10 Ways Your Dog Benefits From Doggy Daycare

Doggy Daycares are all the rage these days among pet owners.

The idea is pretty tantalizing to dog owners who are constantly strapped for time. They get to drop off their pooch for a day to a trusted daycare. Their pup will get to run around and play with others all day while their owners are running errands or spend long days at work. When leaving your puppers at home isn’t an option, dog daycares are becoming an obvious go-to solution.

However, there are still people that have concerns and are a bit apprehensive around the idea. Questions arise concerning reliability and trust. Also, a lot of people are simply not willing to leave their four-legged best friends under the supervision of strangers. While these concerns are understandable, there are more positives to gain out of the experience than negatives.

The objective of this article is to try and put to bed any negative preconceived notions that you may have around the idea of using a dog daycare.

These are the 10 interesting ways that your furry pal can benefit from doggy daycare.

1.The Opportunity To Socialize With Other Dogs

I think that people often forget just how similar animals and humans truly are. Dogs, just like humans, need a certain degree of socialization in order to develop properly. Keeping Fido entirely walled off from other dogs isn’t a great idea, especially if you have a young puppy. I mean think about it. A human would not be able to correctly recognize social cues within society if he/she spent the overwhelming majority of their lives cooped up inside solitary, right? Neither will dogs!

Doggy Daycares provide an excellent opportunity to get your pooch out and socializing. With this socialization comes a boost in confidence and general comfort when around other furry pals and humans.

2. Non-Stop Play and Exercise

As dog owners, we know just how active dogs can be. With a seemingly bottomless pit of energy to draw from, Fido can have you on your feet most hours of the day tossing a ball or frisbee around with very few breaks in between. This is where dog daycares come in. They provide a much-needed respite against fatigue brought upon by excessive play and allow you to go about your day doing other important things.

Also, with play, they get to exercise! According to petmd, your dog needs about 30 minutes to 2 hours of activity per day (depending on the breed). If you are strapped for time, this simply isn’t doable and will be hard to maintain on a consistent basis. Dropping your dog off at a doggy daycare will give your pup the essentials to live happily and you the freedom to do important errands.

3. Networking Opportunities With Other Dog Owners

This correlates to the benefits of socialization previously mentioned but more so involving humans. Joining a doggy daycares provides a golden opportunity to not only get Fido socializing with others, but also get yourself socializing with other pet parents. Dog daycares provide an excellent environment to meet and connect with other dog owners. You can never know too many people, especially if your chief point of contact has to do with your furry companion. You can obtain a wealth of information that will benefit your pupper previously not known by tapping into these social circles. From the best dog food brands to all natural flea remedies, you can learn a lot by conversing with other dog owners who share similar interest.

4. The Safety That Comes With Supervised Watch

Safety is among the most salient of concerns when it’s time to part ways temporarily with our pets. We can usually think of 101 ways our dogs can get themselves into trouble throughout the day unsupervised. When they are left alone all day, those reasons permeate our minds, leading to a stressful situation.

Dog daycares provide peace of mind from that stress. Knowing that your dog will be watched over by presumably competent, highly experienced individuals will allow you to go about your day worry free. I say “presumably”, because like everything else in life, dog daycares aren’t perfect. It is your job as an owner to seek out and adequately vet the dog daycare that you ultimately decide to settle down on.

What do their reviews look like?
How experienced are the dog handlers there?
What is the handler to dog ratio?
What type of insurance does the daycare have?

These are all questions that need to be asked before entrusting the well-being of your dog to daycare. So do your due diligence and start asking questions!

5. Additional Human Interaction

Dog daycares provide an excellent opportunity to get your dog interacting with other human beings on a routine basis. Some dogs may be timid when it comes to other humans. They may need a certain degree of reassurance when it comes to interacting with other humans. By being left with an experienced handler at a dog daycare is a great way to really break it out of its shell.
Know your dog’s personality and behavior around other humans.
If your dog exhibits a large degree of apprehension when it comes to interacting with other humans, then getting it acclimated inside of a dog daycare can be highly beneficial.

6. Creates A Daily Routine

Most owners know how their pooch thrives on routines. Routines also provide great training, establishing a daily pattern to look forward to and provides a great way of passively training your dog. Every day Fido can expect to wake up, go for a walk, and eat around a certain time. Using a doggy daycare establishes a routine in which your pup can anticipate with excitement every day.

7. Grooming Opportunities

We all know how torturous grooming our dogs can get, especially when we simply don’t have enough time in the day. Nobody likes an un-groomed pet, as that falls badly on the owner. Depending on what petcare center you choose, some even have the option to your puppy while staying with them.

8. Supplemental Dog Training

Every dog can use some extra training. Owners may be too strapped for time and not necessarily have the bandwidth required. Dog daycare’s present an excellent opportunity to get some supplemental training in. Some dog daycares will pick up the slack and offer to provide a certain degree of training to your pooch. This allows you to go about your day without having to worry about when or where you are going to fit some extra training in.

9. Helps Prevent Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety can be a serious problem when it comes to dogs. If it’s routine for you to spend all day with your pooch, sometimes a disrupt in routine can cause anxiety, leading to all sorts of problems in behavior and overall health. Utilizing a dog daycare will go a long way towards helping to cure that anxiety. Your dog will get acclimated to the presence of others on a routine basis. Gradually, this should help to cure any anxiety brought upon by separation.

10. More Bang For Your Buck

Affordability is a great concern when it comes to choosing a dog daycare. Many pet owners are a bit apprehensive to dive into the world of dog daycares due to perceptions (often false) that they are expensive.

Believe it or not, but dog daycares are affordable and you may actually be getting more bang for your buck by choosing a dog daycare over some of the other go-to options out there. For example, the neighborhood kid you task with watching and walking your puppy when you aren’t available may run you about $20 “x” amount of times per week. While that may come across as affordable to many, it belies the fact that your dog won’t be getting a lot of value. Your furry pal will most likely miss out on all of the benefits previously mentioned thus far. Your dog stands to benefit more from a dog daycare than any simple “dog sitting” situation you set up.

Wrap Up

While there are certainly other benefits of dog daycares that can be conjured up, these are among the most prominent and attractive to prospective dog daycare facility users. Petcare centers provide some amazing benefits to those who wish to take advantage of them. So take the plunge and give them a try. Your puppers will thank you for it!

About the Author
Mike Griffin is an writer at Pawsplaygrounds. He has interest in canine behavior, nutrition, and training. He also owns a corgi named Destiny.