Doggie Daycare

[Darth Denkay]

Hi all. Thought I'd toss in my thoughts on boarding facilities. Now, Friskyfemme, I don't know what sort of facility you used, so this may not really be applicable to your situation. Even so, I wanna toss this out.

I will not board my dog at a facility that is not devoted primarily to boarding. I worked at a vet clinic for 10 years. I don't wowrk there anymore, but several times boarded my jack russell there. I believe that she was ignored, yelled at - abused might not be too strong a word. The kennel folks - who I knw well because they were there when I worked there, told me how awful my dog was. The last time I boarded her there, much like friskyfemme's expereince, it took her weeks to recover. I was really afraid they had done permanent harm.

I asked around to see if other folks could recommend a good facility. One place in particular got quite a few mentions so I checked them out. The facility is a bit out of town, but they will come pick up your dog and then bring them back home. The facility is on farmland. The dogs there are assigned a primary care-giver, who gives a great deal of one-on-one time to the dogs. They are taken on long walks, taken to fenced in areas where they can run and play. The goal of the facility is to take the best care of the dogs as they can. They have my business as long as I am in the area - when Norah is brought back home you wouldn't know that she had boarded - zero anxiety.

I used to think that it was important to board where there was a vet clinic. I now believe that is not in your dog's best interest. I highly recommend boarding someplace where boarding is the primary service. Your dog will thank you.

Originally Posted by friskyfemme

your place sounds great...I have taken my dog to a 'kennel' one time in her lifetime. She was depressed for over a week after she came home...she didn't eat for the 2 days she was there and got terribly constipated. She is used to being with me almost all the time. I suspect that she was just put in a run and left alone...It's good to know that you give such personal attention to your boarders. If I have to leave my girl behind, I have a trusted friend stay in my house with her. She's older now and she likes being home.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by WicketWWarrick

Hi all. Thought I'd toss in my thoughts on boarding facilities. Now, Friskyfemme, I don't know what sort of facility you used, so this may not really be applicable to your situation. Even so, I wanna toss this out.

I will not board my dog at a facility that is not devoted primarily to boarding. I worked at a vet clinic for 10 years. I don't wowrk there anymore, but several times boarded my jack russell there. I believe that she was ignored, yelled at - abused might not be too strong a word. The kennel folks - who I knw well because they were there when I worked there, told me how awful my dog was. The last time I boarded her there, much like friskyfemme's expereince, it took her weeks to recover. I was really afraid they had done permanent harm.

I asked around to see if other folks could recommend a good facility. One place in particular got quite a few mentions so I checked them out. The facility is a bit out of town, but they will come pick up your dog and then bring them back home. The facility is on farmland. The dogs there are assigned a primary care-giver, who gives a great deal of one-on-one time to the dogs. They are taken on long walks, taken to fenced in areas where they can run and play. The goal of the facility is to take the best care of the dogs as they can. They have my business as long as I am in the area - when Norah is brought back home you wouldn't know that she had boarded - zero anxiety.

I used to think that it was important to board where there was a vet clinic. I now believe that is not in your dog's best interest. I highly recommend boarding someplace where boarding is the primary service. Your dog will thank you.

Hi, Wicket W. Warrick.

You make a really good point and it makes a lot of sense to me. At a vet clinic the focus would be on taking care of animals that come in for appointments and for the sick animals that are staying there overnight. It makes sense that since the primary mission of the facility is to take care of sick animals, that the healthy boarding animals could be unconsciously lost in the shuffle.

However, reading about how Norah was most likely treated hurt my heart. Not paying as much attention to the boarders in an unconscious way (due to the main mission of the facility being something else), is one thing, being unkind is another. I am so sorry that Norah may have not been treated well.

I, personally, am very fortunate that I have two neighbors who take care of my guy if I am gone for an overnight (they come next door and hang in my house for a few hours, put my guy in their yard, take him for LONG , etc.) and I have retired parents that will watch him when I go away for several days. I am very, very lucky.

It sounds like the place you found now is utterly fantastic. I can imagine how glad you are to have found that place.

On a related note....after my dog's first full day of daycare yesterday, he was falling asleep on the way home while STANDING UP (strapped into his seat belt, of course!) I would say that he had fun!

I actually had an interview set up for him at another doggie daycare for this morning, but due to snow in rush hour traffic (and I didn't need to go out of the house for any other reason), I decided to wait and do it next week. There is nothing wrong with the first daycare, it is just that it is a new facility and there are not too many small dogs for him to play with, so I was considering somewhere else (yesterday there were 7 dogs there...I think that 3-4 dogs is a more common. The other place usually has about 20 dogs, per the receptionist).

Again, I am so glad that Norah now has a safe and fun place to go and that your heart can be at peace when you send her there!

[Darth Denkay]

Thank you so much for your supportive words about Norah. My girlfriend was the one who picked her up from the last horrendous boarding at the vet clinic, and I think it's a good thing. I am a VERY laid-back person - but I would have lost it had I been there. They are damn lucky that I wasn't. On a side note, I will continue to go there for medical treatment. There are several excellent vets there, and hell, I was there for 10 years. I did tell my boss - rather, the boss since I guess he isn't mine anymore - and I trust that he has dealt with it in an appropriate way. I don't believe he would allow this sort of treatment to continue.

Very cool about the doggie day care - falling asleep standing up sounds like a good thing to me! We only have one here - well, actually we might have more - but the one I know of I'm really good friends with the owner - she was a client at the vet clinic while I was there - plus it's been around a while so they have dogs of every possible size. You know, I need to quit talking about it and go see how she does...

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Hi, Wicket W. Warrick.

You make a really good point and it makes a lot of sense to me. At a vet clinic the focus would be on taking care of animals that come in for appointments and for the sick animals that are staying there overnight. It makes sense that since the primary mission of the facility is to take care of sick animals, that the healthy boarding animals could be unconsciously lost in the shuffle.

However, reading about how Norah was most likely treated hurt my heart. Not paying as much attention to the boarders in an unconscious way (due to the main mission of the facility being something else), is one thing, being unkind is another. I am so sorry that Norah may have not been treated well.

I, personally, am very fortunate that I have two neighbors who take care of my guy if I am gone for an overnight (they come next door and hang in my house for a few hours, put my guy in their yard, take him for LONG , etc.) and I have retired parents that will watch him when I go away for several days. I am very, very lucky.

It sounds like the place you found now is utterly fantastic. I can imagine how glad you are to have found that place.

On a related note....after my dog's first full day of daycare yesterday, he was falling asleep on the way home while STANDING UP (strapped into his seat belt, of course!) I would say that he had fun!

I actually had an interview set up for him at another doggie daycare for this morning, but due to snow in rush hour traffic (and I didn't need to go out of the house for any other reason), I decided to wait and do it next week. There is nothing wrong with the first daycare, it is just that it is a new facility and there are not too many small dogs for him to play with, so I was considering somewhere else (yesterday there were 7 dogs there...I think that 3-4 dogs is a more common. The other place usually has about 20 dogs, per the receptionist).

Again, I am so glad that Norah now has a safe and fun place to go and that your heart can be at peace when you send her there!

[Bit]

I suppose it depends on the vet clinic... I've had dogs who couldn't wait to go get fussed over, who pranced off into the kennel room without a backward glance while I was waving forlornly like a mom seeing a kindergartener off on the bus the first day of school.

I've also had dogs and cats who were traumatized and hated a place so much that I looked for another vet. I absolutely did not appreciate discovering that two of my cats had been put back in their plastic carriers after being spayed a couple years ago; couldn't they at least have been allowed to recover in a cage that got some light and air?

The best experience so far, though, was at a boarding kennel on the far west side of Phoenix, where Lady stayed several days when I went to Vegas. It was run much like Sachita's place is, and Lady had a ball.

Now that we have six furbabies, though, I think we'd have to get someone to come in and take care of them here. Has anyone tried a commercial pet-sitting service? What did you think of them?

[Darth Denkay]

Hey Bit,

You are, of course, absolutely right - it depends on the vet clinic and on the dog. When I was still working at the clinic there were lots of dogs that didn't seem to mind - I shouldn't have made such a blanket statement about vet clinics in general - I know better. My dog can be nervous, and what helps that is a bit of one-on-one attention. She didn't get that at the clinic I boarded her with, and I expect the annoyance from the workers fueled her nervousness until it was completely out of control. That's why the new facility I found is so perfect for her - lots of individual attention. In the future I need to always find a kennel that provides that.

I'm in no way taking responsibility away from the kennel workers at the clinic. They are being paid to take care of the animals regardless of their quirks. And actually, I think my biggest beef with them was that I was never called - the entire 5 days - that she was supposedly being horrible.

Okay, anyway, I'm gonna shut up now. Love my new boarding facility - so does Norah (or at least does really really really well there) and that's all that really matters...

Originally Posted by Bit

I suppose it depends on the vet clinic... I've had dogs who couldn't wait to go get fussed over, who pranced off into the kennel room without a backward glance while I was waving forlornly like a mom seeing a kindergartener off on the bus the first day of school.

I've also had dogs and cats who were traumatized and hated a place so much that I looked for another vet. I absolutely did not appreciate discovering that two of my cats had been put back in their plastic carriers after being spayed a couple years ago; couldn't they at least have been allowed to recover in a cage that got some light and air?

The best experience so far, though, was at a boarding kennel on the far west side of Phoenix, where Lady stayed several days when I went to Vegas. It was run much like Sachita's place is, and Lady had a ball.

Now that we have six furbabies, though, I think we'd have to get someone to come in and take care of them here. Has anyone tried a commercial pet-sitting service? What did you think of them?

[Toughy]

Dapper...........

there is something to be said for being among the first clients for a building business...........my facility has been in business for 5 years and our clients that stuck with us when we had less than 10-15 dogs get perks...........supporting local business is important.....I hope it's a woman owned business......laughin........

the place you found sounds perfect..............take your baby on Wed so he can play with the other jack.......they need each other...........also you might ask for a chance to meet the parents of the other jack..........that way you could keep in contact and make sure the playmates are always there at the same time........

by the way..........you actually do want your baby to fall asleep standing up.............it's a sign of a good day care and a good experience...........many owners always say their babies fall dead asleep on the way home......

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Toughy

Dapper...........

there is something to be said for being among the first clients for a building business...........my facility has been in business for 5 years and our clients that stuck with us when we had less than 10-15 dogs get perks...........supporting local business is important.....I hope it's a woman owned business......laughin........

the place you found sounds perfect..............take your baby on Wed so he can play with the other jack.......they need each other...........also you might ask for a chance to meet the parents of the other jack..........that way you could keep in contact and make sure the playmates are always there at the same time........

by the way..........you actually do want your baby to fall asleep standing up.............it's a sign of a good day care and a good experience...........many owners always say their babies fall dead asleep on the way home......

Hey, Toughy, thanks for writing.

Yes, I thought about how it is good that he would be one of the first clients. My issue is just that most days there are only 2-3 other small dogs there (any day of the week, per owner) and I guess it is the waiting of the building up of the number of dogs that concerns me (and paying in the meantime!)

On his interview day he stayed for a half day and the two other dogs that were there were boarders, so they were put in crates for naps. Therefore, my guy was just standing in there with no friends for 1.5 hours (webcam!). :-( It also appears to be acceptable that someone isn't always in with the small dogs. I assume that this is a function of it being a large warehouse where it is all fencing (so the dogs can be seen by the workers when they are not in with the dogs).

The day that he was falling asleep standing up on the way home (which yes, I saw as a great thing!), there were 7 small dogs, but the owner acknowledged that this was a function of there being a larger than usual number of boarders due to the Holidays.

So, I guess it is just about choosing or not choosing to wait it out until more dogs begin to come there. I think I will stick with this first one. It is just SO close to my house.

In terms of ownership....both places are owned by women (I always use women owned businesses when I can!)

Oh, and one last thing....although I had planned to bring him on Wednesdays, I did make sure that the other Jack Russell came on the same day...or I would have changed days. I also plan on going to the Grand Opening (they have already been open for two months, though), so that I can meet other dog owners to find out who comes when, etc.

Thanks again for your thoughts.