Doggy day care is a place to drop off your dog for the day to play with their pals and our pack leaders in a well-supervised, clean, safe, and fun environment. Day care provides your furry family member with regular exercise to maintain a healthy weight, improve their socialization with dogs and people, relieve separation anxiety, boredom, and destructive behavior at home, and increases your dog’s overall happiness!

They play! Our doggy day care is your pup’s dream come true. They can enjoy our large, indoor and outdoor play yards, which are carefully supervised by pack leaders certified in pet first aid and CPR. They can play and socialize with other dogs—we make sure to separate them by size, temperament, and activity level—or take a nap in one of our spacious suites if they are tired. Animal House Day Care also plans fun weekly activities for the dogs to participate in during the day. This includes brain games, painting, homemade treats, photo shoots and more! Boarding dogs play all day with the day care dogs, taking breaks for meals and rest.

Since our dogs interact in a cage-free play environment, it’s important for them to get along well with others. We require that your pup first complete a free temperament test so we can see how they interact with other dogs and people. In order to maintain a safe environment, we require that your pup be:

At least four months of age

Neutered by one year of age

Completely finished with their heat cycle

Current on Rabies, Distemper, Parvovirus and Bordetella vaccines

Flee/Tick free and in good overall health

Free of wounds or stitches of any kind

Friendly with other dogs and people

Able to pass a temperament test

Because we take safety very seriously, we’ve created policies to ensure a happy and healthy environment for all of the pups. Therefore, all dogs must pass our interview process before they can participate in our group play environment.

The temperament test lasts 6-12 hours, but is completely free of charge. Our goal is to see if your dog enjoys the open play environment our facility offers. The test consists of hands-on meet-and-greet where we’ll make sure your pup is comfortable being handled and check for any possible issues such as fleas or ticks or existing injuries that might worsen during play, one-on-one introduction with the other dogs, and slow introduction into the open-play environment.

Many vets only update bordetella vaccinations annually. However, because the virus is airborne, it is highly contagious and will spread rapidly among dogs sharing the same environment. Much like the human common cold, canine cough is both seasonal (usually spring and fall) and epidemic. Today, it is very effective against most known strains, but it is known to mutate easily and there are times your pup may still get a case of it.

Currently, it is the only protection available which is why we require it. If your dog is very social - goes on walks, parks, day care, pet stores, training classes, grooming shops, vet offices or any other place where they will have contact with other dogs - it is a good safety precaution to have them vaccinated every 6 months.

Animal House Day Care employees are trained in the injection of certain vaccines and are happy to provide it for your dog for a small fee.

If your dog has never received the vaccine, or it is outside of the one year veterinarian window, we require them to receive the vaccine at least 10 days prior to their boarding or day care stay. This allows the vaccine time to absorb into their system, and also gives you time to make sure there is no reaction.

Similar to children on a playground, it’s possible for dogs to sustain very minor injuries while at a doggy day care. During normal play, a dog may get small scratches, nicks, or lose a bit of fur. More serious injuries are very rare. For additional peace of mind, our pack leaders are trained in dog behavior and fully certified to perform pet first aid and CPR. If serious treatment is needed, we will rush your pup to your personal vet or the emergency vet if your vet is unavailable.

All dogs are different, so this will completely depend on your dog. Some of our older pals do great with their younger companions, and some of the smaller dogs are fine grouped with the larger breeds. Our interview process will ultimately help determine if our environment is right for your pup. We also regularly evaluate the dogs’ behaviors, so if we find that your pup isn’t assimilating well, we will let you know.

Currently, we only allow senior dogs that still enjoy actively participating in day care or will be happy staying inside their kennel. Senior dogs that would rather stay in their kennel will get a minimum of three 15 minute potty breaks outside. Please understand that the older your dog gets the more prone to injury they become!

Small breeds have their own separate indoor and outdoor play areas to ensure their safety while in our care. If your small dog enjoys playing with their large pals we can certainly accommodate!

Your dog may be tired. Why, you ask? It’s one of the great benefits of doggy day care! Dogs play all day so they are naturally tired at the end of the day. If your pup becomes overly tired during the day, we will take them to a suite for a short nap. It’s not uncommon for dogs to sleep after they come home.

Your dog may also be thirsty. Water is available at all times in play areas and suites, but playing hard makes dogs thirsty.

If your pup’s paws are sensitive, there’s no need to worry. It’s common for dogs’ pads to be sore after playing, especially when they first start coming to day care. Most dog’s paws aren’t used to playing all day but they will build stronger pads the more they visit us!

Yes, a reservation is needed for day care, boarding and grooming, and we recommend making it early. You can call us during our regular business hours or request a reservation online through the Customer Portal.

Anytime during our regular business hours! However, if your dog is boarding, we suggest arriving a few hours before closing so they can play, eat, and play again prior to bedtime. Often times they will get anxious if they don’t have time burn off energy and/or get acquainted with the other dogs before bed. We charge for the entire day no matter what time they were dropped off, so we definitely encourage you to drop them off as early as you can!

Our pricing is all-inclusive, so we can administer your dog’s medication at no additional cost! Medications must be labeled with proper instructions.

Of course! We’d love to have you stop by and check out our facility. No need to call ahead or book an appointment—just stop by during our business hours. We’ll be happy to show you around and answer your questions.

No, but Animal House Day Care has 24/7 monitored temperature control, fire, and security alarms. The staff will be notified if there are any issues after regular business hours and can get there quickly if needed.

We highly recommend that you bring your dog’s food in order to prevent them from getting sick during their stay. Sudden changes in diet can result in gastrointestinal reactions like vomiting and diarrhea. Animal House Day Care does provide elevated dog beds, toys during play time, and food and water bowls. However, if you wish to bring your own bedding, toys, or anything else that may make your pup feel more at home, we are happy to accommodate. In fact, we encourage it! All of your dog’s belongings will remain in their personal suite during their stay.

We clean up messes as they are made with a mix of Zep’s DZ-7 disinfectant in a mop bucket.  DZ-7 by Zep is a hospital grade neutral pH disinfectant and sanitizer. It is a safer alternative to bleach since it is pH neutral, which means the dogs are free to walk on it as we use it in the play area throughout the day.

Each day, all used food and water bowls, as well as toys, are cleaned with soap and water and then disinfected by soaking in a very diluted solution of water and bleach. After soaking for 15 minutes, they are then thoroughly rinsed and set out to dry. Animal House Day Care only purchases hard, non-porous toys that are easily cleaned and disinfected.

All used kennels are swept, mopped with the DZ-7, and disinfected every morning. That means that your pup gets a nice, clean kennel each night along with fresh food and water bowls. The play area goes through the same process each night after everyone goes home.

We use Kennelsol Germicidal Cleaner and Disinfectant. It is a neutral pH, veterinarian grade disinfectant effective against a broad range of microorganisms including Parvovirus, Distemper, Canine Cough and more. Furthermore, it is pet-safe and eco-friendly! After the sweeping and mopping is finished, we mix up a batch of the Kennelsol in our electric sprayer and generously coat the floors, walls and kennels in each area of our facility. We take cleanliness and sanitation very seriously and want to maintain a clean and healthy environment for all of the dogs and the employees!

Our laundry is washed in hot water with a sanitizer supplement to kill any remaining germs on bath towels.

In the outside play yard, we use a leaf blower to get rid of any debris and then spray the turf with Kennelsol Germicidal Cleaner and Disinfectant. It keeps our turf smelling good and looking great!