Pet daycare is a great business, essential for working pet owners, especially if concerned about your pet’s well-being while at work and need someone trustworthy to take care of your pet properly. Although it is lucrative, it requires special attention to these pets to ensure that all goes well at all times.
Pet daycare businesses employ attendants, pet care professionals, and kennel technicians to manage pets’ aggression or violence towards one another. Therefore, the safety and health of dogs in dog daycare centers, dog playgrounds, or dog parks are dependent on personnel such as this.
Helpful tips to avoid aggressive behaviors in dog daycares.
However, in cases where aggression or violence occurs amongst dogs in the playgrounds, there are few helpful tips to prevent injury to their digits and a visit to an animal veterinary clinic. Some of these are;
- Separate dog breeds that are known to be aggressive and treat them with caution until they settle in.
- Avoid putting puppies together with older dogs. Puppies and older dogs play differently due to maturation, which can be a problem if they are put together. Therefore, it is advisable to separate puppies from dogs of other ages.
- Another tip is to arrange the playground by size. There is the constant risk of a larger dog hurting a smaller dog if a fight erupts. This can be bad for business and make you liable.
- It is important to avoid assumptions. That a dog looks cute and unable to harm does not mean that this is true. Some dogs are bred to fight, and others are bred to be friendly; some prefer to play alone, while others prefer to play in packs. Understanding this will help you stay vigilant and note their tendencies.
- Make sure they have treats from time to time. This could help calm an aggressive dog or help them behave properly.
- When dogs fight, separate them immediately. Do not let it linger as it may be problematic. Log the dog(s) involved in your records or software to enable all personnel to take note of the dog(s). Thus, employing extreme caution when dealing with them.
- Some dogs might be ill, anxious, fearful, or frustrated, leading to aggression. Therefore, cases of illness might require contacting the pet owner while taking the pet to an animal vet clinic near you.
- Pet-safe punishments should be administered via pet professionals within the jurisdiction of safe punishment practices or protocols. Punishments are considered effective and necessary if humane.
- Communicate with pet owners frequently about the well-being of their dogs and incidents that have occurred in the playgrounds.
- Webcams should be sited in strategic locations of the playground to spot unusual activities quickly.
Given all said, vigilance and quick identification of risks are important attributes for running a dog daycare. As a result, the safety of pets and employees in the daycare is dependent on a fight-free dog daycare.