Activities might include “hide and seek’’, or “tag’’, or anything that canine minds can come up with. Many facilities provide a variety of toys and balls to enjoy, and some even have swimming pools!

How do I know if the daycare facility is safe for my dog?

When asking questions of potential facilities, confirm that staff supervises each playgroup at all times. Inquire as to how many dogs each staff member supervises. This ratio can vary from as little as 1:10 to as many as 1:20 based on the comfort level of the operator. It will depend on the physical set-up, specific group of dogs at play and the experience level of the staff.

Ask how dogs are separated into playgroups. To minimize risk of injury, dogs should be separated
based on play style, size and age. Inquire as to how dog incidents are handled and how many injuries have occurred in the facility. Keep in mind that accidents and injuries can happen in all facilities. Dog daycare is like a child’s playground, and by allowing dogs to play together there is a risk of injury. Make sure you are comfortable with the testing process at the facility and their responses regarding handling of dog incidents. Be sure you are comfortable that escape risks are minimal at the facility. You should see multiple doors within the facility to the playrooms and secure high fences around outdoor play yards. Ask the daycare what their policy is regarding dogs wearing collars during play. If collars are worn, what is their safety plan if dogs’ mouths get caught during play? Make sure managers are happy to answer all of these questions and explain their safety policies and their reasons for them. Staff should be trained to deal with any outbreak of aggression that might result and most facilities have a standing agreement with a local veterinarian should an emergency arise. In all daycares, dog owners should present proof of current vaccinations, and all should be healthy to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and parasites. Dogs are temperament tested in most cases to ensure the safety of all the canine attendees.

The Difference

Denver Dog Works offers daycare in a different sort. We offer what we call day boarding. While the underlying concept is the same: you drop your dog off at our school on the way to work and pick him up at the end of the day, the similarities end there. Our staff at Denver Dog Works are certified canine trainers with a solid background in canine behavior and training. We understand pack dynamics and will only allow dogs to “play” or socialize after a proper introduction. Denver Dog Works is licensed by the State of Colorado and adheres to its strict standards. Not to say that many dog cares do not. But we cannot afford not to. We follow the policy which states that there must be at least one adult for every fifteen dogs present at all times and under direct supervision.
Denver Dog Works is a training school. Each day that a dog stays with us in our day boarding program they are trained using basic obedience. Each dog is brought out of his kennel each hour and we work on obedience, socialization, walks around the block, and most importantly supervised socialization. We keep a training file on each dog that day boards with us and we can develop a training plan and set realistic goals. Each day notes are tabulated so that we can determine progress with your dogs training each day he is with us.
The dogs in our day boarding program are allowed to rest alone in a kennel not forced to run around non-stop for hours on end. We work with a local veterinarian and all of our staff is certified in canine first aid and C.P.R. We care about all the dogs entrusted in our care and our commitment to their life-long learning shows.
If you would like more information on our day boarding program please do not hesitate to check out our website at www.denverdogworks.com or give us a call at 303-752-2180 anytime.
Dr. Robert Forto, is the training director of Denver Dog Works in Colorado and he specializes in canine aggression. He supervises all training programs at Denver Dog Works and instructs people how to become a certified dog trainer.

Source: abka.com