Does Your Dog Need Doggie Daycare?

Before you enroll your dog in dog day care, visit the facility and ask these questions:

1. How will my day spend his day at your doggie daycare?
2. How do you evaluate dogs for your program and avoid dogs with aggressive behavior?
3. What is the cleaning schedule for this facility and how it is maintained?
4. What are the qualifications of the staff that will be interacting with your dog?
5. Are the dogs separated in the program by age and/or size?
6. What are the hours of dog daycare?
7. What are the costs and are there discounts for multiple dogs or frequent attendance?
8. How are dogs supervised and what is the ratio of staff to dogs?
9. Does the facility offer both indoor and outdoor play areas?
10. Does the dog discipline policy match your philosophy of dog training?

Doggie daycare facilities will vary on enrollment requirements. The rules and requirements for attending a dog care are for the safety and health of all the dogs in the program. Here are the most common requirements for doggie daycare admission.

1. An up-to-date vaccination record
2. An age requirement that may vary. Commonly a puppy must be at least 12 weeks old.
3. Your dog must be on a year round heartworm program.
4. Your dog needs to be on a flea prevention program.
5. Dogs over 6 months old must be spayed or neutered. (Age requirement may vary)
6. If appropriate, your dog will have an up-to-date registration with your city or county.

In addition to the requirements above, most doggie daycares will require a personality evaluation or temperament test. The staff of the daycare will screen your dog for potential aggressive behavior before he is permitted to interact with the other dogs.

On arrival, the dog day care will require your dog to wear a collar with a name tag. Most do not allow pinch collars or metal correction collars.

Check with your local dog daycare for their specific rules and regulations.

Some doggie daycares are more like dog spas. The features they offer can be so extravagant and luxurious your dog may never want to come home. Check the doggie day cares in your area for some of these fancy features:

Pet Massage
TVs
Swimming Pools
Music
Doggie Ice Cream
Webcams for Owners to Watch

Leaving your puppy home for long periods of time unattended is definitely a challenge to housetraining your pet. Some doggie daycares do allow puppies. You need to check the facility near you to find out the rules and regulations for puppy care. Many dog day cares have specific requirements on age and vaccinations. Most doggie daycares will require you to have your dog spayed or neutered if it is over 6 months old before they are enrolled.

A doggie daycare may be an excellent option for your puppy. Look for dog daycares that separate dogs by size or age. Be sure to ask the standard questions to evaluate the dog day care facility before you enrolled your pet. Check the qualifications of the staff and visit the site before you register your puppy. Trust your instincts on whether or not the facility is right for your puppy.

1. Word of mouth is a great reference. Ask you dog owner neighbors and friends about dog daycare in your neighborhood.

2. Search the internet. Do a Google search for doggie daycare and your town or city. Review the websites for the dog daycares in your area.

2. Start with the ABKA website. ABKA is a trade organization for pet care professionals. Members of ABKA adhere to a code of ethics and pet owners bill of rights. Go to http://www.abka.com for a list of members in your area.

3. Ask your veterinarian. Veterinarian are often aware of local dog daycare, and because he is already familiar with your dog, he should be able to recommend a facility that is best for your pet.

4. Check your local yellow pages. Look under "Kennels" or "Pet Services" or even "Dog Training" since doggie daycare is new, there may not be a specific category in your yellow pages.

Remember to visit all dog daycares before you choose to leave your dog there. Limit the length of daycare for your dog until you are completely comfortable with the facility.