Puppy Day Care is open to puppies of all breeds aged between 8 and 16 weeks. Our service is designed to provide your puppy’s growing mind with an environment where play, exercise, learning and social interaction are key components during his stay.
Being left alone most of the day while you are at work could leave any puppy longing for some company and activity. Your puppy might also still be too small and vulnerable to be left alone with your other older dogs. Your schedule might be so jam packed that you might not even have the time or energy to take your puppy out when you come home to provide him with his social needs required during his social skills learning stage.
Your puppy’s day is scheduled and includes, free play with other puppies, undisturbed rest and “alone time” activities. Puppies will also be provided with some individual obedience & behavioural training, obstacle work and core-ball exercise to strengthen their core and stabilizing muscles in the joints to prevent injuries and improve co-ordination, self-control, balance and proprioception.
We do not subscribe to the idea of “letting dogs sort it out” – all interactions are monitored. Good behaviour and social interactions are reinforced and inappropriate behaviour towards other pups, people or handlers are interrupted, re-directed or punished with ‘Reward Removal’. Reward removal is the removal of the offending puppy – for a short period of time – from the social situation he finds himself in. Puppies enjoy playing with each other and being removed from this social interaction is something he will work to avoid, thus increasing good social skills.
We do not use any form of physical or verbal punishment (i.e. spanking, tapping on the nose, spray bottles, throwing ‘penny-cans’, alpha rolling, scruff shaking). These techniques can be physiologically, behaviourally and socially damaging to your puppy. Using positive training techniques does not mean that we are permissive; we still provide and teach boundaries and structure. We focus on teaching the pups what we want them to do, instead of just punishing the unwanted behaviour. This is a win-win-win recipe for the puppy, owner and trainer.
We also do not subscribe to the idea of “crate-free”. It might sound idyllic and romantic, but it is not practical if you want to safely and appropriately manage a large group of puppies. At this young age, puppies can become accustomed to crates pretty easy. They are introduced to your puppy in a fun way and become a comfortable and safe place to retreat to when needed. Crates are used for alone time, where puppies learn to self entertain and prevent the onset of separation distress and frustration. Crates are also used for rest time, to encourage the puppies to sleep. Undisturbed rest forms an integral part of your puppy’s development. Lack of sleep places stress on the body and can increase frustrative behaviour. We also like to present to you at the end of the day, not a puppy that is exhausted, but a puppy that still has some energy for you to enjoy.
A puppy’s imprinting period for learning social ‘etiquette’ is from 3 – 16 weeks. During this time your puppy is predisposed to and has the greatest capacity to learn social skills. Now their brains are like sponges, the more they socialise, the more memories they have to fall back on whenever they find themselves in an unfamiliar situation. At approximately sixteen weeks, the window of social learning starts closing. After that, your pup has less ability to develop or change his social skills.
Let our Day Care Service give your puppy the treat of some companionship, exercise and learning experiences while you tend to your busy schedule, without feeling guilty about leaving your pup ‘home alone.’
Phone for bookings: 021 856 5886
Monday – Friday: 7am – 6pm