DoggieZine: Day Care For Dogs

DAY CARE FOR DOGS - -
A GOOD THING?
The following are guidelines, suggestions and observations from my own personal experience in owning and operating a dog day care. I also sent out a questionnaire to several day care centers across the U.S. and Canada. I asked six questions pertaining to issues raised in this article to see if other day care facilities were having similar experiences to mine. These day care facilities ranged from small centers with 12 dogs to very large facilities with 70 dogs. Several of these centers have been open since the early 1990's.

When referring to specific breeds in this article, the observations apply to mixes of these breeds as well. Of course, we are usually speculating as to what breeds are in a mixed-breed, but I have found specific behavior traits and tendencies usually give the mystery of lineage away. And, as with almost everything in life, there are exceptions to every rule! Please excuse the use of the word "owner" in this article. It was used simply for ease of understanding.

The Day Care Environment:

The dog day care is a high-stimulation, high-stress environment with humans having limited ability to correct unwanted behaviors. Positive reinforcement using rewards (verbal, food, toys, access to other dogs) seems to be the only means of compliance for "good" behaviors in this environment. Because the dog is not wearing a leash or any type of consequence/correction apparatus, if the dog does not want to do something you cannot physically make him.

The Pros & Cons:

PROS:

Young dogs (under 2 years) can develop excellent canine social skills and manners. The enormity of the importance of a well-socialized dog cannot be under rated. It can certainly make the difference between life and death.
Exercise and socialization! The majority of dogs surrendered to animal shelters are adolescents who were obtained as puppies then never trained (taught basic manners), socialized appropriately or provided adequate exercise. These surrendered dogs are now physically bigger and therefore harder to control (you can't pick up that 60 pound dog like you could the 10 pound puppy). These dogs are "out of control" doing what are generally normal but unwanted canine behaviors such as jumping up, chewing, barking and digging out of boredom etc. Generally, a tired, well-exercised dog is a well-behaved dog. Clients pick up a manageable dog from a day at dog day care. The owner's frustration with a wound-up dog is relieved and she can then spend relaxed time enjoying her dog. Possibly, keeping the dog out of a shelter.

CONS:

The dogs' human supervisor at the day care has no real physical control over the dogs. The supervisor has only voice control (which is mostly ineffective) and at some facilities, water and/or citronella squirt bottles, both of which can only temporarily halt unwanted behaviors. The human supervisor must be adept at using positive reinforcement methods.
Day care is NOT FOR EVERY DOG and probably even detrimental to some.

So who should attend dog day care and who should not?

Dogs that do well in day care:

Young dogs (under 2 years).
Well-socialized, easygoing adult dogs that still like to play. They don't have to want to play constantly like many of the adolescents but should enjoy playing when they want to.
In general (there are always exceptions), sporting breeds -- retrievers, spaniels, pointers etc… seem to do the best and gain the most from the experience. These tend to be friendly, social, happy-go-lucky types with high exercise requirements.
Dogs who have had some sort of basic training and a familiarity with basic commands. Prior to acceptance to my day care all dogs must meet certain requirements including being spayed/neutered, vaccinated according to their veterinarian's specifications, and not toy or food protective to an unmanageable extent. I also require an evaluation. Here I meet with the dog during off hours so the dog can become acquainted with the environment without being bombarded with ten other dogs immediately. I will generally have only one or two other dogs present. At this time, I go through basic commands to see where the dog is training-wise.
There are several basic commands that are extremely helpful in the day care environment. The "wait" command is one of them. There is a picket-fence enclosure inside the front door of my facility where the dogs must "sit" and "wait" when they first enter day care. Talk about distraction training; when your 10 best dog pals are clamoring inside for you, sitting and waiting is not an easy task - but the reward is exceptional! "Leave-it" is another command that is helpful in numerous situations especially in fight-prevention. Often I can spot a dog do what I call "tailing" a dog where they are constantly following the other dog, sideling up to them, hovering, striking dominant postures etc. Simply saying "leave-it" to a dog that understands the command has curtailed many "tailing" incidents from escalating. "Out" or "drop it" is also useful. I have one regular day care dog who I always hope is the dog who ends up with the whatever in her mouth because she is so adept with "out." She has consistently dropped any item from her mouth, food items included, surrounded by other dogs, on command. Several of the other day care facilities questioned also stated if dogs had a firm "sit-stay" and "quiet" command, their lives would be much less stressful!

Since many dogs know different words for different actions, it is important to have the owner write down their commands and descriptions on the application and for the day care supervisor to know them. We offer obedience classes and private training at our facility and I strongly urge my day care clients to (at least) attend Basic Obedience. There is an obvious difference between the dogs that are worked with on a consistent basis and those who are not.

Dogs that do NOT do well in day care: (once again, there are always exceptions but for the most part…)

When interviewing other day care facilities I received a variety of answers on particular breeds that tended to not do well in day care. Many seemed to have similar experiences to myself as discussed below. I also heard from several contributors that age seemed to play a bigger role on acceptance of the day care environment than even breed did. I agree with that completely. Many dogs of "difficult" breeds did quite well if started in day care early (4-5 months old).
Herding breeds. These dogs need specific, structured activity. These dogs tend to spend the majority of their time at day care trying to control the other dogs and their activities. The herders also have a tendency to be overly toy protective in day care. In general, there is usually just too much chaos in this environment for the herding dog to deal with.
Dogs who have high-arousal tendencies. Pit-bulls, rottweilers, and some terrier breeds (and mixes thereof), seem to be the most often seen examples of this type of dog. These are the dogs that go after any thing in their path when there is any type of disruption in the environment, namely entrances or exits of any other dog or human. Some of these dogs can do fine if removed (crated or put in another room) when someone new comes into the environment. I have also had success with these dogs if they know (and follow consistently) a "leave it" command. If not removed or strictly voice-controlled, they can get "amped" and the result is usually high-arousal, re-directed aggression towards the dog closest to them. You do not want these dogs in this environment unless you have an experienced staff (see side bar article "Tips For a Successful Day Care")
Dogs with toy or food guarding tendencies.
Un-neutered males or females. Or males who were neutered late, usually after maturity, which varies from breed to breed and dog to dog but is usually somewhere between 2 and 4 years old. These dogs tend to still behave like un-neutered males and have trouble or start trouble with other males, whether the other dog is neutered or not.
Dogs with true separation anxiety. Many owners with these dogs think the solution is to have them with other people and dogs when the owner cannot be around. This doesn't work. The dog is usually attached to that specific person and still displays severe anxiety in day care (panting, pacing, whining…). These dogs cannot be consoled or distracted by other people or dogs; they seem blind to the activities around them and are usually focused on finding an escape route.
Some older dogs. Many older dogs do really well in day care. They are relaxed, play games with the other dogs and have fun. These dogs are a much needed asset in regards to fairly and appropriately correcting younger dogs and teaching them good dog skills. For some older dogs however, it is just too stressful an environment. If there is a separate space/room for these dogs to go (and get away from the teenagers for a while) many do well. The question here is does this particular dog enjoy this environment or is he here simply to relieve the owner's guilt?

Tips for a successful day care environment:

A variety of ages. A play group with only 10 month olds would be a disaster. Older, higher-ranking dogs (who are well-socialized and fair) are needed to dole out corrections when necessary. They do a much better job of effectively and appropriately correcting than any human I've ever seen.
A variety of males and females. The only serious fights I have seen this environment have always been between a male and a male or a female and a female. Scuffles and fights generally occur between dogs close in status (age, size, and sex) or a persistent lower-ranking dog who is constantly testing a higher-ranking dog for position and will not back down when corrected.
Some dogs need a forced rest. Some dogs simply will not stop and will become tired and cranky (and less tolerant of others) unless crated for a nap. It is a huge plus for a day care dog to be comfortable and happy in a crate, thereby allowing him to take stress-free breaks. Almost all of the day care facilities polled (mine included) used "time-outs" of various lengths (depending on the dog) to calm dogs down and to curb unwanted behaviors.
For most dogs, attending day care 2 or 3 days a week is a maximum. More than 2 or 3 days is simply too much stimulation for most dogs. Varying the dog's activities with day care and easy leashed walks or shorter off-leash exercising on alternating days seems ideal for the majority of dogs.
A well-educated staff! It is extremely important to have a staff that is knowledgeable in dog behavior and especially in reading canine body language. Dog play can sometimes look extreme, even violent, to people who are not familiar with normal dog behavior and I've seen people intervene at all the wrong moments. I have seen people reprimand, even "correct" an older, higher-ranking dog from disciplining a younger (usually adolescent), lower-ranking dog thereby confusing both dogs. I have seen very few actual "fights" where blood has been drawn but I have seen hundreds of episodes of normal canine spats or what I like to refer to as a dog getting "told off" by another dog for his inappropriate or rude behavior. It is imperative that the staff can tell the difference between normal and inappropriate (or potentially dangerous) canine behaviors. It is simply not enough just to have a "love of dogs"; the staff must understand them.

About The Author:

Danette Wells is a Licensed Veterinary Technician and dog trainer who owns and operates dog's day out, a dog day care and training facility in Seattle, WA. She is a member of The North American Veterinary Technician Association and The Association of Pet Dog Trainers and along with her shepherd-mix pal, Georgia, a certified Pet Partner's Therapy Team.