Reasons your dog may not be suitable for day care
Not all dogs feel comfortable in the day care environment. There is the occasion that a dog will be well-behaved during the temperament assessment because they are still a bit unsure of themselves but once they become comfortable in our space and they relax, we then get to see who they really are. This can either occur within weeks or even after a couple of months. Every once in a while, some dogs will be expelled from day care for one of the reasons below
AggressionThe most common reason dogs are expelled from day care is due to some sort of aggressive tendency/tendencies. Many dogs will exhibit behaviours that they don’t express when they at home or out with their owners. This is due to the setting and their mindset of being in a different environment with people other than their owners and this will alter how a dog thinks and behaves. Many owners will comment that their dog gets along well with other dogs at the park, but you can not necessarily assume that because your dog interacts with other dogs in an open and neutral space, like a park, that they will do the same in an enclosed and personal space like a day care. | BullyingSome dogs go to day care and, while they enjoy it themselves, they are making it a terrible experience for others. The day care bully tends to overwhelm dogs they are playing with by mowing over them, using standover tactics, stalking, harassing others that have toys or picking on the shy dog. | Under socializedDepending on the experiences the dog has had growing up, he may not have had enough positive experiences with other dogs. Because of the lack of socialization many owners want to send their dog to day care to overcome their fear. A fearful dog, however, forced into a group of dogs could become more reactive. |
Lack of Social SkillsThis could be the dog that is shy and doesn’t know how to appropriately convey that to other dogs and lashes out aggressively. It could also be the dog that has bullying tendencies that doesn’t know how to properly read another dog’s calming signals and may continue to annoy others with their intensity, energy. excessive barking or mounting. | Over stimulatedIf a dog is easily stimulated, too many days of day care might have the opposite effect and keep a dog in “go” mode meaning he is full of adrenaline. An increase in energy level translates into excitement and sometimes anxiety. Over-stimulated dogs can play too rough, get involved in too many chase games, lunge and jump fences, mount other dogs, excessively bark, run into dogs and do not focus to follow instructions from staff. If these dogs are large dogs, they can accidently cause physical injury, either to themselves, our staff or to the other dogs, and other dogs in the play area act out when there's an over-stimulated dog there. Obedience training is a great solution for over stimulated dogs. What obedience training does is teach the owner to train the dog. If the dog learns to listen to the owner (and responds appropriately when the owner gives a command), that dog will almost always listen to other people as well. They have learned that people are at the top of the hierarchy, and that they're expected to do what they're asked to do, when it's a person doing the asking. | TrainingTraining plays an important role in a dog’s ability to be comfortable in a doggy day care environment Training a dog gives it confidence in itself and in its handler. Whether the dog is being handled by the owner or a doggy day care attendant, a confident dog will be comfortable and happy in an environment where they have known boundaries and structure. A dog doesn’t need to be an obedience extraordinaire, but he should know that resource guarding, aggression, nonstop vocalization, and asserting dominance over other dogs and/or people is not okay. These are all things that will cause fights and discomfort in your dog and the rest of the pack |