Please stop sending your puppies to doggie daycare w/ the expectation that they’re going to receive training while there

[heartfire]

Speaking as a manager at a doggie daycare; there is nothing more frustrating to me than dog owners who give us shit for not “training” their puppies to their satisfaction- when we have never; and will never; advertise ourselves as a training facility. For whatever reason this seems to be a super common misconception; so consider this a PSA of sorts.

Doggie daycare and obedience school are night-and-day different. As a matter of fact; if your dog is not already a well-trained member of society; then daycare is likely to be counter productive- to backfire & result in your dog’s bad behaviors being exacerbated; and in your dog picking up new bad behaviors; as well. This isn’t the fault of the daycare facility; or of any of the daycare employees. It’s your fault for not doing your research & not training your dog sufficiently before enrolling them.

Idk if it’s a laziness thing- (like ppl just wanting their high-maintenance puppies out of their house for a few hours every day)- or a wishful thinking thing (like ppl just hoping that they can send their dogs off to be trained by strangers; and have it work out perfectly w/o ever putting in any follow-up work of their own at home); or some combination.

Whatever it is, it’s a misconception. As a general rule; the only dogs who are suitable for daycare; and who benefit from being there; are well-trained adult dogs; who have excessive energy needs; and/ or excessive social needs; that require an outlet in order to be fulfilled, while their owners are at work.

If your dog doesn’t fit into this category; that means your dog needs obedience school; not daycare. Pay the extra fee, put in the extra time & effort; and it’ll pay off. Nothing else (esp not daycare) will

 

[psyman]

@heartfire Huh. Until right now, I had no idea there are people who expect their pups will be trained while at a daycare.

If you haven't already, you might want to post this on r/puppy101 and r/puppies.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@psyman It's like the people who come in for grooming once every 6 months and their dog gets a bad haircut because it hates and fights every step of it and they look at you with the shocked Pikachu face when you tell them they have to train them at home to tolerate it and they don't magically become trained for grooming in the 4 hours a year they spend with us.

And then demand a refund because their sweet angel baby darling would NEVER and we are clearly horrible abusers beating and drugging dogs because... reasons? (The evidence usually being that their dog is tired or seems stressed after alligator rolling, shitting on my table, biting at everything that moves and barking at every other dog it sees)

 

[psyman]

@imagebeastmarkbeast You have my sympathies. Long ago and far away, I groomed dogs. It's not an easy job.

 

[redeemed76]

@psyman Same. Doggie daycare is for socializing and getting some energy out, not to train them.

 

[davis83]

@psyman I guess the thinking is: when kids go to school they get trained so dogs + day care= training.

 

[psyman]

@davis83 I guess. It's just not something that had occurred to me until now.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@heartfire Oh wow! I haven’t used a daycare, but where I’m from, doggy daycares request to see some sort of a training certificate prior taking the dog in. I’m sure there’s a minimum age too plus a temperament test. Can’t imagine the chaos in facilities with “feral” puppies lol

 

[heartfire]

@imagebeastmarkbeast I mean, we def do have a minimum age requirement (5 months); and require vet certifications; etc. We also perform behavior evaluations on all prospective dogs; which they all need to pass in order to enroll; but no, we don’t require a training certificate. So generally the dogs at my daycare facility are well-behaved ~enough~ but they’re def not all perf; esp the young ones. And tons of their owners are shocked when their dogs come home at the end of the day w/o all those imperfections magically resolved.

 

[gods70]

@heartfire As a professional dog trainer, I totally agree with you and I try hard to make people understand this. It's up to the dog's owner to teach them how to play before sending them to daycare. That's where I come in.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@heartfire Well said. Honestly, I think taking your dog to a daycare does more harm then good to most dogs. If the dog not trained it can cause poor behavior especially meeting new dogs. Dogs have a packing order therefore a untrained dog can cause issues with that order especially two dominant dogs.

 

[kalashnikovmage]

@heartfire I'm a dog walker, we only do single walks not pack walks or anything. Some clients with puppies definitely think the same thing with us. I feel your pain to some extent.

 

[eq1981]

@heartfire My pup loves day care. He’s 3 years old and just love love loves to play with dogs. I can’t imagine thinking he would come home trained? Like, my day care has a live stream and it’s just (well managed) chaos all day of play groups. The dogs are there to just hang out, play, socialize, etc. I’ve heard of some daycares advertising basic training. But how would that even work without the owner there? I’m sorry OP. That sounds so frustrating.

 

[beepete]

@heartfire Weird, I’d never expect a babysitter to teach a child math. These clients of yours sound exactly like the type of parent who’d blame school teachers for not also providing childcare during class. Like, it’s not a 2-in-1 package, you cheapskate.

 

[prosedorothy]

@heartfire The only thing I ask my doggy daycare to do is not encourage her to jump on people, otherwise, all the training is up to me.

 

[one_who_seeks_light]

@heartfire I work at a high volume dog daycare! We have not, and will not train dogs as part of our services.

I find that the people who expect training are the kinds whose dogs come to our facility as a puppy and then grow up to be absolute menaces (who often get kicked out later).

I wish people would understand that daycare is not necessarily healthy socialization for young dogs. It can cause more harm than good.

Daycare is an absolutely amazing option for already socialized dogs to get their energy out. IMO, keep untrained, young, impressionable dogs away until they are ready!

 

[commando95]

@heartfire Honestly, it’s like sending your kid to a fun summer camp and expecting them to do 8 hours of school work every day. Not only is that not what is advertised, but it’s also not what they dog wants to be doing…they want to be off having fun with their mates and being a crazy idiot for the day. Yes, some basic manners are still expected but I know the last place I’d want to try to train my dog is at daycare, I’d get absolutely zero focus from her!!

 

[princesstatyanna]

@heartfire Some do offer a $15 enrichment where they take your dog aside for 20-30min and try and teach them fetch or leave it or touch or whatever you ask. I doubt it's any good though.

 

[asmit421]

@heartfire

when we have never; and will never; advertise ourselves as a training facility.

Cool for you. But you do realize there are places that do advertise "enrichment, socialization, and basic obedience training" as part of their fees, right?

 

[coltproulx]

@asmit421 There are for sure (we use one!) but it’s definitely not the norm and it’s usually clearly indicated. The people OP is dealing with are like parents who assume a snack is healthy simply because it has some sort of fruit or veggie in it, but never actually turn the box over to read the label.