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The Everyday Trainer Podcast
The Everyday Trainer Podcast
Uncovering the Dark Side of Doggy Daycares: Horror Stories and Industry Insights
Imagine sending your beloved dog to daycare, only to find the experience leaves them more anxious and misbehaving than before. This episode pulls back the curtain on the unsettling reality behind many doggy daycare facilities, with stories that might make you reconsider where to leave your furry friend. I’m Meg, a seasoned dog trainer, and joining me is my partner Thoma. Together, we expose some eye-opening tales of chaos and mismanagement that dogs encounter in these supposed havens.
Our conversation spans from chaotic thunderstorms causing pandemonium in understaffed facilities to heartbreaking tales of dogs regressing after violent encounters. We don't shy away from the emotional toll these experiences take on both pets and their owners. We stress the importance of honesty and proper training in pet care services, and how misleading marketing and inadequate staffing lead to unsafe environments. Thoma and I dig deep into the industry's flaws, questioning if every dog is truly suited for daycare or if some might be better off in the comfort of their homes.
From the chaotic warehouses packed with unruly dogs to the few facilities that manage to get it right, we explore the vast disparities in the dog daycare industry. By sharing firsthand experiences, cautionary tales, and industry anecdotes, we aim to arm you with the insights needed to make informed decisions for your pet's care. Join us as we navigate these troubling yet enlightening stories, urging for better management practices and highlighting the need for structured downtime in dog care environments.
Hello, hello and welcome back to the Everyday Trainer podcast. My name is Meg and I am a dog trainer. Today's episode is a good one. I asked you all to submit your doggy daycare basically horror stories. We had one positive response and I was like, oh my gosh, yay. But other than that, the response from everybody was absolutely insane. These stories are crazy. So I'm going to be reading off all of the responses from your experiences at doggy Daycare to hopefully, you know, scare you all away from sending your dogs to these places. I am joined by my very special guest, toma. This is his first time on the podcast, so very exciting. You guys know the drill Grab yourself a tasty drink and meet us back here. Welcome, toma.
Speaker 2:Pleasure to be on.
Speaker 1:This is your first time.
Speaker 2:Sure is.
Speaker 1:Toma is a certified yapper, but he's also the type of yapper where, if I put a camera in front of him or a microphone, he's like oh, I don't know how to talk anymore, so we'll see, we'll see. Um, I think we should also acknowledge that the only reason that you're here is because you're a long time fan of the podcast yeah, I've probably listened to every single one. A real fangirl Started from the bottom. Now you're here.
Speaker 2:What can I say?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, if you don't know, toma is my partner. He left Canada, came to Florida. We hit it off. Things have been great ever since. Yeah, ever since, yeah. What's your, what's your experience so far going from like normal people life to dog trainer life?
Speaker 2:I mean to be fair, like I worked in a kennel environment before, um worked in detection like that sort of thing, but never, uh, joined a house with, you know, a bunch of dogs in it. So definitely, living the board and train life has been a little bit of a culture shock, let's put it that way.
Speaker 1:It's definitely a lot yeah, no, it's a lot. It's a lot for like anybody to come into, but if you don't know, and then you just like get thrown into that. So when Toma like moved in with me, I I had so many dogs at the house probably like I don't know 20 dogs and at the time I was like by myself taking care of all of these dogs, and he kind of got like thrown into everything immediately, right away, and it's like all right, get ready to work 24, 7, all day, every day, and never be able to leave the house or do anything.
Speaker 2:Basically your whole life revolves around dogs yeah, it's definitely a different uh pace, let's put it that way. Um, yeah, you have dogs barking in the middle of the night and that sort of thing. You don't necessarily sleep well, but uh, no, it's been. It's been a good time. I've definitely progressed myself as a handler, just, you know, being around you, so it's been good yeah, happy to help.
Speaker 1:We love hockey boy. Now hawk is his melon wall. Um, all right, so let's go ahead and get into the episode. This is is a good one. I kind of ran out of ideas for the podcast. I was just like feeling a little bit uninspired and I was like listening to the podcast Two Hot Takes when I was driving out here from Florida to California and I loved how they did. They would just like read Reddit stories or they would read like things that their listeners would submit and I loved it. And just to give you guys some you know, like clarification. I have not read through all of these, so I'm going to be like live reading them and we're just going to kind of like blind react to them. I've read some of them and they are absolutely unhinged.
Speaker 1:So the whole reason I wanted to do this episode is because I am a doggy daycare hater. Like anytime I get on the phone call with a client or like a prospective client you know I'm talking about training. I would say like 95% of the people who need a dog trainer are taking their dogs to dog parks and or doggy daycares and it causes so many behavioral issues. I tell people all the time. Doggy daycares literally keep dog trainers in business and nobody believes me. Like every time I post about how much I hate doggy daycares, I get like blasted by the doggy daycare community and they're like not all doggy daycares? And I'm like okay, well, the overwhelming majority of doggy daycares are just utter chaos. And I'm talking to trainers and people who have worked at these facilities all the time and they're just telling me these horror stories. So I was like you know what let's give people the opportunity to share their horror stories out of, and like this is updating currently, like I'm still getting responses. We have 27 responses so far. I'm still getting responses. We have 27 responses so far. They're still being added as we're speaking, out of 27, there's been one positive, literally just one positive. That's completely wild, yeah. So we're going to get into reading these and also just to kind of set the tone for this episode.
Speaker 1:Toma and I are in the middle of nowhere. We're recording this episode the day before we're putting it out. I was going to put on another episode tomorrow and I was like no, I need to put this one out because I don't know. We got good momentum with all of these responses and I feel like you guys are going to want to hear. So our plan was we were actually going to drive from Tahoe to like Santa Cruz or like the coast, but it is so freaking hot here in California that we drove to Sacramento. I got a charger for my van battery. I have like a little goal zero that charges like my podcast equipment and my cameras and like laptop and all the things that I need, but the charger was broken. So we drove to Sacramento.
Speaker 1:Tomo was working dogs. We met up there, I got a charger, I got a cooler and we did not even make it to the coast. We're like we cannot. It's literally like 104 degrees and it's like 9 pm. So we drove back to Tahoe and now we're in South Tahoe in the middle of the forest, running on Starlink and the Goal Zero battery. So it's a vibe and we're sitting in the front seat of my van. I have a headlamp on because we can't keep my fan lights on. So that's, those are the vibes that we're, that we're going for right now, and we've got ollie pops as our tasty drink, of course. So I don't know. You got anything to say before we dive into these fun, fun little stories no, let's get into it all right, cool.
Speaker 1:Um, like I said, I'm going to be like reading these. Some of you guys submitted like multiples and you just kind of like commented on them, so they're kind of like all over the place. I'm gonna do my best to keep everything organized. Okay, all right, let's get into it. These are also anonymous. I don't know who they came from, um, so, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:The first one, the owner of the daycare that I worked at, didn't know how to say no to owners requesting daycare or boarding. This would mean that dogs from different families ended up in kennels together. I'm talking like six to ten dogs in a concrete kennel run that should only be occupied by maybe two to three dogs from the same family. The structure for what the dogs experienced was play all day, which was just overstimulating for most dogs. Even if we wanted to put dogs away for breaks, there was never enough room. There was no training for managing dogs or breaking up dog fights Pretty standard. From what I know, the kennel accepted unspayed and neutered dogs with very limited protocols for managing them, and multiple intact males ended up tying with females in heat due to miscommunication between staff. So if you don't know, we'll kind of like get into this as we're like reading through these.
Speaker 1:But the issue with most doggy daycares is that it's completely overstimulating, it's unnatural and basically they're just shoving so many dogs in such a small place with like no downtime and no alone time and like what does our house look like? Or what did our house look like? Like it's so structured like. Or what did our house look like? Like it's so structured we're really only letting out, like dogs that we know get along and it's very managed, like I don't even like just having one person supervising group stuff in the yard. It would usually be like two of us out in the yard and we're constantly pacing and that's with. Like I don't know how many dogs would we have out in the yard like eight to ten, I don't know.
Speaker 2:The other thing to mention is you have a very good knowledge and that capability of like reading, uh, dog body language and most of the people in doggy daycares are just like passionate dog lovers and you know they're not at the same level either, so you can break up a dog fight before it even starts yeah, that's true I have.
Speaker 1:That's kind of my jam is like the group stuff. I really love like pack work with dogs and I'm very like I'm just good at reading the dogs because I just sit there and I watch them all day. That's how I've learned how to be a dog trainer. And as we kind of go through these, you'll realize that the people at doggy daycares are not very experienced. Let's read another one.
Speaker 1:All right, I managed two daycare and boarding facilities and did consulting for a number of others. The one facility I worked with was the largest facility in Northern Virginia and would have over 300 dogs come in daily in just three rooms. What? That's literally insane. The owner would tell people we capped the daycare rooms at 25 to 30 per room and that all dogs were quote behaviorally vetted beforehand. We were not allowed to cap the rooms or turn people away at the door, even if they didn't have a reservation. I would have one to two teenagers in a daycare room watching 85 sometimes 90 at a time large breed. The rooms were so crowded the dogs would bump into each other just trying to turn around. We could be completely understaffed, overbooked and we wouldn't cap daycare.
Speaker 1:The owner would also accept all the dogs in the area that had been blacklisted by other daycares. There were fights daily because she wouldn't actually allow us time to train the employees before throwing them in the room. She hired teenagers because she didn't want to pay a decent wage and I had multiple employees I'd had to rush to the ER for bites. One was even having a panic attack over the working conditions in the room. Having a panic attack over the working conditions in the room, the owner would ask me to consult in the rooms and train the employees, then ignore every piece of feedback. I gave Ended up leaving here, obviously because I found myself trying to discourage clients from using the services. Every employee in the building, from groomers to managers to daycare attendants, would talk about how they would never allow their dogs to come there oh boy 300 dogs is literally insane.
Speaker 1:I can't even comprehend that number. 300, 300 like how do you even keep that clean? That's absolutely insane. And that's kind of like the problem with daycares is just a numbers thing, like all. Like they're not people who are starting these businesses, are not doing it because they like dogs like I. I just you cannot put like 300 dogs in a building. That's absolutely insane. All right, this person has stories, so we'll go to the next one. Consulted for the one wait. Consulted for one. Then brought me in to watch camera footage of employees and fights and to change their protocols. I watched an employee get mad at a chihuahua mix because it wouldn't stay still while she put its harness on, so she threw the dog on the ground and broke two of its legs. They didn't fire her, even though it was on camera footage, and lied to the owners about what happened. Oh, all right, she has more stories.
Speaker 1:A facility I held group classes at got destroyed by kennel cough one year. We had more than 15 dogs die after leaving the facility post-holiday boarding. The owner refused to close daycare to clean the facility or warn people that I was going around. We had dogs passing away in kennels and vets offices calling us to complain about how many sick and deceased pets they'd seen come in from the facility. When owners would ask if Ketelkoff was going around, the employees were told to tell everyone we hadn't seen any cases of it. This went on for months. I had to postpone my classes in the middle and told everyone what was happening. They were so confused because they were told the facility. They were told by the facility that their dogs were safe and nothing was going on. I stopped hosting classes there. So this is the person who is like consulted for multiple doggy daycare. So this isn't even like the same one. Oh my gosh, this story goes on for so long.
Speaker 1:At a facility I managed, we lost power during a thunderstorm over a busy holiday boarding weekend. We were short staffed so I was helping take dogs back from check-in. The power went off as I was taking two dogs to the back in the narrow hallways the dogs were pulling and freaking out so badly from the storm that their collars actually snapped off. I think the owner attached the buckle to their tags and not the actual collar itself. It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. Had to get these dogs out of the walkway so they wouldn't run into any of the behavioral dogs coming back, one of the dogs freaked out and attacked me in the hallway, completely, shredded my shirt. I was calling for help on my headset because I couldn't even see. The dog Owner said she couldn't come in to help and then told me to suck it up. Essentially, when I called to tell her how short-staffed we were and showed her what happened to me and also told me that I needed to put the dogs in with the other dogs. Even after this incident and they were already stressed and reacting accordingly and keep checking people in Walked around the rest of the night in a shredded shirt with an injury. Luckily it was mild.
Speaker 1:This daycare would offer quote report cards for each dog every day. They weren't real. There was literally one person assigned to writing these every day and they would sit down at a desk and then make everything up. Owners that had to be called about problems that happened at daycare that day would be so confused because they received a 100% fantastic day report card. They would even make up quote friends of the dog to put on the card. Quote Max enjoyed running around outside and napping with Bella.
Speaker 1:Today I have so many more of these stories. It's awful. I will never work or associate with daycares again. It's a volume business. They make money by accepting as many dogs as possible each day, can't pay enough to actually train and employ people who understand body language In the daycare rooms and the experience is completely tailored to pandering to the owner's emotions, with little consideration about what is actually right for the dog. I very rarely saw a dog that was actually calm or relaxed. Most of the day they would spend pacing, panting and crying at the doors, trying to just get out and getting into altercations from overcrowding or being mistreated by the overworked, immature employees. From overcrowding or being mistreated by the overworked, immature employees. The owners would think their dogs were excited and quote, smiling to get there. On the training side, I've seen literal, severe quote behavioral problems disappear from simply removing daycare from the dog's schedule. I hate these places in all caps.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, there's so many things to be said, just the.
Speaker 1:Well, this is like. Do you remember when I was at the retreat and I got a call from one of our owners?
Speaker 2:Yeah, she, you know it's the convenience of having a place to drop your dog off and she felt terrible because obviously her dog got in a dog fight and she.
Speaker 1:They lied to her. Yeah, they literally lied to her. So one of my clients like oh, she's literally the sweetest person in the whole world and this dog is like the sweetest dog in the whole world and I did a board and train with her like right before I left and I obviously wasn't there to be able to board her when she went out of town. So they asked one of their friends like oh, where do you board your dog? And she ended up sending her dog to a facility somewhere like around Orlando and she called me literally in tears after picking up her dog and did she was there like an injury she had like an injury right I mean, first off she felt like she failed her dog.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, she was like I'm so, like I, all of her training is gone, like it's all done. She was like she felt like she failed her dog and essentially when she went to go pick up her dog, like the employee was like, oh, did she get into a fight with your other dog? And the owner was like, what are you talking about? And he was like, oh well, she has like a scratch on her face. And she was like, no, like they love each other, they don't get in fights. But basically she got attacked by a dog at the facility and they wanted to cover it up. So they like convinced her that like it happened on her watch, like before the dog ever even got there and she was kind of unsure how to react.
Speaker 2:So she didn't really, you know, respond, you know, and in that moment. But obviously she realized that was made up story afterwards.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, I was the one who was like they're lying to you, Like I know that they're lying to you and it's because of like stories like this that I get from people who have worked at these places. Like they just flat out lie to owners, Like dogs get into fights all the time.
Speaker 2:You guys, you guys will hear this.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so the owner was like very upset. She felt like she failed her dog. She, you know the dog was like now super fearful. We were working through a lot of like separation anxiety to the point where, like the dog was having like accidents in the crate, in the apartment in the crate, multiple times a day because this dog had so much anxiety. And by the end of our boarding train like she was doing great and then like after just a couple nights at this boarding facility, like she regressed so quickly. Actually I need to check on her. She said she was like doing better. She like texted me but like I still need to check on her. But yeah, she was like completely distraught and she was like I feel like I failed her and I was like it's OK, You're going to get back to it, we just have to like work through it, you know. But yeah, absolutely insane, All right.
Speaker 1:Next one I worked at a Bay Area doggy daycare and boarding facility for four years. I started out as a pet tech essentially a kennel worker and worked up to head trainer. During my early pet tech years I got to be the person out in the daycare yard. We're talking about 30 to 40 dogs per one handler, as most of the interactions and play between the dogs was nothing ridiculous. I have one instance in my head that I cannot get out of my memory. They had a quote small dog yard and a big dog yard. This particular instance took place in the small dog yard. We had a new board and train puppy come in, a Weimaraner around four to five months old. It was his first day out in the play yard. He was a typical puppy, bouncing and running around with the other active dogs. During one of his zoomy circles of the yard he ran past a dog that had gotten kicked out of big dogs because of his cranky old man attitude.
Speaker 2:All of a sudden, oops, it updated for me yeah, the other crazy thing just to mention with the doggy daycare is it's every day, it's revolving door and it's not necessarily the same dogs coming in every day, so the staff doesn't even know the temperament of these dogs oh, I know, at least like the dogs that we have, we see like all the time, you know, I've literally had them for like you don't take a like a boarding dog unless you've gone through them as a client before for training.
Speaker 2:Already off the bat you know all the dogs you have and the new board and train dogs are definitely not getting yard time with all the other dogs right off the bat. They slowly earn that privilege.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then when they act a fool, I escort them back inside. Okay, I found my spot again. So during one of his zoomy circles of the yard he ran past a dog that had gotten kicked out of Biggs because of his cranky old man attitude. All of a sudden we heard squealing and crying from the puppy running over to him. He had his mouth agape and some blood was dripping from it. We pulled back his lips only to find his jaw bone broken and poking out of his flesh. He had to be immediately taken to UC Davis for emergency surgery.
Speaker 1:We never saw him again. Looking at the footage of the yard, it legit looks like the puppy is just running past and barely bumps into the lying down older dog. The older dog did one quick snap and it just so happened to break the puppy's jaw. Can you imagine signing your puppy up for training and that's what happens. Needless to say, I'm so much happier running my own doggy business because I know what not to do yeah, that's obviously not an ideal scenario I would like, for the love of god, never take your puppies to those places.
Speaker 1:And what's crazy too is like these people signed up for a board and train, like they didn't even sign up for daycare, like, oh, that's so horrible. Okay, this is like a quick little side note, but I just have to read. If boarding dogs were barking too much, we were just supposed to keep giving them more and more benadryl yeah, that's wild oh my god, yeah, this person.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is a long one. We're gonna read this one. Oh boy, where to begin? I've worked in the animal industry for 12 years now all the job positions possible. For a year and a half I worked at an open floor dog daycare, meaning it was 4,000 square foot warehouse plus a yard on the outside. We had an average of 40 dogs, all breeds and sizes. It was myself I was in my mid-20s at that point and three other employees ranging from 50 to 60-year-olds. It's what I considered an old-school daycare. The owner had been running it for a couple decades but never really updated their mindset or facility. Like I said, it was a huge warehouse, no separation for the dogs of different sizes, breed, temperament, etc.
Speaker 1:We also took a lot of dogs that were kicked out of other daycares for behavioral reasons. We constantly had scuffles. We had a few serious fights which led to dogs being sent home with puncture wounds, scuffles. We had a few serious fights which led to dogs being sent home with puncture wounds. One situation was two male dogs that were always besties. I had just arrived when one came to meet me at the gate and before I could even get all the way through the secondary, the dog jumped on in on him. I stood there not even for a second, my work bag and lunch still in my hands, while my boss tackled the dog that was being bit to the ground, to quote, prevent him from fighting back, while the other dog was on top of him, biting his neck and then armpit, I calmly put my stuff on the ground and grabbed his collar and had to choke him off. Thankfully he let go after a couple seconds and straight into a crate he went. Apparently these two dogs had already had a couple scuffles that morning before I arrived. My boss thought she hurt the dog's leg because, like I said, she full-on tackled him. I was always the one breaking up fights and scuffles. Whenever there was a scuffle, not only did we have to break it up as fast as possible, we also had to prevent other dogs from joining in. It's honestly amazing that I never got bit.
Speaker 1:We had a lot of dogs that had a quote grudge against specific other dogs here. Yet we were allowed to come to daycare on the same day as those dogs and we just had to keep a really close eye on them all day. Despite having 10 dogs to one handler, it was absolutely still not enough for that setup. The dogs would get overstimulated and start what I call quote a dog tornado and literally start running full speed around the perimeter of the warehouse and through the yard easily 10 to 20 dogs at a time. All I could do was not get trampled and then try to get in front of the gate and grab the dog that started it. Try to get in front of the gate and grab the dog that started it. I saw so much reactivity, so much bad behavior being practiced all day. Every week we were open 7 am to 6 pm. A lot of the dogs were there literally all day more than once a week. So many scuffles involving goldens. Luckily, their fluffy butts and tails made it easier to grab from behind to get them off.
Speaker 1:The other dog. We had a few bully breeds who did not belong in that setting. Thank God nothing too bad ever happened with them, but they all had to be closely watched. I would hope every day that none of the small dogs got stepped on and yelled because that triggered all the other dogs to go at them. They gave some of the quote bad dogs too many chances and let dogs attend that had no business being in that setting.
Speaker 1:My boss wasn't great either. Like I said, she was pretty old school despite only being about 50 years old, but she wasn't super pleasant to work with and, of course, her dog was a nightmare because it was exhausted from having to go to daycare every day. The only time I got quote in trouble as an employee was when I got talked to by her because one of the golden owners mentioned that I didn't pet her dog when she came in at drop-off and she was concerned that I wasn't nice. Meanwhile, the dogs would often redirect on each other at drop-off because it was so overwhelming. So, yeah, I didn't pet her dog once at drop-off because I was focused on preventing fights from starting. So I started petting the dogs more to make my boss happy and, what do you know, some of them started trying to guard me and they definitely became pushier with my affection to where I couldn't even walk without them being right there in my way and, mind you, I'm not a pushover with dogs.
Speaker 1:Some of the dogs were bad enough where we had to use e-collars in order for them to be able to keep attending. Not the good quality e collars, the cheap ones that only go up to 15 and they hurt no conditioning, just put it on the dog and use whatever level was needed. We had a few dogs that regularly had to wear them and I was instructed to just correct them if they were being bad. We also carried little squirt guns on us to use the same way you would use a spray bottle, which is just funny.
Speaker 1:I worked there longer than I wanted because of the pandemic for minimum wage. I can't really say that I'm thankful for the experience, but I learned what was not acceptable and what I did not tolerate anymore, and I got a lot of hands on experience, but that came with PTSD and I've had to continue to unlearn that dogs interacting is a bad thing. Moral of the story Do not work at a traditional doggy daycare. Do not send your dogs there. It's just expensive flight fight club and they'll kick your dog out when they're a pro fighter yeah, it's pretty funny.
Speaker 2:I mean, what's interesting too, if you kind of go down the online dog trainer rabbit hole is all trainers kind of say you know you shouldn't have your dog interact and all that, and I kind of probably went too far down that spectrum. But the doggy daycare scenario definitely is just like you know, a fight club setting. But it's also, on the flip side, interesting to see. You know dogs interact in an appropriate manner. You know when the setting is, you know more appropriate I worked at a daycare and boarding.
Speaker 1:One temperament test actually meant a free hour of daycare. That actually meant tossing your dog in with the other dogs, fingers crossed and hoping for the best. The quote professionals watching your dog are usually on their phones, a lot of which have little or no prior experience with dogs or even a prior job. No trainer on site. The owners and management oh my gosh, I cannot speak. The owners and managers didn't have a clue about body language and managing multiple dogs. Your dog is probably getting overfed, unless you measured it out yourself. Medicine Good luck dogs. Your dog is probably getting overfed, unless you measured it out yourself. Medicine good luck. Also, your dog is basically playing around in the piss and shit of other dogs. Then you left them in your house. Okay, I'm done. Oh my gosh, another one. Oh, I have so many. Where to even start.
Speaker 1:Kennel owner's dog unneutered male gsd used for breeding, was allowed to stalk a boxer for months. Eventually the gsd bit him and he was severely injured. Kennel owner told boxer owner it was an accident and the boxer was just in the wrong place, wrong time. They paid for the vet bills, but the shepherd is still allowed in daycare. A very long story, but a dog was given bones in kennel, had bloody diarrhea, was not taken to the vet, went home. Money bro, wild, what, oh my god. I think like the thing that's most scary after like reading all of these is just like the blatant lies.
Speaker 1:Like obviously it's a business and so people want, like the owners to be happy, right, but like just people lying, like these business owners, lying about like the livelihood of dogs is just absolutely insane and you would think that, like you know, if somebody's in this industry, they're doing it because they like dogs, but like there's no way, like it's just money, you know you just can't trust what happens behind those closed doors yeah, that's why, like I don't know, I've talked to you about this a lot, like if I do want to have a facility someday, and if I do, I don't want to have dogs overnight and I want it to be very, very open, like have you seen those vets offices that are like the whole thing is open and they just have like little stations and the owners can come back and like everything is in, like that's what I want, if I want a facility, like I do not want anything behind closed doors. Like if the trainers feel like they can't train in front of a giant glass window, like you know, they shouldn't be doing that. Basically, that's like that's how I think it should be Essentially, just like very, very transparent. Because, yeah, this industry is just like wild.
Speaker 1:All right, we got another one. Where do I begin begin? I worked in the daycare industry for almost five years, three years as a general manager. Firstly, from every daycare operation I have seen owners know next to nothing about dogs, dog body language, owners of the not dog owner oh, my gosh, updated again. It's people like submitting the responses, and then I like this is my spot yeah, and let's be real, every owner thinks they have a great dog.
Speaker 1:You know, I'll be the first no I think they're talking about um the owners of the the facility.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not the, not dog. Actually, dog trainers, they're just business people looking at numbers okay.
Speaker 1:firstly, from every daycare operation I have seen owners know next to nothing about dogs dog body language, dog behaviors, dog breeds nothing. They also are, unfortunately, not honest with their clients. Exactly what we were just saying. If a dog does not enjoy daycare or does not do well, they lie to keep the owners, to keep them coming back. Staff was never properly trained and would regularly be quote managing 15 to 25 dogs at a time, dogs who were extremely out of control. The amount of fights I've witnessed and broken up have to be in the hundreds, hundreds. Absolutely zero structure. No, we match your dogs for play groups. Complete lie, lie. Most places stick your dog where they have room and call it a day.
Speaker 1:I've seen wrong dogs get sent home to the wrong home. Diseases running rampant through facilities, dogs getting insanely injured, slipping on wet floors because of the constant mopping of pee and poop on the floor Overall not a sanitary environment, no matter how hard you try. Poor puppies being brought in at four months old and getting tossed into a group of dogs that harass them and terrify the life out of them, not to mention all of the disastrous things they learn at daycare. I will literally go to the ends of the earth to tell people do not do it.
Speaker 1:Next one I've worked at two and the management and the facility really determined the experience. The first was a big kennel building with indoor outdoor runs for overnight dogs about six small gravel yards and five huge grassy yards. The overnight dogs could join daycare would wait. The overnight dogs that could join daycare would if we had enough manpower for the day. But typically only one person was out in the big grassy yards even though there could be three to ten dogs in each one. I feel like that's not too bad, like based on all of the other ones that people have said.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, there's actually some three, three to ten.
Speaker 1:Three to ten's not bad. That 300 one is freaking crazy. It worked out because the dogs had so much room that they usually didn't squabble or pester each other too much, but looking back, that was kind of risky, yeah, I agree, but, like honestly, this one sounds like the best case scenario so far. It would have been a lot of ground to cover if a fight did happen. A lot of the dogs were regulars, so they were often in the same groups and we knew they got along. Management did make everyone take dog body language courses, oh, and, thankfully, only put the more trustworthy employees on daycare duty.
Speaker 1:The dogs all went up for a lunch break when we did, but stayed out otherwise for pretty long hours, even if it was super hot or cold. We did have a room to use for small groups on rainy days. There was a lot of fence fighting to stop, and it was always super risky taking dogs in and out of yards because the others would all crowd the gate. The business had super high turnover and a lot of high schoolers working there. There were usually four to six people on premises, though, and we all had radios. The place had backup gates and safety latches and a generally pretty safe layout, plus good policies. We moved every dog using slip leads okay honestly sounds like that one doesn't sound bad at all.
Speaker 1:Like. That one's pretty good, okay. So they worked at another one. So the second daycare was literally a converted house with wire crates in all the rooms and it was in the middle of the city with two small dirt yards that had a connecting gate between them that small dogs could slip under and there were no backup fences, even though the property was super close to a very busy road. The owner was a girl in her 20s. She had two crazy vishlas who resource guarded rocks and water. I think a lot of employees were just her friends. One was her boyfriend who would just be on his phone when he was out with the groups. There was no talk of dog behavior or dog body language.
Speaker 1:We would have 10 to 25 dogs in each of those two little yards and the dogs were all so rude. They did get rotated in and out because we would have four to six groups total. We didn't use leashes, we would just turn them loose out of the crates and try to funnel them out the door. Usually only two people were working. It was so chaotic. Honestly, the first one doesn't sound bad at all. Like I feel like that's kind of like the best case scenario for like doggy daycares, like what they say six small gravel yards and five huge grassy yards. Like space is a huge part of this and, like me and you know this, that like space is a resource like for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the tighter space definitely is like a funnel that creates, you know, a potential fight, but then also just like all the, the management and the different fenced areas is huge and the backup fences and all that. So, yeah, first place sounds like the best yeah, the second one I don't know. Close to a busy road with an unsafe fence sounds definitely like a stressor.
Speaker 1:All right, next one, oh boy. My first full-time job was at an independently owned boarding and grooming facility. After about a year of me working there, we started to add on daycare, because it's when daycare facilities started booming. At this time I knew barely anything about dogs, as this was my first experience working with them. The owner wanted to stand out from other daycare facilities, so she wanted to offer all-day play, so the dogs got zero breaks or downtime. People started bringing their dogs in Monday through Friday from 7 am to 7 pm. Within two months I noticed severe behavioral issues reactivity, owners being drug. Oh, the owners were being drug. Is that the past tense of being dragged? Is it dragged?
Speaker 2:Is it dragged? I don't know.
Speaker 1:Owners were being dragged we're going to say that Into the building etc. I brought up my concerns to the owner and she dismissed it all. At that point I refused to work any daycare shifts. We had a large dog and a small dog area but they were separated by chain link fence. Dogs were getting into fights and we would have upwards of 70 plus dogs in at once, with one person working the small dog section and one person working the large dog section. Usually teenagers just sit there for a summer job.
Speaker 1:Our quote evaluation for if the dog would be a good fit for daycare was putting it in a small area with one or two stable dogs, aka a dog that frequented daycare and didn't cause problems and as long as it got along with those two dogs for about five minutes, it was deemed safe to enter daycare with 70 plus dogs. There was no training on dog behavior. There was no training on what to look out for dog body language. It was a great time. I think that's kind of like I don't know that one facility that had like a course on dog body language like that's huge, you know, and even kind of like, looking back, I probably could have done a little more of that with my trainers. But I really wouldn't like and these are trainers, like they're training dogs, they're doing behavioral modification, but I really like wouldn't trust them out in the yard with groups, even with you.
Speaker 2:Like when you first got there, like I had to kind of train you on like the group stuff with the dogs yeah, for sure there's like a huge learning curve with that yeah, and like interrupting behaviors before it even escalates to remotely anything yeah you're very good at you know breaking a behavior before it escalates yeah, like you have to.
Speaker 1:You basically are like doggy lifeguard and like when the dog, when the dogs start to get tense, like you have to, you have to understand, like when it's getting tense versus when it's play, and when it's tense, how do you disrupt that without adding more pressure to a situation?
Speaker 1:you know absolutely, and they're just not doing that at doggy daycare and the vetting process I mean of whether or not a dog is good enough to enter you know isn't sufficient either, and done by, you know, unexperienced employees yeah, and like how I do things is, I typically don't even let like board and train dogs do um, like yard time with the group of the dogs, until the last week, you know, cause I don't have any skills on them, they don't listen to me, they don't really care about me.
Speaker 1:So it's like how am I supposed to like give these dogs guidance? And I think, too, that's like the other big problem with daycares is like the employee rotation. You know like with us, it's like we live with these dogs. Like I see you more than I than I see myself. You know like when I'm out in the yard with them, it's like I see you 24 7, like you have to listen to me. But, like with shift employees or, like you know, part-time employees, like those dogs aren't going to listen to or respect them that's a random new person.
Speaker 2:It's just like a free-for-all all right.
Speaker 1:Next one I thought I knew what I was getting into with doggy daycare work, but boy was I wrong. The first place was fantastic limited numbers, creating for calm time and pros on hand to keep things in check. My first job taught me so much about dog body language and behavior. But working at other daycares, especially with over 200 dogs in one yard, my brain, my brain cannot even like that's so many dogs I I can't even comprehend that. 200 dogs in one yard. Daily fights were the norm. One dog fight would escalate into an all-out brawl, with five fights happening at once Absolutely appalling. Dogs should have been kicked out.
Speaker 1:The facility was surprisingly small. Inside. On rainy days, tensions ran high and fights broke out more often. With dogs packed in tight, there was no space to move or play, leading to even more clashes. The owners prioritized profits over welfare, despite the gruesome injuries. Overnight it was chaos, cage-free, with over 90 dogs and minimal supervision, guaranteeing nightly fights. It was heartbreaking to see anxious dogs at daycare, eagerly waiting to escape due to overstimulation. Meanwhile, shift leads would mislead owners, claiming they were having a blast, like Charlie who spent the day trembling and panting in the corner. What a blast indeed.
Speaker 1:Not every dog thrives in daycare. Many prefer the comfort of home over the stress of socializing. Sadly, this environment has led to cases of bloat and even fatal dog fights. Staff stayed just long enough because their love for dogs was genuine. Yet even the handlers lacked proper training to deal with dog fights or address health concerns. To improve animal care, this industry requires more rigorous standards and ongoing staff training and development. I recall a crazy incident at work where my colleague and I were surrounded by over a hundred dogs in the yard. He intervened in a dog fight, trying to protect the attacked dog and unfortunately got bitten by other dogs rushing to the scene. He never returned to work after that. Daycare owners sometimes prioritize self-protection by spreading misinformation or blaming employees. Closed chapter on that line of work. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of, a lot of things to unpack in that one. I think like even just the sheer number is absolutely crazy, because if you think about like, like dog parks, I feel like the numbers are kind of closer to like 20, 30 dogs, and those are all dogs that are supervised by their owners. So you would think you know that they already have somewhat of a relationship. Now we're talking about like 90 dogs being supervised by a couple employees. Can you imagine no relationship, can you?
Speaker 1:imagine 90 dogs. That's insane, oh my God, by a couple employees can you? Imagine. No, can you imagine 90 dogs? Oh my god. Okay, somebody just submitted like a whole bunch of tiny submissions in a row and I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure. What is what? Um, not attended 24. 7, lied to clients about when incidents happen and keep their dog in a room instead of daycare, without telling them it was horrendous. Majority of them are monkey. Oh my gosh, it did the thing again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, some, like owners, they just want the best for their dog and they, you know, bring their dog in to doggy daycare, expecting the dog to, you know, get exercise, and that it's like beneficial for the dog. But maybe at the end of the day they're best to leave their dog at home.
Speaker 1:Okay, I had somebody. I don't know where that response went. I'm going to have to find it again. I had somebody DM me and they said that, like their manager was like breeding dogs and now she has one of those puppies. Okay, it was always more about the dogs looking like they were having fun than it was about them actually having healthy interactions.
Speaker 1:I was trying to set up an x-pen to separate a bully mix who was targeting a dachshund puppy and was written up because we had webcams and they wanted people to be able to watch dogs of all sizes play together. Later that same day, that dachshund received multiple puncture wounds and is lucky to be alive. I was never trained on how to stop a dog fight and was only given citronella spray to intervene. The quote manager used the staff break room after hours to breed her dog with another dog she had met at the dog park. I now own one of the only puppies to have survived from the litter and I can attest to the fact that they were definitely not bred for temperament or health. Zero behavior or handler training. Two staff members to a room of 30 dogs, tons of aggression at the gate when bringing dogs in, barking all day, not being honest with owners about the amount of anxiety their dog was experiencing?
Speaker 2:Leave your dogs at home.
Speaker 1:Don't take your dogs to doggy daycare. Oh my gosh. Okay, we need to find that one that I lost. I'll get to it.
Speaker 1:The doggy daycare that I worked at put on quite the show for social media, but behind the scenes it was definitely not what it seemed. The owners allowed more dogs than they can hold at one time, which led to over 60 dogs in a play yard together with maybe one worker watching over them. It gets worse. Employees had had a two-hour lunch break in which dogs were either left unattended in large prey groups or they were put into kennels, but because they were over capacity, outdoor kennels meant to hold one dog held six to seven dogs in one small kennel. After promising that your dog will have its own space outside in the florida heat, unattended, with a small water bowl that they most likely tipped over or drank in under a minute for two hours.
Speaker 1:That was probably the worst part of all the awful things done there. Dog fights happened almost daily. Injuries from being crammed into a small run, dehydration, heat exhaustion, fence fighting, missed medications, dogs escaping and so much more. They then decided to offer training services from unqualified employees, training then being crammed in kennels or put on a play yard with groups not managed or picked based off behaviors is a hopeless battle and any progress made your dog will immediately regress out in that play yard. The doggy daycare was a nightmare and I'm not sure how they are still in business. Okay, did I finish this one Overnight? It was chaos, cage free, with over 90 dogs and minimal supervision guaranteeing nightly fights. It was heartbreaking to see anxious dogs at daycare eagerly awaiting no, I read that one overnight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, crates is wild, yeah can you imagine, can you imagine our like house?
Speaker 2:oh, that makes no sense. Did you have a night shift like? How does that even work?
Speaker 1:okay, I worked at a doggy daycare and boarding facility for eight years. Unlike most of your responses, I'm sure mine is positive. Oh, okay. Okay, that's good to hear. I guess I'd like to give people hope in the industry that if the love of dogs and the safety of dogs is number one and two in your list of priorities, anything is possible. The place I worked was a beautiful outdoor oasis where we were able to facilitate a healthy number of 65.
Speaker 2:All right, go on, go on.
Speaker 1:Okay, go on. Small play groups, training staff on behavior, understanding, enrichment and giving every dog affection are just some of the priorities. Understanding dogs to their core and trying to be the black sheep in the industry has been super rewarding. Being a small business gave the freedom of enjoying our job. No dog was ever just a number and I realize now how beautiful and rare that experience is, especially in the doggy daycare industry. Every community should have a safe and enriching place for their dogs to be for the day and unfortunately that is just not the case and I am completely unable to vouch for most, if any, doggy daycares. I hope enrichment centers make a new wave in the industry in the future, combining play, enrichment, calm, training and love. Shout out laughing dog in. Okay, a positive note we loved it. Did I read this one?
Speaker 1:I worked at a daycare for 14 years and would not send my dog to daycare. One person monitoring 40 plus dogs in three to four different yards, plus the sometimes up to 100 dogs that would be in the boarding and boarding daycare were kept separate where I worked, but the one daycare worker would also need to help the several workers in the building sorry, workers in the boarding side a good bit. No one is set up for success. Instead of getting kicked out of daycare because that would be a loss of money, if a dog was not appropriate for groups it would just go in a kennel for the day without the owner being aware. So employee would have to hide getting dog to and from kennel so the owner was not aware dog wasn't in play group.
Speaker 1:It's a terrible environment for dogs. So many dogs hated daycare and were anxious messes the whole time they were there. But you always had to keep the customer happy and tell them what a great day their dog had when they picked up. Dogs learned bad social skills because there were not enough staff to monitor play and many did not know what proper play looks like, including the owners. The place I worked was very clean, unlike some others, I know but cleaning was almost prioritized over the safety and monitoring of the dogs. I could literally go on and on. But bottom line don't take your dogs to daycare. I think that's like a majority of them, like I don't know seems to be the underlying consensus yeah, and I mean we know this.
Speaker 1:I know this because you know all of the dogs that I get with reactivity or dog aggression or fearfulness, like a lot of them, come from these places and know my goal as a dog trainer is to always try to get dogs back to their like most natural state possible. And I'm sorry, but like shoving a bunch of predators because that's what dogs are predators in an enclosed space is not natural, like in any capacity. But the problem is is, like you know, this industry is also being fueled by owners emotions and like uh, like very easy to sell the dream.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it's like oh you want your dog to have friends and even like, when I'm having calls with potential clients, they're like well, I want to socialize my dog and I'm like that's not what socialization is like.
Speaker 1:Yes, your dog will be around other dogs, but most dogs need help with neutrality.
Speaker 1:Right, and we talk about this all the time in dog training about like your dog doesn't need to be friends with other dogs. Like I'm sorry, but like you are putting your own feelings and wants and needs on your dog and that's like why that this is a business you know. Like, at the end of the day, like there are a lot of doggy daycares, like the all of these responses show us that and all of these people who have like reached out to me, who are saying like, oh my gosh, yes, I used to work at a doggy daycare like it's a, it's a thriving business and it's because owners misunderstand like what their dogs actually need. You know and I made that post today that was like the whole dog mom guilt thing. Like people have the owner guilt where they feel like they need to constantly entertain their dogs, and so you know it's coming from a good place, but I almost feel like we're projecting our own like needs, like let's be real. People are lonely.
Speaker 2:I, people go to work and they feel bad for leaving their dog at home. But at the end of the day, I think if you fulfill your dog's needs before and after work, he should be able to spend a couple hours, you know, on his own in a crate so he doesn't get the harmful things while roaming the house.
Speaker 1:And then, I don't know, if you feel like that's not enough, maybe hire a dog walker but don't you think people are projecting their own like loneliness onto their dog, like I think that's most of it is. People are like I want my dog to have friends, and then that too is like why these people working at the facilities are so big on like these fake reports and lying to owners about like how happy their dog is. You know, and it's like we have struggled with that to some extent. So, like I I am a very blunt person. I would say I'm like very honest. I don't like sugarcoat things. I don't think that that's like really what the industry needs. And that has gotten me in trouble a few times with owners, right, like for sure I piss off some of my owners because I am very real about like the dog they had, the dog that they had like I'm not gonna be like oh, your dog is so great and doing so wonderful, like that one dog.
Speaker 2:No, we had to remove the yard because you know you can't play well with other dogs like that's, yeah, not even that.
Speaker 1:But do you remember the board and train, the one star review that I got from that lady? I had a board and train and this like poor dog, this poor dog, I felt so bad for it, like it was, it didn't like anything, it didn't like affection, it didn't like food, it didn't like exercise, like it literally just wanted to like stand and shake all day, and so I was like posting that on my Instagram story. I was like these dogs are really freaking hard to train because they're not motivated by anything. And basically, this owner has just coddled this dog to the point where it literally cannot function if it's not laying on the couch. And the owner came and picked up the dog and then wrote me a one-star review.
Speaker 1:But it's like, okay, you know I got a one-star review from that and like pissed somebody off, but at least I'm not sitting around lying writing fake report cards about like, oh, this dog is doing so great and so wonderful. But like, sometimes, like we do feel that pressure, like as dog trainers, you know, and especially when, like I would say, in the board and train process, the first week is hell, like the owners hate sending their dogs away and they are texting me all day long and it's not like I don't want to say I'm like lying to them, like I'm not lying to them, but you can't be like hey, they're expecting like instant.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like progress and it's like we got to build a relationship yeah, your dog does not like me yet you know like your dog is not really having fun yet, like they will get there, but like it's it's not rainbows and butterflies. You know, and I think too, like that pressure from owners makes the priority for like these dog businesses to be more so about like updating owners versus like actually taking care of dogs, and that's one thing that I've kind of like struggled with. Like you know that that part of the business is exhausting, like updating owners. I always try to be like as transparent as possible.
Speaker 1:I send videos like Monday through Friday, or I post or I send voice memos to owners like I'm always in contact, but like, let's be real, that takes like a lot of time three hours out of my day, right, and so like during those three hours when I'm writing reports and sending updates and making videos, like it almost feels like my job is more so just like updating owners versus like actually training the dog. So I can see like why you know these doggy daycares are so focused on like just make sure the owner is happy, like it doesn't really matter how the dog feels, because it's like you do kind of get caught up in like it is a business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at the end of the day, who pays the bills?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Like you have to keep the customer happy, so I think too, like I think that these places obviously suck and they're horrible and you should never send your dog to them. But the reason that they are like this is because of Well, there's a owner.
Speaker 1:There's a demand for it and because owners demand constant updates and because owners demand to see their dogs playing with other dogs, even if that's not really what that dog needs time, but like god forbid somebody sends their dog to a daycare and sees their dog in a crate like they're gonna lose their ever-loving mind. You know like, let's be real. So I feel like as much as we can point fingers at like these facilities, like the reason these facilities have gotten to what they are is because of owners, dog owners, expectations of what they want from these facilities, and these facilities are trying to just like make the owners happy and unfortunately it's at the expense of dogs livelihood and well-being. Yeah, so I think like the most important thing out of like reading all of these stories is like yeah, uh, don't fucking send your, don't send your dog to doggy daycare, but like, if you're an owner like you need to educate yourself on like what your dog actually needs. You know, like your dog doesn't need friends.
Speaker 1:Oh, there's a. There's a place in Orlando. It's called Zoom Room. I think it's like in other places too. I hate Zoom Room. I hate Zoom Room.
Speaker 1:The worst dogs that I get for board and trains come from Zoom Room and like their whole thing is like they're force-free I'm pretty sure, but they're like agility and they're like don't ever, like don't tell your dog, no, we do touch, like, touch, redirect your dog to a touch when they're doing something you don't like.
Speaker 1:And it's like their whole business is basically around like making owners feel good about like training their dog and it is so detrimental to like what is actually like valuable in training and like the owners that I've gotten from Zoom Room, they are just doing all of the wrong things, but they're doing things that like zoom room suggests because it makes it feels good, right, it's like fun and like no one wants to talk about correcting your dog, so like just redirect them with touch. And like your crazy high energy dog, it just needs agility, it doesn't need downtime, it doesn't need time in a crate or place, it just needs agility. It doesn't need downtime, it doesn't need time in a crate or place, it just needs agility to fulfill its needs. And it's like bro, but people love it, people love going there because they make the owners feel good you know, taps into their emotions yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think like, yes, doggy daycares suck, but most why is there a demand for it? You know there's a demand for it because we don't actually understand our dog's inherent needs. We don't understand what is important for them to be happy and healthy. And part of that is neutrality with other dogs. Your dog should not be playing with dogs all day long. It is entirely overstimulating, even with my own dogs, like you know, I mean we own what.
Speaker 2:Six, we have six.
Speaker 1:We have a pack we have a doggy daycare just at ourselves and they're.
Speaker 2:They're all high energy, intense dogs, but they also have a lot of downtime through their day right, we like, create them all.
Speaker 1:They, you know, but they will. If we let them wrestle all day long, they would, and they would be crackheads, you know, and they would be overtired and it just wouldn't be good for them yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:But like you know, regardless of that, they get a bunch of. They do get, you know, off-leash time together. You know they get their play and then we, you know, put them away for a bit, they'll get like a structured walk. It's just their day is like divided in a very different manner.
Speaker 1:So if you are sending your dog to, let's say, a daycare type thing, what are some things that people should look out for?
Speaker 2:I mean, first of all, is it just a one room area or is there, you know, a kennel environment, crates, Is it downtime?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's also a huge like marketing thing is like cage free.
Speaker 2:Yes, free, roam cage free. That taps into the free range. Free range chickens?
Speaker 1:yeah, because people think cages are bad. Where, like what did that person say 90 dogs overnight, cage free that's absolutely wild, like no shit.
Speaker 2:There's dog fights.
Speaker 1:You can't control that I would never do that to my dogs.
Speaker 2:They would come back traumatized and even like um, what is it like a kennel run like what you would have in a, uh, you know, like a pen where dogs? When you have a bunch of dogs lined up in in pens where they have like what like four, four by six feet, they can still kind of get too wound up and like spin in that oh yeah, like a shelter kind of set up.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, oh that's like a whole other podcast talking about like how shelters are like so horribly set up and cause reactivity and all these people absolutely absolutely get into that one. That's another episode, but like yeah, so I would say individual downtime, either in like little private rooms or a crate like the crate is good, your dog needs that downtime. Imagine just like put yourself in that situation, like how many people would actually enjoy being in an empty room with a hundred other people just like running around strangers yeah, that's like chucky cheese, like that's my literal nightmare.
Speaker 2:Yeah so some doggy daycares are run by dog trainers, so you know, vet the people actually running the business?
Speaker 1:yeah, but even like you and I, like we were talking about doing that because we we found like a facility type space and my big thing is I don't want dogs overnight, like I just think it's too much of a liability. I always want somebody staying with the dogs, like I just I want owners to see their dogs every day, ideally, like if I have a facility, I'm not doing board and trains and it's just like lessons and like day training. But we were trying to do the math and we're like okay, we would have to have 30 dogs every day just to like make what we were making with like board and trains, and it would just be me and you with like 30 dogs yeah, it's a sheer volume game at that point like it's just, it's not, yeah, it's not like worth it, unfortunately, unless you're charging like an astronomical amount which, like I don't know we could do.
Speaker 1:That we could do like a high-end, like day train thing, which I think would like do really well, but it would be very, very structured. It would essentially be a board and train.
Speaker 2:Only the dog goes home at night just brainstorming business ideas yeah, the other problem with that too is I feel like people bring their dog to doggy daycare you know, maybe once a week or whatever. It's like that kind of midweek break. You know they while they're at work and they have it for the weekend or whatever. But for that to work you would need to actually have the dog for multiple days wait, what do you mean?
Speaker 2:like for a like a day training setup, you know if it's like a board and train kind of oh yeah, because the like lack of consistency of just one day a week yeah yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the thing is it's just like it's not a great business model. It's not a way to like actually meet your dog's needs. I would say, like a good alternative to doggy daycare, let's say you work all day and you have dog mom guilt, fulfill your dog's needs. I would say, like a good alternative to doggy daycare, let's say you work all day and you have dog mom guilt, fulfill your dog in the morning. Get a walker to come halfway through the day, walk your dog for like an hour walk or you know whatever. A pack hike person I love pack hikes. I think that's great. Like find a good one first of all but that's very popular out here in California, I feel like not so much in Florida. And then you know, do something in the evening when you get home. Like don't send your dog to doggy daycare unless you find a really, really good one Like that one, that one.
Speaker 2:I think a well-balanced dog can also have like a down day. You know, sometimes we do more of our dogs and sometimes we do less and they have like a stable dog should be able to kind of adapt to do both to your schedule.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, for sure that kind of gets into, like we don't have to constantly entertain our dogs, you know yeah, I mean people that that's a whole other subject on its own.
Speaker 2:But you know, some people, they, they wouldn't even like shower without watching their dog.
Speaker 1:They're like bringing their dog literally like how many of our clients are like that? Yeah, this is a story we've heard several times yeah, a lot of people that come to me for training have not ever left their dog ever. Their dog runs their world yeah, so don't send your dog to daycare.
Speaker 2:Is the moral of the story is the moral of that story.
Speaker 1:Um, but yeah, thank you to everybody who submitted your stories. I hope that that was kind of like cathartic you know for sure it was it was super cool.
Speaker 2:We got so many responses like when did?
Speaker 1:in one day. When did you post that today, this morning, yeah we got like 27, 30 plus responses.
Speaker 1:Yeah it like was continuing to update. We might have to do like a part two of this, this topic, but, um, yeah, so moral of the story, don't take your dogs to doggy daycare unless you find a really good one. I would recommend, like I'm really pushing people to not go the facility route, not going like the big dog training business route, and really going to like the individuals. If I were to send my dog to anybody, it would be somebody who runs training out of their house on a very small scale, maybe a little bit more pricey, but you know that your dog is getting taken care of. And two, like it's really the people that I'm like helping with their businesses. You know, because I think my previous route in kind of my career was I was like, oh, I'm going to like hire all of these trainers under the everyday trainer and now I'm like I think the best thing for trainers and owners and dogs is to help these like small scale people because they're able to really take care of the dogs in their care.
Speaker 2:You know yeah, and all your shadow students have been so passionate and yeah, that's what I'm saying it's like different yeah, like that.
Speaker 1:Those are the people who I want watching my dogs. I don't want to send them away to like facilities absolutely I would never send my dog to like a training facility or like a daycare, anything of that sort, yeah like when there's a lot of dogs involved.
Speaker 2:No, thank you it's just bound to be stressful yeah, I mean dogs are a lot like.
Speaker 1:It's not like horses. We talk about this all the time. We're like should we get into horses Because horses are quiet, like the dogs are always barking.
Speaker 2:Working in a stable is so calm and you work in a kennel environment they're all popping off barking and they're all stressed, so it's not a good environment.
Speaker 1:Or like a shelter like praise be the shelter workers because, like I don't know how they do it Just like listening to dogs bark all day long. But that's a whole other episode. Anyways, this episode is coming out on Friday. Our virtual shadow program is starting on Monday, October 7th. I'm super excited. I think we have one or two more spots available. We just filled one today. So if you want to be a part of our virtual shadow program, check that out, Visit the website. You know all that stuff and, yeah, thank you so much for your submissions. Thank you all for listening. Hopefully we can save a few dogs from being traumatized in daycare facilities Right From this episode.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me on Love, you Love you.
Speaker 1:I'll have you on more.
Speaker 2:Let's do it again.
Speaker 1:Okay, it was fun. All right, guys, thanks so much for being here. Thanks for listening. We'll see you all next week, thank you.