Our wonderful daycare

I'm aware that daycare is not an option for many anxious dogs so I'm very grateful.

George has been going to his daycare since he was 4 months old. That's young but I had to return to the office and he couldn't (can't) be left alone and I don't have any help.

I remember being so nervous on his trial. He was obviously a timid dog at puppy school and I didn't think he would adapt easily.

I thought they were going to say he was too nervous (and I didn't know what I was going to do then) but they explained that they would take it at a slow pace.

The daycare staff were fantastic. At that stage, he was still in a small travel carrier in the car and was very attached to it. When I nervously returned at the end of the trial, they explained to me that he kept looking back at his carrier at the beginning of the trial so they put it back within his reach to make him feel at ease. I knew then that I had found a good place.

We took it slowly with half days for a while before progressing to longer days.

The staff have been wonderful in helping to build George's confidence and I think he genuinely sees it as his second home.

In the early days, he was reluctant to leave me but for well over a year now he usually bounds in with excitement and doesn't give me a backwards glance.

I have to drive 15 minutes in the wrong direction for my commute (making the commute 1 hour 15 minutes each way on a good day) which is unfortunate but worth it.

For a while, George went to a daycare near my work on Mondays. It reduced my commute significantly.

On his first day report card it said he loved the people more than the dogs (not surprising at that stage) and he did "excessive barking" at naptime (not surprising at that stage being in a strange, confined space).

After a few half day trials, he adapted OK but never showed the same excitement as he did arriving at the other daycare.

The Monday daycare is an excellent daycare as well - it's won many awards.

But the hardest thing was pick-up and drop-off. It's in a reception area and there are usually other people waiting and other dogs coming out in to the same space. When George's reactivity kicked in, it was incredibly stressful for both of us.

I stopped taking him there when the drop-off and pick-up became too difficult. In hindsight, knowing George like I do now, two daycares was too much.

In his current daycare, drop-off and pick-up are still challenging but it has the best arrangement of the daycares I have seen.

We park around the corner at drop-off and keep an eye on the cars entering and exiting...trying to find a gap when I can drop him off without running into anybody. His excitement/arousal levels are so high at that point it's challenging but we are working on playing pattern games around the corner if we have to wait.

There is no enclosed reception area and it is one in, one out.

I try to time pick-up at a quieter time when my neighbours will also have hopefully arrived (and stayed) at home.

George LOVES the staff. He's not the most playful or sociable of dogs but he adapts well. The staff have expressed surprise when they have seen his reactivity in the car park.

Since he started the medication, most photos are of him resting on the sofa. I love it when I see photos of him playing although he is selective who he plays with!

George has stayed there overnight on a few occasions. Having met the staff, I genuinely trust that they have his best interests at heart, that he is in a safe place, and I can trust them to administer his medication etc.

Although George started going to daycare at a young age, it has really helped to develop his confidence with the support of the excellent staff. I think it would have been more difficult if we'd introduced daycare once he'd started displaying reactive behaviours.

Where possible, I try to give George a day off between daycare days. My boss is supportive of this but occasionally George has to go to daycare two days in a row as I have to be in the office for meetings. I try to avoid it but when that happens, I make sure to give George an extra rest day so he has some time to recoup.

I am incredibly grateful to have found a daycare which George loves, particularly being a fearful dog. I am grateful every day when I see George so excited to be there.