Can your dogs do daycare/group play/dog park?

Juno and Cajun can do the dog park... in the sense that, yes they can be around the other dogs just fine. They don't really interact with the other dogs though and both of them, Cajun especially, get pretty spooked by overwhelming/obnoxious dogs (which is funny because... they both ARE obnoxious). We don't go often at all but it's a nice off leash walk and a nice option to have.

Daycare, I don't know. Juno used to go semi-regularly but it's been a few years, and at this point in her life she's kind of over playing with other dogs. I think she'd still be fine but I think she'd find it more exhausting than enjoyable. Definitely don't think she could do the all day/all night like she used to! Cajun I think would be really overwhelmed in a daycare. And I'm not really sure what sort of group she'd fit into. She likes to be rambunctious but doesn't like dogs being rambunctious to her.

Lucy and Happy can not not not be in those situations.

We can do them.... I mostly choose not to though. I don't mind play dates with friends, but I find too many dogs overwhelming... and I like the option of taking breaks which doesn't always happen in the larger group settings.

They have all been to the dog park (we only have "thunderdome style" ones around here), but they really don't seem to enjoy it. Kimma and Jari spend their time sniffing around not paying attention to the other ignoring (though they will sometimes play chase), and Bubbles just wants people to pet her

So we just don't go. Kimma really doesn't care about playing with other dogs anymore (though when she was up to about a year and a half old she loved going to daycare), and neither does Bubbles really. Jari is getting a bit less tolerant of super-in-your-face pushy dogs, and he generally just likes small play groups, like at the house/friend's houses, and at the training center where I teach.

Most of the dog parks here are tiny and no one ever watches their dog. So parks are usually out. I bring Pig and Badger to the dog beach, but we usually head straight for an empty section. Pig has no interest in playing with random dogs there. She has eyes only for her ball/frisbee. If I take the toy away from her she might play with Badger a bit or scour the beach for dead crabs to roll in.

Badger played with other beach dogs when he was younger, but now that he's bigger I usually call him away from them. He's so used to playing with Pig that his play style can be pretty rough and I just don't want him to accidentally hurt someone else's dog. I'm sure he would be fine, he was always great at adjusting to other dogs, but I don't want to risk it. I do let him play with dogs I know.

Bear is only allowed to play with Pig and occasionally my neighbour's girl. He can tolerate some small males, but even that is iffy.

Joey could but he wouldn't enjoy it so I don't force it. Lucy cannot because she's very dog reactive. Walter can and does go to both the dog park and daycare. He's good in groups with lots of space because if someone gets annoyed or tired he'll run off to find someone else to play with. We're lucky to have some really huge dog parks around here. He also goes to daycare once or twice a week though I think he spends a lot of time at daycare schmoozing the workers instead of playing with the dogs.

Fable absolutely can not go to the dog park. She gets really worked up when she is off leash around other dogs, especially in large open spaces. I tried once when there were only two other dogs, and the entire time she was just circling them and nipping at them. One of them didn't take too kindly to that and they got in a small scuffle (nothing serious). She can do play dates with dogs that she has met before, but the park is just too much. We frequently have playdates with two of her puppies, and she loves my aunt's old beagle. For playgroups, I honestly do not know how she would do. The shelter she is from (also the one I volunteer at) is unique in the way that all the dogs are essentially in doggie daycare every day. They are never in individual kennels except for at night and when they get fed, which are crate times. The dogs are separated into two rooms by energy levels. The exuberant dogs that love to play go in the big room, and the more shy/quiet dogs go in the smaller room. Fable was put in the small room, and I remember she had no problem whatsoever with those dogs. I think if it were a playgroup comprised mostly of small dogs and low energy big dogs, then she would be fine. Fable is not huge on playing with other dogs though, so I don't think I am really taking away any fun by not taking her to playgroups.

Daycare? No way. That many running, moving dogs in a smallish space...Merlin would go over his threshold so fast and would probably **** off the general population by chasing/barking at them in less than 34 seconds and end up in a fight.

Group play? Rarely. In a small (less than 5) group of dogs that know him/play like him or with owners I know, he usually does fine. Otherwise..same kind of rudeness issue as above.

Under the dog dictionary of "TOO MUCH" there is a picture of Merlin playing at the dog park.
He will HAPPILY ignore a dog that doesn't want to play, but if they do and then decide they don't anymore and signal to him in every way that they've had enough, it just does not compute. He pushes the issue and then either the dog snaps or the dog runs away crying and it's just...a bad time.

Dog park? yes and no.
The fenced in small empty area where dogs are just there to play together, no.
but I've noticed in Seattle's more traily-big open dog parks, he is doing so much better. He would much rather engage with me, play fetch, or say hi to a dog quickly and move on and we haven't had an issue at all.

Either way, he's on a drag line and I'm holding the end of it. Recalls are a work in progress.

My dogs all can and do dog parks and daycare. As long as movement keeps up and there are large numbers, not just a few to gang up, etc, everything is fine.

No to all three on both my dogs. Charlotte is way to nervous and defensive around strange dogs to the point she'll lash out aggressively, and Ma'ii is to much of a bully and is very territorial towards other intact males. They do okay with dogs they know, but even then we have to watch them closely.

Nope, well she wouldn't appreciate it anyway.

I have taken her to dog parks, but whenever I have done so, it has been for my benefit, not hers. She does okay if there are only a few dogs around, but would rather be alone in an empty dog park if she had the choice. I took her once over the holidays forgetting that it would be busy. Poor Boo was quite overstimulated and clearly not happy with the situation. She was actually amazing in that she didn't react at all and stuck right by me, but she clearly had this expression like "Mom, save me!"

I would never even try day care. That would be horribly unfair to her. She could handle "group play" with a tiny group of dogs who were all content to ignore one another and not play The only time I've seen her want to play with other dogs were with my foster puppies after she'd had a few days to become their friend.

Put simply, she is not dog aggressive or even really reactive, but she's not a dog park dog.

I just have to take a second to relate to this SO HARD. Hugo loves daycare and they constantly tell me that he does so well and have even showed me videos. He does the same "hackles up" think for about 2 minutes and then plays with any dog that seems to want to play. Yet I take him to the giant dog park and try to let him play with 2 dogs and he is a hugely annoying a**hole for 10 minutes before I pull him away and make him calm down and leave.

Supervised play with a small number of dogs - yes. Anything else - heck no.

Hudson is rude and loud, not something many dogs take too kindly to. We have done some English Shepherd gatherings that are big enough (12+ dogs), some how he normally ends up in the middle of something. I think it's a combination of him being rude and being intact. He doesn't want to fight with other dogs, he just tends to take a beating. Since I do not want these sorts of experiences to keep happening, we now stick with a small play group where everyone is smart enough to watch their own dog.

The papillons- NO. Big big no unless it's a small group of very mannerly dogs. They really dislike dogs. And especially doggy dogs.

Hank- yes. He is an aforementioned doggy dog and wants to be play friends with everyone. He can be a bit much for dogs his size and smaller or dogs that don't appreciate overly rambunctious dogs. But in a large group setting he can be one of those dogs that sets everyone else off because he runs sooooo fast around and just eggs everyone on. He actually adjusts his play style pretty well from body slamming gleefully with boxers to chasing with the BCs, but just can't be gentle. He just slams most little dogs over. Kind of obnoxious. He also does not heed warning/back off signs well at all.

Probably explains why the paps and Hank have rocky relationships.

Nia is reactive so I would say no to all.

However, a new dog park has opened up that we have been to. She doesn't start anything but she's just really obnoxious and barks at every single new dog that appears for the first 5 minutes which drives me crazy.

Within groups of dogs she knows, she has no problems and has very good manners. It doesn't matter how many dogs are in the group, as long as she knows them, and they don't try to smack her around with their bodies, she's fine with them.

Deputy: When he was younger, yes. Now that he has dementia his play style is really rough and most dogs would probably not tolerate that.

Zane: No way in hell. He is DA and severly anxious in new situations. He needs a thundershirt just to go to the vet.

Abby: Nope. She only plays with the other three and hates strange dogs.

Kieber: Yes, he would probably love it. Daycare would be perfect, but his recall sucks, so no dog park.

Patton's being boarded where they also do daycare for the weekend while I'm at a working seminar with Recon...

I checked in this morning and told them he was fine to go to daycare with other dogs during the day as well. I got a message from the owner a couple hours later saying that he was out with a GSD, lab and rottie, and seemed to be enjoying barking at her horses instead. He's obviously real concerned about boarding. -_-

Toby doesn't care about how dogs are playing in the park.. they can hump him, nip him, drag him (lab dragged him by the head once, he didn't even yelp and kept trying to play after the lab was taken away) and Toby doesn't do anything except follow them around with a big happy, ridiculous grin on his face and try to play.

He'll take a growl and go away, he reads and knows dog language pretty good and understands when playtime is over, but he would never pose a threat or issue in the park and if anything he's always been the more passive dog in the park. He's had chihuahua's go apesht on him and he just stands there like "whats going on?" lol


Toby has never done daycare but I'm sure he'd do fine.

Ryker loves other dogs, but we don't go to dog parks because he's intact and doesn't have good recall. No daycare either but I'm sure he would love it. Gypsy can't even see another dog because she is so reactive so no interactions with any dog except for Ryker at the moment.

Bean is awesome in a group dog setting. He goes to daycare once a week and he gets along with pretty much everybody, although he will tell obnoxious dogs off (appropriately). He has been used to screen other prospective camp dogs.

Steve can play with me in a situation where there are other dogs but he pretty much has no use for other dogs and/or gets his hate on.

Ham hasn't had a terribly wide variety of other doggy playmates, but he's done great with everybody he's had the opportunity to play with, and he enjoys playing with other dogs.

Luce could have playdates with appropriate boydogs but she's 12 now and has utterly lost her filter, so I wouldn't trust her with other peoples' dogs at this point.