It’s perfectly normal to feel anxious when you leave your fur baby in a doggy daycare for the first time. You might worry about how well your dog can adapt to this new environment, and how homesick he/she might feel. Also, you might be concerned about your dog’s safety with the rest of the pack.

To help ease your mind, here’s a list of tips you can follow that can help make your dog day-care experience stress-free.

AIM TO ESTABLISH A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP

Things you should consider when you’re looking home boarding:

• Is your dog staying in a kennel or in the provider’s home, as an extension of their family?
• What is the staff-to-dog ratio?
• How are the dogs pre-assessed and grouped?
• What are the amenities?
• What is the maximum number of dogs at any one time?
• Is the daycare quiet or noisy?
• What are the daycare’s toy policies?
• Do they only accept neutered dogs?
• Are there certain dog breeds they do not accept?
• What does their feeding schedule/routine look like?
• How are the dogs exercised?

PREPARE FOR SUCCESS

• Your pup’s medical records
• Make sure your dog received his/her vaccines
• Favourite toys and snacks
• Managing your dog’s diet

STRATEGIES FOR EASY ACCLIMATISATION

Here are four tips to support your pup’s socialisation skills for an optimal doggy daycare experience:

• Introduce your dog to more people
• Introduce your dog to other animals
• Enrol in puppy school
• Help your dog understand expected activities

HOW TO AVOID A STRESSED-OUT DOG

• Make sure they have their dog bed or an article of clothing or toy that has familiar smells
• Touch therapy for dogs
• Say yes to regular exercises

Get the dog accustomed to day-care and home boarding

In short, our four top tips for a dream doggie day-care experience are:

1. Building a great relationship with a home boarding facility with an experienced staff (of course we think that’s MyWaggyTails!)
2. Prepare the things that your dog might need while you’re away
3. Implement adapting strategies ahead of time to help your dog adjust to his/her temporary home
4. Learn how to spot signs of stress and know how to calm down your pup

It’s not fun to get separated from our dogs.

But, by having someone we can trust look after them while we’re away, will most definitely make the entire experience much more enjoyable for both you and your pup.

Okay, now over to you…

Which of the tips have you tried for your own dogs?

Are there any other tips you would recommend?

We hope that these tips can help make departing your pet a little easier. If you are looking for a home away from home for your pup, the team at MyWaggyTails absolutely adore animals. We’ve made it our business to take care of our clients’ pets as if they were our own. We have years of experience working with all types of breeds. You can trust us to provide a safe, comfortable, fun, and healthy environment for your furry friend.

To contact us for more information, day-care or home-boarding, please get in touch!