# Doggie daycare



## Lindsey1420 (Jan 28, 2012)

I want to take Jack to puppy daycare, but my husband is against it. I work Monday-Friday. My husband works shift work. I only would take Jack on the days that we are both at work, which would two days a week. (Which it actually probably all we could afford! haha). He is against it because he says that no one else is going to take care of Jack, BUT it is ok to leave Jack with his sister and her kids for an evening. And it is ok for her to keep Jack for the day! So I asked him what are we going to do with Jack when we go on family vacation with his family. He said "Kennel him." So let someone else take care of him?! He had nothing to say. He makes no sense sometimes with his agruements. I think that doggie daycare would be good for Jack. He will have interaction with other dogs and people and he wont have to stay in his kennel all day. 

How can I get him to agree to doggie day care? I might just take him anyway. Chris leaves way before me and gets home after me!!


----------



## OttosMama (Oct 27, 2011)

I highly recommend Doggie Daycare. Primarily because whether or not anybody likes it, we have to work and when we are at work Otto is home in the crate. So Mon/Wed/Fri we bring him there while we are at work and Tues/Thurs our schedules work out so that he is only alone in the crate for about 3-4 hrs. Otto loves to play and is well socialized and even more so now that he attends the daycare. He is also very calm and content once he comes home on those days so it gives us a break after our own work days. I think everyone wins. I am never fearful of Otto being around other dogs because of it - only if the other dog's temperment is questionable. 

I can understand your husband's reservations though. The place we bring Otto to was highly recommended to us by a friend's parent so I felt somewhat more at ease than I would of if I was just trying a place out without any prior knowledge of their business.

Good luck! Hope you guys can find a common ground!


----------



## Vida (Dec 26, 2011)

How about a dog walker?
I pick up dogs and walk them while their owners are at work
This suits a lot of people and dogs. And it's usually cheaper than day care.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

I don't know what I would do without daycare. I take Ruby all of the time and I work from home! I am on the phone all day so I can't deal with her running around all day. We started sending her at 5 months old (14 months now) and I think made her the sweet dog she is. 

She is treated like a queen there and is wiped out when she gets home. Daycare is not too pricey where I am at $11/day. 

Maybe have your husband see the daycare. We can watch Ruby all day on a webcam and she is always playing but they do get nap time and lunch in indivual kennels. That may help convince him


----------



## pippa31 (Aug 2, 2011)

I think the key is finding a really good daycare and/or dog walker that YOU TRUST. We started Pippa with 3 days a week at daycare and 2 days with an off-leash dog walker. Pippa was bit by another dog her second week of daycare and we almost pulled her out (then the daycare kicked out the dog that bit her), and to be honest, I have not been happy with our daycare the way I am with our dog walker (he does awesome off-leash walks for an hour and a half in the morning and then she is crated until I get home at 3:30 to walk her again. Plus she goes crazy when she sees him ). We have since decreased our daycare days to 1 and now I want to quit it entirely. Pippa often comes home from daycare going crazy in our backyard. That never happens on days she has the dog walker and my walk (and she is crated for longer - a total of 4 and a half hours). 

I think a good daycare for dogs is a wonderful idea (socialization, they aren't as bored during the day, etc.), but a bad daycare can ruin a good dog.


----------



## tracker (Jun 27, 2011)

Ruby, where abouts do you live, and what is the name of the daycare? That is a very reasonable price, any daycare I have come across was over $20 a day.


----------



## finch (Sep 19, 2011)

We take Finch to daycare about 2x a month b/c we live about 40 minutes away so we can't get there more often. I highly recommend it if you can find a reputable place, like others here have said. Ours came recommended by a number of dog-loving friends (including one who works for the local humane society) and since they post periodic videos of the dogs playing on Facebook, I spend some time watching those before we ever brought Finch. We are in Maine, and our place is $15/day and only $10 for a 1/2 day (up to 5 hours) and they have frequent visitor cards too. We always do the 1/2 day b/c we drop her off while we are running errands in town so she doesn't have to wait in the car. Between the daycare and the dog park, Finch is a really well-socialized dog and I think it is actually great for her to have a time to socialize without her "parents" around like we are at the dog park. I trust the owners and employees of the daycare, so I don't worry when I leave her. Sometimes my friends and I plan ahead to bring our dogs on the same day so they can play together. I have also brought her to a recommended daycare in Burlington, VT a couple times when on vacation visiting friends and they are $13/day, 6am-6pm, so depending where you live, you might just need to search around for a more affordable place.


----------



## Lindsey1420 (Jan 28, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I think taking my husband there might change his mind. There are only two daycares that are close to my work. One of them was recommended by an attorney at work. This place also has a video camera that you can log in and watch. Which is nice, but where I work its like we are in pre-school. The only thing on our computers is the program we use to do our work. This daycare is $30. The second one has been around for a long time and some people hate it and some people love it. They are only $17 I think. I havent visited this one yet. 

I dont know about a dog walker. Never thought about that. I will have to check and see if there is anyone around here for that. I see my husband not liking that idea either too, because it they will be in the house when no one is here.


----------



## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

We take Riley to daycare almost every Saturday so we can do our grocery shopping and go to the movies, etc. Our veterinarian said that we are really doing the right thing by him because Riley won't tolerate a crate well. I love the daycare we go to. The staff are all animal behaviorists and they all love Riley. Downside, just like taking your child to a daycare, they can get sick. Riley got bordatello and got REALLY sick. But it really wasn't the daycare's fault. It's a highly contagious disease and if they have a dog with any symptoms they are quarantined immediately. His day care is open 7 days a week from 7AM to 7PM. Don't know what we would do without them.


----------



## RustyBear (Jul 25, 2011)

I think daycare is a fantastic option for those of us that work full time. We started taking Rusty to daycare once/week when he was just a pup and he LOVES it. We also have done Puppy Kindergarten and Obedience Class at this place so he is really familiar with it and the trainers. I would like to bring him 2x a week... and we do when the weather forecast inst great... but it does cost $$$, $30/day. Rusty literally sleeps on the way home from daycare...comes in and gets some food and then sleeps in his kennel or in our laps the rest of the night until the following morning. We swear by daycare We bring him Wednesdays so we get a mid week break to get some stuff done in the house...or lay on the couch and be lazy with him
It's been great for his socialization skills.... we never worry about him greeting other dogs when we go to dog parks because he knows how to "play" with them already.
Good luck and I hope you can convince him to take your pup


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

tracker said:


> Ruby, where abouts do you live, and what is the name of the daycare? That is a very reasonable price, any daycare I have come across was over $20 a day.


I'm in Tampa, FL. I guess I am lucky that daycare is so cheap for me especially since Ruby goes 4 days a week.


----------



## luv2laugh (Oct 6, 2011)

Wow! We really overpaid. Oso did doggy day care when he was a puppy, it was $40 a day. It was run at a home and they got several outings a day. 

The first time Oso came back with a cactus prick (now, I think we would have shrugged), HOWEVER, that was his first time ever with any kind of boo boo, he was our baby and we had to dig it out with tweezers. No fun!! He really was a baby, not even 4 months old. 

The second time, Oso came back with lots of energy. We thought maybe, they crated him too much so he wouldn't get a cactus prick again. When I asked, they said not at all. But, I wasn't content, I knew how tired he was after we played with him and took him on a walk and it didn't add up. We had to tire him out AFTER daycare. The trust was gone.

We hired a dog walker and she left detailed notes about their walks/runs through the park and Oso was a tired dog. Then our schedule changed and we didn't need it. The dog walker was great though!

I have looked at other daycares in our area which I like a lot less than the one we brought him to. He won't be able to go for a while now though, even if we wanted him to because he's not neutered and we are waiting until he's a bit older.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Here is where I take Ruby. It is a franchise and located in other states besides Florida:

http://www.preppypet.com/locations.html


----------

