When Cooper first started going to daycare, it was hard on all of us. Everyone kept telling us that he’ll love it! He’ll be so excited to go! He’ll learn the word daycare and get all worked up!
Um. Not so much.
He hates the going part. He tucks his tail. He shivers. He whines in the lobby. But the second he gets into the playroom, he has a total blast. They tell us he’s “perfect” (though they have 3 Coopers, so I wonder if they’re talking about the right one…) and that he loves to run. He plays in the big dog room because he’s so high energy.
So the lobby seems to be the bad spot for him. We’re working with a fabulous trainer one-on-one, and she suggested stopping by the daycare on days he’s not going. Walk in, give him some treats, then walk right back out. We’re going to start that routine just to help him feel happier and more confident with the comings and goings.
But it’s awesome he has so much fun playing, and hopefully it’ll help him keep building his confidence.
Plus, on days he goes to daycare he comes home and CRASHES, which shows that he’s getting a lot of exercise, and it means a nice, quiet evening!
We had never heard of anyone else having this problem, and our Mr B does the same thing. We have to carry the big guy out of the car, then he sits quivering and he wont go up the stairs to the playroom. But once there he has a great time running around. We thought it was because it’s the same place he goes for boarding and he was afraid of being left behind. Why did they say this happens?
The people at the daycare said that the lobby can seem very much like a vet’s office: slippery floors, tons of weird smells, lots of animals passing through. With Coop, I think it’s in part that he is VERY attached to us and the big boys, so leaving us is hard for him no matter where it is. Also, he’s not a confident guy in general, which adds to the challenge. I think to him the lobby equals weird smells and us leaving. Once he gets past that threshold, he’s a-ok. Hopefully stopping by periodically to give him treats and then leave with him will help build up a more positive association with the lobby? I’ll let you know how it goes…
And don’t forget positive associations with the car, too! My puppy started to get very scared of the car — a bad thing seeing that she joins me in my office every day. I put in a lot of effort going in and out of the car on the weekends, making it a big deal, giving lots of praise, etc. When that went well we’d go for short drives around the neighborhood with lots of exciting praise and destinations.
…and that is such a great picture!
Good point, Jason! And how fun that you take your pup to work every day!! I’m glad you were able to build up a positive association to the car!
Glad to hear you have some good ideas about building Cooper’s confidence entering doggy day care. It’s already good that he’s not so scared that it ruins his fun play time once he gets inside.
You’re so right, Pamela. I was really worried about that for the first couple weeks, but the people there kept a close eye on him and said he had a ton of fun… thank goodness!
It’s funny how similar the advice you got is to the advice people get when they’re first sending their kids off to preschool, XD
And, like Jason, I’m kind of wondering if the car trip might be part of the issue. Does Cooper ride around in the car much outside of trips to daycare or the vet?
Hopefully COoper will work through that in no time, but we feel you on the coming home and crashing part! Our boy loves daycare, and we LOVE how tired he is when he gets home…I wish we could afford to send him everyday!
Keep it up and Cooper will come around. I like the idea of stopping in often with treats then turning around and leaving.
Glad your pup likes daycare…it’s sooooooooo good for them to socially interact and REALLy get their energy out!
Since your baby goes to daycare, I’m sure you will relate to our new video we just put out that is a parody of the other “Sh_t …say” videos out there, called “Sh*t Doggy Daycare Workers Say”. Hope it makes you laugh. Feel free to share with your baby’s daycare…they’ll surely relate! All the best to you and your furry children!