During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, nearly one in five American households adopted a pet.
Many dog owners spent the pandemic pampering those pooches. But now they’re back at work, and they don’t like the idea of their dogs cooped up in a crate or moping on the couch all day.
Enter, doggy daycare. For $25 to $30 a day, owners can drop off their dogs at one of Wichita’s many daycare and boarding facilities — the number is growing all the time — and know their pets will be safe and supervised. Maybe more importantly, the dogs will run off some energy.
“We tire them out. That’s our job,” said Chris Gillock, manager of Doggy Day Care in downtown Wichita. “(Owners) come in the next day and it’s like, ‘He crashed right when he got in the car. I had stuff to do in the evening, and my dog slept the whole evening, and that was nice.’”
Doggy Day Care, which opened in 1995, was one of the first businesses in Wichita to offer daytime playtime for dogs. The founders owned two Alaskan Malamutes and wanted them to socialize with other dogs, Gillock said. They heard about dog daycares in Colorado and decided to start their own.
“At first it was like, ‘What is that?’ No one had ever heard of daycare for dogs,” Gillock said. “But then it was a big hit, and it just grew in clientele over the years.”
Most doggy daycares require animals to be spayed or neutered and to be up-to-date on all vaccinations. Staff introduces new dogs gradually to protect timid animals and prevent any aggressive behavior.
Rates vary depending on the business. Many offer a free first day and discounts for additional dogs or multiple-day passes.
Michael Schroeder opened Camp Bow Wow in Goddard in December. It’s part of a Colorado-based franchise specializing in luxury boarding, daycare and grooming for dogs.
Schroeder and his wife also own Smoots Creek Kennels west of Cheney, where they breed golden retrievers and goldendoodles.
“I see the younger generation having dogs, not kids,” Schroeder said. “It seems like everybody’s got a dog, and it keeps growing every year.”
Certified “camp counselors” at Camp Bow Wow are trained in dog behavior, pet first aid and CPR. Live webcams allow clients to check on their pups from any computer or mobile device.
Depending on the day, dogs play in ball pits, chase bubbles or make “peanut butter Picassos” with paint in Ziploc bags.
Schroeder says dogs are social animals by nature, but daycare helps them learn their manners.
“So when they do go to dog parks and out in the community, the dog has been around other dogs … and learning those cues from other dogs and how to behave better,” he said.
Sandra Thomas said she takes her 1-year-old miniature schnauzer, Max, to Camp Bow Wow “to have a tired puppy at home. Otherwise, he gets in lots of trouble.”
She said she’d use the service every day if she could afford it. Instead, she reserves a day now and then, whenever she needs to run errands or get stuff done around the house. And when she picks Max up, he’s pooped.
“We barely get out of the parking lot, and he’s curled up, asleep, in the car,” she said. “Very different than when I haven’t brought him here.”
On an average weekday morning at Doggy Day Care on North Mathewson, about two dozen dogs scamper on the floor of a giant warehouse-style room bordered by kennels.
A merle gray Great Dane towers above the rest, but there are dogs of all breeds and sizes — a blue-eyed German shepherd named Loki; a sad-looking Basset Hound named Winston, and a fluffy Aussie puppy running circles around everyone.
Employee Matt Hobson supervises the animals as they run back and forth from a fenced play yard outside. He knows all the dogs by name.
“You’ve got Opal, Kelsey, Iris, Jamie, Coven, Millie, Ella, Pearl,” he said. “Rose, Daisy, Maestro, Coco, Maggie, Sinatra …”
Some of the dogs have been regulars at Doggy Day Care for years. For about an hour at lunchtime, employees put them into kennels for a snack and rest time. Gillock, the manager, said most are fast asleep within a few minutes.
Gillock’s own dog, a lab mix named Sophie, accompanies him to work. Hobson brings his dog, Valkyrie, as well.
“You’ve got to love dogs to do this,” Gillock said.
One of the tenets of dog training is that a tired dog is a good dog. Daycare relieves boredom and separation anxiety and helps prevent destructive behavior at home.
So, a day spent running and wrestling at doggy daycare makes for a relaxing evening for both pets and people.
“I get text messages from pet parents that send me a picture at night,” said Schroeder, the Camp Bow Wow owner. “They’re laying there on the couch and their dogs are out on the floor, and they say, ‘You did your job.’”
