When we were planning daycare at Positive Dog Training we put a huge amount of time and work into deciding what it was the dogs that come into our care would like to do during the day, what type of toys, games and equipment they would like to play with, what wold be the keys activities that our staff would be providing throughout the day and how then could we implement it all with up to 40 dogs a day visiting of all ages, breeds and sizes???
To say that despite all our planning that we have made many changes and over the past 3 years in line with what we can see the dogs enjoy most is an understatement! We also work hard to make sure that you the owner can see how your dog is getting on with photos and videos uploaded onto our Facebook page and to make sure that we are available to answer any questions you may have at drop off and pick up.
So 3 years on what exactly do we think makes our day-care dog happy?
- Feeling secure – at Positive Dog Training we always have your dogs best interest at heart. We never put your dog into a situation we feel that they would be uncomfortable in. We always say that day-care is not for every dog and we will not admit a dog that is unhappy to be in a group not matter what the profit line says!
- Structured play – to the untrained eye most day-care can look a little boisterous at times but look closer and see what really happening. At PDTwe match dogs by personality type and style of play. While in a lot of cases small dogs do rather play with other small dogs and the same for our bigger breeds, we have found that there are exceptions to this rule and move dogs within different groups until we find the mix that is right for your dogs personality.
- Mini training sessions – fun and games are great but we find that a lot of the dogs that come into day-care love taking part in group training and mini private sessions. Throughout the day our day-care team work with the dogs to improve their doggy manners stopping bad habits like jumping up and door rushing and the dogs all love it!
- Games & Puzzles – nothing makes those day-care tails wag faster than when the puzzle games come out. Mental stimulation is our number 1 priority at PDT weather being through training sessions or games and its clear every time the dogs are enjoying them as much as we are.
- Calm rest time with their friends – many people told us when we first opened, that a cage free day-care could not work & I am glad to say that we proved them all wrong! Dogs can’t be on the go for 11 hours straight and remain sane so rather than lock them away in cages/crates/singular rooms they all curl up together listening to some calming music with the lights all dimmed. Stress free for all involved and nice down time for the day-care team too!
We know that the dogs that come in are happy to see us by the way they rush in the door in the morning and how affectionate and excited they are to see all the team. All our day-care team work really hard to make every visit an enjoyable one for you and your dogs.
