Cora's first afternoon at "Day Care"

Cora had her first day of "day care" today. Half a day with an amazing local home boarding/walking business who I am so overjoyed to have found. She'll be going here 2-3 afternoons a week, when my OH's and my schedules clash.

At first we were anxious about missing this time with her, but having had a lengthy 2 stage introduction, first in our home, then in theirs, and a walk with their dogs, we began to feel quite relieved our baby girl would be in safe hands.

Now, after her first day, great updates through the afternoon, a glowing report when I collected her after work, and now receiving a load of photos from the fun times she had today, I am over the moon that we made the choice to go for day care, rather than make do with me popping home at lunch time for a miserly 20 minutes. I can see she the benefits of training being reinforced positively by others, not just me and OH, of her socialising with other dogs and other people regularly and I am so pleased she has gotten off to the best possible start.


So....like a proud mum on her child's first day of school, these photos have me grinning from ear to ear, as does hearing a someone with so much experience tell me our girl has excellent recall!

Wow, what a fantastic day-care!!! Cora looks as though she is having the most wonderful time with her classmates. She'll be very popular as she's the new girl and all the boys will be trying to impress her ....... remember what it was like when a new kid arrived at school.

She's a lovely looking dog and I love her smiley face in the second photo.

I know exactly how you feel. Pippa has started going to half day daycare (called Little Legs - just for little dogs!) when my OH shifts clash with my work and it's fantastic. Before this she just had dog walkers, who I am still happy with and am keeping them going at the same time (different days obviously!) so I always have options and so Pip has variety (also the normal dog walkers have larger dogs too and I think it's important she still socialises with both larger and smaller dogs as long as they're friendly and gentle). The daycare lady picks her up at 0930 just before I go to work and drops her home at 1330 ish having had a walk and a full morning of playing and games etc. She then sleeps til I finish work at 1530. If she rolls in something nasty she'll be washed too. And all for only £3 more than I pay for the normal walkers 1 hr walk! I did check them out thoroughly first. And they put photos and videos on [a social network] so I can sneakily see them at work which is lovely.

Cora looks a very happy dog playing with her new friends

Looks like your dog is having a ball
Win win situation for all concerned ,peace of mind when everyone's happy ,someone you trust looking after your dog
OMG the GSP looks identical to my bitch in markings ,(rescue ) hope things continue to go well

Lovely pictures of gorgeous dogs having great fun together! Cora looks extremely happy with all her new friends! xx

Wow looks like she is loving that.
How lucky you are to have found such a fantastic place.

Great photos - bet your mind will be at rest knowing your lovely pet is being well looked after and playing.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks all. I have just collected her from her 2nd day and they love her so much already that I know she is in the best possible hands when we are at work. The couple who own/are the business are fantastic with her, are so well experienced themselves, and love how they assess dogs before taking them on, and even once they are with them they do slow, supervised introductions to others to make sure the dynamic of the "pack" stays nice and stable.

I hate to say it as our families have been great helping out with dog sitting every now and then when we needed them, and I really do appreciate the love they have for her, but I would rather she spent time in a structured group as she does at day care, than have her be spoiled at a relative's where all the training and structure I provide her goes out of the window and I spend the first day or 2 we have her back dealing with the bad habits she picks up from them. I'm guessing that's much like having kids though!

He is a beauty that GSP! So tall and leggy, and so strong...not what I expected from a GSP! They have become fast friends though.