# Doggy Daycare is ruining our housetraining! Anyone else?



## bimmergirl84 (Jun 23, 2009)

Hello all,

we've been putting our girl in doggy day care for 4 hours a day so she can socialize and get more comfortable with new people & dogs. 

The place we take her to has a nice staff, nice facilities, etc. She is kept in a huge indoor play area off leash where she can just interact with other dogs all day. They don't take each dog out for a walk, they are allowed to poop/pee inside the play room and then it is promptly cleaned up by staff. I watch her all day from the doggy video camera setup that we watch on the internet from home/work. The staff doesn't let poo/pee sit for more than 5 seconds before they clean it up. 

But here's the problem.....

After we bring her back home she pees on the carpet because from daycare she's learned that it's okay to pee when indoors. How can I correct this or at least mitigate this behavior? She's 17weeks old.


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## Adustgerm (Jul 29, 2009)

Maybe your puppy is still to young yet for doggie day care? With that many dogs, it's hard to take each one out to pee every hour. So maybe leave your puppy with someone that has the time, or crate training your puppy might be best until she gets the point that peeing inside is a very bad thing.


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## FishApprentice (Aug 21, 2009)

Adustgerm said:


> Maybe your puppy is still to young yet for doggie day care? With that many dogs, it's hard to take each one out to pee every hour. So maybe leave your puppy with someone that has the time, or crate training your puppy might be best until she gets the point that peeing inside is a very bad thing.


I agree with this ^^^ crate training is the way to go. 

How old is your puppy?


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## Adustgerm (Jul 29, 2009)

post said 17 weeks.


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## bimmergirl84 (Jun 23, 2009)

she is housebroken already. She knows to go to the door to be let out to go poo/pee. We started her off on the crate training to begin with. That's how she got the point in the first place. Now she's mostly out of the crate and confined to the kitchen only. But now she's getting bigger and is able to jump up on the counter to get out. Today she laid down some destruction in the house when she got out today while we were at work. 

Are german shepherds known to be escape artists? And how do you guys keep them in one area in the house while you are gone? We can lock her in the bathroom or laundry room but I feel bad doing that. Growing up as a kid we adopted a maltese who was locked up in the bathroom for 8-10hours a day while the owners were gone. He was TERRIFIED of anyone closing the door on him for his entire life after we had him. Don't want to create any issues with the new GSD as she exhibits some mild separation anxiety symptoms now.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

Personally, I don't allow anyone other than myself to have any influence over, or any effect on my puppy during the first year, especially. I decide with whom, and when she meets and greets, what and when fed, and so on. 

Doggie daycare can be great, but I wouldn't send a puppy. Just my opinion.


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

From my own experience and opinion, just about any breed of dog can be an escape artist; But if it's a simple equal opprotunity, any dog would take it if they think they could...

You mentioned crate training, but then I see where you're trying to confine the dog to 
an entire room... Is there a reason you're still not using a crate for the dog? 

Just confining a dog to a room, if the dog has the tendancy to be destructive or sly, can cause problems... They make crates big enough for every breed, so I would look into getting a bigger one for her.

As far as the doggy daycare thing, she's 17 weeks, I would say she's not ready for doggy daycare... You said she's already housebroken, which is great, but for a lot of dogs it can take several months of consistency for them to apply the same rules every where they go. She may be housebroken, but the doggy-daycare thing could be confusing to her.

A great way to socialize your dog is to just go for walks, meet with your friends, go to parks, there are other ways and other things to do with her to get her socialized without using a doggy-daycare right from the start. 


Good luck.


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## Purplex15 (May 28, 2007)

I work, and have worked for a few years, in boarding facilities that also have daycare. I have never heard of any of our puppy owners ever having problems with it affecting housetraining. However, all the facilities I have worked for are indoor and outdoor (most dogs play outside, and go inside for naps, rests, lunch, etc.)

So I dont really know, but I just know that I have had puppies as young as 13 weeks come for daycare and boarding stays and the owners never complained of any training issues, potty or otherwise. so maybe the problem is that the place is indoors. I personally don't really like indoor dog facilities, and the ones I have seen pale in comparison to the outdoor ones I have worked for. I do know that it is very hard to get any operating permit for a dog facility and have it be outside (at least in my state of cali it is). So in order to find these outdoor places, you have to look harder, and a little durther away. 

i also agree with other posters regarding the crate. you say you already crate trained her, but it doesnt seem like there was much point in doing that if you werent going to keep the dog in the crate. if you are just leaving her in a room she can get out of, then you are basically asking her to get out and destroy something. maybe once she is older and out of the puppy years (maybe 2 or 3) you can trust her in a part of the house and she will be good, but 17 weeks? you are asking too much of your pup. Leave her in her crate in a sealed room, in case she gets out.


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

I would just go back to crate training at home for awhile. Most dogs get the idea that at daycare its ok and at home it is not. The other option is to find a daycare that has an outdoor area. I personally think daycare is great for puppies, as long as it is the right daycare where they can put the puppy with appropriate dogs. 

Dogs are so situational and most don't go anywhere else where they are running around with 10+ other dogs all day that they learn its ok in this situation, but not others.


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## Westhighlander (Sep 28, 2007)

For my 1,000th post....your dog is not housebroken at 17 weeks. If she was, she wouldn't be peeing on your carpet.


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## bimmergirl84 (Jun 23, 2009)

She contracted an upper respiratory infection from daycare so we've kept her out of there for about a month now. 

One of the main reasons for us taking her there was to socialize her and because I did not want to crate her for over 8 hours while we were at work. Just wouldn't be fair to her and she can't hold it that long any how. 

When we keep her at home she's either in the crate or in the kitchen where we've blocked off the entry way. We can't keep her in a crate for 8 hours a day so the kitchen is her long term confinement area. For shorter periods of time (4 hours or less) and for bedtime she's in the crate. Hasn't messed the crate in a few months now. 

Do you guys leave your dogs in the crate for the whole day?


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## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

My dogs are often in a crate for 8 hours if they don't go to work with me. They get exercised before I leave and almost immediately when I get home.


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