@mugen I'm a bit confused by this list, it seems to be a mix of good things, bad things, and neutral things? Was the owner implying they were all bad? Or were there specific things he was concerned about? Depending on that I could see this being anything from a "weird interaction but maybe ok" to "run away screaming". I'm most confused by the "Does not have a collar" item. Did your dog have a collar but slipped out? Did you drop him off without one (it seems like they would have mentioned it right away?)
The things like not responding to name/commands is totally normal for a 13 w/o puppy in a completely new environment, with new people, and possibly with other dogs/distractions around. It's an exciting situation for a growing puppy, and it's totally normal to see "regression" at times (I wouldn't even call it regression -- he's just not ready for that level of distraction while having to behave yet!)
@ck90 What pushes this into “run away screaming” for me is the 40 minute lecture. If you have concerns you say “here are my concerns” and then that’s it. You don’t lecture for 40 minutes.
This was a puppy in a new and over stimulating environment. If the day care owner can’t see that then he isn’t good with dogs.
@rajvir Agreed about the lecture. I have had a 40 min call about my dogs behavior, but we were creating a mutually supportive training/schedule to promote success. My dog needed a different plan, so he could enjoy the day and be safe. He takes an extended lunch break with a puzzle and chills in the office for a nap, he needs a forced nap time like a Kindergartener.
@ck90 Owner implied that “shying away,” no interest in resources, and “distant” were bad/concerning because he’d never seen them before at the daycare. They require martingale collars to be on dogs at the daycare, but my pup had a harness on (recommended by yet another trainer) because he lunges and chokes on martingales.
Thanks for validating my thoughts. This felt like a kindergarten teacher yelling at a kid for using crayons “wrong” or something. But see my other comment on understanding the owner’s POV.
@mugen when i did take my dog to daycare they took collars off of the dogs in the play area because of how dangerous it is. i can't believe they would require martingale collars
@amximuspitta5158 Yeah, that’s a huge red flag to me. This does not sound like a daycare, but a training facility, where dogs primarily interact with trainers, not other dogs.
It’s dangerous to leave a bunch of collared dogs on the floor with only a handful of staff, way too easy for them to get strangled during normal play.
@amximuspitta5158 Yeah when I used to work daycare/boarding, we removed collars and kept them in the office with labeled hooks to keep track of who needed which collar.
@amximuspitta5158 Our daycare requires breakaway collars (which is what we use all the time, because we don’t want to bothered to take off his collar every time he’s in and out of the crate).
@imagebeastmarkbeast i would still be wary of leaving him in a crate even with the breakaway collar. does he have enough room to generate enough force to actually get it to break away if necessary?
I'm just imagining how much space my dog takes up when he's trying to pull and it seems like it's about twice as much as usual, even if he's not going anywhere.
@mugen Most daycares and boarding places I’ve been to or contacted require a quick release collar. Unless there’s a buckle on the martingale, that could be potentially dangerous while dogs are playing. Unlikely, but possible
@claiyon Yup. I've worked in several daycares and all required breakaway collars. They also had house collars if a dog arrived with a different collar type.
The collars are useful for when you need to move the dogs around. Prefer using collar and leash to using slip leads that can choke a dog easily.
@claiyon I worked at a daycare and we started removing collars for exactly that reason. Multiple incidents of dogs' mouths getting caught on other dogs' collars/harnesses during play, once resulting in broken teeth and a nearly dead dog. I can't fathom a daycare not only *requiring* collars, but requiring martingale style which is even more dangerous if the dog gets caught on something.
@mugen My corgi loves people when there aren’t other dogs present. As soon as she has the option to choose a dog over people, any person present may as well be a tree. I would expect a lot of puppies to be like that.
@jilfe This is my corgi too! Daycare eventually kicked him out bc he loves other dogs so much he wouldn’t listen to the humans at all haha. But they called and told me that in a nice way in like a three minute phone call. I respect the daycare place because they make sure all dogs are suitable for daycare. They even offered to have training sessions in the daycare room with my corgi. And then offered a day sit option where the pups get their own room at the facility and 6-8 one-on-one outings with a human, which my corgi does really well with. OP, you need to find a new doggy daycare place.
WTF!?! What kind of place is this? What magical, mystical, unicorn dogs is he working with? I've worked at several daycares and most dogs that aren't overly outgoing are at least a bit nervous on their first day. It takes some dogs a couple visits to really show their personality (sometimes in both good and bad ways!).
