Pros and Cons of Dog Day Care

Having a safe place for your dog to spend time and socialize while you’re gone during the day helps relieve boredom, but is doggy day camp right for you? While there are important advantages associated with dog day care, there are also some disadvantages all dog owners should consider before making this decision. Keep the following pros and cons in mind when you look into dog day care for your pet.

Advantages of Doggy Day Camp

Day care for dogs provides a number of benefits, as long as it offers a high-quality environment and skilled staff members. These benefits include:

• Flexible schedules: Depending on your work schedule, you can sign your dog up for full days of daycare or half days. You can also arrange for evening day care if that works better with your schedule.
• Exercise: Dog day care facilities with play areas give dogs a chance to run around for hours at a time, which provides them with good exercise.
• Supervision: Dog day care facilities have trained staff available to keep an eye on dogs while they’re playing. This helps prevent behavioral problems from occurring, such as aggression.
• Socialization: Dogs have regular opportunities to spend time with other dogs at day care, which helps them stay mentally stimulated.

Disadvantages of Doggy Day Camp

Dog day care facilities are not ideal for some types of dogs. For example, those who are fearful, those who are hyper and those with certain medical conditions might have trouble adjusting to this type of setting. Other disadvantages of doggy day camp include the following:

• Behavioral problems: Existing behavioral issues, such as jumping on people, might get worse when you send your dog to day care. Keep in mind that some facilities do offer one-on-one training for behavioral problems.
• Injuries and illness: Dogs have a higher risk of getting hurt or becoming sick from being around other dogs.
• Too much excitement: Some dogs become overstimulated when they’re in a dog day care setting. Skilled staff can detect when this happens and prevent dogs from getting too excited.