Both Dog Parks and Dog Daycares are a place for your dog to get exhausted while playing with their friends.  Beyond that, you and your dog’s experience are quite different.

Where dog parks are free, daycares cost money.  You get to stay and interact and play with the other dogs and people at a dog park but a daycare allows you to take a break while your dog is having fun.

The biggest difference is the socialization and safety of your dog.  Like anything that is free, a dog park involves more caution and risk.  With dog parks, any owner can show up.  Daycares carefully monitor the dog’s health and behavior that participate in the play.

If you take anything away from this episode it’s this:  If your goal is to socialize your dog then a daycare is a place to go and you should avoid the dog park.  If you have a dog that is already well socialized, then a daycare still works.  A dog park can too, as long as you use common sense and caution.

In this episode, I go through the pros and cons of each so you can decide what is best for you and your dog.