Doggie daycare -- No, I'm not kidding

Wes and I have made the decision to start sending Lucy to doggie daycare. It is without question a ridiculous notion to send a dog to daycare, but it’s something we think is worthwhile. If we hadn’t had a dog before moving to Chicago, we certainly wouldn’t have adopted one while here, but neither were we going to rule out Chicago simply because we had a dog. When we moved to the city, we took into account the issues that would arise as a result of having a dog here. We moved into a pet-friendly building where people were used to seeing dogs and having them on the elevator and such. We made sure we were close to a park or big spanse of grass (thank goodness for Washington Square). We looked at dog parks (unfortunately all several miles away, which is far when you’re walking it on a regular basis) and found a vet within walking distance. And while the weather was nice, Lucy got walked several times a week (before I went back to work and while part-time, we were out every morning). But winter is here, the weather is cold, and I’m working more and more. I’m happy to have the extra work, but Wes and I are feeling increasingly guilty about the long hours Lucy spends alone during the day. The only time I’m home and could walk her is when it’s dark out, and safe as our area is, taking a 5am or 6pm walk in the dark in Chicago can be questionable. Wes occasionally has call on medicine rotations, and if his shift overlaps with a Kaplan class I’m teaching, either Lucy is left home alone for long stretches or I run home between nannying and class (like tonight) to run her out and give her some playtime before I head back out. She’s really good about it, and fortunately she’s not a puppy anymore (almost three years old!), so it’s not the end of the world – but still we feel guilty.

So we talked and talked and basically decided that something needed to happen. Yes, she’s a dog, not a person and not a child. Yes, she probably would have been better off with a family that had a house and a yard and owners who were home all the time (or at least more than we are). Yes, it is silly to spend money to have other people play with our animal when we should do it ourselves. Yes, we could probably have someone come in and take her for a short walk each day for a portion of what we’re going to pay. Yes, it does seem like an absurd waste of money.

BUT, she is our responsibility, and we love her and want to be fair to her. So Lucy will now spend three days a week at a doggie daycare. A Cavalier down the hall does five days a week, so maybe they can become friends and then have play dates at home (people aren’t kidding when they say pets become practice children). She will be picked up in the morning, dropped off in the afternoon, and hopefully exhausted for the rest of the evening! Right now she’s going to go Mon, Tues, and Wed, because those are the nights when I have Kaplan classes (usually not all three nights in one week). At doggie daycare, she can run to her heart’s content, play with people and balls and other dogs, and bark as much as she wants. We thought about just having her walked, and while that would eliminate the bathroom issue, it doesn’t do much for her need to play and expend energy. So this is our solution. On Thursday and Friday, she’ll only be home alone for the hours I’m at work nannying, which she can handle for two days. And Saturday and Sunday, we’ll just have to make an effort to make sure she gets a good walk (to Wes’s credit, he usually does take her out on a long walk when he has a day off).

So call us ridiculous. Call us crazy. Call us insensitive to what a dog really needs – love, attention, several acres to roam –, but at least until the weather improves and one or both of our schedules lightens, this is our solution.