After nearly 30 years as a professional dog trainer and behaviorconsultant, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to fill dog’sand owner’s needs. As a pet owner myself my biggest concern is for my own dog’shealth and safety. When I think of those terms, I mean both physical andbehavioral issues. I’m guardedly cautious about dog parks and cage free daycare when it comes to my dog’s safety and emotional wellbeing.

All dogs need play and exercise, we all think about providingthat all the time. The fact that they also need to have water, be fed, relievethemselves, have shelter are so obvious they sometimes don’t even get put onthe list. However something that often gets overlooked is their mental state.When you get right down to it, all dogs are different and no matter what youhope, all dogs just don’t always get along with other dogs.

All dogs have different needs. When you think about going away,either for a long day at school or the office, or for vacation, what do youwant your pet to be doing? My first answer it to make sure your dog is bothphysically and emotionally safe, and beyond that, make sure that your dog isn’tlearning behavior that you don’t want it to reproduce later.

Dogs need to feel safe and to have trust and confidence thateverything is going to be all right. My third dog I raised from a young puppyand it was quite adaptable. I could leave her home with someone to take care ofher or I could travel and drop her off at friends or new places. It didn’treally matter, if she was without me for a little while, she was not stressedand no worse for the wear a day or a week later.

I always said that dog was bombproof; however since then I havehad dogs that were not so as adaptable to change and their needs were much moredifficult to accommodate. I would never even think to try to give complex careinstructions to a staff of 5 or 10 or 20 different people and expect them toperfectly understand much less carry out my dogs special needs.

Even in the best dog parks and in well-run facilities, when youget groups of dogs together it becomes increasingly difficult to control orjust watch them. It is hard enough for one person to supervise two dogs, muchless more than that. Dogs are living creatures and they make their owndecisions, and stuff just happens. Fights and injuries do happen, even whenthere is no cause and no fault. Groups of dogs in parks and play groups alsooften get chances to rehearse really bad behaviors, like rushing gates andbarking until they get a response.

• Do you really want your dog running around all day with abunch of other dogs that you don’t know?

• Does your dog really like to have other dogs humping him andsniffing his butt?

• Is it really safe to be continuously exposed to dogs that havequestionable manners and social skills?

I’m not saying that you should never take your dog to a dog parkor kennel or that all of them are bad. There are lots of really good ones outthere and in fact I run a very good one. Our concept is to give each dogindividual or small group play and activity time as well as rest time andaccess to a separate bathroom area. When I advise clients in my role as a dogtrainer and behavior consultant that is exactly the same advice that I givethem. If you aren’t sure where your dog would be most safe and mostcomfortable, it might very well be at home with a pet sitter.

If your dog is young or just learning then it might actually bemore comfortable with being in a smaller familiar space, than having full runof a house and the yard. There are also things you can do to provide cognitiveand environmental enrichment to your dog’s area. You can hide surprises ofeither chew toys or filled food toys in different places. That will give yourdog a project to entertain itself while your are gone and give them an outletto use their sense of smell and desire to explore.

What I am saying is to look at your dog’s needs and find thebest fit for them. It could very well be that your dog might be morecomfortable at home, or have more fun playing a hide and seek session with youaround the house or yard than it might somewhere else. I know that’s true formy own dog Marble, and it might just be true for your pets and your family.Finally, if your dog does have behavior issues or special needs, look for apositive reward based dog trainer to guide you. Make sure your plan is alwaysto teach the right behavior, rather than to correct the mistakes. Praise andrewards will never damage your dog the way punitive training can.

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