Doggie Daycare

One thing we never did with Gypsy was to take her to doggie daycare. So as a result, she has pretty bad separation anxiety when we leave her. I've told stories about how Sandi and I would leave her with my sister or one time with her Dad and Gyp just whined and stared  at the door until we returned. The up side is that she does not have the destructive separation anxiety that some dogs have. She just goes into a state of depression. Even when we put her outside by herself, she will just come to the back door and look inside until we let her in.
Hello, I hate to be by myself!
We did leave Gypsy at a kennel a few times when we went out of town. When we got back she had lost about 5 pounds, not eating the entire time we were gone.
Let's just go to dog friendly destinations!
On the other hand, Rim is very out going and loves to go up and greet other dogs and people. We decided to take him to a daycare place not far from the house from time to time. Just to get him away for a few hours, play with other dogs, and expose him to different things. Plus, it gives us a break from puppy hood.
It gives me a well deserved break too!
The first day of daycare came at the best time, two days after the screen eating episode and a day after his taking Sandi on a sprint throughout the house trying to get him in his kennel. This particular daycare came highly recommended and Sandi went to check it out a few times. It seemed clean, well organized, and a good staff for the number of dogs they had. So, Sandi dropped him off that morning and went about her daily tasks without puppy in tow. Gypsy had a nice day of lounging around the house with the cats.
Just like old times!
While at the day care, they take the dogs out for about 45 minutes, then bring them inside for about 20 minutes. The report on Rim was that he was wide open for all 45 minutes of outside time. Lots of play time, sniffing, and running. That day they had about a dozen other dogs in attendance so he had a big group to play with. When Sandi picked him up, he came high stepping out from the back, tail up high and wagging.
This was fun! Let's do this again!
It certainly looked like he had a good time. He was introduced to a variety of dogs, and he got plenty of exercise. When they got home, Rim crashed hard.

Hey Sock Monkey, I'm bushed!

 

Another plus is, Rim has been an angel ever since the daycare experience. I think it is clear that a well exercised dog is a good dog.