08/19/2025
Hereās a controversial post that may offend a few people and businesses.
Every week I get emails of new clients that their dog struggles with leash reactivity, barking, lunging on lead. But, not when theyāre off lead.
My first question is always: Does your dog go to daycare?
99% of the time the answer is Yes.
Newsflash: Daycare is causing your dogās leash reactivity.
What? But my dog loves daycare? He loves his friends! He loves being out and about. Itās great.
And Iām sure your dog loves it (most of the time).. but lets have a look at this.
Most daycares (not all of them) are not very structured, for example some No Noās for me:
Dogs get to run around all day long āhaving funā.
There is no dedicated rest area or āforcedā rest time.
Itās a lot of dogs constantly barking all day long.
There are no training moments to learn something new and engage their brain in a different way that full speed ahead all the time.
Puppies are often put with other puppies which seems great but also teaches them nothing because puppies learn manners from older dogs.
Dogs overexcited or hyper behaviour gets rewarded with a lot of play instead of impulse control.
What is actually happening from a training perspective?
Your dog never learns to just be around dogs without needing to interact or āgo say hiā. Often this is whatās causing the frustration on leash.
Your dog gets overexcited, over aroused and over tired which leads to irritable behaviour.
Your dog learns that seeing other dogs is a free for all to always have āfunā or to feel overwhelmed if your dog is more on the timid side.
Your dog never learns to just āBeā. To Relax. To sleep. To be bored. To do nothing.
Where is the connection happening with YOU? After your dog comes home all ātired and worn outā, where does the training happening with you to build a connection and a relationship?
Ever since Covid people seem to have the idea that their dogs canāt stay home alone. They CAN. They SHOULD. There is NOTHING wrong with leaving your dog alone for a full work day if itās not a 6 day a week type of thing.
I am not against daycare for occasional socialisation or a fortnightly fun experience, but going to daycare several times a week is unnecessary and just too much for most dogs.
Itās unhealthy for a dog to constantly be on the go and not learn how to settle. It can create a hyper or neurotic or an anxious dog because heās lacking sleep and is constantly in overdrive. An adult dog sleeps on average 13.5 hours a day!
An adult dog also DOESNāT NEED FRIENDS. Itās actually quite unnatural for dogs to constantly mingle with dogs outside of their circle/pack. A lot of dogs are actually quite stressed at daycare because there is nowhere to hide, get a break or just chill. So even though you see some fun photoās of your dog āsmilingā, that doesnāt mean heās having fun all day long.
There is nothing wrong, bad or sad about having your dog stay at home whilst youāre at work if they have access to a backyard or some space to walk around.
Even the crate for several hours a day is NOT an issue and not sad or awful IF trained properly.
If you canāt leave your dog alone because he destroys the house then invest in some training and teach him how to be alone (unless its ACTUAL separation anxiety) or invest in a space they can stay in in the house where they can destroy something (like a cardboard box in a bathroom you donāt use).
If you think you canāt leave your dog alone the whole day invest instead in a good dog walker or pack walker so they get structured exercise and some activity and they go to sleep afterwards again.
Honestly, most doggy daycares are marketed as the perfect day out with all your dogs friends and they make you feel bad if you donāt do that to your dog.
You may be surprised but with some dogs youād do them a favour taking them out.
Sidenote added: If you are looking for a daycare- try look for a homestyle daycare instead of a large commercial daycare.
Try avoid massive daycares that just let the dogs run around all day without structure or rest.
