October 25, 2016
When we drop (our dog) off at daycare, he is showing separation anxiety. He tries doing these little nips at the staff when they put him in the runs in the beginning of the day. Should we nix daycare?
Full Question:
We have an almost 7mth Malinois who when we drop off at daycare, is showing separation anxiety. He tries doing these little nips at the staff when they put him in the runs in the beginning of the day. They said the rest of the day, he is perfect; it's just right after drop off happens. He starts crying when we pull up to the clinic not wanting to go but then they say he does excellent all day long! We don't get it. Just want to address the nipping issues because some techs are starting to get a little afraid of him in the am but then again fine after the first 5 minutes. Hope this makes sense. He does perfect in our kennel at home, no issues. Just the switch off when dropping him off in the am. Should we nix daycare? Thank you for your time. 
Cindy's Answer:
This doesn't sound like classic separation anxiety, this sounds like a young dog who is over stimulated and excited. I would not continue to take him there if this was my own dog. I would expect this excitement to become more pronounced as time goes on.
Personally, I'm not a fan of daycare or dog parks for my own dogs. (I have Malinois and Cattle dogs) For some dogs it may be fine, but for my dogs, it puts them in an overly excited mind set that is detrimental to the type of behavior I expect. The more you let him rehearse the crying, whining and nipping at people the worse it's going to get.
Ultimately the choice is yours, but I foresee problems if you continue with daycare for this particular dog.
Personally, I'm not a fan of daycare or dog parks for my own dogs. (I have Malinois and Cattle dogs) For some dogs it may be fine, but for my dogs, it puts them in an overly excited mind set that is detrimental to the type of behavior I expect. The more you let him rehearse the crying, whining and nipping at people the worse it's going to get.
Ultimately the choice is yours, but I foresee problems if you continue with daycare for this particular dog.
User Response:
Thank you Cindy. We have recently stopped taking him to daycare. We now have somebody that comes over to the house and let's him out during the day. This has been wonderful for him. Thank you for taking the time.
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