Doggie Daycare

I have been taking Isaac to doggie daycare a couple times a week while I am tutoring.

I started doing it one day when I had to go to the dentist before going to tutor.  I really wanted to have Isaac with me at the dentist, plus I just didn't want to leave him home alone for that long.  But there wasn't going to be time to take him back home before I went to tutor and I didn't want to take him with me to tutoring.  I am tutoring a child at a library right by a doggie daycare, and I actually took Isaac to this daycare once several months ago when I had something I had to do all day and couldn't take Isaac with me, and it seemed like a good place and he seemed to have fun.  So I decided to drop him off there for the afternoon.

He did indeed have a good time.  When I arrived to pick him up, he was in a playgroup with other big dogs.  They brought him out to me and he was out of breath, looking like he'd been running and playing.  They told me he'd been playing chase with a dog named  Ripley.  He looked like he'd been having a blast.

So I started taking him two or three times a week, when I am tutoring for three hours.  He is there for about four hours altogether, and that included an hour-long playtime with other big dogs (they have separate playgroups for little dogs, medium dogs and big dogs).  He also gets a walk outside to go potty. 

I love the daycare facility.  They have kennels for the dogs situation around the perimeter of the room and the dogs can see what's going on, can see other dogs, can see people walking by, can watch other dogs having playtime in the indoor play area in the center of the room.  The individual kennels are not huge but they aren't tiny, either, and each dog has a toddler bed to lie on and a television tuned to Animal Planet.  I usually take one of Isaac's blankies for him, too.

The vet I used to take Cayenne to had doggie daycare and every time I went into the office, I could hear all these dogs barking.  It didn't sound like a pleasant place.  At this doggie daycare, well, I hear barking sometimes but not like at that vet's place.

Isaac loves it.  After going there just twice, he recognized the street when we turned onto it.  Isaac recognizes lots of places.  I can tell by the way he perks up and sometimes he seems to be getting excited.  He has a few favorite places and when we get close to those places, he starts to whine, whimper and/or pace in the backseat of the car.  That's just for his favorite places, though.  He does the whine/whimper/pace when we go to the doggie beach or to Lake Erie.  He doesn't do it at the park close to our house or the nature center, though, even though he recognizes them and likes them.

But he does it when we get close to the doggie daycare.  I love that it is one of his favorite places.  He cannot get out of the car and into the daycare fast enough.

And I love that he gets a chance to run around and play with other dogs.  Especially on days when I've been so busy and the weather is not good and I am not able to get him outside much.

They only charge me $10 for four hours (it's $20 for more than four hours).  It's a good deal.