If you don’t want to leave your dogs at home all day while you’re at work, dog daycare is the solution! While this is a great option if you don’t want your dog to be cooped up in your home all day, many people still choose not to go this route because they’re scared it won’t be good for their dogs.
The good news? It’s great for your dogs!
One of the most important things in your puppy’s life is that she is properly socialized at a young age. If they are, they’re going to get along with all people and dogs. It’s important that dogs don’t just interact with your family’s dogs, but with stranger’s dogs too. Going out to the park is a great way to do this and meet a lot of new dogs, but they’re only with those dogs for a short amount of time. At dog daycare, they have hours to interact with new, strange dogs. Dog daycare provides a healthy, safe way to interact with other dogs and socialize them so they develop good habits from a young age. It’s similar to allowing your children to partake in sleepovers when they’re young. Taking your dog to daycare and letting your child stay at a friend’s house promotes development—both your dog and child will learn to interact with others (dogs or people) in an encouraging environment.
Interacting with new dogs will help your dog burn off any pent-up energy. If you leave them at home from 9-5 while you’re at work, their energy pools inside them. You get home and you have a crazy dog on your hands. She’s bouncing off the walls because she was in a kennel all day or roaming around the house without any stimulation. At dog daycare, your dog will be stimulated mentally and physically, so you can come home to a respectful, calm member of the family. What owner doesn’t desire that?
Be sure you’re considering your dog’s needs first and foremost. If you have a dog with a mellow personality, be sure to articulate that to staff. They’ll place your dog with a low energy group of dogs that are also calm and quiet. They won’t be overstimulated by higher energy dogs.
If your dog is naturally nervous or anxious, you may think dog daycare might be too stimulating and therefore overwhelming. However, it is important to consider that if your dog is exhibiting signs of nervousness, it’s a good sign that they are developing and becoming bold and confident in new things. Nervous is normal, but many owners will coddle their nervous puppies. Learning to be a confident leader is what they need; they need to build their confidence up while developing. If they don’t, their sensitivities will increase as they age. Sometimes older unsocialized dogs can even become physically ill. Dog daycare is a safe, healthy place to be nervous. Seeing other confident dogs and interacting with them and competent staff will also make them calm, playful, and confident as they play off one another.