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 coaching 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.
Each day, we have two game day sessions, which allow all players ample time to play boisterously with their teammates. Our morning session runs from 8:30 to noon, and then our players are allowed to rest and refresh in their private locker rooms. If desired and provided, they can eat lunch during their noon time rest or simply take part in an energizing snack that we provide.
At about 2:00, we start the next game day session, which goes until about 5:00pm. Afterwards, players again refresh in their locker rooms while they wait to be picked up, if they are going home that day. If they are staying overnight, all boarders will be provided ample opportunity to eat dinner and relax before their evening game. Our evening game is provided to allow our overnight guest another opportunity to expend energy before going down for the night, where they are sure to get a good night’s sleep filled with pleasant doggie dreams. They can also relax and watch one of their favorite shows on Animal Planet before the lights are turned out. Calming music is played throughout the night.
While we find that most dogs can make the A-team, doggie daycare is not suited to all dogs. For those who do not pass our initial evaluation, we may suggest starting with a group obedience class, which can often provide a safe platform for introducing the social behavior required to be on a team.
YES! Not only do we encourage you to tour your Rompin’ Rovers facility, but we also require all new players to spend at least 1 day with us for daycare prior to their initial overnight stay. This allows them to get to know us and for us to get to know them. It also allows them to get a feel for the facility and our daily routine. We find this helps them be less nervous about their first away game.
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. We perform a body check and basic health assessment each time your pet stays overnight with us. If an incident does occur, the majority of these will be minor bumps or scrapes. It is rare that a more serious injury occurs.
At all times, our priority is the safety and well-being of each dog at our facility. All of our coaching staff are certified in pet CPR and first aid. If ever there is an incident where your dog may require care beyond that, we will take your dog to our preferred veterinarian or emergency animal hospital; in non-emergency situations, we will take your dog to his normal vet. We will always attempt to contact you for permission and to alert you to the situation; however, this is why we also have a special health care directive included on our application, so that we may act as guardians of your pet in your absence.
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. For pets staying overnight with us, we encourage you to provide enough food and special treats for his stay in an airtight container. Should we not have enough food on hand for any given stay, we will provide our basic low-residue diet so as to avoid stomach upset.
For daycare: dogs must wear a quick release collar and be brought in on a standard leash (no flexi leashes please). For overnight care: dogs must wear a quick release collar and have a standard leash. We recommend that your bring certain items of comfort that your dog will want with them, such as a favorite toy or blanket, any special bedding, their normal diet, and special treats that they are commonly given at home. We do this to provide them with an environment as similar to home as possible.
Reservations for daycare are recommended. Each location has a weekly sign-up sheet that will allow you to plan your pet’s visit in advance. For overnight care, reservations are required and should be made as early as possible to ensure space. This is extremely important if your stay will fall on or near a holiday, as our facilities are often booked to capacity during holidays.
We request that you provide us with 48 hours notice if you will be canceling an overnight reservation. For daycare visits, we request that you notify us the night before. This allows us to offer your space to someone who might otherwise be on a waiting list during busy seasons or holidays, as well as to help us staff accordingly to meet the needs of all our guests.
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. This can lead to them smelling not so fresh and possibly having a little dirt on them. 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 humping, are not allowed. Our coaches are 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.
ABSOLUTELY! We always have our coaching staff at each of the playgrounds during each play session. Dogs are monitored while in their private locker rooms.
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 a teammate goes home, they all like to bark their goodbyes. Dogs may also bark during tour times, as they tend to get excited by visitors.
