There are plenty of reasons why you may consider taking your dog to doggy daycare, perhaps you work during the day and your office isn’t pet-friendly, or you’ve made social commitments and don’t want to leave your dog alone for long periods of time. There are many people offering doggy day care London services, but it is often difficult to decide on just the right one to fit your needs.
Leaving your dog with people when you are engaged in work and social activities can be really daunting, comparable to leaving your child at nursery! To make sure you’re making the right decision we have put together a guide so you can be sure you’ve got every consideration covered, and feel comfortable leaving your dog in their care as and when it’s needed.
There are obviously practical considerations when choosing the right dog daycare for you. Perhaps you want to find somewhere near to your home, work, or near to an area that you’re meeting your friends for lunch. Many doggy day care centres have multiple branches so it’s good to check them all out to see if any work with your planned routes. As well as it is convenient for you, you might also want to consider if the doggy daycare site is located to any main roads that could be dangerous, or if it’s near to large green spaces for some outdoor activities your dog would enjoy.
As well as this, it’s good to check the times the doggy daycare centre opens and closes. Though there are some that can look after your dog overnight, the majority of services only offer daycare facilities. It’s a good idea to check how early and late each one opens so you can pick one that allows you time to drop your dog off before and after your planned activity.
Before you make any decisions about a doggy daycare centre, read the reviews online. If you have any friends who also own dogs, speak to them and see which services they recommend. It always feels better to trust a service that has come recommended by others, over one that has no reviews. If possible, try to take a trip over to look around before you commit to using its services. Once you have met the people who will be looking after your dog, you will probably feel a lot better about leaving them in their care.
Throughout all of this, do bear in mind what you already know about your dog’s personality and temperament. If your dog is not very good with other dogs or doesn’t like being left with other people, perhaps you should consider leaving them for shorter periods at a time to get used to the centres and their new routine. If your dog is particularly strong, has a lot of energy and needs a lot of attention, take note when you go to look around to see how many other dogs they have, how long the walks they offer are, and how much space they will have.
Finally, this experience should be fun for your dog! Check out what additional activities they can offer, find out what routes they take, what toys they have, and ask what the ratio of dog to carer is to be sure they’re getting as much attention as they need. As well as this, many of these daycare centres also offer additional grooming facilities so you can give your dog that little extra treat to make them feel special!
