Dog can't go back to daycare

[PugInTheHouse]

Just a bit disappointed really I guess, I spent ages choosing a nice home for my 1 yo dog to go to 1 day a week whilst I am at work. I didn't want to leave him at home and just have a walker as he's a large breed and I would worry he might chew stuff.

He went for the first day and had a lovely time, I knew she took other dogs but she didn't mention any specifics. Anyway, it turns out when she takes them for walks she leaves her own dog and the other dog (in this case my dog) at home but in separate rooms. Totally fine as obviously much safer however my dog can open doors so she has said he kept letting himself out so she can't continue having him. I totally understand of course but I'm struggling to find someone else who is suitable. I can't even train him not to open the doors as I changed the handles on mine to round ones to stop him opening them months ago, I guess I assumed he would forget about how to do it. He can even open them inwards so there is no containing him!!

I really thought I had considered everything when getting a big dog, I really didn't expect him to open doors though.

Sorry I don't have much advice. Maybe a day care which isn't a private home? What a smart big guy though

Could the dog walker not keep him in a create?

or you walk him first thing; then dog walker for a few hours over lunch?
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The whole dog care industry (boarding/daycare/grooming) all looking a bit interesting round here for owners of big dogs - I think a lot of providers are very much keen on the small and easy/clip off breeds and crosses.

I am thinking a group daycare might be better, there don't seem to be lots in our area. The prices really seem to vary, a lot of sitters that have them at their house are 20-40 a day, some are up to 50. Then one quote I had was £120 to have him at mine. I am not sure she could crate him, he's never been crate trained, he is 42kg already and still growing.

I think the ideal option is for him to stay at home and have someone take him out walking but I am not sure I would relax if he's left that long at the moment. He's generally fine but usually left with my other dog (pug who will go to work with my husband on my work day) but he's not so good without the other dog. I feel like I have really messed up with it all, should have crate training, and should have worked on leaving the dogs separately. He is happy with any people and dogs so easy from that point of view but clearly determined not to be shut in a room.

Can he not go to work with the other dog or the other dog stay home for the day

Can you have a dog walker do two walks a day, and maybe even a third drop in to begin with?
And practice leaving him on his own briefly on the other days when you would be there.
My dog walker did that for my 2 while I was in hospital , while DH worked. It wasn’t ideal but it was a real help to me to know she was looking out for them.

He is just a bit too bouncy at the moment to go into work with DH, hopefully in a year or so he'll be able to.

It could work to leave them both and get a walker but this actually works out more expensive than daycare for having 2 of them walked.

I definitely need to practice leaving him without the other dog, I have cameras set up so can check he's fine alone, I can't watch the camera when at work though as obv I wouldn't get any work done but also the app won't work on our office WiFi as its so restricted so I need to know that he'll settle every time.

I'm kicking myself as I could have done things differently with regards to ensuring he's fine alone.

It's really hard finding suitable care, and we've found people aren't up front about their setup. Our dog is fine being left alone, but she really doesn't like being shut out of rooms she's normally allowed in when there are people there. The dog sitter had a cleaner and dogs were put in the conservatory whilst the cleaner was in sight in the kitchen. If we'd have known this beforehand we'd have known it wasn't going to work out.

Could day-care lady perhaps try to prevent DDog from opening the door? One of our cats can also open doors, so if I need to shut them in when we have workmen I tie a bungee cord round the door handle outside the room to another door handle parallel. That way even if he does get the handle down the door won’t open far enough to let him out; this only works if the door opens into the room, but I think most internal doors do in the UK? If it opened outward wedging the door would work? If it was me I’d say we could stick a little bolt on the door but maybe that’s not something she’d want to do. Seems like there must be other hairy Houdinis in the world 🤣

I really hate group daycare. I think a good Walker (and there are a lot of bad ones) would be preferable. I’ve heard far too many issues of dogs getting into scraps with not enough supervision around toys/beds etc, not enough quiet time out space for them and also can create issues when walking as they can get a bit used to saying hello/playing with every dog.

I know two people who have really struggled with barrier frustration/reactivity since using daycare…

She didn't offer to find a solution which I do understand as obviously it's an additional effort for her and also may not work if he is distressed being shut in somewhere. Her individual rooms are very small so I wondered if that was an issue for him. If I had known in advance I would have known it wouldn't work for him.

I remember our rottweiler being able to open all doors.. Even knobs. Came down from putting something upstairs once and noticed front door open. Ddog and toddler ds off down the street...
Key turned every single time after that!!
Heart stopping moment...
We used bungee cords on a few internal doors but she was very determined...
Good luck with your smart ddog op!

We have a wonderful trainer/walker who would help out if we decided to leave him at home. Ideally that is what we would do if I trusted him not to eat the sofa 😂 we have one option of a lady who is only living in our area till June, she seems perfect, would come to our house instead of hers also. Perhaps by June we can work on leaving him more.

The trainer did say she wasn't keen on the group daycare, she said similar and has found that some dogs are so over stimulated that they won't settle in the evenings at all afterwards (although shattered the following day)

My workplace said we would be unlikely to return to the office then threw it on us with 2 weeks notice that we had to return to the office twice a week, I managed to negotiate 1 day which is better but obviously unexpected so I had not really considered this issue previously.

Our other dog is a pug, I suspect he'd struggle getting out of a paper bag lol, big dogs are certainly a different kettle of fish aren't they! The funny thing is we have a normal height baby gate across our kitchen as the lounge/diner/kitchen is open plan, he could literally walk over it but has never tried 🤷‍♀️ we have a tall metal stair gate in the hall also to avoid front door escapes. We had a fabric gate before which he ripped.

We had a border collie who could open doors, changed the handles for knobs and she mastered those too. Never learnt to shit the door to cover her tracks though 🤣

Some of the excellent boarding kennels round us do day care. Kennelled part of the day but four walk/play sessions in secure paddocks. Anything like that round you? The nearest one to us even has a pick up service.

ladygindiva Can't help thinking that it's probably a good thing she never learnt to shit the door ...could be messy and smelly!

I can’t fathom why she isn’t using baby gates if she’s a doggy day care!

I agree. I know you said she sounds lovely but it sounds like she isn't set up for it rather than your dog. Of course he's going to try and get out if he's not happy/ bored in there.
A crate isn't the answer - it's not fair to leave a dog locked in a crate - that's for carer convenience and nothing more.

It sounds like a bit more of a look around to find someone that is home all day with him so he doesn't need to be left alone for a period. It's bloody expensive though I know.

Lots of dogs can (and will) jump baby gates. They're also not suitable for potentially reactive dogs to be left alone as they can still see what else is going on.

We have a super high energy breed and use a doggy daycare when we're at work is around £20per day. For us it's well worth it he LOVES it and is very confident around other dogs now and he comes home exhausted from playing all day so doesn't need walking on those days. I'd recommend it.

I send mine to daycare once a week, ran by the local boarding kennels near us. She is really good at restricting how many dogs they are allowed to play with at any one time & matching to the correct personality for the dogs there. When other dogs are out or she is walking the boarders they are left in the kennels for downtime as learning to rest is also important. This also ,eans he used to the kennels if we have to board him, which we will be doing tomorrow as we are off on holiday (still dread leaving him though but that's because I am soft). Could you see if any boarding kennels offer this service perhaps?

*this also means he is used to the kennels

If she is open to suggestions can she install one of these
amzn.eu/d/gYT6FR7
We have one to stop the toddler opening the front door (fire safe lock he can easily turn 😱)