Daycare Demand Barking

[Vicks2023]

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Hi all,

I have an 8 month old shih tzu who recently started attending daycare one day per week.

He is a very sociable dog who has had no other issues settling into daycare - he has only done three x 2 hour sessions. It was meant to be increased but the lady advised she wants him to do another 2 hours again.

The issue is an increase in demand barking for play. The group he is with are all older dogs who understandably, don’t want to puppy play. The lady who runs the daycare at her home said that the dogs are playing with him for 5 minutes a day, he then begins to demand bark for play throughout the day. She said she is hoping he settles and learns daycare isn’t all about play, which I understand, as he also needs to settle and learn how to read other dogs.

The concern I have is, in line with his breed, he usually naps a lot and gets worn out quickly after a play session of 10/15 minutes but he’s coming home from daycare full of energy.

Is this a case of overstimulation or is it a case he needs to be within a group with dogs a similar age?
Usually when he is overstimulated he becomes incredibly hyper, mouthing and barking but he’s not displaying that behaviour after coming back. He just wants to run into the garden and play, which we do for 10 minutes then he’s asleep again.

Unsure whether to continue to wait it out or find a group with younger dogs. Although I feel he can learn a lot from older dogs, he is still little and wants that play interaction too and I feel like he may be missing out on that.

 

[JoanneF]

It does sound like overstimulation.

Daycare can be both a great place, and a terrible place for learning bad habits - both at the same time! I like my dog to be dog neutral, friendly but not magnetised to other dogs. Because having a dog that always wants to interact with others can be a problem on a lot of levels. But if you aren't there to get his focus on to you; and the daycare provider isn't training him to ignore the others (I get it that it isn't necessarily part of her remit) you could end up with a dog that just wants to be with other dogs. So he could blow his recall, he could become a pest to other dogs outside, he could approach a dog that is intolerant and retaliated, etc.

If he were mine, I'd be looking for a daycare where he is the only dog. And, at the same time, build up training on ignoring other dogs and focusing on you instead.

 

[Mad Murphy]

We had a very similar problem when we got George he had been used to living on a long line in a garden running to the fence and barking for attention from passers by.
When we got him he would bark at absolutely everything including livestock people and other dogs anything that made the other party look at him rather than anything else.
So I started with the 'look at me' training, holding a tiny treat just in front of my face and repeating the words look at me.
He soon realised that looking up at me meant there was a treat involved and that took his attention away from everything else, now he doesn't bark at livestock barely barks at people unless they are flapping, and other dogs can grab his attention but again he is easily distracted with the look at me command.