All dogs must be social and non-aggressive. We require proof of current vaccines, including rabies, distemper, parvo, corona, and Bordetella. All dogs must be on both heartworm and flea/tick preventives. Dogs over 6 months of age must be spayed or neutered.
Our initial evaluation allows our staff to really get to know what type of player your dog is. We carefully evaluate social skills and play style in order to best match your dog with a play group appropriate according to age, size, and temperament. Part of this process is determined by the answers your provide us on our daycare application
Are all dogs accepted?
While we find that most dogs will enjoy group play, doggie daycare is not suited to all dogs. For those who do not pass our initial evaluation, we may suggest starting with some behavior work.
We require rabies, distemper, parvo, corona, and Bordetella vaccines to be up-to-date for all players and overnight guests. We also require that all dogs be on a steady regimen of heartworm and flea/tick preventatives.
While we closely supervise the dogs in our care, they are playing boisterously throughout the day. Just as in any child daycare situation, there is always a risk of health issues or injuries. If an incident does occur, the majority of these will be minor bumps or scrapes. It is rare that a more serious injury occurs.
If your pet is attending our daycare and you would like him to be fed at lunchtime then yes, please bring in his normal diet. You may bring a daily portion or, for our frequent guests, we encourage you to provide us with extra portions in an airtight container, which will be marked for your pet only and will be given to you for refills as needed.
Your dog has been very active with his play sessions and will likely work up a sweat or kick up a little dust when playing with his teammates. If you prefer, you can schedule a bath for any day you want your champ to come home fresh and clean.
We will administer any oral medications, eye drops, ear drops, balms, or spray medications that your provide to us. We cannot, however, administer any injections.
It depends on the nature of the health issue. Since we cannot administer injections, we regret that we cannot accept diabetic dogs, as they require insulin. Other health issues, such as seizures, would also cause us grave concern about the safety of your dog while in our care, and we would not be able to accept them. Also, if the health issue is of such a nature that it can be passed from one dog to another, we would not be able to accept them. In all cases, we recommend that you discuss your dog’s current health issues with a member of our coaching staff when booking your reservations.
Your pet has been playing very hard all day, and although we always have fresh water available to them during both play and rest times, they will likely continue to rehydrate themselves when they arrive home.
You did bring him in to play, right? Well, he played, and he played hard. Going home tired is a sign of contentment with his day. Now all that is needed is that special cuddle time with you!
We are inspected regularly to ensure that our facilities are in proper order. Cleanliness is of utmost importance to us. We clean and disinfect all kennels, crates, play areas, toys, bowls, bedding, etc., on a daily basis. As for keeping our facilities disease free, this is why we have such strict requirements for all pets to be current on appropriate vaccines and preventative medications.
Yes. We expect all of our players to show good sportsmanship while playing. This is why some behaviors, such as mounting, are not allowed. Our staff is trained to know what behaviors might be a precursor for more serious poor behavior, and they will gently correct or divert the improper behavior before allowing it to escalate.
Our first course of action will always be to try to divert the dog's attention, since a simple diversion often breaks the train of thought and thereby distracts the dog from following through on what might have been improper play. This is typically in the form of a verbal command, but it may also be a quick squirt of bitter apple/water mix from a water bottle. Generally, this is all the correction that is needed. Should the player require a brief time-out to allow them to calm down before resuming play, we may also place them “on the bench” for a short period of time.
Is there alot of barking at your facility?
While the dogs are playing, there will be the occasional barking, but the facility is generally quiet, with one exception—the dogs know when it’s pick-up time, so when the doorbell rings and its time for a buddy to go home, they all like to bark their goodbyes. Dogs may also bark during tour times, as they tend to get excited by visitors.
