Doggy Day Care can be a quick fix for a lot of dogs with energy problems but it isn’t right for all dogs. It is important that a day care properly screen dogs before taking them in for group play. The wrong dog can throw off the whole dynamics of a good play group. Here are 5 reasons that a dog may not be an appropriate candidate for doggy day care.
Image by Erin Bessey
5 Reasons Not to Send A Dog To Doggy Day Care
1. Undersocialized
As Patricia McConnell has said, “dogs have different personalities and have had different experiences while growing up.” Depending on the experiences the dog has had growing up, he may not have had enough positive experiences with other dogs. Because of the lack of socialization many clients want to send their dog to daycare to overcome their fear. A fearful dog, however, forced into a group of dogs could become more reactive. Research shows dogs that tuck their tail are 50% more likely to respond aggressively if they are pushed.
2. Bully On The Playground
Some dogs go to daycare and, while they enjoy it themselves, they are making it a terrible experience for others. The daycare bully tends to overwhelm dogs they are playing with by mowing over them, harassing others that have toys and picking on the shy dog.
3. Dogs That Lack Good Social Skills
This could be the dog that is shy and doesn’t know how to appropriately convey that to other dogs and lashes out aggressively. It could also be the dog that fits #2 that doesn’t know how to properly read another dog’s calming signals and may continue to annoy others with their intensity or energy.
4. Easily Overstimulated
The idea behind daycare is to provide a dog with an outlet for their energy. At the end of the day when you pick up the dog he should be pleasantly exhausted. If a dog is easily stimulated, too many days of daycare might have the opposite effect and keep a dog in “go” mode meaning he is full of adrenaline and come home amped up instead of calm. Sending a dog a couple of times a week instead of all 5 days keep the dog from being over stimulated.
5. Does the Dog Want It or Does The Owner Want It?
Dogs that don’t enjoy the company of other dogs could find the daycare experience very unpleasant and further their dislike for other dogs. It may be clear that a dog does not enjoy the day care experience if he repeatedly exhibits inappropriate, anti-social behaviors towards other dogs.
Dogs at different times may exhibit one of these 5 reasons. When it becomes a problem is when they are repeated. Like people, dogs have bad days, but something will need to change if the behaviors listed above continue to show on a regular basis at day care. It might be as easy as switching up the play groups or reducing the number of days the dog goes to day care. Fortunately an appropriate facility will have good training in reading dog body language and will be able to identify the dog that doesn’t belong. Robin Bennett has some great resources for doggy day care businesses.
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