What would you look for in daycare/dog walkers?

[Doggydaycarewannabe]

Name changing regular here, deliberately so as my usual MN identifies me. If you do recognise me, please don't out me.

DH and I are thinking about setting up a Doggy Day care facility to diversify from farming. We have the infrastructure already in place as well as 500 acres of private land to walk dogs on, so really my questions are, if you were sending your DDogs to Doggy daycare,

What facilities would you look for and what would you be prepared to pay on a 1/2 day and a full day? (Am open to all ideas)

Some ideas we already have are as follows:

Pick up and drop off collection facility (added cost)
"Game-parked" field for clients to run free/socialise
Agility field with a large paddling pool/pool for summer months
Dog grooming facility
Group "Pack walks" off lead
Indoor "quiet areas"
Large indoor barn for playing on wet days
Access to a trainer/behaviourist
Training/agility classes

We'd also be very clear that we only did the following - would this influence you?

Positive reinforcement based training. (i.e. no negative punishment)

All dogs having a behavioural assessment/induction with us to identify issues before they could come to daycare (e.g. dog aggressive dogs wouldn't be able to be catered for)

At least 2 x hour long walks during the day if wanted.

This idea is in the very early stages, so I'd be grateful for opinions, ideas and comments.

Thanks

[ggirl]

god would use you if you were in my area
would you cater to entire dogs and unswayed bitches?
how about young puppies? would you later for them?
vaccinations..would dogs be able to have titre tests instead ?

[ggirl]

lol at unswayed

[ggirl]

Not sure about payment ..um £15/day ?

[VivaLeBeaver]

There's a place like this near Newark which are very successful. They're called the dog adventure centre. Google their website for ideas!

[CMOTDibbler]

Sounds fabulous - what hours and days were you thinking of offering? We don't need daycare in the week, but often could do with it at the weekend if we're going to be out at an event, so if we could have the dogs picked up at 8, having left a door key previously, and dropped off at 7 or we could pick up then it would be great.

Also, it might be an idea to have a couple of different areas so that small dogs or those that don't like high speed chases could be in one, and those that like mad zoomies (like my lurchers) could have fun with other that enjoy it.

You could offer discounts as a pay for 10 get 12 sort of thing or for regular bookings.

Where are you

[Doggydaycarewannabe]

To answer questions:

We're in South Wales, very close to the M4 with excellent access.

There are couple of facilities near us that cater for doggy play, but nothing with the facilities we can offer, so we could outstrip the competition IYSWIM?

Thinking Monday - Friday 7am - 6pm to allow for working hours.
Possibly weekends, but much more restricted - depends on demand.

We absolutely wouldn't be able to do titre tests, it would have to be vaccinated dogs only.

Would cater for unspayed/un-neutered, BUT, would be at owners risk and whilst all due care would be taken with entire dogs/bitches, (i.e. no bitches in heat or unspayed bitches not put in a position where they are socialising with entire dogs for e.g.) we wouldn't take responsibility for pregnancy.

Young puppies - only if fully vaccinated, so over 12 weeks.

CMOTDibbler- like those ideas, thank you.

[basildonbond]

I pay £34 for a full day's care but we are in London so would assume the market in Wales would not be so buoyant!

Usually I only use my dogwalker for walks - daycare is only an occasional need - will you be offering a walking service too?

I like my dog having walks in different places so would want to see that you'd be taking them out for 'proper' walks rather than them just milling around in a field all day

My dog prefers being in smaller groups rather than a huge 'pack' so would want to see that you could have smaller groups for quieter dogs

It sounds like you have s fabulous facility

[CMOTDibbler]

As an extra, you might want to consider hiring out your secure fields at the weekend for people who can't let their dog off lead normally. People with greyhounds often hire facilities like this for 'playgroup' so they can run round in safety with other pointies.

[Doggydaycarewannabe]

CMOTDIbbler - That's something we had considered. I know the facilities for that are seriously lacking in this area and know several pointy owners who travel for that facility.

[WonderIfThingsWillChange]

I am in South Wales and this sounds amazing! There are some days my dog would really benefit from daycare and he would particularly enjoy the walks and exercise areas with other dogs. I would also appreciate the grooming as he does like to roll in things

[tabulahrasa]

Would they be in small groups or literally a big 'pack'? Because I'd be ok* with small groups, not so happy about bigger ones.

• with any other dog, mine is dog aggressive and btw, if you're somewhere with a big enough population, you'd make money catering to dogs with issues.
  
  I'd pay a fortune for care for my dog...because I have nothing, no back up at all.

[ShootingStar71]

Hello. We have a fantastic doggy day care facility that we use lots & your ideas are identical to the one we use so I think your idea sounds great. I trust the owner implicitilty, now also a friend, with my lab. she's cared for him since he was a gorgeous puppy (now a snoring heap of loveliness currently sound asleep under the bed - won't tell OH that tomorrow when he lands back from his week long business trip ??). What I will say on talking to my friend the other day she mentioned that in a similar facility in the area the owner just allows someone to bring in a dog for a trial without having met both owner & dog on their own first... Totally irresponsible in my view. At our doggy day care the barn has been fenced off into sections accessible from all areas so that dogs can be grouped together as deemed suitable but sounds like you have covered everything. Lazy lab here quite honestly is beside himself when he goes & never wants to leave. Wishing you all the best with your venture it sounds perfect x

[triballeader]

I occasionally, when I cannot have my dog with me, pay for a luxury dog-daycare. I had looked at a range of dog daycare options from 1:1 in the sitters own home to more group based ones.

My dog is a Staffy/EBT cruelty case rescue who tends to withdraw and shutdown in stressful situations. I have spent months working with her to build her confidence, get her to KC obeidence levels and whilst she is social with small groups of dogs I know larger social groups of dogs can worry her. She has been badly attacked by two seperate groups of Jack Russels [not under owners control I would like to add] since I have had her and as a result is now wary of the breed.

I opted to cough up for a luxury daycare provision over standard provision because:

They offered a smaller safe enclosed field with toys, activities for very small groups of size matched/friendly dogs. Mine is still at the supervised meet new dogs stage at her daycare. I asked them to take things nice and slowly as my dog needs time to work out a less familiar place is safe and people will not hurt her and will keep her safe around dogs she does not know. Once she knows a dog is not out to get her she relaxes and plays.
I wanted her to be looked after by people who would see her as a dog who has some extra care needs rather than a mini human and I have been in the positin in the past where 1:1 home dog sitting has gone sick.
They were willing to very gradually build up the time she spent with them as she can fret when left - okay I do have to pay for the full day even if its only a couple of hours but I also understand if they have her they cannot have another 'day' stay dog.
They also provide seperate off-lead time in the same area when its not being use for single dogs who are not keen on the company of other dogs. This means if they have a day with smaller breed dogs mine will still get time off lead to play fetch and have a good hard run around.
They provide three walks on top around different parts of their arable farm per dog per day depending on the breeds needs.
They have a shallow natural pool in their field feed by a spring.
Dog-grooming facility.
Place is cleaned out daily.
Each dog has its own 'space' in its own heated luxuary large kennel [space for day time play, seperate sleep area and access to outdoors for 'downtime' and food. This matters a lot to my dog as she will happily share playtimes and walks but cannot settle and sleep if other dogs are moving about near her.
Each dog gets 1:3 care and playtimes from a kennelworker on shift who is tasked to look after at most three dogs.
NO metal bar type day kennels they use the newer quieter ones. Some dogs have a radio option in their day kennels, a couple offer TV. I opt for the radio set on Radio 4 as thats what she is used to hearing when I pop out for short periods of time.
Strict limit of the number of dogs [max 24] accepted per day in this type of daycare.
They do not accept Exempted Dogs or aggresive dogs, insist on up-to-date vaccination evidence, require a detailed questionaire on behaviour to be filled in. Willing to work with owners on areas a dog needs that extra bit of attention and care i.e medical; some forms of none-aggresive behaviour such as seperation anxiety.

I pay approximatley 50% more above my areas going rate for the type of dog daycare you are thinking of providing. It is also twice what I paid for my home dog sitter. You pay extra for dog grooming. They can give some meds for dogs with some long term conditions. [artritic and needs pain relief]

If the other farms dog daycare had also been able to offer an extra 'luxary package' as I now have I would have opted to use them. I opted to travel to the next county to use this dog daycare as my dog is slowly blossoming and starting to look forward to going. They offer limited week-end days too and yes we occasionally use that so we can go to places we could not take our dog.
My income is not all that [£30-£80 pw] so my hubby pays for the daycare when its needed.

Might be worth seeing if anyone else nearby is offering a luxary package. Its a niche market but people like me will happily pay the extra to provide our dogs with the kind of care they get at home.

My nearer dog day-care has built on its business and now offers hourly loans of a enclosed field for individuals to hire and has recently started to offer 'holiday care' for dogs who regularly use their day care.

[nmg85]

Our 8 month old puppy occasionally goes to Doggy day care (in someones house) and we pay £15 for 8 hours and that is with pick up / drop off if needed. Usually I try and drop / pick up but sometimes i can only manage one. The same person also offers overnights for £25.

[Doggydaycarewannabe]

This are all brilliant ideas and fantastic input, thank you (and please keep the ideas coming!).

Triballeader that is really interesting to read and very useful, thank you. We would have facilities for quieter/smaller dogs and 1-1 exercise, especially the comments on the UPVC kennels.

[Rubberduckies]

I second the idea of thinking about if you could cater for a small number of aggressive dogs - especially if you have a trainer/behaviourist and are able to give 1-1 exercise.

These owners will expect to pay more and be eternally grateful!

[Scuttlebutter]

Some thoughts in no particular order.

Have a really good website. Clear, easy to navigate, usable in both desktop and mobile format.

If I was looking for doggy day care, I'd want to ensure you were licensed and that staff had animal care qualifications.

We've previously used dogwalkers and they also offered a keyholding service (very useful) and were CRB checked (I know the name has changed but you know what I mean).

Definitely offer weekends - would be a godsend for weddings, family dos, DC birhtday parties etc when it's useful for dog to go somewhere safe and quiet.

Fencing must be secure (really, really secure!) to cope with both burrowers and leapers! As part of the induction, ask clients to pre-register with DogLost so that if dog does manage to escape, immediate action can be taken. Clarify vet issues. Will you administer tablets? Ensure clear lines of responsibility if dogs taken ill/have accident during day. Can you offer drop off service to vets for things like routine appts for vax, worming, or similar?

Offer a variety of payment methods e.g. bank transfer, debit card, PayPal, etc. Make it as easy and painless as possible for clients to give you money, and minimise absolutely any cash handling (in fact, you should be able to be completely cashless).

Being blunt, I can't see the point of the agility field. Everyone I know who does agility insists on training their own dog so unless you are Mary Ray planning a career change, I wouldn't want someone else "training" my dog and having enough staff to do this 1-1 with dogs would suggest enormous fees. What staff/dog ratio are you planning?

Feeding - will you feed, and if so, will you cater for special diets, raw, etc. Would you provide or would clients?

Premises - if it's a farm, most farmers are so used to their own surroundings they don't realise that not everyone is surgically attached to their wellies. Drop off area should be well - lit, and not too muddy, as clients iwll be in their work clothes. Consider offering a drop off point at motorway services at nearest junction - could be convenient and reduce peak time traffic. Consider traffic management at peak drop off/pick up times! Parking, turning etc.

From a business perspective, understand your costs - you simply cannot do enough work on this. Don't underestimate the time involved with managing staff - training, customer care, record keeping etc.

Offering overnights to your regular clients seems like a sensible "add-on". Will you also have a small shop on site - you could sell things like toys, leads, collars, etc.

[Scuttlebutter]

Dogs Trust in Bridgend have htose UPVC kennels - might be worth having a look. I think their ratio of dogs to staff is 6 - 1 but of course they have volunteers as well.

[CMOTDibbler]

I know someone up thread said about having to meet dog and owner beforehand, but I think you might be ideally based for people to drop their dogs off when on holiday or going to events - certainly I'm stuck for dogsitting for Velothon Wales, and even if my two were just hanging out together for the day it would be great.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

I'd love doggy daycare but no-one ever seems to cater for those of us who work long days (13 hour shifts in my case), shifts like that are common in nursing and the care industry.

[Doggydaycarewannabe]

Scuttle I suspect that you and I might be having a bit of a chat in the not too distant future. Totally get your point about wellies too!

Some very good points. The one issue we have regarding overnight stays is planning and the actual design of the sheds. They are a considerable distance from the house and I can't see that people would be happy with no overnight close supervision, plus it's unlikely to get through planning.

Have seen the UPVC Dogs Trust kennels, which has given plenty of ideas.

[aleto]

It sounds fab! Are you in south east or south west Wales?

[Doggydaycarewannabe]

South East Wales. :)

[WeAllHaveWings]

We have a facility close to us, in a castle with secure a paddock and miles of woodland for long daily walks. Dog staying overnight, stayed in a part of the castle, sleeping together, with a doorway close the families living quarters so they could keep any eye on them.

Sounded ideal and we sent our dog there for 3 days/2 overnights (it was very last minute emergency care due to a family bereavement). Lots of forms to fill in before he was allowed, I had to take him down the day before so they could meet him and ensure he was non aggressive so it all seems perfect.

Thankfully he was ok for the 2 nights/3 days, and seemed to enjoy it, but the stories I heard about the place later chilled me.

They walked all 15-ish dogs off lead at the same time and had lost dogs in the woods, or couldn't get them to return to them. One unfortunately ended up on the motorway and died.

The dogs enjoyed playing together in a secure paddock between walks, and they only took non aggressive breeds/dogs, but I know of at least two dogs that required vet treatment for bad bites after fights.

I think their set up sounded idealistically brilliant, but I wouldn't put my dog into that kind of environment again with unknown dogs/unknown people, loosely supervised as in hindsight it seems too risky.