Does my dog need daycare?

The Issues With Daycare

It is not unusual for dog owners to come to us looking for advice regarding their dogs separation issues or even entertainment during the day. One common question we get is - “should I put my dog in day care?”. To be frank, we would probably say no.

WHY MOST DAYCARES ARE PROBLEMATIC

To be clear, generally people who work with animals LOVE animals! People who work with dogs generally love dogs . However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the resources or experience to navigate working with a large amount of dogs in one area. There are reasons we keep our group walks under an hour of physical group stimulation, with the number of dogs on each walk being able to be counted on one hand. There are reasons our puppy classes are a 60 minutes tops, with a maximum of 5 puppies per class, and there are reasons our puppy socialization sessions run for 30 minutes with 3 puppies or less per supervisor; the ratio between dogs and handlers, the experience and qualification of those handlers, and the length of time spent in high arousal environments, matters. Nobody knows your dog/s like you do, and it can be a big ask for people who are not necessarily trained in the nuances of canine behaviour to be able to pick up on your dogs’ cues.

“BUT MY DOG LOVES DAYCARE!”

... Does that mean it’s good for them? If Poppy’s ears go out the window, and she's panting and scratching at the daycare's door when you arrive, is she in a healthy state of mind? What sort of environment is daycare if she is frantic to go in, and she can barely keep her eyes open when you finally get her in the car at the end of the day? This is a strong indication that they are preparing to be in a state of high-arousal for hours on end, and you are not there to guide their behaviours nor protect them if they are becoming overwhelmed.

REST MIGHT NOT BE AN OPTION IN DAYCARES

We have spoken about rest times in depth on this whānau page and on our main Sit Happens NZ page, not because it is a commonly discussed topic in general with dog guardians, but because it is a critically important one. Dogs need a lot more rest than we do, and a lot of this rest is done during the day. Ask anyone who works a lot from home - was their dog running around playing all day? Quite the opposite. Many dogs rest and occasionally mooch about for the majority of the day. With the 4 week rāhui we experienced, I’m sure many of you got to see that for yourselves. When we put dogs into a daycare environment, it is very unlikely that they are encouraged nor given the opportunities to rest as much as they should be.

WHAT SORT OF BEHAVIOUR MIGHT YOUR DOG BE PRACTICING AT DAYCARE?

As members of the Sit Happens NZ community, you will know how important it is to teach our dogs how to behave in appropriate ways both around other dogs and around people. Unfortunately, if staff are not trained in the nuances of canine behaviour and exactly what appropriate behaviours are, they may be practicing highly undesirable behaviours in your absence. This includes jumping up on staff members and getting rewarded for it, excessive and incessant barking, engaging in inappropriate rough play with other dogs, and even peeing inside - yes, this is indeed a thing. When our dogs are practicing these behaviours when they are in a state of high arousal, we can expect to see these behaviours occurring when they reach a high state of arousal in other environments. If you have used daycare services in the past and found your dog expressing strange behaviours you have never seen in them before, it is a good idea to reflect on why, and how, they developed this ‘new’ behaviour.

WHEN THINGS GO BADLY

A very serious potential issue with day care is how they manage a situation where things go awry, and your dog’s safety is at risk. You absolutely NEED to know what they do in instances where dogs are bullying one another, or worse, two or more dogs get into a fight. Due to the low ratio of staff:dogs in most daycare environments, it is often not possible for humane methods of separating dogs to be practiced. Instead, it is not unusual for daycares to employ hosing the dogs down with high pressure cold water to shock and scare the dogs into stopping. To put it plainly, your dog may be subjected to punishment for being set up in a situation they were critically uncomfortable in, or where their health and potentially lives are at risk. It is our responsibility as guardians and canine professionals to keep the dogs in our care safe. Dogs should not be punished with such severity due to failures in our judgement. It is considered completely acceptable to many people to yell at dogs when they are behaving in ways that we don’t like, even when we put them in that situation without offering the guidance that they need. Of course, we know we want our dogs to feel safe around humans rather than fear them. These are all very serious, and very real concerns we have with daycares.

WHAT CAN I POSSIBLY DO TO PROTECT MY DOGS WHEN DAYCARE FEELS LIKE THE ONLY OPTION?

While we strongly discourage the use of daycares, we understand that every guardian will make decisions that they feel are right for their companion. For people who are insistent on using daycares, we cannot stress enough the importance of transparency. This means you should be able to access information to all staff who work there, including their experience and qualifications; the most basic and ideally required qualification being Pet First Aid. You should be able to ask questions and receive transparent answers. This means you should be able to visit the daycare during working hours prior to sending your dog there and just observe. You should be able to know how the dogs are managed when things go wrong. You should be absolutely certain that every group of dogs has at least one set of eyes on them at all times - and we mean at all times. You should be able to be sure of the amount of dogs in each group and the protocols the daycare goes through to place dogs in each group. You should be able to see your dog resting comfortably and properly.

WHAT COULD I DO INSTEAD?

Supply your dog with mentally stimulating activities and toys to enjoy while you are gone. Use services that are registered as force free trainers to check in on your dog, take them for a group walk, or for a walk & train session. Employ people you know and trust to break up the hours your dog is left alone by visiting them or taking them for a walk. Review our separation distress article to get tips for training your dog to be relaxed when they are left alone. We understand this is a strong stance, but we highly recommend that you exhaust every other option before feeling like daycare is the best thing for your dog. If you are adamant that it is the best thing for you and your companion, screen the daycare and their staff excessively. If they are not willing to answer all your questions and let you view the facilities during working hours, avoid these places at all costs. Honest practices will not deny you this. As canine professionals, we understand the importance of finding trustworthy sources of care for your dog. In our experience, such services when it comes to daycares are few and far between. Be incredibly careful if this is the route you choose even after absorbing this information we have provided. Like you, we truly care about the wellbeing of your dog.

Finally, check out our Talk Happens Live session Here where we go into more depth about issues with daycares.

Also check out This article by Kathleen Crisley, The Balanced Dog, published in NZ Dog World magazine, October 2018

And find more info Here on how to much of a ‘good’ thing can become a bad thing, Emily Larlham, 2018

And another article Here on how Daycare might be quite bad for your dog, Danette Johnston, November 2018

Read Here About The Dangers And What To Consider! (Blog Post, Sit Happens, April 2017)

Lastly, read Here a great article on what to look for if you did choose to bring your dog to Daycare. (Kathy Sdao, Published in the Seattle Times in July 2012)