Doggie Day Care

Yesterday afternoon, Nan and I took Scout to check out a doggie day care facility, The Animal Nanny (http://www.animalnannygj.com/), on the north side of Grand Junction. We're thinking it would be good for Scout's development to spend a day or two a week hanging out with other dogs. It would also provide him with more exercise to burn off his puppy energy than he is currently getting with our daily hikes in the desert and walks in the neighborhood.

Colin, the owner, met us at the gate and showed us around. Her facility is in the process of taking over an old mechanics garage, so there are still several old vehicles and rusty parts on the grounds. The dogs are carefully isolated from the junk by a series of fences and gates. Colin led us down a hill into the dogs' play area, a large space covered with wood chips and shaded by cottonwood trees. There were two large troughs set up as swimming pools, and Scout promptly climbed into the smaller one to cool off. Back at the building, Colin showed us the dogs' napping room, a cool, dark and quiet room lined with pet transport crates containing snoozing dogs. There was a fan to keep the air circulating and classical music to keep the dogs calm. On the door was a poster of Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer from the National Geographic Channel, featuring his philosophy of dog training: "Exercise, Discipline, Affection." It was good to know that Colin is an adherent.

The thing that impressed me most was that in the half-hour we were there, none of the ten or so dogs we encountered ever barked or showed any aggression. If anything, they were all overly affectionate, eager for attention from people they didn't even know. Scout seemed to fit right in, holding his own with dogs twice his size and finding his place in their pecking order. We're confident that he will benefit from the experience. We sure hope so because The Animal Nanny also offers overnight boarding and vacant home services, which could work out extremely well for us in our future travels.