Doggie Daycare

We had done some dog training at a facility in our area where they offer doggie daycare. I laughed at the thought of people taking their dog to a place all day while their owners were at work... How absurd!!

I am now eating my words.

With there being snow, slush and lots of muck on the ground outside, it's hard to get Bella outside to exercise her without having to give this 55 pound puppy a bath every time we went out. SO- I tried doggie daycare yesterday.

We arrived at about 9 am and filled out LOTS of paperwork asking necessary questions about your dog's behaviors such as aggression toward other dogs and then asked some not so necessary questions about what type of crate does your dog use...plastic or wire?? Is she allergic to Milkbone dog biscuits??

I stayed for the all important "introduction" to the other dogs in the playgroups. (They call them playgroups, can you believe it?) The owner put Bella with her in a very large "Playroom" which was actually a huge room in a warehouse building. One by one, she called (by walkie talkie) to have Bella's new playmates enter the room in a slow fashion. Let me tell you...there was a lot of rear end sniffing going on...
The docile dogs were introduced first...then Mitzi, the poodle mix that is the queen bee of the daycare. Bella ran up to her with "exuberant energy" and Mitzi just rolled her eyes and gave a quick, sharp bark to Bella, letting her know that she WASN'T interested in any puppy play, thank you very much. Bella reacted positively to that cue and more dogs eventually entered the facility. I think I left when there were at least 15 dogs in the large playroom. She was doing very well.

When I picked her up at 5 pm she had a happy, yet thoroughly worn out look on her face. I paid my bill...($20 per day) and the caregiver handed me a card that looked very similar to a postcard. On it had her name and this comment.. "Bella had a very fun time today.She has made so many new friends. Her best friends today were Reece, Macie and Shiner." I was so pleased to hear that she had found some new "friends".

She hopped into the car and moaned and groaned the whole way home. After arriving home,she managed to stay awake long enough to eat her dinner and then headed straight for her doggie bed--where she stayed all evening until it was time for our family to go to bed. AHHHHH...I guess she did manage to get worn out and had some fun too.

I'll probably take her back next Wednesday--just one day a week is good. And I'll probably pick her up around 2:30 or 3:00. The kids really missed being jumped on and licked when they got home from school. But Annie, the 15 year old dog, was never so happy to get that little whippersnapper out of here for the day!!! Doggie Daycare....I once laughed, but now I see the light! Jill