Unlike the majority of doggy day care facilities and hotels, we do not have cages for dogs. We want our clients to enjoy free space, play, walk in the park and interact with each other. People often ask how is it possible to mix number of different dogs who never met before. Well, this is why we do these assessments to get to know new clients a little more and give them a chance to explore our place. We watch their behaviour during about 30 minutes sessions while introducing them carefully to other dogs in guarderia. And after having done more than 50 of those evaluations and without generalising, we have seen very similar behaviour of the dogs, no matter of the age, breed or character:
- Dogs’ behaviour changes rapidly when his owner leaves. While the dog can smell his family behind the door, he is very anxious, trying to get out and often cries or barks. This moment can be very stressful for the owners as they believe their dog is unhappy and miserable, which probably is true.
- When the owner leaves Guarderia and his smell disappears, the dog starts exploring the place. He sniffs around, carefully greet the other dogs, sometimes, especially the youngers, make a pee on the floor. Even well behaved dogs can do it, it is a sign of anxiety.
- We introduce the dogs carefully to other clients or to our own dogs at first, usually one by one, not to put him in an even more stressful situation. In case of signs of great fear, we stop the introduction and start at the beginning.
- After the newcomer gets acquainted with the environment, he usually returns back to the door checking if the owner has come back. He may cry a little again, scratch the door, but this usually does not take too long.
- Now comes the moment when he starts to feel more comfortable. Nothing bad is happening to him and there are toys and flurry friends playing happily. Why not to use the waiting time joining them?
- The owner returns with the question in the eyes: how was he doing? Did not cry too much? He is very attached to me… Actually, not many dogs are crying for too long.
- Majority of the dogs are doing very well, to be honest, we sometimes (with the approval of the owner) bribe them with some treats. There are a few very scared dogs who may be extremely stressed throughout the assessment. In that case, if we see no signs of aggressive behaviour caused by the stress, we recommend to start using our Guarderia for shorter periods to start with. In all cases so far, the initial fear has been overcome after one or two sessions.
We are taking pictures and making videos to show how the pup was doing. It is a regular activity not only during the initial evaluations but we are sending records to the owners while the dog is left in our care to share the moments with the family.
Let us know if you have more questions regarding the initial evaluations or if you just want to know more about our activity. One of our team members will be happy to go through the process with you.
We look forward to seeing you and your flurry friend soon!
Your Feligos Team
