Is Doggy Daycare Right For My Dog?

Canine To Five has been in business for over 17 years, and boy – have we learned a lot about taking care of dogs! We’ve made changes to our business model gradually over the years to align with taking care of dogs safely based on what we know about canine behavior and body language. What started as all dogs in one big group together, turned into several smaller groups separated by size, age, and temperament to offer a more balanced environment. 

We Are Forward Thinking is one of our core values at Canine To Five, and to us that means always meeting the needs of our furry friends based on up to date practices. What we’ve come to learn is that doggy daycare is a space for dogs who have a high tolerance level for socializing with young, energetic dogs. As Certified Dog Trainer Katelin Thomas-Colvin, from K9 Turbo Training puts it, “Even dogs who absolutely love hanging out with other dogs can be very overwhelmed by spending large blocks of time in a group with them. In other words, not even people who love people want to work or spend all day, every week, at Disney World.”

BEHAVIORS WE’RE LOOKING OUT FOR

With this new outlook on our services, Canine To Five is looking more closely at dogs who give us signals that they are uncomfortable in our care. 

Signs include, but are not limited to:

• Reactivity
• Difficulty self-regulating 
• Space sensitivity 
• Humping 
• Gate fixation 
• Barrier frustration 
• “Rude” behaviors, like mouthing/nipping/jumping up 
• Destructive behavior
• Self-inflicted harm

If your dog displays these or other signs of discomfort, our team will be sure to keep you in the loop and updated on their progress with each visit. In the event the behaviors become difficult for our team to manage, your dog will be invited to try Pawsitive Enrichment or, based on the severity of their behavior, we’ll recommend an in-home pet sitter for your future needs.

SERVICES FOR SPECIALIZED NEEDS

Two other core values of ours are We Are Safe and We Care. As we aim to be more conscious of each dog’s comfort level, we will be discontinuing services that cater to dogs who cannot safely be integrated into our Group Play or Pawsitive Enrichment areas.

These services include, but are not limited to:

• Heartworm positive dogs
• Dogs who require life sustaining medication (i.e; insulin, chemotherapy medication, heart medication, anti-seizure medication)
• Senior dogs over the age of 13
• Dogs who can only stay in our Senior Lounge (The Senior Lounge will no longer be available)

In this blog post from Training Manager, Cullen Perry, he talks about how it is common for dogs to age out of daycare, and it happens at a much younger age than you’d think! Depending on your dog’s size/breed, you will typically see an decrease in play, they’ll be less tolerant of rude/pushy behavior, and they will be more selective of their playmates after they hit 2 years old. Just think about how that relates to us humans and our social lives – when we’re kids we are eager to play with anyone, then when we are teenagers we are more selective of who we associate with, and once we are adults we become less tolerant of rude behaviors. The same is true for our furry friends – just at a much quicker rate.

All in all, our goal at Canine To Five is to provide a center of fun for dogs who thrive in a playful environment. While our purpose is to provide pet parents with safe, clean, and reliable care for their dogs while they are away, our mission is to ensure each dog in our care is happy, healthy, and comfortable.