Taking my dogs to work??

[shay19]

I work at a doggy day care/boarding place now. And I found out that the employess can bring their dogs to work with them (all dogs must be fixed and be current on rabies, bordatella, and 1 more I think). Anyway, I know Bruiser would do great there. The only problem I have is would this be good for Aida?

I wouldn't be taking them for a little while, until my training is totally done and all, that way I'm not learning and trying to watch my 2.

I think the major thing I'm worried about is that this is almost like a dog park set up, big/little dogs are in their own yards but beyond that there's not much seperation. And there's always tons of dogs coming in and out of there, last friday we had almost 60+ dogs there. They do intro's with the dogs, they bring in same sex first and let them smell each other and if they do good they run together for a minute, then they bring in the opposite sex and do the same thing. But here's where I get worried... After that, if they do good, they start letting dogs into the yard. Not 1 by 1 but like 4 or 5 at a time.... Aida does really good with dogs she meets but I don't know if this is something I should even try with her or not. I think all the dogs would freak her out (she's only ever been around up to 2 dogs at the same time) and I don't want to stress her out and her get into a fight.

But also, I have a problem with Aida and Bruiser being a little tag team... (Here's an example) One time we were out on a walk and Aida totally ignores other dogs that bark, just doesn't even look at them, anyway this dog in a yard started barking and Bruiser ran (pulling my fiancee behind him) over to the fence and started barking back... Well that other dog started fence fighting so Bruiser did too (He's very strong for his size so it took some time to get him away). What was wierd is that Aida decided to protect Bruiser and tried going after the other dog. So my worry is that if I do decide to try this that they'll either have to be seperated in different yards or VERY closely supervised because if something happens to one of them the other jumps right in to try and help...

But anyway any advice would be great, I think it'd be great to be able to take the pups to work and not have to worry about them going potty inside, getting too hot, chewing/destroying things. And if done right I'm thinking this could be a great thing for socialization for them.

[michele5611]

First off congrats on the new job!! That is great news!

I am all for socializing dogs in a controlled environement with small groups. However this in my opinion sounds like a recipe for disaster. Even if your dogs behaved ok that does not guarantee the other dogs will. In addition, why risk one of your dogs potentially starting something. Sounds like a less than ideal situation and for me it would not be the worth the risks.

Maybe down the road you can set up something with one of your dogs and one of the dogs from the daycare in a small closely supervised environment and socialize that way.

[adoptapitbull]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of "other people's dogs". In general, everyone thinks their dogs are "fine with other dogs"...until the s*it hits the fan. A dog of any size could come in and start something with your dogs. Then even if everyone realizes whose dog started the fight, you still end up with 2 hurt dogs. There's just too many "what if" situations that could end badly. All you need is one dead dog before there's a lawsuit against you

What you could do is maybe set up some playdates with another employee and her/his dogs. Let them play in the kennel's yard for awhile. That way it's neutral territory, controlled, and only your dogs there together.

[maryellen]

i would skip this and do regular play dates with friends dogs.. too much can go wrong in that type of setting and you dont want to set your dogs up to fail..

[shay19]

Thanks for the great advice and it's so very true, this is why I come to you guys first instead of trying it lol.

ME the only reason I was even thinking this is because just about everyone I know either has little dogs (too small for how rough my 2 play) or they just don't like my dogs... those people I no longer talk to lol. But after having some input it really doesn't sound as great as before I wrote it, so definately won't be doing this one.

[maryellen]

its understandable, but its tooo risky .. you could however find a group that does hikes maybe, like a bully group, that is the new thing now, a group gets together and they all go hiking/picnicing with their dogs and socialize that way.

you could also modify it too and only bring one dog to work that day, let them play with othr dogs supervised, and repeat with other dog left home. this way both are not there at once but i would still be leery of even doing that but thats just me

[shay19]

I think if they weren't there together they'd do great, they don't cause trouble when they are alone lol.

My work is very cautious too about all the dogs, we always have at least 1 person in each yard, plus another 2 or 3 working very close to the yards to help if anything does happen. They also make note of dogs that can't be around each other and don't allow them in the same yards, period. We have a great dane and a mastiff there now that can't be near one another or they'll fight. But at the same time we have 2 dogs there now (they're boarding there for a few weeks) that can't stand other dogs, they get mad very easily, so they are left in their cabins while the other dogs are in the yards and then let out when the yards are clear so they can have time to themselves, which could definately be a possibility as well.

They also keep some employees dogs behind the front desk too if the person doesn't want them around big groups and let them in yards when they're clear as well.

The only thing I don't like is not introducing dogs 1 by 1, but even then we have at least 2 people there to watch them as that's happening until we now nothing will go wrong. I totally trust Bruiser, he's always done very well with all the dogs he's ever met... Aida on the other hand either likes them or she don't lol especially with big dogs. She absolutely loves little dogs though (I think it's because she grew up around chi's) but I don't think my work would let me put her in the yard with the little ones lol.

They try to be very efficient in the way they do things and make sure all the dogs will stay safe.