Frequently Asked Questions

All pets must be current on:

• Bordetella, Rabies, Distemper/Parvo vaccines. 
• Flea/Tick Prevention
• Deworming protocol as guided by veterinarians.

Please visit our "Requirements" page to learn more about this and see a full list of our requirements.

YES. YES. AND YES!

We are huge advocates, at DogWatch, of animal welfare and helping control the pet population. Not only that, many dogs do not like being around other unaltered pets. For the safety of all pets in our care, pets must be spayed/neutered by 6 months of age. 

AT MINIMUM for the safety of your puppy, they must have had 2 rounds of the Distemper/Parvo combo vaccine. This is generally around 12 weeks old. Consult with your veterinarian first. 

BOARDING: 

Yes. A boarding reservation is required before we can accept your pet. 

DAYCARE:

Yes and No. 

Yes - During Major Holidays (New Years, Spring Break, Thanksgiving & Christmas) we do require a daycare reservation. We have a cut off of how many we can take, with how many we have boarding.

No - The rest of the year that is not one of the major holidays listed above, we DO not need a reservation after your pets trial day. 

We have breaks and lunchtime for the same reason all daycares do. Just like children, some dogs play themselves into exhaustion. If we let them go all day (especially when boarding), they’ll get cranky and spat with one another. To keep them physically and mentally healthy, we make sure all dogs are well-exercised, well-fed, and well-rested. Break/lunch is from 11am-12:30pm. Any dog that brings a lunch to daycare will be put into a boarding kennel or crate for a period of time to eat and digest their food. If you don’t’ send your pup with a lunch, they will hang out with the rest of the pack on the play floor with supervised playtime. Mandatory break/lunch for boarding dogs is during this time, too. Feel free to bring your dog a lunch or treat to gnaw on during this period.

We do everything we can to keep your fur-babies safe

• dogs at play are always carefully supervised by our well-trained staff.
• Boarding dogs & cats have their own private rooms (or crates) to sleep in at night. Each room comes with a cot and/or plenty of bedding to ensure a restful nights sleep. 
• All play areas are covered with rubber flooring to buffer your dogs’ young, developing joints while they run and keep their bodies safe while they wrestle.
• We regularly scrub all of the areas in our facility with a nontoxic pet-safe cleaner that kills canine virus and bacteria without exposing our staff or your pets to harmful chemicals.
• We offer a completely separate playroom just for little dogs. Toy breeds, light-boned, and long-backed (Miniature Dachshunds, for example) aren’t allowed in with the big dogs, no matter what they say.
• All of our dog areas are separated by at least one confined area. For instance, a dog at play in one of our play areas would have to get through a gate, door, and our retail area before reaching a door leading to the outside!

Most dogs who are over 25lbs should play with the big dogs.  However, it depends largely on the attitude of the dog.  There can be two dogs of the same size and weight, but different behavior puts one in Small and the other in Big.  It comes down to knowing the personality of each dog, how they like to play, and how confident they are around others of their size. 

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Your small breed dog might have a "big dog" attitude, but if he came into the Big playroom, he could get hurt.  Big dogs wrestle around without looking where they're going,  and a small dog could easily get smushed under a tumbling Great Dane.
Your 50lbs pup might have lived with small dogs her whole life, but that doesn't mean she should go in the small playroom.  Some of our smallest dogs would be very uncomfortable with a dog that big in the room, and the chances of an accident are just too high.  

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Large-breed puppies we put with the small dogs until they are ready to play with the big ones.  The puppies learn how to socialize and build up their confidence with dogs their own size.  Once they start to outgrow their small friends, and develop their motor skills enough, they graduate to Big.  Often we try to graduate two puppies on the same day so they feel more comfortable together.  Some puppies might graduate a few weeks after joining us, others could take a year or longer, but there's no shame in that!