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Monroe-Rylee · 01-18-2017, 09:35 AM

I’m wondering what people’s thoughts/ experiences with doggie daycare have been.
I have been taking my girls (1 ½ years old; 5.5 pounds & 6.5 pounds) to doggie daycare 1-2 times per week for about a year. The place they go is for “smaller dogs” but they base it on height and I think it’s under 21inches so some of the dogs are bigger than I liked originally. But, you can watch them on a camera all day and they always seemed to like it. They also have a staff person with the group the entire day. I check the video feed a few times a day and noticed the last few weeks that I sometimes cannot find Rylee for periods of time… they have a small front room where people come in and I assumed she was hanging out up there sometimes. This morning, I handed them off as normal, proceeded to do the check-in process and noticed Rylee standing at the gate next to the desk looking at me with desperation (this is the area where I wouldn’t be able to see in the video & it made me wonder if she is standing there throughout the day waiting/pleading for me to come get her). I watched her for a few minutes and asked the daycare person to keep an eye on her to see if she seemed unconformable like this throughout the day. During drop-off dogs are barking & pretty rowdy because it’s early and someone has just walked in… I guess this could make her unconformable but I was left with the gnawing feeling that she is not enjoying her time there and taking them has more been a way of relieving my own guilt for having to leave them during the day… I am usually gone from 10am until 4:30pm and sometimes come home in the afternoon to let them out. I have to keep them in a 6 panel pen when I’m not home. So, I feel awful leaving them home 5 days a week in a pen… but, does it seem like maybe this isn’t an activity that is beneficial for them (or at least Rylee)?
Sorry for the long post! If you wouldn’t mind sharing your thoughts on this situation & thoughts on daycare in general I would greatly appreciate it! (Should I stop taking them? Try to find a place where they’ll be with dogs closer to their size/activity level? Take Monroe only? Is leaving them in a pen 6 ½ hours a day as awful as I feel it is?) Thank you for any thoughts/suggestions!!!

01-18-2017, 09:35 AM	#1
Monroe-Rylee Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2016 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 150	Thoughts on Doggie Daycare I’m wondering what people’s thoughts/ experiences with doggie daycare have been. I have been taking my girls (1 ½ years old; 5.5 pounds & 6.5 pounds) to doggie daycare 1-2 times per week for about a year. The place they go is for “smaller dogs” but they base it on height and I think it’s under 21inches so some of the dogs are bigger than I liked originally. But, you can watch them on a camera all day and they always seemed to like it. They also have a staff person with the group the entire day. I check the video feed a few times a day and noticed the last few weeks that I sometimes cannot find Rylee for periods of time… they have a small front room where people come in and I assumed she was hanging out up there sometimes. This morning, I handed them off as normal, proceeded to do the check-in process and noticed Rylee standing at the gate next to the desk looking at me with desperation (this is the area where I wouldn’t be able to see in the video & it made me wonder if she is standing there throughout the day waiting/pleading for me to come get her). I watched her for a few minutes and asked the daycare person to keep an eye on her to see if she seemed unconformable like this throughout the day. During drop-off dogs are barking & pretty rowdy because it’s early and someone has just walked in… I guess this could make her unconformable but I was left with the gnawing feeling that she is not enjoying her time there and taking them has more been a way of relieving my own guilt for having to leave them during the day… I am usually gone from 10am until 4:30pm and sometimes come home in the afternoon to let them out. I have to keep them in a 6 panel pen when I’m not home. So, I feel awful leaving them home 5 days a week in a pen… but, does it seem like maybe this isn’t an activity that is beneficial for them (or at least Rylee)? Sorry for the long post! If you wouldn’t mind sharing your thoughts on this situation & thoughts on daycare in general I would greatly appreciate it! (Should I stop taking them? Try to find a place where they’ll be with dogs closer to their size/activity level? Take Monroe only? Is leaving them in a pen 6 ½ hours a day as awful as I feel it is?) Thank you for any thoughts/suggestions!!!