So you want to do doggy daycare

Doggy daycare is not a place for out of control dogs to run amok. It is supposed to be a place where dogs can play with dogs of similar ages and playstyle. If you want to take your dogs to daycare, here are the five things you should really work on at home to ensure the safety of other dogs and your own dogs.

1) Teach them not to rushing a door or gate. This is a safety issue. When dogs are permitted to rush and push through doorways, it greatly increases the chance they may escape, or get into a spat when they run over another dog. This doesn’t mean they have to sit - but they should not be knocking you over or darting through the door.

2) Get them hot for their names. Recalls (calling your dog) when they are distracted is the hardest. Remember recommendation #1? If your dog gets out with no recall - instead of it being an oopsie…it could go much worse.

3) Don’t let your dogs jump up on people. Sounds self explanatory but not only does it actually physically hurt your daycare provider, it wrecks their clothes and in bad weather presents a real and tangible hazard to their health. It’s scary being on an icy surface and having a dog slam into you and praying you don’t get your skull smashed on the ice.

4) Speaking of ice - get your dogs on a front clip harness! I have written a blog post about this, but in daycare having your dogs on a collar is a safety issue. Not only can the dogs yank the person right off their feet, but dogs learn to back out of the collar. And remember #2? Now your dog is off leash with no ability to get them back.

5) Do not encourage your dogs to ‘tell of’ other dogs. This teaches your dog to be pre-emptively aggressive, which can can a simple misunderstanding and escalate it into a borderline dog fight in seconds. If your dog does this, most daycares will not allow them tor return