Monday, November 16, 2015

Bark City's Puppy Preschool Program


Our next expansion announcement: Puppy Preschool! We will no longer be taking puppies 4-months-old or younger in our daycare programs. Puppies need more socialization than just daycare. The first 4 months of a puppy's life is the most critical period for socialization. Positive experiences help him learn that new things are fun, and hopefully he will remember the good association when he encounters them again later in life. It's important to take advantage of the socialization period and provide the puppy with as many positive experiences as possible in the world.

Having a young puppy attend daycare is great for socialization for the first time or two. After that, the puppy knows the staff, he knows the environment and he has met some of the dogs. Things are no longer novel to him and therefore, no longer counts as socialization. Daycare becomes a safe and healthy outlet for energy, but that's about it. This is where our new program fits in.

How it works: 
The Puppy Preschool Program is based on at least 5 days at our facility. The days are completely flexible. The puppy can come 5 days in a row, twice a week or whatever schedule best fits the owner. With the way this program is designed, the 5 days need to be completed by the time the puppy is 4 months old. Once the puppy is over 4 months old, he can no longer be enrolled in the preschool program.

What will my puppy experience?
Puppies in the preschool program will not only be given time to socialize with other puppies, but will also be socialized with different things they may encounter on any given day. Examples: different kinds of flooring, children, men with hats, canes, grooming, crate training, potty training, ect... We will make sure they are being introduced to these things in a safe setting and at a comfortable pace for each individual dog. We will also be giving owners feedback in order to continue the socializing at home.

Who will be working with the puppy?
This is such an important period in the puppy's life! We want to make sure only our most experienced dog handlers are the staff doing the socialization exercises. The whole program will be overseen by a certified dog trainer. The staff working with that trainer will also be required to take courses in canine body language and the development stages of puppies.

Is this program the same as a puppy training class?
Even though we will be having a certified dog trainer working with the puppy and teaching basic commands, this is not the same program as a puppy training class. This program is focusing more on socializing the puppy to his the world around him.

Pricing and availability:
Since this program is more specialized and structured, we will open enrollment to puppies at the first of each month. You may enroll your puppy later in the month, but that will be based on availability. We will be keeping our numbers small to make sure each individual puppy gets the time he needs. The daycare preschool program is $30-$35/ day and the boarding preschool program is $40-$45/night. 

Monday, November 9, 2015

Bark City-- A New Kind of Daycare

The expansion is getting close to being finished! Once it's done, Bark City will be adding new programs to the facility! Since opening in 2005, we have been blessed with the opportunities we have been given. When we first opened, we were one of the only facilities in town that offered "all day play". This was a new concept in the dog boarding world and to the pet owner. I can't even tell you how many times I heard, " Sooo.... people really just drop their dogs off while they are at work?" Back then, it took a lot of convincing to show people that it can be done safely and is actually good for their dogs.

Fast forward to today, everyone knows what a dog daycare is and there are more and more opening everywhere. Because we have been lucky enough to thrive in this industry for 10+ YEARS, we have been able to master what works and what does not. Every dog is an individual. As much as we would love for every dog to thrive in a standard daycare environment, for some it's just not the ideal setting. When I first started on the expansion, I honestly had a completely different idea for what I was going to do with the space. But after doing a lot of soul searching, I changed my mind. I am blessed to have the opportunity to have a building I can construct myself in order to try the new approach to daycare on one side while still maintaining my original design on the other. I hope that between the two, Bark city can make sure every dog that comes through our doors will thrive and enjoy their time with us. I am so excited to try this new concept! I honestly feel it is going to be a great and very popular choice once tried. With all that said, I now introduce..... (drum roll, please).....


Bark City's Canine Enrichment Program!! Here are some of the highlights. With later posts, I will go into more detail on the why's and hows. But for now, here is an overview:

Our Daycare Program: 
 The daycare program will be a little different from what we are doing right now. If dogs are enrolled in this program, they will get to socialize and play with other dogs like our current program, but will also be given activities during the day for mental/cognitive exercise (Think Luminosity... only for dogs). The daycare groups will be a lot smaller. We will only be putting 5-10 dogs together at a time and will be pairing them based on personalities. We will then schedule their day based on their personality. They will get more one-on-one time and will be able to feel comfortable being themselves. This program will be a great option for most dogs, but we are super excited for the dogs that seem uncomfortable with our current program. Because of the structure of this program, it will only be available to dogs that attend daycare for a full day. Drop off times will be 7a-9a and pick up 430p-7p.

Boarding Program: 
For the Luxury Boarders-- You will get to enjoy the new daycare program during the day and will stay in the new boarding room at night.

Intact Males: 
We are excited to announce that with the new daycare program, we will now have a better ability to socialize the intact males. We will select a group that we feel comfortable socializing without the worry of testosterone interfering. We will be one of the only facilities in the county that will be able offer this kind of option.

Non-Social Dogs:
Some dogs just don't enjoy being around other dogs. And that's OK! Currently we take these dogs, but have never really been happy with what we have been able to offer them. If they are unhappy, we are unhappy. With the new expansion, they will get to safely be in our new doggy gym and be able to enjoy some activities with one of our skilled staff members.

I hope you are as excited as I am for our new approach. At Bark City, we make sure ALL of our staff is trained. For information on how we train our staff, you can click here. Since our new approach is such a specialized program, we will only have our top trained employees working in it. The program is going to be headed by a Certified Dog Trainer AND a Certified Fitpaws Instructor. Our Fitpaws Instructor is also working on becoming certified in Canine Fitness as well! Between the two of them, they will be working with each dog and owner to create an individualize program with all expectations met.

Next week... The new Puppy Preschool Program!!!