creative alternatives to dog daycare

[Anonymous]

I have been taking my middle-aged dog to daycare twice a week for a couple years, so that I can work late on those days rather than get home and walk the dog. She no longer enjoys the daycare chaos and she gets cranky with the other dogs (vet indicates no physical reason for the change). The obvious alternative is a dog walker to come to my house and give the dog a break from her crate on those two long days. But, my dog won't "re-crate" -- she'll go in once per day for any length of time, but having gone in once, she will not re-enter. Insisting leads to her refusing the crate at all, on any day. I've tried training her to be confined in a different room in the house, but no luck (destructive separation anxiety).

Any other ideas on how to give her a break from the crate? I'm less worried about her bladder -- she can probably hold it -- than about the fact she'll get no walk after a long day alone.

[Anonymous]

What issue are you trying to solve? Re-crating or the destructive separation anxiety? The latter might be worth working on with a trainer.

[Anonymous]

If she can hold her bladder why does she need to be crated all day? Why not just use gates to confine her to a particular area of the house? I don't see why a middle-aged dog should have to spend all day in a crate -- that sounds unpleasant and I can't blame her for refusing to go back in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she can hold her bladder why does she need to be crated all day? Why not just use gates to confine her to a particular area of the house? I don't see why a middle-aged dog should have to spend all day in a crate -- that sounds unpleasant and I can't blame her for refusing to go back in.

+1
I think it's out of order to leave a dog crated all day long. It's just not fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she can hold her bladder why does she need to be crated all day? Why not just use gates to confine her to a particular area of the house? I don't see why a middle-aged dog should have to spend all day in a crate -- that sounds unpleasant and I can't blame her for refusing to go back in.

OP here: because she freaks out and destroys the room she is confined to. She does fine in the crate (no anxiety, just sleeps) as it feels safe to her.

I hear the PP above suggesting I try again to address that separation anxiety issue. No argument with that idea, but I'm looking more for a solution to her being alone and unexercised all day. On other days, she gets a 5-mile walk and play time after work, but there are two days where I get home later and just can't do it. A dog walker would be a no-brainer if she could go back in her crate after the walk. I'd be willing to pay a neighborhood kid to walk her and then stay and do his homework at my house, but I feel like that's just a weird thing to advertise for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she can hold her bladder why does she need to be crated all day? Why not just use gates to confine her to a particular area of the house? I don't see why a middle-aged dog should have to spend all day in a crate -- that sounds unpleasant and I can't blame her for refusing to go back in.

OP here: because she freaks out and destroys the room she is confined to. She does fine in the crate (no anxiety, just sleeps) as it feels safe to her.

I hear the PP above suggesting I try again to address that separation anxiety issue. No argument with that idea, but I'm looking more for a solution to her being alone and unexercised all day. On other days, she gets a 5-mile walk and play time after work, but there are two days where I get home later and just can't do it. A dog walker would be a no-brainer if she could go back in her crate after the walk. I'd be willing to pay a neighborhood kid to walk her and then stay and do his homework at my house, but I feel like that's just a weird thing to advertise for.

I don't think that is weird to advertise for. I think there are kids out there who could do this for you.

Another option is advertising for a kid who can walk her and take her to his house, so she can stay there until you return home.

[Anonymous]

Look for another person in your neighborhood with a dog. Maybe you can work out an arrangement where you take care of theirs on certain days and they take care of your dog when you have to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look for another person in your neighborhood with a dog. Maybe you can work out an arrangement where you take care of theirs on certain days and they take care of your dog when you have to work.

That's a great idea, thanks! I telework twice/week so that would actually work out great.

Thanks also to the PP who doesn't think it is too creepy to have a kid stay at my house (or take my dog to his, that would be fine too). I don't know any neighborhood kids of the right age -- it's a younger neighborhood, lots of toddlers -- but we are near a high school so maybe I'll ask around.