# Doggie Day care and peeing



## ClarkEBarks (May 4, 2012)

Hi there, just joined the forum. We rescued a 2-year old JRT from the shelter about 3 months ago. He's great in almost all ways. He came housebroken and has never had an accident in our house. But last weekend we went took him to a hotel with us for a long weekend and he peed in the room (I assume he smelled another dog previously). I've been taking him to doggie care a few times a week and today when I dropped him off, I noticed he ran over and peed on this pet tent thing. When I pointed this out the woman who runs the place said "Oh, they all do that." Should I be concerned about that?

I should add that our dog is very shy and doesn't trust many people yet, but he loves the doggie day care lady and she him. I trust her with him. I'm not sure he'd do well elsewhere yet, although we're starting some classes this weekend to help with socialization. Thanks for any insight...


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

I guess it depends on the daycare and if it is all indoor or indoor and outdoor. The daycare I use is all indoor so of course the dogs are going to poop and pee inside and it's expected, the staff quickly picks up poo and mops up the mess from poop and pee with dog safe disinfectant cleaners. Even with an outdoor area I'd guess a lot of dogs at daycare would still go inside but I don't know. My guy doesn't have any trouble telling the difference between the okay place to poop and pee at daycare and not okay place to poop and pee anywhere else indoors. I guess it can be different with other dogs but I don't think it's a common problem.

The accident in the hotel room could be due to any number of things. Nervous in a new place, not generalizing house training to the hotel room, odor from another animal peeing/pooping in the room. It's possible to have confusing from going inside at daycare but I think the odds are lower than the possibilities I listed.


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## mcdavis (May 1, 2012)

The first time we took our dog on vacation he peed in the room which we put down to excitement / new smells etc. Now when we take him into a hotel room we immediately give him a drink and a few biscuits and so far, fingers crossed, there's been no repeat of the peeing.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Also, dogs don't always generalize well. So, not peeing in your house isn't necessarily the same to him as not peeing at daycare. It doesn't mean he's going to start peeing in your home.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

doxiemommy said:


> Also, dogs don't always generalize well. So, not peeing in your house isn't necessarily the same to him as not peeing at daycare. It doesn't mean he's going to start peeing in your home.


This, and also, because dogs don't generalize well, your dog might not have understood that hotel room=no pee zone. Some dogs seem to need to learn for each new location for awhile.

Biscuit goes to daycare about once a week, and we've boarded her for a night or two at the same facility a few times now. The facility is all indoors, and we've seen her peeing on the CCTV, haha! I'm sure the indoor space smells like pee no matter how much they clean (and they do mop up right away...). I think they have a separate room where they encourage the dogs to do their business, but I'm sure there's limited success with that. Anyway, daycare/boarding her has never had a bad impact on her housetraining. If you're worried about it, just keep an extra close eye on him after he comes home from daycare for awhile, just so you can prevent any attempted accidents before they happen and remind him that your home is still a no-pee zone.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

the daycare I work at has a one cornor that ALL the dogs pee on, doesnt matter how much we clean it, everydog will walk in and pee on that cornor, his horrifies the dogs owners but it is totally normal! 

and like the other said, dogs dont generalize well, I try to aviod taking Misty with me to visit friends who live in apartments, because she marks "outside" and to her "outside" means "outside the house" so the apartment is clearly the house, so no issue, but the second she steps out in the buildings hallway....well thats clearly not the house so she promptly marks in the hallway!


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## rotten (Mar 13, 2012)

Every dog ive ever owned, will pee in an innappropriate place on first visit often. This is called scenting. It is natural, normal dog behaviour, that us humans have decided is wrong.

I cant fathom doggy day care, seriously, this is such a strange concept my head is spinning reading about it. You get a dog, then you give it away during the day as you cant look after it. Makes me wonder why the dog was gotten in the first place? Weird. But each to their own i guess.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

rotten said:


> Every dog ive ever owned, will pee in an innappropriate place on first visit often. This is called scenting. It is natural, normal dog behaviour, that us humans have decided is wrong.
> 
> I cant fathom doggy day care, seriously, this is such a strange concept my head is spinning reading about it. You get a dog, then you give it away during the day as you cant look after it. Makes me wonder why the dog was gotten in the first place? Weird. But each to their own i guess.


I think this is uncalled for. Are you saying that people with full time jobs shouldn't own dogs?


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## rotten (Mar 13, 2012)

Absolutely not. 
This concept is new to my thinking. Im considering it. So far, i dont understand?

Is this something people do for problem dogs? 
Why cant a dog be left alone? 

As people can predict what sort of lifestyle they have, either sedate, hectic family, full time work, part time work, all the hours god sends type of work. then why not have a dog that matches what you can put out? 

Im not sure doggie day care exists here where i am. We have boarding kennels, but not this. So have 'managed' my dogs, so that they are happy to be left, for all day if necessary. By cramming what needs doing into early am/later pm time slot. I'm not sure if its free, doggie day care, but i doubt it. 
I wonder if doggie day care facilities are not making a lot of money out of people necessarily. Like, surely clients of such places cant all have problem dogs that cant be left? 
Why do you consider this a need and not a want for your dogs? 
That's the bit i cant understand, why is this a need. My dogs cost a lot to keep, i couldn't afford this personally.

Edited to add. And i think id be jealous of someone else having my dogs?


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

I think it can be very hard to predict whether a dog will develop separation anxiety, and for people who work full time and end up with a dog with SA, daycare can be a godsend. 

That said, my dog is not a "problem dog" and she can be left alone and be perfectly fine. We leave her home alone 5 days a week (with a dog walker visit halfway through the day). Biscuit goes to daycare once or twice a week, usually if we're going out on a Saturday night for several hours. For us, and I would guess most doggy daycare patrons, daycare very much is a want, not a need. It's a bonus. We send Biscuit because she loves it, and she comes home tired and happy, and socializing with other dogs is better than spending more time alone when she is already home alone a fair bit during the week. She's fine without it, but it's nice.

As for the cost, no it's not free, and we're fortunate to be able to afford it. If our finances changed, daycare would be cut out.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

For some people I'm sure daycare is used due to separation anxiety in the dog but I don't believe that is the case for the majority of dogs. My dog goes to daycare once or twice a week as an energy outlet, he gets the chance to run around and play with other dogs for 8 hours. 

We used to go to the dog park when I got home from work everyday and that was his big energy outlet but we don't go to the dog park anymore due to ignorant/annoying people there. When we stopped going to the dog park I increased out walking time and spent more time in the evening trying to engage him in play to supply that energy outlet and it just wasn't enough. He got bored with the games I tried to play with him after a few weeks and just had a harder time settling in the evenings. My options pretty much came down to taking up running myself with him (I'm lazy and don't want to run) or look into daycare. I went with daycare and we both love it. 

He's fine in the house alone but he still needs that energy outlet I can't provide so he goes to daycare to run around a play 1-2 times a week and everyone is happy. If money made daycare a non-option for me I probably would have tried reaching out to the few people I liked at the dog park and tried to set up play dates with them but I can afford it and don't have to work around anyone elses schedule to do so.


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## rotten (Mar 13, 2012)

Thankyou so much for explaining, I now understand, and would welcome the opportunity for my dogs to have 'a day doing something completely different'. 

The way you both describe it, It seems to be a huge energy outlet, as dogs come back tired out and are happy playing with other dogs. I have a pair of dogs, that do this daily together. Both are very playful right now. So maybe as a treat for someone NEW to play with ? I"ll consider this. Problem is, i have nearly a one man dog scenario. With my daughter, my GSD is a plonker on a leash, ignores her commands etc. He really only listens to me and my partner. This is typical of the breed. He goes to my son's for sleep overs, perhaps this is my version of doggie day care. 

I think the reasons you suggest where it might be more a need, is separation anxiety. Im very fortunate, in that I've not had a dog of this temperament yet. But as you accurately state, you cant always predict which dogs will be affected. So far, so good. 

As i can provide the energy outlet, due to where we have moved to location wise. this would be a want or a lovely treat though, and worth considering.


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