Should I use puppy daycare?

If you’ve got long work days or are busy with family life, you may be wondering ‘Should I send my puppy to daycare?’ It can seem like the obvious solution to giving your puppy exercise, play and keeping them out of trouble at home when you’re stretched on time. But, there are many downsides to sending your puppy to daycare. In this post, I’ll look at what you should consider and some other options.

Puppy daycare – the upsides

First up, let’s look at the potential positives of sending your puppy to daycare. 

• Your dog won’t be home alone all day
• Can’t destroy or pee/poop in the house if they’re not there
• There is someone to let them outside and make sure basic needs are met
• Exercise and play with other dogs 

Of course, we all want the best for our pups and these things are definitely important. However, now let’s look at the potential pitfalls of puppy daycare.

The downsides

• Can be very over-stimulating and lead to exhaustion rather than a content relaxed pup 
• Not suitable for worried or anxious puppies
• Puppies can learn behaviours you don’t want them to
• Your puppy’s behaviour and training may not be managed in a way you’re comfortable with
• The training you’re doing with your puppy may be delayed or hampered – eg slower toilet training if staff aren’t keeping a close eye on your pup
• Quality of care and service provided can vary a lot between daycares
• Puppies often don’t sleep as much as they need to if at daycare, leading to issues at home

A dog walker is often a better option for meeting your puppy’s needs on days when you need to be out for longer periods. Your puppy’s time home alone is still broken up and they get the exercise and social time they need. However, they then get to go home and rest in their own home without the distractions of other dogs. Doherty Dog Services offer small group walks for puppies from 6 months old. 

There are some fantastic, well-run daycares available. If you think puppy daycare is the best option for you, here’s some things to look for before committing. Give yourself plenty of time to find a place that you like the feel of. Ideally, well before you actually need to book your puppy in.

What to look for

If you do need to use puppy daycare, here’s some things to consider when choosing somewhere. Look for licensed, insured and first aid trained businesses. These things should be easily viewable on their website and premises. Anyone worth their salt will be more than happy to show you their paperwork if asked. Observe the dogs already there- do they look happy and relaxed? Not sure what to look for? Have a read of our blog post on doggy body language here.

How do they manage behaviour? Is there enough room for each dog to take a break and rest away from others if they want to? You know your dog best, so trust your gut instinct. Some puppies will thrive in a small, home from home style daycare with few other dogs. Avoid large doggy day care complexes for your puppy. Also, providers that allow puppies and dogs to ‘figure it out’ themselves. If it looks like a free for all, it probably is.  

Here’s some questions to ask a puppy daycare before you make a decision.

• How many dogs do you look after at once? You can also check this on your local councils website
• How do you make sure dogs are resting and not getting overstimulated?
• What do you do about undesirable behaviour? 

Ultimately, even the most confident and easy going puppy may not cope at day care. Fortunately, there are other options out there. Contact us here to chat about our dog walking service.

What next?

• Need one-to-one help with your puppy? Book in a call with Laura here to discuss training.
• Read more blog posts here.
• Grab our Ultimate Guide to Puppy Socialisation here when you join our email list.