I hope I did the right thing...what do you think?
 

Davey and I are doing great together. I am so in love with him and I swear that the Lord sent him to me. Because I found him, our situation is a little unique. Davey is still starting to come out of his shell. He is starting to play with some of the toys I got him and now he is eating more regularly. The only "issue" (persay) I have with him is that he is super attached to me. He litterally does not leave my side when we are not at home. If anyone picks him up or tries to give him some love, he keeps his eyes on me. He doesn't cry or growl, he just really wants to always be with me.

Well I had a lot of errands to run this weekend (which is usually our special time for park outtings and trips to dog boutiques) so I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. Today I had to go back to work, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to take him to doggie daycare.

Now I am a nervous mess! I am so scared for him. He is in the little dog play area, so I know there is not some full grown Lab trying to use him as a chew toy, however I know that he must be nervious and scared. I am just very regretful. Maybe leaving him at home would have been better.

How long did you wait before you started socializing your yorkie? What have your experiences been with doggie daycare? What can I do to show him that I am sorry if he is experencing any trama because of the daycare?

I hate feeling like a bad mommy :( He deserves the best :(

we don't have doggy daycare here in the uk but i wish we did. took tia to puppy classes though and she has lots of doggy friends.your baby is so cute. he will be fine.
sorry about typing , can't use capitals tia is lying across my arm:p

Jackson's never been to doggie daycare; however, he's been around SO many different
types of dogs from the time I brought him home at 9 weeks old. At first, he was only
around the dogs we lived with at our home, which is my mom's 4 year old Cockapoo, and
my dad's dogs. After his shots, he's played at the dog park, he's played with Labs, Golden Retrievers,
poodle mixes, Pit Bull, Jack Russels, Rottweilers, Bulldogs, all kinds of dogs. I think socialization
is great as early as possible. Jackson LOVES all dogs he comes across and always has.

I tihnk you made the right choice! I think they benefit from being around others of
their species and teaches them how to play and interact with other dogs properly.
Dogs teach each other a lot of times which is nice. It can also be bad, lol. They can
also pick up on other dogs bad habits - so watch out for that! But in general, I think
doggie daycare is better than spending 8+ hours a day home alone.

I think he will grow to love doggie daycare! My girls both love it. My Lane came from a bad situation (puppymill bust). We got her just before Christmas, so we had nearly two weeks to spend with her before we had to return to work. Rory has always loved her daycare and always attended daily while we were working. Well, first day back to work this year, we dropped both girls off at daycare and within three days Lane was running up to the front door through the lobby happy to be there! It was such a happy sight for us, because she has already overcome so much...she too learned how to play with toys and now won't put them down! I am sure at least some portion of what helped Lane was the fact that Rory was there with her, but I truly think Davey will find himself having fun there even if he doesn't intend to. ;)

Can you call the place and ask how he's doing? You might be surprised, he may be having a great time. When you go to pick him up, just act like it's the most normal thing in the world, be happy to see him, give him lovin, but don't behave like you just realized you left him with an axe murderer all day. :D Be calm, positive and upbeat, don't coddle him if he's acting all freaked out. Talk to him in a firm calm voice and when he settles down give him a treat.

Unless he has a total meltdown tonight, I wouldn't judge if this was a bad thing and give it a few more times to see if he won't figure out how much fun it is.

Please let us know how he's doing, once you get home. :)

I have a doggy day care near me that I am leaving the two pups (mine and MIL) there this week when my husband is on flying rota (this rarely co-incides with me not being around...but hey ho).
They are 18 weeks old...I want them to socialize as soon as possible and learn to be a bit independent from us as well. I find wherever they go they get lots of attention (because they are cute) so am sure they will be fine, as will yours....give them a call :)

Uhhh.... do you know that in fact he is having a bad day there? If you don't know that, then chill. I'm sure the people would have called you if things were terribly wrong. You do have the option of calling them don't you?

The daycare I use has web cams that I can watch them on my computer. It really helped me from worrying. See if you have a daycare w/webcams. It's comforting, but I doubt the boss will like it. : )

Roxy's first day, was kinda disorienting to her, but she was absolutely fine. When she seemed a little overwhelmed while there, one of the attendants would pick her up & spoil her a little until she regrouped. When I picked her up that evening she looked exhausted, eyes glazed over. She didn't even seem to know that I had just picked her up until a minute or two after we were in the car. All she wanted to do was snooze. The following week I took her again. When I pulled into the place she immediately got all excited to be there & continues to get that excited everytime I take her. Most days when I pick her up, she will pull on the leash to go back in with the dogs not wanting to leave. The first time was the only time she seemed overwhelmed by it all, but she did great. She was still pretty young at the time.

Tonight, expect him to be exhausted & ready to sleep. No it won't mean you're a bad mom! You are the one who's traumatized, & he's probably doing just fine, so get yourself together before you pick him up. Don't impose your trauma onto him, please.

Don't panic until you are certain he is havin a bad time. I was a wreck when I took Cookie to doggie day care, she was scared of the other dogs but she did very well. From what I know they monitor the dogs the entire time so I wouldn't be too concerned, if they in any way think that your baby isn't doing well they always remove them to a crate where they can be alone.

I'm so glad things are going so well for you and Davey, out of curiosity which one in the picture is Davey?

That is what I am afraid of. I am afraid that he will pick up from my energy that I was really worried for him. My brave little boy. I just know that him running away from home and being on the streets was already really traumatizing for him....I would hate to make anything worse.

Davey is on the right...my brave little boy. I am so in love!

Im sure he is having fun! Im sure that if there was a problem they would call you. Maybe this will be good for him! :)

Just like children do.. he will get used to it and before you know it he will love it to the point of excitement when he goes! Your doing just fine. Take a deep breath, communicate to the employee what your feeling and they will take the necessary steps to make sure Davey is comfortable and happy!

He will probably do great! Just give it a few tries, dont give up after just one!

And let us know how he is when you pick him up!

Yes, it probably was traumatizing for him, but I bet you were the most traumatized. Right? He has probably moved on much better than you have. Ya gotta let go of that fear or you'll make things worse for him. So get yourself all calmed down before you walk in the door to pick him up.

Remember, when you pick him up & find he had a great time, you are to be proud, not hurt or insulted. Ya hear? :D He'll gain confidence in not being 'left behind or lost' each time he goes to day care & you pick him up. Being lost on the streets & day care are two completely different worlds. imo, it will help him in the long run. Good luck!

This is great advice...thank you :)