Happy Furbaby Friday! Did this week feel long to anyone else or was it just me?
When I came home from work Wednesday, I saw this beautiful sight in our living room.
Luckily it was a pillow and not the couch itself, but I did have a moment of panic when I first saw the mess thinking the couch may have gotten destroyed. I knew right away which dog was the culprit and that would be Levi. He is usually pretty good when we aren’t home but every once in awhile he seems to have some extra energy and gets himself into trouble. Wednesday was one of those days.
My takeaway was that Levi needed to burn some extra energy. Even though he has a backyard and a dog sister and Chris and I to play with him, sometimes he needs a little something more. Enter: doggie daycare! I took the dogs to daycare on Thursday and it did the trick. They were so excited when I dropped them off in the morning and tired when I got them home that evening. It may seem a bit unnecessary to take our dogs to daycare but I am a big believer in it.
Chris and I started taking Lyssa to daycare when we lived in California. We were originally looking for a place to board her while we were out of town. We took her to one of the big name pet store/hospital/kennels and had her stay there for several hours to try it out. When we picked Lyssa up, she was out of sorts and not acting like herself. She also developed kennel cough. Needless to say, we never took her back there.
The next time Chris and I had to go out of town, we took Lyssa to a local kennel that came highly recommended and had great reviews online. It was more expensive than the big name pet kennel at $40/night, but we were ok with that. We wanted to find somewhere we felt comfortable leaving her for a few days. We went on a tour and it seemed ok, so we boarded Lyssa there for a long weekend. When we picked her up, I was very disappointed in their service. They couldn’t give me any details about how Lyssa did while she was there or even if she had gone to the bathroom. I was concerned because Lyssa usually only goes to the bathroom outside and sure enough when we got her home, she immediately ran to the grass and spent a lot of time there. So the fact that this kennel had no idea how she behaved or if she had gone on walks and gone to the bathroom was disappointing. It made me feel like they weren’t even paying attention to the dogs.
I was on the hunt for a new kennel.
I stumbled across another local kennel by accident actually. I was looking at a rescue website and a dog was being fostered at a local daycare/kennel facility that happened to be down the street from my work. I stopped in after work one day and was impressed with the facility and staff. They have dog cameras in the play areas and someone on site 24/7 which is something the other kennels did not have and immediately made me feel more comfortable. It was the most expensive place at $45/night, but I was willing to try it for peace of mind that Lyssa would be safe and comfortable. The next time Chris and I went out of town we boarded Lyssa there. When we picked her up, she was super happy! The staff told us that she played great with the other dogs, went on multiple walks a day, went to the bathroom, and ate her food. They also spent time with her in her room at night so she wasn’t alone. I was sold! We had finally found a great facility to board Lyssa when we were traveling.
After our great experience, we transitioned to taking Lyssa there for daycare. At the time Chris and I were living in a townhouse without a yard, and even though we took Lyssa on regular walks multiple times a day she always had extra energy to burn. We felt comfortable that she was well cared for so we started taking her to daycare once a week and it was great for her. She burned energy and became super social with various dogs and all of the employees. She loved going! In fact, she would beg me to take her by running around the house on daycare days and whining the whole way there in the car.
When Chris and I moved to Texas we weren’t planning to continue our doggie daycare habit since we bought a house with a yard. But then we decided to adopt a puppy, Levi. After he was neutered and had his last round of puppy shots, Chris and I agreed that it was important to socialize him with dogs other than Lyssa, especially while he was young. So we decided to find a daycare in our new city. Luckily we found a great one close to home. The staff is great and they know our dogs by name. And bonus—the cost to send two dogs to daycare in Texas is less than the price to send one dog in California. Gotta love that! So we take the dogs once a week and Levi has “grown up” in a sense going to daycare. We have also boarded them there and had a good experience with that.
All in all, Chris and I are big believers in doggie daycare. It has been really great for our dogs over the years and we are fortunate that we can afford it.
If you are looking for a dog daycare or kennel, here are my tips based on our past experiences:
- You get what you pay for. The least expensive daycare/kennel is cheaper for a reason. In the case of our furbabies, I think it’s worth it to spend the extra money for a quality facility.
- Ask questions. Make sure the staff is paying attention to your dog and how they are behaving.
- A facility with dog cameras is preferable.
- Look for a place that has someone on site 24/7. This was very important to me because I am a crazy dog mom and I worry that something could happen in the middle of the night. It makes me feel better to know there is someone with the dogs at all times.
- Try it out for a few hours. Some kennels require your dog to come for daycare to see how they interact with other dogs, but I think it’s a good idea to do a trial run regardless.
Once you find a good kennel/doggie daycare, you can expect your dogs to look like this when they get home.
I always say a tired dog is a good dog!
Do you take your dog to doggie daycare? What pieces of advice do you have?
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