Worried about daycare

[Jessiep]

My 9 month old puggle, Davey, goes to daycare 2 days a week. He LOVES it and I love that he gets exercise and socialization but since he has been there it seems to have been a never ending stream of health issues.

Kennel cough, of course, even though he was vacinated. Several infections in his penis (he is fixed), colitis off and on, always after daycare and now Canine Papiloma Virus.

I think the issue is with the infections and colitis is that he just plays for 8 hours straight and doesn't get a rest, no matter how many times I ask them. One time when I asked them to rest him midday he was in a kennel when I picked him up- I think he was in there most of the day because he was not at all worn out. If I wanted him in a kennel all day I would just have a dog walker come...

Anyway, I don't like the daycare- too many dogs (at least 20), not enough personal attention, no regular breaks etc. I found a smaller, closer place I want to switch him to but here is the issue- he has active CPV bumps, 3 of them. The Vet said that of course he got it from daycare and it will run it's course. But I don't want to switch daycares while he is contagious and spread this stuff somewhere else.

Anyone have experience with having their dogs in daycare? Is this sort of the norm that they are always picking stuff up etc? Anyone have experience with CPV?

 

[Denaluvscorgis]

No...I've never even heard of CPV. I've never taken any of my dogs to daycare, so I'm afraid that I'm no help with that.

 

[Barb04]

I understand that he likes it, but if he is constantly picking up some kind of health issue there, it's not worth it. Maybe keep him home until he gets over everything and in the meantime, check out the other daycare.

 

[noludoru]

It is NOT the norm for dogs to pick stuff up at daycare. If it is the norm, the norm is crappy. I'd look into preventatives, and in the meantime do everything you can to reduce his risk of re-infection.

Double check with your vet when he's healthy again, and ask to talk w/ people who have used the new daycare for at least 4 months, if not longer, and see how their dogs are. You don't want to have this problem again..

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I'd wonder after a few sexual seeming issues what your dog is possibly doing while there.. Kennel cough strain not covered by bordatella sure.. Penis infections.. no.

 

[Zoom]

CPV is basically the canine version of chicken pox, but in wart form and in the mouth. It's highly contagious, but doesn't do any actual harm. Still, it's not something often seen and especially not in a place that is stringent in it's cleaning. The place I work now has been open for 7 years and never has had a case of it. Another place I worked for was only open less than 6 months before they had an outbreak. But they were much more lax about cleaning and quarentine.

For now Davey needs to stay home until the CPV has cleared up. The penile infections are also suspect...who and what has he been humping is my question.

 

[Jessiep]

Thanks for the advice- I feel a bit better and less like a paranoid over-protective mommy for wanting to pull him out of there.

Zoom- that is exactly what my vet said, but I thought maybe it was super common. Hearing what you have said I am even more upset and totally convinced there is an overall lack of concern and attention to my dog's health.


He was fixed rather young- at 4 months. According to the vet studies show that there is no higher risk in fixing them prior to 6 months and he said we could avoid behavior issues..but maybe that is the reason for the infections? The vet didn't seem too terribly concerned, but I hate to have him not feeling well for any reason.

For those of you that work and have very active dogs- what the heck do you do during the day? Dave is OK in his kennel but he is very active and used to having me home 5 days a week. Can you say seperation anxiety?

Plus we live in an apartment and if he freaks out while I am gone I would feel horrible and the neighbors would hate me.

Ugh. Here I thought I was being such a good dog mom by making sure he was happy during the day. =(

 

[Herschel]

You could exercise him for 2 hours in the morning, crate him for a few hours, come home and play with him for an hour during lunch, then crate him again until you come home.

We love our doggy daycare (run by our agility instructor) but we only go there when weather doesn't allow serious exercise.

 

[Jessiep]

You could exercise him for 2 hours in the morning, crate him for a few hours, come home and play with him for an hour during lunch, then crate him again until you come home.

We love our doggy daycare (run by our agility instructor) but we only go there when weather doesn't allow serious exercise.

Oh I do wish I could. I only work 2 days a week because I have a severe sleep disorder- if I gave him that much exercise in the morning I would never make it out of the house- lol. When I am home he gets an am walk, then naps with me, then an afternnon walk and more napping etc. Plus I don't get a break at all during the day- I work for a small private eye dr's office and I am the only one there.

I actually think I am going to try bringing him in to work and see if he can handle it till the papiloma clears up, then find a daycare he gets better care from. He is very, uh, excitable about everything in such a puppy "I love everybody" kind of way. My boss is very cool and actually told me several times I could try bringing him in. I'm just worried he will howl at anyone who doesn't pay attention to him.

 

[noludoru]

Herschel said exercise him, not you, silly. You can throw a ball around or something that doesn't tire you out.. teach him to play fetch, use a lure... something fun like that.

Taking him to work sounds like a great idea, but he'll need exercise, too. And he probably should stay home till things clear up.

 

[squirtsmom]

definately keep him home until he is well. I took my dog to work and she did surprisingly well.

 

[Sweet72947]

My dogs have been to doggie daycare and have never contracted any diseases from there. There was a giardia scare that happened where they called everybody that had been there, but its not really their fault if somebody stupidly brings in an infected dog. Giardia isn't something where you can look at the dog and say, hey that dog has a disease!

I agree with you that something is wrong at that daycare.

 

[Zoom]

Don't totally discount all daycares because of this one. You wouldn't believe some of the horrible places I've seen, but also there are some totally awesome places. Where do you live? You can PM me your city if you don't want to put it out in the wide open; I might be able to help you find another place. Also, just ask your vet where he would recommend. They've usually got a pretty good idea on where to go and where to avoid.

 

[Jessiep]

Herschel said exercise him, not you, silly. You can throw a ball around or something that doesn't tire you out.. teach him to play fetch, use a lure... something fun like that.

Taking him to work sounds like a great idea, but he'll need exercise, too. And he probably should stay home till things clear up.

You mean you can exercise them without wearing your self out? LOL

Zoom- I am in Chicago. I live in Oak Park but work in Wicker Park/Bucktown. He goes to a place in the loop at the moment. Well, he WAS going.

The vet liked the place I found near us, but we had to wait till the 9 month mark to move him. Know any great places in my area? Can't I just bring him to where you work??

 

[Zoom]

Ah, sorry I don't know Chicago that well. Yeah, if you wanted to commute to Kansas City every day, sure! Bring Davey on down!

Let us know how the new place is!

 

[SisMorphine]

I used to have my own daycare, and I currently am the coordinator for a pretty large daycare and boarding facility.

I have never once had an outbreak of ANYTHING at daycare. At the current place I work at the disinfection process is very strict, we also require fecals to be done every 6 months. We have strict regulations for clients who's dogs DO come up positive for something (as far as when they are allowed back) and the playmates in that group, and any other groups that may use the same run, are all notified with paperwork about whatever it may be that the dog came up positive for, plus we will bleach and disinfect and add more rocks or do whatever is necessary as far as protocol goes.

So far we have had one case of giardia. No one else came up with it.

Penis infections are definitely NOT the norm, and unless he is in a dirty crate then it probably isn't coming from daycare, BUT playing for 8 hours straight could definitely be weakening his immune system! We have the dogs out for a half hour play session and then they are inside for an hour and a half to rest, then are rotated back out again. Dogs NEED to rest. Places that do not crate the dogs in between play sessions are doing more harm than good, IMHO.

I would check around for other facilities. Ask about their cleaning regimine, and their daily schedule, also their protocol for IF something does go around. Yes, by bringing your dog to daycare you are heightening their chances of getting sick, but they shouldn't be THAT heightened!

ETA:
I work and I am lucky enough to be able to bring my dogs to work. They both stay in the office with me (Teeny is crated, and Wally is on his bed) and they go down to the daycare to play in their groups. I have NO CLUE what I'd do if I had a real job and couldn't bring them to work with me!

 

[noludoru]

You mean you can exercise them without wearing your self out? LOL

Yes, hehe. It's very hard, but can be done!

If he plays fetch, it's a good way to do that. If you can make a heavy duty lure-type thing, sort of like the cat toys with the fuzzies on the end, and learn how to use it, I bet he'll like that. Actually, I bet he'd love it. If there's somewhere you can do offleash walking (fenced-in) that might be perfect, for when he is WELL again. Dogs tend to like running around you in circles.

 

[Jessiep]

Thansk so much everyone for all of the advise and help! I was starting to get those "you're a paranoid dog mom" looks from friends...I like to think of myself as a responsible parent!

I am going to check out the new place later today without Dave and will hopefully like it enough to move him when he is well.

For your entertainment, her eis the link to his current daycare webcam. Right now I see over 20 dogs in one area and 1 human, who is cleaning the floors. Next to the 20 plus dogs is an area with 3 or so dogs and NO people. REally personal attention *sigh*

The webcam is new or I might have pulled him sooner watching this:

http://76.195.228.83/

login- remote
psswrd- remote

Enjoy

 

[Zoom]

Some places do better than others at being able to give attention to larger groups of dogs. I had probably between 65-70 dogs just in big dog alone today and I gave plenty of attention to each of the dogs who wanted it (the rush for boarding for the weekend started). There are always those who are more interested in running in groups than in getting petted. We also send home daily report cards with the dogs, so we have to pay attention and know who is doing what so we can pass that on.