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Choosing a Doggie Daycare
Choosing a quality doggie daycare takes some time, your advocacy on behalf of your dog and understanding of what to look for to meet your dog’s needs.
Not all doggie daycares are created the same which can contribute to behavior concerns your dog develops as a result.
If you’re not sure of your dog’s play style, observe your dog interacting and know what your dog likes and doesn’t like! This will help you determine environment and what dogs can be a good match for yours.
By taking the time to do this, you will for sure minimize the opportunity for miscommunications to happen during play.
A good option is to ask the doggie daycare itself if they have separate play areas for dogs. This will give you a good indication that the manager/owner of the establishment understands dog body language and what to look out for too.
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Make sure and ask if the dogs have the opportunity for breaks! Dogs need some down time during the day. In particular, puppies need upwards of 20 hours of sleep a day, so if a daycare is being utilized while you’re at work, find out if they will follow a schedule and routine you follow at home.
Following a routine can help your dog adjust to a new environment since your dog will know what to expect which helps them to feel safe.
Introduce the doggie daycare establishment slowly to your dog. This may feel like an inconvenience at first since you’ll be going for short periods of time and observing your dog in the environment, but it will pay off in the long run in setting your dog up for success.
You can observe how your dog interacts with other dogs and see how your dog adapts to the new environment.
Also, by going for short periods of time, you are leaving on a high note which leaves your dog wanting more.
Establish a relationship with your dog’s caretakers. They will be the ones who are gifted with the responsibility of taking care of your dog in your absence. Building trust and maintaining open lines of communication can be helpful in times of an emergency or foster a long lasting friendship too!
Find out how you can set your dog up for success even when you’re not around.
No Scary Needles Here!!
Teaching your dog not only to tolerate husbandry and grooming procedures, but also to be a consenting individual into the process.
This is a practice that begins at home with you which is a low stress environment.
Gaining cooperation from your dog can help you and your dog check out:
✅ Wounds
✅ Bumps
✅ Tick or other foreign object removal from fur
✅ Mouth handling, so you can check teeth for chips or breaks
✅ Paw handling
✅ Injections
First is building in your dog feeling relaxed and the relaxation protocol is a great foundational skill.
Encouraging your dog to target a mat or towel and giving the space so when your dog needs a break they can exit. When they return, then this is an indication you can begin again. After a second exit, then end the session and practice again later.
Since dogs can’t speak, they can exercise their choice by removing themselves from the situation. This will help them regain their feelings of safety before they make the choice to begin again.
When your dog targets the mat with you next to it and with whatever posture your dog takes (sitting, laying down, standing), then you can approach your dog with your hand moving slowly toward your dog. If your dog looks at your hand simply withdraw your hand and go a bit slower. When your dog looks away, reward. Slowly and gradually move your hand closer and reward when your dog remains relaxed.
After a few seconds of practice, you can toss some treats away from the mat to encourage your dog to take a break. Observe and if they make the decision to come back, then this is the indication your dog is ok to move forward.
Also, by keeping the practice short (seconds at a time) your dog will be able to build on feeling relaxed when time is gradually increasing without feeling overwhelmed which would lead your dog to having a harder time coming back to the practice.
Once your dog is comfortable with the hands coming towards him or her, then you can introduce a new body part to be gradually touched.
In addition, when your dog is comfortable with touching on different parts of the body and even squeezing the skin between the shoulder blades or on the back leg to help your dog get used to injections then you can introduce an instrument such as a ball point pen to simulate a syringe and needle.
There are many ways of performing cooperative care. The goal is ensuring your dog is comfortable and giving consent to take the next steps.
When you break down the experience into bits and introduce them separately, then your dog will feel more control over the environment and it will help them accept all of the pieces together.
Get your Discovery Call scheduled so you can also learn how you can achieve the same cooperation.
Cooperative Care: Giving Your Dog Choice and Control
Four Paws & You Dog Training 