Doggy Day Care for Puppies

[EmmaJ]

Hi all, has anyone every put their puppy into doggy day care and if so from what age?

[Digger]

Hi Emma
I have never used doggy day care but I can't imagine that it would be a very good idea for a puppy- especially a Velcro cocker!
I believe it is extremely important to develop a really strong bond of protection and security for your little pup who will be away from its mum and litter mates and in a strange new place. It needs plenty of time to settle in and to know who it's new family is, and all its new experiences (and all the socialization trips you have to do especially In the first 16 weeks) need to take place against a background of consistency and comforting routine.
  I would imagine that doggy day care while it is still young could be a bit confusing for it and depending on its character, possibly upsetting (mine has a little whimper every time I go upstairs to the bathroom!). I'm sure doggy day care for some dogs can probably be fun for them but I don't know about a young Velcro cocker puppy.
  Just as a comparison, when we got our pup, I had 2 weeks off work and cancelled all my appointments. I only work part time anyway, and there is only a 2 hr gap between me going out and my husband coming in. I devoted the first 8weeks  of having the pup to heavy socialising, taking her everywhere with me so she could see every different type of environment possible- town, traffic, etc and be handled by as many different types of people as poss. Even with all this, when she was 6 months I realised she was scared of cars(we are rural so don't see many) so I have recently been re-doing traffic watching and pavement walking, which she is much better with now.
Our pup is fantastic with people of all kinds and dogs of all kinds but not without a massive effort on our part to make sure she was exposed to lots of new people, dogs and places daily. It is hard work but time put in now should make a fairly bombproof dog for the rest of her life.
I personally wouldn't want someone else to be looking after my pup at such an important formative stage in her life. Even though they drive you mad, it is nice to know exactly what has happened to your dog so far. This is just my opinion. I don't speak tor anyone else and I am not criticising doggy day care, just it's suitability for a very young cocker.
  I'm sure someone will be along soon with the other side of the coin, which will help you to see both sides of the issue!
Best of luck with your little furry friend. 

 

[EmmaJ]

Thanks Digger. We never had any intention of putting her in doggy day care but my husbands flexibility to work from home has changed after we committed to getting her. We have managed to work out the next 6 weeks so one of us is at home every day. I really don’t like the idea of her going to doggy day care but it might be an option we have to explore

[bizzylizzy]

Have to agree wholeheartedly with Digger, although sorry, it probably doesn‘t help you much! Hope you can find a solution though. Would it be worth asking your breeder for advice?

[Mina]

Hi Emma,

My Mina, now 1.5 years old, has been going to doggy day care from a very early age, I think she started there at 12-13 weeks. I have had a very good experience with it. The interaction with many other dogs there helped build her self confidence and become a more sociable pup (she was very shy when we got her 8 weeks). This was important also because where we live, there are not so many possibilities to socialise with other pet dogs (our neighbours mostly keep dogs for hunting purposes (in cages ) or as guard dogs...). She still goes there 3 times a week because I work full time and my husband has a part time job but sometimes has to be out for up to 6 hours, so on those days Mina stays at what has become her second home. She loves it there and I am happy that she gets to play with other dogs a few days a week as she seems to enjoy it and being an "only child" she does not have that possibility at home   

I think we have been lucky also to find this particular doggy daycare. It is actually a family who look after the dogs at their home and treat each and every one of them like their own. It would be good if you have recommendation on a good place from someone you know.

Good luck! Keep us posted on how it goes!

[Leo0106]

Hi emma,
Our pup is 16 months old (am I still allowed to call him a pup?!?)
I have always worked from home however in the past few months I have had to be out of the house 7-6 on a few days and with my partner being away I had no choice but to sort something out for Leo's care.

It's worked really well for us , however, a few things that were really important for both me and leo:
-ive always made sure i have built up his time away from me extremely slowly and over a long time.. he's a bit clingy so dosnt like me leaving him with people  (but ironically is fine being left alone in the house!)
-i set a routine of making goodbyes brief and hellos amazing
.. so he feel the praise of being greeted and dosnt feel sad that I leave
- leo is left in day care with our dog trainer. He's known the trainer since 12 weeks old.  She knows EVERYTHING about him, because she's also his behaviourist    this has had (I believe) a really positive impact on him being so happy at day care..  You need to ensure he knows who the person is.. and the person knows him as well as you do.
-i built up day care from an initial hour, up to a half day, then a full day.

Totally understand your predicament as I'm going through the same issue myself at the moment but I hope if you do need to go down that route then these points help

[EmmaJ]

Mina & Leo, thank you so much for your lovely responses I feel better about the doggy day care & that others have had positive experiences of it. We want to build her time up to eventually do 3 full days per week. 

[Gazrob]

Have you thought about a dog sitter who will come and look after your dog at home? Then at least he will still be in his own home.