Educational Daycare
Maintain your dog’s training
Our daycare challenges your dog’s mind, not just their body.
Each day provides physical exercise, enrichment activities, socialization, and maintenance of your dog’s manners training. Attendees enjoy indoor free play time, exploring a fenced-in outdoor space, crated nap time, and small group fetch or recalls in our training hall.
What does Educational Daycare include?
Consistency & Excellent Care
Our daycare program is designed to maintain your dog’s basic manners training while providing social time, mental stimulation, exercise, and enrichment for your dog on a regular basis – at least three times a week.
If you want a safe alternative to off-leash dog parks, something more comprehensive than a stroll around the block with a dog walker, and a daycare experience that promotes polite behavior, Educational Daycare is for you!
Each day includes…
Group play with similarly-sized dogs
Regular outdoor potty breaks
Consistent reinforcement of polite behavior
Crated nap time with a chew toy
Optional add-on training sessions to grow your dog’s skills
Playtime indoors & out
Our 8000 square foot facility was designed with your dog’s comfort in mind. It includes two fenced-in indoor play areas with rolled rubber flooring to provide great traction for playtime, and a designated small dog playroom, too! Our staff will select different enrichment activities for your dog to enjoy each day, including climbing on platforms, running through tunnels, chasing bubbles, and playing in a ball pit. A variety of toys are available for your dog to play with.
We have a securely fenced outdoor yard for your dog to get fresh air throughout the day. Your dog will go outside with their playgroup, as well as one-on-one, to relieve themselves. Dogs are taken outside individually and in groups to relieve themselves outdoors – our goal is no indoor potty accidents!
Small groups & one-on-one attention
We maintain an industry-leading dog-to-staff ratio (10-to-1), ensuring your dog gets plenty of attention from our team. Our handlers carry food and will reward your dog throughout the day for good behavior, such as coming when called. Your dog will be expected to sit to earn treats, toys, petting, and permission to go through gates & doorways. We discourage barking and jumping up on staff or gates, and redirect dogs to appropriate behaviors instead.
Additionally, multiple professional dog trainers are on duty every day and are available for add-on training sessions. Your dog can enjoy one-on-one manners training sessions, neighborhood training walks, and agility or trick training sessions – just select them from our add-on menu!
Educational Policies & FAQs
Social, trained dogs over six months old are eligible to enroll in Educational Daycare. Puppies under the age of six months should start in Puppy Day School. Dogs who do not have basic manners training yet are eligible for our Intensive Training Programs.
Candidates for Educational Daycare come when called, can be handled by strangers, greet people without jumping up on them, walk past other dogs on leash without lunging or barking, are comfortable in groups of 5-15 other dogs, and will relax quietly in a crate during nap time. We screen for these behaviors during the evaluation. (For more details, read our blog post What to Expect at Your Dog’s Educational Daycare Evaluation.)
We do not require dogs to be spayed or neutered to attend Educational Daycare and accept dogs based on their behavior. Females in season cannot attend Educational Daycare.
Educational Daycare program hours are 9AM to 3PM. Drop-off is between 7AM and 9AM and pick-up is between 3PM and 6:30PM.
The first step is to read the FAQ here on our website. After you’ve done this, you can contact us if you have questions.
Then, fill out an online application. This tells us what we need to know about your dog. We will reach out to you when we have a spot open for your dog in one of our playgroups, and you will be able to schedule an in-person evaluation at that time.
The evaluation is $50 + tax, and is non-refundable after purchase. Shortly after booking, we contact your veterinarian to receive copies of your dog’s health records, and begin arranging for particular dogs to be available for your dog’s evaluation. If you need to reschedule, we need at least 48 hours notice. We thank you for respecting the time and effort our team puts into setting up a great evaluation experience for your dog!
Our receptionist team will reach out to your veterinarian to get your dog’s health records. Click here for a “Health Requirements” checklist PDF you can download and bring to your vet. We will reach out to you to either confirm that we have received everything, or let you know if anything is missing.
Next, read our blog post What to Expect at Your Dog’s Educational Daycare Evaluation. This will prepare you for your appointment!
We require vaccination for rabies, parvo, distemper, and bordetella (kennel cough) as well as a negative fecal test result from your veterinarian (not the rescue/breeder’s vet). Proof of all of these health requirements must be on file 48 hours before your evaluation. Click here for a “Health Requirements” checklist PDF you can download and bring to your vet.
New dogs must have lived in their current home for at least 14 days prior to coming to an evaluation, have been examined by their owner’s veterinarian (not the breeder/shelter’s vet), and meet all of the above health requirements.
We do not require dogs to be spayed or neutered to attend Educational Daycare and accept dogs based on their behavior. Females in season cannot attend Educational Daycare.
To maintain a consistent, enjoyable environment for our team and canine guests, clients must commit to attending at least three times a week for four weeks. Rates are as follows:
3x/week for 4 weeks: $745*
4x/week for 4 weeks: $925
5x/week for 4 weeks: $1080
*=3x/week is only available for low-energy, mellow dogs. The majority of dogs need to attend 4x/week or 5x/week.
Your Educational Daycare evaluation appointment will take approximately 20 minutes. A member of our canine care team will evaluate your dog’s behavior in the lobby, with our team members, in one of our play areas, and finally with one or more of our dogs. We are looking for dogs who are neutral or friendly toward people, friendly toward other dogs, and are reasonably well behaved.
For more details, read our blog post What to Expect at Your Dog’s Educational Daycare Evaluation.
Examples of behaviors that are not acceptable in our Educational Daycare program: attempting to climb or jump our 4′ and 6′ fences, jumping up on and clawing at people, resource guarding toys or food from other dogs, actively avoiding other dogs, excessive (more than a single instance) urine marking, any hesitation about being led by the collar, playing “keep away” when called or approached, excessive vocalization or pawing in the crate, or aggressive behavior such as snapping or biting.
Most of these behaviors can be resolved in an Intensive Training Program if your dog needs a little extra help becoming daycare ready. Your evaluator will discuss this option with you if your dog does not pass the Educational Daycare evaluation.
If you are going on vacation, we can arrange for your dog to skip a week or two during one of their 4-week Educational Daycare programs. Please let us know at the evaluation or when purchasing the renewal. We do need vacation/day off requests in writing, either via e-mail or on a printed/written note.
Crated nap time is an integral part of the Educational Daycare experience. Therefore, all dogs must be crate trained. We define “crate trained” as a dog who will go willingly into a crate when the door is open & they are led up to it and will then remain in the crate without barking, whining, pawing at the door, or chewing on the crate.
If your dog is not crate trained, we can help! Contact us for details about a private training program to address crate training.
If your dog or puppy is currently enrolled in Puppy Day School or an Intensive Training Program, they do not need an evaluation for Educational Daycare and can go straight from one program to the other if our training staff deems it appropriate.
If your dog has taken time off since attending one of these programs, or only attended classes/private lessons, your dog does need an Educational Daycare evaluation. Behavior is always changing, and the evaluation is an opportunity for us to determine not only your dog’s suitability for the program, but also what playgroups they fit into and who they will likely enjoy playing with.