PAWS TO PLAY! Articles

There are many social trends today that didn’t exist in a significant way 50 years ago. Today, in many families, both spouses work during the day, homes are headed by one parent, kids have lots of after school activities, more interest in animal welfare, and people getting a dog as a "child substitute" and wanting a fuller life for their dogs. Because of these developments, we have seen the innovation of doggie daycare services as a new way of caring for dogs. Those of us in the doggie daycare industry are leading the way to enact these changes. Today, doggie daycare is coming into its own, and traditional kenneling is being forced to evolve. The dog care industry is not yet mature, and so we are all learning new ways of doing business and meeting the needs of dogs and dog owners.

Our Mission

As Pet Professionals, we believe it is our mission to teach our Clients and our Guests (their dogs) better ways to interact, to improve their social skills at home, in public and in order for them to have a safe and happy doggie daycare experience. We are not a traditional "kennel", housing dogs in cages while their owners are away. Our value added services increase the quality of the daily lives of our Guests and Clients.

Our Method

We are a true doggie daycare. Unlike other so-called "doggie daycare" providers, your dog isn't locked up in a cage most of the day. (In some places, your dog will only be out of its kennel for no more than an hour a day... to us, that isn't "doggie daycare".) Your dog will be in supervised play groups, and rotated through a variety of play areas throughout the day.

Your dog will come home calmer, happier, and easier to manage. Plus, you can have the peace of mind knowing your dog is being well cared for.

What happens at our doggie daycare affects what happens with our canine Guests at home, and what happens at home affects what happens with our Guests at our doggie daycare.

If dogs are allowed to be out of control at home, then they will be out of control at our doggie daycare. If we allow dogs to be out of control at our doggie daycare, then they would be out of control at our Client’s homes. No one wants that, and it isn’t fair to our dogs. Therefore, we have developed a set of behavior guidelines, which we call the Rules Of Our House. These Rules are constantly under development. These Rules describe our daily schedule, services offered, business policies, Manners rules for our dog Guests, Client recommendations, and Pet Professional employee duties and responsibilities.

We want our canine Guests, Clients and our Pet Professionals work together as a team. The better we work together, the better our Guests can be taught to interact in a sociable manner, meaning calm and socially appropriate respect for the other dogs, and non-aggressive play, with each other, our employees and our Clients.

Our company provides a wide range of services to our Clients to help them better manage and relate to their pets, including the supervision and training that comes with our doggie daycare and boarding services, and professional dog training and behavioral modification classes. We also provide continuing education to our Pet Professional Staff.

Why Do Dogs Need Doggie Daycare Services?

Dogs are pack animals. They do best, and in fact need, social interaction on a regular basis, to maintain optimum mental and physical health. Doggie daycare provides a safe and fun environment for our Guests to fulfill these needs. Social isolation, such as being left alone for long periods at home, is unhealthy, and in some cases, cruel. Social isolation can cause dogs to become wary of strangers and other dogs, and sets up conditions for dogs to develop behavioral problems such as destructive chewing and digging, obsessive behaviors, anxiety, frustration aggression and excessive attention seeking. We recommend that our Guests spend at least 2 days per month with us in order to maintain good social skills. We recommend doggie daycare even for people who are at home all the time with their dogs.

This program is for you and your dog.

Why Do Our Clients Need Doggie Daycare Services?

The main reasons our Clients need doggie daycare services

Barking dogs, which can be a serious legal problem for homeowners

Can be safer for some dogs with separation anxiety

Continuing Socialization

Don’t want the dog in a traditional "cage" environment

Expending exercise during the stay so the dog is calmer at home

Freedom to travel or be away from the dog

Grooming services

Less mischief at home

Needing a break during the day, so they can spend more time with their families, children or doing personal chores or activities.

Peace of mind, knowing the dog is being supervised while the owner is away

Physical exercise and conditioning

Place for dog while at work, to prevent boredom, destructiveness, pottying in the home, and for recreation

Provided with pick up and drop off services

Safer than using a dog walker, who has keys and unsupervised access to your home

Some dogs are "escape artists", requiring constant supervision when the owners are away.

Training; some customers need additional training support in order for their dogs to be happy

and well adjusted at home

Perceived Downsides For Using Doggie Daycare

Cost

Unfortunately, not everyone can afford our services, even those who need our services. On the other hand, some people can’t afford NOT to put their dogs in doggie daycare. For many dogs, it will be less expensive to use doggie daycare than to have their dogs destroy their homes while the owners are away at work or on vacation.

Greater potential for contracting a disease or getting a parasite

Just like humans, disease is a normal part of living. Most dogs are healthy most of the time, just like us. But they can get occasional "colds", too, and that isn’t some thing to be alarmed about. There is no way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and parasites, and some communicable diseases and parasites have no prevention measures. When you put 2 or more dogs together, then the risk is a dog might contract a disease. However, it is probably more likely a dog will contract a disease playing with dogs in public parks than at our facility since we closely monitor the health of the dogs in our care, and we only let vaccinated dogs into our program. We should also recommend that our Clients maintain a pest control program for their dogs at home.

Hours aren’t convenient for some people

Some people work hours that we can’t service.

More bathing required

When dogs play with one another, then they will get dirtier. That is normal, but a small tradeoff for the peace of mind we offer.

Potential for aggression

Some dogs aren’t suitable for doggie daycare. Dogs are pack animals, so they will use aggression at times. Some dogs have greater potential for aggression than others. On the other hand, we don’t discriminate based upon breed, but on the temperament of the individual dog in question. To us, a good dog is a good dog, regardless of the breed. Further, it is MUCH more dangerous for dogs to go to off leash parks. Dogs at off leash parks are NOT properly supervised and are not part of a stable dog pack. Your dog is much more likely to engage in a serious dog fight at a dog park than at a doggie daycare. We DO NOT recommend that you take your dog to any off leash park unless you are very sure of the dogs there and you can recognize when another dog is approaching your dog in an aggressive manner and know when it is time to leave.

Potential for injuries

Dogs will play roughly, and do stupid things. Though we try to minimize the amount of rough play, dogs will still get sports injuries just like humans. They can also get injuries from an aggressive outbreak. We are much safer, however, than having an amateur manage a dog while the owner is away. We are professionals, and there have been many cases where dogs have been seriously injured or killed being supervised by amateurs.

Separation Anxiety, behavioral issues and physical problems

Some dogs with separation anxiety don’t do well in doggie daycare. In addition, some dogs have other behavioral issues which will make them, or other dogs, unhappy at our facility. Some dogs have medical conditions (heart, kidney, other medical issues, old age, etc.) which limit the dog too much to be a candidate for doggie daycare or boarding.

Daily Schedule

Our doggie daycare has a set schedule to best manage our business, and supervise our Guests. We also maintain a schedule in order to control the behavior of our Guests. A controlled, peaceful environment contributes to the well being of our Guests, and promotes the proper image of our business to the public.

Rules & Techniques

Dogs play hard, and even get into "disagreements" with on another. That is normal and to be expected. What we don’t allow is aggression, or behaviors that could lead to a full blown fight. So, we enforce a set of guidelines for the dogs, to allow them to be dogs, yet not allowing them to harm one another or any person.

Just like you have to teach and enforce sociable behaviors in a daycare for children, we have to teach and enforce sociable behaviors in order to have a fun, safe, well run doggie daycare. The longer our Guests stay with us, the more they can be expected to know our Rules and to respond to our direction and commands.

Types of Remedies and Corrections

We will go over these with our Clients in some detail. If you are unsure of what to do, we recommend that you not attempt to do corrections on your own without personal instruction by our Head Trainer. Be aware, you and your dogs risk injury, perhaps even severe injury, should a dog fight break out and you or anyone else attempts to intervene. We have developed a list of suggested remedies and corrections which we will go over with you as we feel are needed.

Rules For Guests And Owners

In order to have a peaceful and safe environment, we have some rules for our Clients. Some examples are as follows:

- Guests should arrive and leave on a leash.

- Guests and Clients should not interact with other people or dogs through the fence

- Guests should not be allowed to urinate or defecate on the landscaping. We have a designated Potty Area our Guests can use, with bags for our Clients to use for clean up.

- No "Hello" or "Goodbye" for the Guests. We want Guests to be calm and happy at our facility, not painfully yearning for their families, or overly excited when they arrive or leave.

- Clients must keep their on leash dogs 6 feet away from other dogs. Dogs behave differently on leash than off leash. Dogs can get entangled with other dogs.

- NO RETRACTABLE LEASHES. We need Clients to supply us with a 5 foot nylon leash when their dogs Check In. Guests need to arrive and leave on a 5 foot nylon leash. Retractable Leashes can trigger undesirable behaviors. These types of leashes a.) tend to cause dogs to act more aggressively and to pull hard on the leash; b.) are more likely to trigger a fight with another dog since the dog that is straining at the end of the leash looks like it is in attack mode; c.) tend to be purchased by dog owners who do not train or expect their dogs to obey, and who tend to spoil their dogs, causing more aggression and bratty behavior; d.) undo most of the important aspects of obedience training and leadership over a dog, especially obeying around distractions and coming when called, and over time they teach a dog to charge after other dogs, animals and even people; e.) are hard to control once the dog is at the end of the line, and can get caught in the leashes of other dogs, increasing the potential for a biting or attack incident; f.) do NOT cause the dog to get more exercise on the walk; g.) can cause a dog to run away, because if you accidentally drop the leash handle, many dogs will run from the plastic handle "chasing" them from behind and that could cause the dog to run into traffic and die.

Evaluations

All regular Guests will receive a Behavioral Evaluation And Training Recommendation by our Head Trainer.

We assume all dogs are a bit nervous when first checking in. A worried dog is more likely to bite, be bitten, or get injured. Your job, as a Client, is to take control through being a calm leader... not by brute force. Our Guests will relax more quickly if you are calm and organized... and trained. If your dog hasn't had any training, or is in need of a tune up, then please enroll in one of our training classes. This will make the doggie daycare experience happier for you and your dog. All untrained dogs are less happy and secure, and the owners of untrained dogs are usually too rough or indulgent with their dogs.

Training Sometimes Required

Some dogs must be currently enrolled and participating in one of our dog training classes in order to be accepted into our doggie daycare program. These dogs require special handling and supervision. Please consult with our Pet Professionals for our handling or Training recommendations. When in doubt, or if you are having issues with your dog, please contact our Head Trainer.