Doggie Beach Lounge
Orientation
Before the Orientation
Step 1: Be Prepared with the following items to ensure you are ready and organized when the
client arrives.
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Customer Service Agreement (Send to the client in advance to complete)
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Pet Intake form completed? (Send to the client in advance to complete)
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Dog meets basic requirements for daycare
➢ Weight/Small Breed
➢ Vaccinations
➢ Spayed/ Neutered information
Procedure in a Nutshell
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Greet Parent, get dog’s background info, and explain process*
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Wellness check on dog
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Bring into room after they meet a few dogs one at a time
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Crate test
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Pick up test (are they ok with other dogs being picked up?)
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Tell parents how it went
Takes about 15-30 min depending on the dogs social skills.
Step 2: Meeting the client and dog before beginning the orientation with the dog in the daycare room, it’s important to meet the parent and dog outside the daycare room first. Why? Introducing yourself and spending a little one on one time with the parent and dog is crucial to establishing a great first impression and trust with the client.
1. Introduce yourself
2. Ask if you can say hi to their dog
3. Kneel to greet the dog
Do not stare at the dog or reach for him without warning. Read the dog’s body language for any fear or anxiety.
Step 3: Complete Service Agreement (If not already sent + completed prior)
While the client completes this, obtain any vaccination records/ paperwork that needs
to be checked if client has just provided those.
To get to know the dog better, there are some questions that must be asked to get the conversation going with the customer! All the questions serve to ensure you can understand the dog’s temperament and personality. This enables you to assess what you might expect from the dog when in the room and around other dogs and during activities, walks, etc.
Health Questions - This section is short and simple but very important! We must find out if the dog has ANY current or preexisting health concerns to ensure we are able to take the best care of the pup while in daycare
What daycare offers
Reminder to keep this short and sweet by giving the client the information they need listed below and highlight the pricing information so the client can decide while you conduct the in-room assessment with the dog.
Step 4: Conduct the Orientation
Always be extremely cautious throughout the entire orientation. Even if the dog appears friendly. Remember that they are entering a room full of dogs and people they have never met before which can be intimidating. You can stop the orientation at any point if you feel the dog’s behavior makes it unsafe to continue and if the dog:
➢ Shows extreme fear: hides, pulls away from you, snaps, growls, shows teeth
➢ Is highly aroused and has zero focus
Make sure to explain the process to the client before beginning so they understand what you will be doing to orient their pup in the room:
A. Health Check, Handling Test, Human Interaction & One-on-one with another dog
B. In-Room Socialization
C. Pick-up Test
D. 1-Minute Crate Test
Opening the Orientation
How to conduct the behavioral assessment (A)
-Health Check
-Handling Test
-Human Interaction
-One-On One with another Dog
1. Walk the dog into the feeding area and kneel with your back or side to the dog and let them sniff your hand, fingers curled.
2. When the dog seems comfortable, gently pet them on their chest. You want to see how the dog reacts to being handled by a new person.
AT THIS POINT, DO NOT PET DOG OVER THE HEAD, LEAN OVER THEM OR APPROACH THEM TOO QUICKLY. Most dogs do not enjoy this and find it jarring. Be gentle and go slow. Do not face the dog directly. Do not make direct eye contact. Keep talking to the dog, verbally praising him.
3. Gauge the dog’s reaction and level of comfort with you. If they seem comfortable, proceed with the rest of the handling test. If they show stress signals or red flag behaviors, give them some space, take a break.
4. Touch their feet. If the dog is uncomfortable with it, stop and skip this section and come back to it later.
5. Touch their ears and mouth. See above.
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6. Lean over them slightly to see if they are ok with it. Leaning over dogs is something that happens frequently in daycare, and we want to make sure dogs are comfortable with it.
7. Perform a complete Health Check. If the dog is not tolerating this interaction with you, he may not be a good fit for daycare. Take a break, walk around, get treats (if parents allow it) and try again.
8. One-on-one with another dog: Let the calmest, sweetest dog into the feeding area, watch how the orientation dog reacts to other dog. You may also let a dog in with a different. temperament, to test out the orientation dog’s reaction.
How to conduct the behavioral assessment (B)
In-Room Socialization
1. Carry or walk the orientation dog into the daycare room and gently place them in the middle of the room.
2. Make sure other dogs do not crowd.
3. Let the dog adjust to the room for several minutes. Even if the dog seems fine, never take your eyes off the orientation dog.
4. Note all behaviors on the Orientation Checklist.
5. Watch for polite/rude greeting behaviors.
Pick-Up Test (C)
In-Room Socialization
1. Carry or walk the orientation dog into the daycare room and gently place them in the middle of the room.
2. Make sure other dogs do not crowd.
3. Let the dog adjust to the room for several minutes. Even if the dog seems fine, never take your eyes off the orientation dog.
4. Note all behaviors on the Orientation Checklist.
5. Watch for polite/rude greeting behaviors.
1-minute crate test (D)
1. See if the dog enters the crate on their own.
▪ Note how the dog reacts to being inside the crate.
2. Note high anxiety/crate aggression vs. whether the dog will enter crate or sit down on his own once inside. Let the orientation dog explore the room until you feel that you have a good
understanding of the dog’s behavior. This can take 10-20 more minutes.
Closing the Orientation
Let the client know how their pup did with the orientation and how they fit with the pack!
Approved Orientation
1. Leave the dog in daycare while you go congratulate the parents. Inform them that their dog has passed the orientation. Congratulations!
2. Explain dog’s behaviors throughout each step.
3. You should make suggestions to meet the dog’s needs.
If they are anxious or showing slightly aggressive behavior then starting on slower days, starting with hourly visits, calming treats, Thunder shirt, and CBD oil are options to try.
4. If the dog was fearful and showed teeth to ask for space, daycare might not be the best environment for him→this is potentially not a good fit for the dog to be in daycare
o You need to communicate to the parents that we will try him on a slow day for an hour up to a half day (depending on the severity of the anxiety/fear) but that if he continues to exhibit this
behavior, daycare may not be a right fit for him. We want dogs to enjoy daycare!
5. Talk about which Membership is a good fit for their needs.
Un-Approved Orientation
Behaviors resulting in an Unapproved Orientation:
▪ Extreme fear/anxiety: expression of anal glands, urination, defecation, unable to
approach dog.
▪ Extreme fear-based aggression: unable to approach or handle dog, dog bares teeth,
growls, throws bites at staff.
▪ Serious fear-based aggression: fine with staff but while in the room, dog bares teeth at
other dogs, growls, snaps, throws bites.
How to Discuss the Unapproved result with the client?
1. Bring the dog with you. Do not leave him in the room.
2. Explain the dog’s behaviors throughout each step of the Orientation.
3. Suggest ways parent can correct or work on these behaviors: at-home socialization (play dates with friends), seeking out a dog trainer or behaviorist, local dog socialization classes like Zoom Room.
* Tell them we can re-orient the dog and try again within a period of 6-8 weeks (may be
a longer or shorter period depending on case-by-case situations).