Doggy Day Care

Today was Clifford's first day at doggy day care. I was nervous; he was very nervous. Clifford is a gentle, loving boy who tends to fling himself onto his back in submission at the first sign of another dog. I was worried so many dogs in a pack would overwhelm him or worse, that the pack would sense weakness and jump him. Or hump him!

I dropped him off around 1:00 p.m. and went back to work. Well, I tried to work. The day care offers a webcam so that you can see what your dogs are up to online. Basically, I spent the rest of the day staring obsessively at the website trying to spot my dog. When I saw Clifford, he was usually glued to the "counselor" in the room, or person that stays with the dogs. Clifford says he is a people dog.



I called my trainer and asked her to check in on Clifford. She said she already had and that he was nervous but fine. She thought it would take a few sessions to get him to relax and play.

I like this day care. They have a number of different inside rooms and outdoor spaces. Today, because it was 111 degrees out, all the dogs were in a big pack in an inside space with periodic potty breaks. Most congregate in a solid pack of dogs. A few go to the corners and lie down. I checked in at one point and nearly every dog was lying down; I guess it was naptime. That lasted about a second and a half.

Around 4, I noticed Clifford was just sitting by himself looking nervous. I couldn't take it anymore. So I left work early and picked him up. It was a fun reunion; he was very very very happy to see me! Now he is lying on the floor looking completely exhausted.

Tomorrow Clifford goes to his friend Woody's house. Woody is a shepherd-mix puppy that Clifford met in puppy kindergarten. Woody's mother, Alice, likes for Clifford to come over, because then they both wear themselves out. I think they just chew on each other the whole time, and they seem to love it! I love that Clifford has a friend for play-dates, and I love that I have a new friend, Alice, from puppy kindergarten. Alice is retired, and lives with her husband, Woody, and her poodle Bob. On our last day of puppy kindergarten, we hung out in the park for an hour after class and just talked about our dogs and relaxed. It is great to have friends that are not just like myself (female lawyers in our thirties!).