Does your corgi go to doggie day care?

I am thinking about starting Tucker with doggie day care - maybe once a week. (too expensive for more!)

Do you take your dogs to day care? What have your experiences been like?

My boyfriend is home on Mondays and I get out early from work on Fridays - but Tues-Thurs is a long stretch where Tucker is home 7-9 hrs alone (well with the 2 cats!). He is doing a "trial" at one place today -it is nothing facny but smaller/more personal and the owner is great. I've read rave reviews but I think she is usually the only one watching the dogs and that concerns me a bit. The other place we are going to check out is bigger, has a nicer facility and 3-4 ppl watching the dogs. They also have a doggie cam which is cute :)

I am convinced Tucker sleeps alllll day when I am gone. His toys are always in the same exact spot I left them - and he is all yawny and stretchy when I get in but I am sure he would like to have some exercise and stimulation during the day.

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Permalink Reply by Linsey & Grissom on August 21, 2009 at 12:59pm

That would be alarming. I've worked long-term at three, and short-term at two, interviewed at probably ten or so.
I've only seen this at two places. Both paid their employees minimum wage, had very little training, and didn't use water bottles because they "looked bad to customers".
In my mind, that's two too many.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda & Tuck on August 21, 2009 at 1:08pm

Yeah I really hope that is not the norm because I am not ok with physical discipline like that. I figure having the webcams will help prevent that... Glad to hear that your experiences were different.

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Permalink Reply by Linsey & Grissom on August 22, 2009 at 4:34pm

In my experience, it is NOT the norm. Just be sure to ask what methods they use to correct behaviors. If they say "verbal commands" walk away. You and I both know verbal commands don't work in a play group of 20 dogs when the dog does not know or acknowledge you as its' master.

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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on August 23, 2009 at 11:40am

Both of my dogs go to doggie day care ocassionally and the both LOVE it! There are several dog day cares in my area, and my two biggest concerns were cost and safety. I visited several places and ended up at one that was on the higher end of the money scale, but was, in my opinion, the cleanest and safest. There are 3-4 rooms with dogs and someone, at "teacher," is with them every minute! That was huge for me because dog fights can break out fast. There is not an online cam to watch, but the other places around town that had a dog cam didn't keep people in the room with the dog, like the camera was a subsitute for supervision. Last time I checked, a camera couldn't break up a dog fight.

What I love about our dog day care is that it is a small locally owned place (not one of the chains, although I'm sure they can be great too) and there is very little staff turnover. So even if it's been 2 months since my dogs have last been, I can take them and still see people that know my name and their names.

It's funny, I previously worked for about 2 years as a consultant for child care centers, and therefore got to see the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly of the child care world. Every time I dropped my dogs off at their day care, I would go into work and tell my co-workers that I would rather leave my child at the dog daycare than most of the child care centers I walked into!