Galway’s Doggie Day Care Centre IS NOW OPEN!

 



We mind your pet in a fun environment – They will always want to come back!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have over 5,000 sq ft for your dog to play in. It is all OPEN PLAN, no cages.

BIG and small dogs are separated for play for their own safety.

 

VIDEO of small dog playtime at Doggie Daycare

 

What is Doggie Day Care ?: Initially when people come into the centre, they see Doggie Day Care as a place to drop off their dog, while they are doing the shopping or going to an appointment for a few hours, or if they are working all day long and can’t get home to their dog during the afternoon, and indeed that is a large part of our service. But when people stay a while, they see there are so many more benefits to Doggie Day Care than us just looking after and playing with their dogs. They begin to see the importance of teaching your dog how to socialise with other dogs large and small. They see the development in their dogs personalities. They see their dogs fitness improve. They see the handiness, cost effectiveness, simplicity and ease of their dog being dropped to their vet for them – why endure the cost and lose the time of taking a day off work to drop your dog to the vet when we can do it for you ? We will not charge any extra as long as it is one of the vets in our surrounding area (and there are several). So your dog can be seen by the vet and afterwards spend a fun day in Doggie Day Care, or alternatively they can convalesce with us if need be in one of our pens on cushions and blankets.

 


 

What is Dog Socialisation ?: Say you are out walking your dog on Galways Promenade, how many dogs will you meet along the way ? – quite a few. So everytime you meet another dog, will your dog shy away, become agressive or will you have to bend down and pick up your dog everytime you pass one ? Only another dog can teach your dog how to socialise with another dog. Even if you have two or three dogs in your home, if they are not meeting new dogs on a regular basis, they will not know how to socialise with other dogs than their immediate companions.

Potential risks of not socialising your dog: From as early as 9 weeks, your dog should be introduced to all of the things it will encounter throughout it’s life – Traffic, loud noises, young children, other dogs etc. In the case of dog socialisation, if a dog is kept at home with you and is not introduced to other dogs or if your dog only meets other dogs while walking with you on the lead, the likelyhood is, when you do bring them out of the house or for a walk, when you encounter other dogs, your dog’s reaction to that encounter will be one of fear or aggression or both. Have you experienced your dog shying away from a passing dog while you are out walking ? Do they pull hard in the opposite direction while on lead ? Does your dog growl or snap at other dogs they encounter ? Or does your dog jump up on your leg begging to be picked up ? These are all signs that your dog needs to be socialised properly. The older your dog gets, the worse the symtoms will get.

A friend of mine who is a groomer came across a case where a man got a Doberman Pincher pup as a pet. As the dog matured, it was never socialised with other dogs. The Doberman was terrified of other dogs and of small children. You might laugh at the idea of a Doberman being frightened, but think about it, here is a strong,  large breed dog with a large set of teeth who sees most situations as threatening. This led to circumstances where the Doberman attacked other dogs it encountered on a couple of occasions. It also bit my friend once when she tried to groom him and finally it bit it’s owner. Unfortunately the dog had to be put down, all because through no fault of it’s own, it had not been socialised properly with other dogs and exposed to a variety of circumstances at a young age. Now I don’t want to put a dim light on Doberman’s as a pet, on the contrary, they make fantastic pets, they are great with children, adults and other dogs. We have one that comes to Doggie Day Care and she is one of the most loving dogs I have ever encoutered, this was just one extreme example of what can happen when a dog has not been socialised properly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SERIOUS BIT:

We cannot accept dogs who have dog to dog aggression or dog to human aggression. Although we can help through a dog training program.

All male dogs over 6/7 months must be neutered.

All annual vaccinations must be up to date. The kennel cough vaccination must also be up to date. It takes 3 to 5 days for this vaccination to become fully effective. This is a separate vaccination from the annual ones.

 

 

THE FUN BIT:

Your dog:

  • Will be socialised with other canine friends

  • Will be cared for by professionally and medically trained staff

  • Can snooze in a warm bed whenever they want

  • Can be kept active all day with toys and activities

  • Can be pampered by the available pet groomer

  • Can be collected early in the morning and returned home each evening (Extra travel charges apply)

 

All dogs must be assessed prior to attending to day care.

Fill in the online registration form and then contact us to book your dog in for their assessment.

 

 Online Registration Form