Doggy Day Care for Your Dog

In the busy world of today, things are different than they were in decades past. Men and women often both have 40 hour a week careers, people stay single for longer and longer, married couples sometimes don’t plan on ever having children. The classic nuclear family structure has been shaken and shattered. Being that oftentimes there is no one in the family who stays home all day, our dogs are left to their own devices.

Being gone from the home for 8 hours a day might not be a big deal to your dog, but it could potentially be brutal. Some animals are fine on their own and can entertain themselves or just nap all day. However, some animals get lonely, restless or even destructive when they are forced to be alone all day long.

One potentially good option for those of us that are forced away from home 5 days and 40 hours a week is doggy day care. Doggy day care is much similar to day care for children. You can drop your dog off early before work where he will be able to socialize with other dogs during the day, run around, play and have a good time without having to be stuck at home while you are away.

Several things should be taken into consideration before placing your pet into a doggy day care.

Is your dog up to date on all his shots? Any reputable doggy day care will ask you for a copy of your animal’s shot records. These should be up to date and you will be turned away if your animal is missing any vaccines. This is to prevent the potential spread of any disease your animal or another’s animal may have.

Do you live in a big city? Most big cities have plenty of doggy day care options available to you, and are easily findable via any internet search engine. If you don’t live in a big city, you may have a harder time finding a doggy day care center close to you and this may affect your morning or evening commute if you are dropping off and picking up your animal daily.

Does your dog like other dogs? Any dog being considered for placement in doggy day care should be friendly and open when playing with other dogs, as there will be plenty there for him to socialize with. If your dog has not been socialized, you should consider exposing him to other dogs in a dog park situation where he can get used to playing with them before dropping him off in a doggy day care.

Does your budget allow for doggy day care? While doggy day care can be an excellent resource, it can also get costly. Prices can range from $15 to $40 depending on your location and the type of day care you want to place your animal in. Multiply that by 5 days a week and doggy day care has just gotten pretty pricey. If your budget is limiting, you may consider only taking your dog to day care once a week or a couple of times a month to cut on costs but at the same time allow your dog something fun to look forward to.