Well, what does your dog say. I’ve seen excited new puppies who can’t wait for their first day of school to senior dogs who have been routinely going to daycare for years and trot the hallowed halls like they personally lugged each brick to build the foundation of the place. You may have heard that dogs often become more dog selective as they age. I have seen many instances in daycares where a dog who started coming when they were a young puppy, and had an absolute blast romping around with their besties, decides a few years in that they no longer have the same level of enjoyment that they did previously. This usually presents itself as the dog choosing to stay nearer to handlers, sitting off to the sides for lengthy stretches, and often showing distance increasing behaviors such as freezing, growling, and air snapping. When your dog hops out of the car or rounds the corner onto the block where the daycare entrance is, how do they react. Are they excited, perhaps even pulling you towards the front doors. If you see any of the signs above, it may mean that daycare isn’t a good option for your dog, or it may just mean that you haven’t found the right daycare for them. The good news is that your dog doesn’t need daycare, it can be a major help for those who work long hours, don’t have access to or feel safe using dog parks, or have high-energy, very social dogs, but dogs don’t need daycare to be happy and healthy. Whether you can’t find a daycare that works for you, or your dog used to enjoy daycare and you started noticing some of the signs listed above, it’s okay for your dog not to be a daycare dog.