Doggy Day Care

[Indie & Sophie's Mom]

Sophie and Indie get lots of exercise in the morning before work, at lunch when I come home, and after work until bedtime, but I still feel bad that they have to be crated most of the day while hubby and I are at work...although they really don't seem to mind it. We are thinking about enrolling them in a doggy day care once a week (maybe Wednesday since it's middle of the week) to give them time to socialize as well as time to play during the day. I can't afford more than one day a week since I have 2 dogs and it's kinda expensive (I also have 3 kids as well so you know what I mean). Does anyone else use a day care for their dogs weekly and how have the dogs liked it?

Also, I'm thinking of letting them have free reign of just the kitchen (which is babygated off from the rest of the house and is linoleum) during the day while we aren't home. Indie still isn't totally housebroken, she still will have a few accidents a week unless taken out every 45 minutes to 1 hour when we're home, but she never has one in the crate. Do you think the kitchen idea is a good one or should we wait a few more months until she has better bladder control? They are now 7 months old, but Indie seems to just be a little bit behind in the housebreaking department. Any comments are welcomed.

[Chewybacca]

IMO wait until they are completly house trained to give any freedom while you aren't at home. You will be confusing them if you have to back track later. I have strong feelings on this because I have a three year old who tends to get "confused" sometimes(my bad for not holding off on giving her freedom when she was a pup, and had to go back to confining her during the day til she got it) If they seem like they don't mind their crates they probably don't. The crate can be a great place to them.

[onesojourner]

daycare is great. It is a very good way to socialize your dog.

[jodi0553]

Last fall we got Currey into a doggy day care that allowed us to bring him anytime without an appointment once he was approved. It was a lifesaver when I was travelling and my husband was working very long days! In our new town, all the doggy day cares tend to separate by size. I understand why, however, they will not place a small dog in the big dog pit and , well, I know my "small" dog - he does NOT know how to pick on someone his own size and is a monster around other small dogs (been known to pin chihuahuas and try to tear the ears off of shih tzus) and he'd never pass the initial evaluation. As you look for a day care, do make sure that they evaluate for temperment and do ask about how the separate by size or activity level. Some will have extensive (and EXPENSIVE) evaluation processes. The one we ultimately chose made the dog's first day there the eval day - you paid for the 1st day, and if the dog failed, you had to come get him at noon, the end.

[chrissysb]

We tried to get Cody into Doggie Day Care but he failed. They seperated by size and he "picked" on the small dogs. I asked if they could put him into a larger group but they said it was their policy.

Where is it that I read: "Cairn Terriers: Large dogs trapped in a small dog's body."

Also - Kinda funny and (Sorry) I walked him down the street once and there was a teacup(?) yorkie. The woman asked if I could stop Cody from bullying her dog. He was just in play mode and was doing the puppy bow. I can't help it if her dog's a wimp J/K!!!

[jimnconnie]

That's the way Bailey is, at the dog park he would prefer to run and play with the big guys instead of the small ones. He would be insulted if he knew he's a small dog!

You should have told that woman to put her "froo-froo" dog back in her purse and keep walking!

[Indie & Sophie's Mom]

Thanks everyone for your responses!!! The daycare I was looking into did say they group by size. I'll have to have a talk with them to see if they can go in with the 'big dogs'. They much prefer playing with black labs, german sheperds, etc over the smaller dogs, guess they know they are a big dog in a small body Can't wait to see how the first day goes, I'll have to let you know.

[BradysMom]

I had Brady enrolled in a daycare for a few months and I loved it while it lasted. Unfortunately, just like others have said, he had trouble getting along with the other small dogs, particularly poodles for some reason. Anyway, even though I asked to have him with the medium/large dogs the daycare workers would forget and eventually he was asked to leave. Pretty upsetting at the time but I found another place where he can stay overnight if he has to. They keep the dogs separated in runs and play/walk/socialize them throughout the day. I wish he could have lasted in the daycare but it just wasn't the right fit. The really amusing part was that he was in the newsletter the week before he was "dismissed" with his best friend another Cairn terrier. I guess it takes one to know one!

[Toby23]

At our dog park, it's divided into two sections. Little dogs are under 35 lbs., big dogs over 35. When we are at the little dog side, Toby will usually find other Terriers to play with. When I take him to the big dog side, the big dog owners are worried and then kind of amazed. When running with the big dogs, if Toby gets under any big dogs he just does a "roll" and comes out of the roll on his feet still running. One of my other dogs is a huge boxer that weighs in arond 90 lbs. I'm sure playing with my boxer gave Toby confidence and experience playing with the big dogs.

[bradl]

Cairns typically get along great with big dogs. One of the historic names in the breed (Cairndania) was a kennel that bred Great Danes and Cairns. I've known a couple people who had Bouviers and Cairns together. A friend recently placed a Cairn with a Leonberger. I love this picture:

[Cairns2]

Great photo, Brad! That brought back wonderful memories for me! Our first dog was a Newfoundland. We also had a Golden/yellow lab mix and then got our first Cairn. The three got along very well and the Cairn gave the two large dogs a run for their money! The Cairn could run fast and do barrel rolls to quickly change direction! The big dogs couldn't keep up with him!

I agree to not leave your dogs uncrated until they are house trained.

Have you looked into a pet sitter? We have one that comes in everyday at lunch time to exercise our 3 Cairns. If it's raining, they watch Animal Planet! I think this is a more affordable option to daycare. They only need a brief exercise period as they sleep all day!

[mrskti]

We're going to texas to see family in a few months, my nephew has a Great Pyranese...I cant wait to see the girls with him. His wife has a mini poodle, i'm sure they will think he's lunch!!!

My friend use to have a dog sitter, she loved it.

[Indie & Sophie's Mom]

Well Sophie & Indie just went to their first day of doggy day care. I found a lady that raises Yorkies and she has a day care out of her house also. She is very good with dogs and she has a huge fenced in yard they will be able to run around in (bonus for them because my yard isn't fenced in) plus she has a large house that is doggie safe. If you can believe this, she also told me that she will give them each a 20 minute massage each time I bring them to her, which will be once a week if all goes well. Sounds like they'll have so much fun there they won't want to come home. I'll let you know how it goes when I pick them up tonight....or if I get a phone call from her earlier than that saying 'Please come & pick up your dogs, they are picking on my Yorkies'...ha.ha.

[ckthomas00]

Hopefully they had a great day and you recieved no phone calls! Bruski had to try several daycare facilities until he found the right one. He got kicked out of one (so sad - I think I posted about it), another he didn't seem to enjoy, but the third is a perfect fit. It is daycare and boarding, so I feel good going out of town and leaving him there. They don't separate the dogs - they run around all together, all day long and Bruski has absolutely no problem getting along with any of them (if he was on a leash, it would be a totally different story).

Also consider a dog walker. We have one that comes 3 days a week and only charges $6 per walk - so its a lot cheaper than doggy daycare.

And I would consider leaving them crated until they are 100% potty trained and can hold it all day - just take the mindset that crating is not forever, and if they don't seem to mind - then you shouldn't!

[Indie & Sophie's Mom]

Great news. Day care is going great. I almost asked her if she was mistaking my dogs for some of the other dogs. She says that they have gotten along well with all the other dogs, they've been very affectionate and haven't barked much at all and they have not had one accident in her house. She also said that her son came home from school and wanted to keep them both because he thought they were so cute. So it looks like this is a true success story and they will be invited back next week, she will also keep them overnight if I ever need her to. She is very reasonable and only charges $10 per dog for the whole entire day, 12 hours, can you believe it. Also, she says they both enjoyed their doggie massage...wish I could get a massage myself