During your facility tour you want to be noting overall cleanliness, it shouldn’t smell “woofy” & never smell “Dirty”.  You should see no dried urine or feces.  And if you happen upon an accident (it happens) the staff member should take immediate action to clean it.  Watch for sharp corners on play equipment & signs of heavy wear or chewed equipment & chairs (which makes you wonder how closely they are being watched if they have time to eat the furniture).  If there is an outdoor portion pay special attention to fencing:  Is it secure at the bottom?  You don’t want small dogs to be able to squeeze out, & even if you own a large dog you don’t want enough space that they might think they could dig their way free.  Is there a double-door system?  Every dog has to go through TWO CLOSED doors before they are free & loose in the great wide open.  Now that you have toured the facility you considering for your dog to play at while you are at work, & have asked the staff how they evaluate the dogs PRIOR to joining the playgroups, as well as what training THEY are given PRIOR to being the primary supervisor of a dog play group it’s time to find out about how dogs are grouped as well as some other overall play principles.  

Q.  What role do your play group attendants serve?  Meaning, what is their PURPOSE while in a group of playing dogs.  If their answer is to play WITH the dogs, toss toys & take pictures for the website & social media so everyone can see how much “fun” the dogs are having consider another facility.  Pet Care Attendants PRIMARY job is to be watching the entire group to make sure EVERYONE is having fun.  They should be regularly interrupting interactions in order to keep the overall energy at a manageable level, as well as enforcing timeouts when someone is paying inappropriately or becoming overly aroused.  Double bonus points if they have treats to practice recalls and random sits & downs.  (And I know some people have a big bug-a-boo about treats & a large group of dogs)  But my personal experience is that if *I* am the Group Leader & they are *my* treats then *I* have the authority to give them to whomever *I* want & everyone can wait their turn for *me* to give them their treat.  This helps teach self-restraint, which is an important skill to having when playing in a group.  Along the same lines of, if you have a play group & a squabble break out because I pet Dog A before or instead of petting Dog B you REALLY have BIGGER issues going on!  Be concerned if you are seeing dogs regularly taking toys out of human’s hands.  That is a rude & pushy behavior that should not be rewarded–by letting dog have said toy–the toy belongs to the human until it is given to the dog.  If you see any one dog going around & grabbing toys away from other dog’s mouths also be concerned.  Speaking of toys Q.  Can I bring toys from home?  The answer should be no.  Just like a human daycare discourages you from bringing toys from home,  good parents put away favorite toys when friends come over  because the higher the value the toy the more likely there will be a fight over it.  And dogs are great at sneaking their personal toys out of their crate & into the yard where it turns into “OH GAWD NO DON’T TOUCH MY WOOBIE!! AAAAACCCHHHT!!”  Q. How are the play groups decided?  Or what play group would my dog be put in?  Play groups should be decided by:  Size, Age, & Play Style.  Large dogs should NOT be playing with small dogs.  I don’t care if you own a Great Dane & a Toy Poodle & they “play great” they should NOT be put in the same daycare group!  I don’t care if your Pug loves big dogs, they can intermingle at the dog park on your watch.  Mixing small dogs with large dogs is a highly risky policy:  not all large dogs have small dog experience & a running toy breed can spark prey drive which could end badly (or permanently).  And a toy breed can accidentally get stepped on by a large dog who just didn’t see them & the weight difference alone can cause trauma.  Also large breed babies should NOT be playing with toy breeds.  I don’t care if your 8wk Doodle is the same “size” as a Bichon they do not have the coordination or social skills to be a good play pairing.  Large breed “infants” should be paired with large breed “infants”.  And if you have nobody the same age & size then a med/large breed puppy under 3mo could be paired with an adult dog that has demonstrated they enjoy the company of puppies (& not all do)  Play style is also an important factor.  All those fired up dogs who live to race & WWF wrestle should NOT be paired with the toned down couch potatoes that just want to mingle & watch the wind blow!  Pairing them together stifles the fun of the sporty-spices & causes undue stress on the wall flowers. Q.  What’s your Dog-to-Person ratio?  If they have no answer be VERY concerned!  This stat is directly related to the size of the play area.  The smaller the room or the yard the smaller the # of dogs allowed in the TOTAL group AND the smaller the number of dogs for every human.  The larger the space the more dogs can not only be in the group, but the more dogs one person can supervise.  Q.  Are dogs of different households every left in the same space unsupervised?  The ONLY acceptable answer to this question is Never-Ever-Ever.  Q.  What are your spay/neuter policies?  Many places require everyone over a certain age (6mo to a year) MUST be spayed & neutered.  I don’t have that of strong of feelings about it.  I think evaluating each dog as an individual is much more telling than if they have been “snipped” by a certain age, or blanket breed restrictions.  But the staff should know if they have a policy on the matter, & if they do not have a spay/neuter restriction they should remind you of the obvious:  when your female is in season she should STAY HOME, from when you suspect she is coming into season to a week after you think she is done to allow time for her hormone levels to settle.

I am all for dogs playing with their kind.  But there are risks involved.  And you need to calculate those risks as well as have a gut-check about who your dog is & what they enjoy before jumping onto the Doggy Daycare Bus because it’s NOT a good choice for EVERYBODY.  And with doggy daycare facilities becoming a dime a dozen it’s imperative that you take the time to evaluate the facility you are considering & find out how educated they are!

So what are some questions you should ask the facility BEFORE you drop your dog off?  Here are some of the questions I would ask.  Q. What is your evaluation process?  Be wary of anyplace that let’s you drop off your dog for the whole day with nothing more than proof of vaccinations.  You should at VERY least have a questionare to fill out that includes some behavioural history (has your dog every growled at anyone?  has your dog ever bitten?  does your dog like to share toys? what games does your dog like to play?  has your dog participated in play dates their whole life?  where did you get your dog?  How long have you had your dog?) many facilities require an evaluation before your dog’s first visit–and shortened visits when you are new.  An educated facility knows that at least part of the evaluation process should be done WITHOUT the owner present.  Dog behave differently when the owner is present, & some dogs will resource guard their human but play just fine while mom/dad is gone to work.  The owner’s energy level (nervous jitters) can also influence the dog’s behavior so good facilities know they will get a better gauge on how the dog will act at the facility if the owner is NOT standing in the same room.  Q. May I have  tour of the facility?  Be suspicious of anyplace that says “no”.  While it is too stressful & is a risk to the playgroup dynamic to bring people in & out of an active play group (or even visible in front of a large window)  you should be able to see the room (look at flooring, walls & space) where the dogs play as well as rest.  If there are no resting areas for the dogs to be separated for down time & alone time  be concerned (& ideally Nap-spaces should have little to no visual stimulation–meaning it should not be crates FACING the playing dogs).  Neither humans nor dogs should be going full tilt in a large group all day long.  Quiet crate time is not only physically but mentally better for your dog, as well as an important policy to decrease the risk for squabbles, as you are able to keep the energy level of the group at a manageable level.  Q. What is your staff trained on prior to being allowed into play groups &  left as the primary person in charge of a play group?  Their answer should include training on basic canine body language & common calming signals as well as some sort of job-shadowing with a more experienced staff member.  They should be knowledgeable enough to be able to have a conversation of what calming signals are as well as list some examples, including lip-licking, yawing, & shake-offs.  They should also be trained on how to not only interrupt play but also how to safely break up a fight should one occur.  If the staff is unable to share a plan for if play ceases to be play, or is unable to articulate how dogs use common calming signals to communicate with each other then they have NOT been education enough on basic dog language to even be aware that trouble is brewing BEFORE it escalates to a fight, a bite, or god forbid a major injury.

This is not my whole list of questions I think you should ask, but it seems like a good bit of information for one sitting.  So we’ll close Part I here & let that digest.  If this sparked more questions, or you would like to hear more of my interview questions prior to next week please feel free to utilize the Contact Me tab.  I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.