This one is long guys, so hold on! Today I want to talk about over-stimulated dogs. Over-stimulated dogs - you know them - they have boundless energy, seem to be easily distracted by just about everything, and sometimes are undisciplined. People with over-stimulated dogs think dog daycare is the perfect solution to this problem - I mean, dog daycare is there to tire out energetic dogs, right? Yes, but...
The dog daycare environment is basically an off-leash dog park that is supervised. If you've ever been to a dog park, you know that there are all kinds of dogs there - laid back adult dogs, young energetic dogs, and so on. At dog daycare, we strive for play groups that combine dogs of similar sizes and similar energy levels. But in a group of 20 dogs, we often have a mix of energy levels, just like a dog park. If you have 2 or 3 over-stimulated dogs, they can increase the overall energy level of all of the other dogs in the play area. An increase in energy level translates into excitement and sometimes anxiety. Over-stimulated dogs play too rough, get involved in too many chase games, and run into dogs when going after a ball. If these dogs are large dogs, they can cause physical injury, either to themselves or to the other dogs. And some of the other dogs in the play area act out when there's an over-stimulated dog there. That makes everyone's job more difficult.
Over-stimulated dogs also can affect the employees working at a dog daycare. Dog daycare attendants tend to focus their time and energy making sure that the over-stimulated dogs aren't misbehaving. This means they can't spend their time with the "good" dogs that aren't causing alot of trouble. Over-stimulated dogs can also, by accident, hurt the employees in a dog daycare. We have to manage the dogs, which means moving dogs from one place to another. We have to make sure that all of the dogs in our care are safe. If an over-stimulated dog is chasing another dog, we have to be able to stop that behavior (whether by stepping in between dogs, or grabbing a collar). Sometimes, an over-stimulated dog, which might be really distracted by the dog he's chasing, doesn't realize what we're doing, and we can get run into, knocked down, mouthed or jumped on. If it's a 12-lb dog, that's one thing. If it's a 70-lb dog, that's another thing entirely.
So the moral of this story is: if you have an over-stimulated dog, and your dog attends a dog daycare, you should work hard to teach your dog some discipline. The two things that help over-stimulated dogs the most are ample exercise and obedience training. The exercise is an obvious solution - a tired dog is too tired to act badly. Bear in mind that, just because a dog attends daycare does NOT mean that the dog doesn't need other exercise on that day. I bring my 3 dogs to daycare with me every day, and I still walk my dogs every day (and one of them is 12.5 years old!).
The obedience training might not be as obvious a solution. But what obedience training does is teach the owner to train the dog. If the dog learns to listen to the owner (and respond appropriately when the owner gives a command), that dog will almost always listen to other people as well. They have learned that people are at the top of the hierarchy, and that they're expected to do what they're asked to do, when it's a person doing the asking. At least then, if that dog becomes over-stimulated, and a dog daycare employee asks the dog to follow a specific command, the dog stops what he's doing and instead does what he's asked to do. And all of a sudden, the employee has gained control over the dog, just by using a command that the dog responds to. That makes our jobs alot easier, and makes the daycare environment alot more enjoyable for EVERYONE - all the dogs and all the employees.
So know your dog, and figure out ways to make that dog a good dog, in any environment.
this really isn't helpful- I have two overstimulated dogs who I've been working with in obedience training for almost a year.
ReplyDeleteA dog can be great indoors- super responsive, and know a dozen commands- but once he's set off- he can't hear you. So when the dog becomes overstimulated you can't ask him to follow a specific command- that's the consequences of over-stimulation.
A dog daycare seems like the kind of place where a dog owner could get help to eliminate a dog's triggers-- if you won't then you shouldn't agree to watch the dog.
The problem is, by definition (kind of) a dog daycare is a place that stimulates dogs. It's not a place where dogs usually go to relax. This doesn't mean that some dogs are relaxed while at dog daycare. But basically it's a place to blow off some steam. By blowing off some steam, I don't mean losing his (or her) mind, racing around the play area, body slamming other dogs and generally increasing the stimulation of all of the dogs in the play area. That's a dangerous situation when in an off-leash area. A dog daycare is a place for CONTROLLED play. That's the entire job of the dog daycare attendants - to control the play so it doesn't get out of hand. Yes, it should be fun. But it shouldn't get out of control, because that's when people and/or other dogs get hurt. I still believe an over-stimulated dog doesn't necessarily belong in dog daycare. It's just like a child's daycare - everyone should learn socialization skills, and everyone should be included. But no one wants a bully, and over-stimulated dogs often come across as bullies - not because they're mean, but because they take all of the attention away from all of the other dogs, and focus it on themselves. And because they "take over" the play area.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first comment. You should not agree to watch a dog if it is not appropriate to doggy daycare. Your website claims you interview dogs for appropriate behavior. What is your rate of rejection, and how many overstimulated dogs have you released from your care in the last year?
ReplyDeleteI want my dog to be safe at dog daycare, but your blog makes it seem like you think dogs are bad and owners are stupid.
No of course dogs aren't bad and owners aren't stupid. I wouldn't have opened a dog daycare if I didn't love dogs (and the people who take care of them).
ReplyDeleteWe do interview dogs for appropriate behavior and we fail those we don't think are appropriate for daycare. However, occasionally, a dog will be well-behaved during the interview (because he's still a bit unsure of himself) but once he becomes comfortable in our space, he relaxes and we get to see who he really is. Every once in a while, that dog will end up being removed from daycare, because we don't feel safe (for ourselves or the other dogs) with him there. I'm not sure what our rate of rejection is, but off hand, I'd say we probably reject maybe 5-10 dogs in a year, and put another 10 dogs on what we call "probation." Probation dogs are dogs that we're a little unsure of, even after the interview. We try them out on quiet days first, and if they improve, they graduate to being non-probationary dogs. We do occasionally (maybe 2-3 a year) have probationary dogs that we then reject, because they haven't improved. We update the owners every time the dog visits and let them know how the dog is doing, and what the next step is.