The Dog Haus Dog Daycare

We will be closed on Monday, 5/28/12, in observance of Memorial Day.  We will be open our regular hours on Saturday (8am – 10am) and Sunday (11am – 1pm), and Tuesday – Friday (6am – 6:30pm).  We have lots of openings for daycare Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday – if you regularly come Monday and want to switch to a different day, just let us know!

Congrats to Jake for becoming May’s Dog of the Month!! Jake, a Saint Benard Mix, is a big bundle of energy. He loves to get crazy and wrestle with all of his friends at daycare. He is an awesome addition to The Dog Haus family!!

Please note that there is major road construction on Atlas Ave currently, and until May 26th.  The city has assured us you will ALWAYS be able to access The Dog Haus.

If you have any questions at all, please let us know!

The Dog Haus Dog Daycare LLC is hiring two part-time dog daycare workers!

Staff members are responsible for monitoring/directing the play of 10-15 dogs in one group (30-55 dogs in the building), discussing activities/behavior with customers, light cleaning, light filing/computer work, answering the phone, giving potential customers a tour, handling payments, and working closely with other staff m…embers to help the daycare group run smoothly and solve problems.

Must be able to lift 50 lbs and stand for 8 + hours a day. Must commit to this schedule for at least one year. Must be at least 18 years old.

Ideal candidates have experience in customer service, retail, or sales and have a great deal of patience, follow directions well, can multi-task, think and work independently, and enjoy working on their feet in all weather.

Hours we are hiring for:
*Person A: Monday 6 – 1:45, Tuesday 6 – 1:45, and Friday 7am – 11am (19.5 hrs)
*Person B: Monday 11:15 – 7:30pm, Friday 11 – 6:45pm (15.75 hrs)

Pay is $8/hr to start, $0.50/hr raise after training/probation period is complete.

There may be additional income available through pet-sitting jobs – please inquire if interested.

Please DO NOT email, call, or stop-in to apply. We will be holding a job fair from 7pm to 9pm on Monday, April 16th where candidates can tour the facility, ask questions, and bring their resume to apply.

Need a tax break this year? We have just the special to turn your tax blues around. If you purchase a 20 visit package during the week of 4/16 you get 17% off! That is like getting 5 days of daycare for free!

Congratulations to Lambeau, April’s Dog of The Month! She is a very happy and playful yellow lab who can’t get enough of her friends. We truly enjoy having her energy and playfulness as part of The Dog Haus family!

A lot of what we do is manage how the dogs are interacting with one another. We have terms for different behaviors you may or may not hear us use like: fence fighting, third-partying, anxiety, demand barking, and constructive. We would like to use this blog to shed a little more light on these terms so if you notice behaviors at the dog park or home you can react appropriately.

“Fence Fighting”.  As scary as that sounds, it is not two dogs fighting next to each other inside of a play area, it is actually a very common behavior known as barrier frustration. Barrier frustration can come out on a walk when your dog can’t get to the other dog or object because they are on a leash. How this behavior translates to the daycare is at our fences, a dog is walking down a hallway and a dog in a play area is following them barking. We do not allow this behavior for a couple of reasons: 1. the barking dog is not paying attention to the dogs on the same side of the fence they are on and will run the dogs near the fence over, potentially causing a scuffle; 2.  it is highly disruptive to all of the dogs in the room no matter how close to the action they are. We keep dogs with tendencies to run the fence in an area where the hallway is not a distraction and use our training to control times when we use the hall. A positive play time helps ease the feeling for dogs who run the fence and enjoy their day.

“Third-Partying” – when two dogs are playing and one or more try to join in the fun. While this is usually a harmless activity, we keep the dogs from engaging in third-party behavior for safety reasons. One of the dogs playing can start to feel overwhelmed and react negatively to all of the attention. We will redirect the dog that came in after the first two have started playing by calling their name or giving them another activity to do.

“Demand Barking”.   This is when a dog will bark at a dog lying down or at a dog who has a toy they want. This behavior is also something we redirect because the dog being barked at could become scared or reactive. This along with fence fighting gets the other dogs’ attention negatively because they are not sure what or who is the cause. We watch closely for resource guarding and will remove a toy if needed or move either of the dogs to a different area to avoid any issues. Dogs prone to doing this are usually puppies just learning the ropes, but it can happen with older dogs who were not taught to offer a different behavior than this previously in their lives.

“Constructive”. We use this term to express behaviors such as your dog resting on it’s own when needed, playing appropriately with others, going in an out with the group well, and overall being a  well adjusted member of our group. This is the main goal of our day – to work with and redirect dogs and help them learn how to be constructive!

“Anxiety”. This is a term we use to explain and understand why certain other behaviors happen here but maybe not at home. The dogs may bark uncontrollably, sigh, pant unnecessarily, and become more reactive than normal. We are very keen to the signs of anxiety and take steps to ensure we discuss it with the owners and possible ways the dog can get more comfortable. All of the above behaviors can sway one way or the other based on a dogs anxiety level so keeping them happy and calm leads to a happy day for all.

We strive to give each customer our undivided attention when discussing their dog’s day.  If you ever go home and have more questions, or if you have questions about behaviors you see at home or here at the daycare, please let us know and we would love to talk with you more!

When you purchase any of our package today 2/29/12 we will add an extra day to it. Leap day only happens once every 4 years so we hope you make the most of it!

Puppies are a great part of what makes our job fun. Because we want new puppies to grow into mature adults, last year we made Monday our “puppy day”. We have staff on hand to work exclusively with them in a special puppy area. The caretaker takes them on frequent potty breaks, ensures play time is constructive, and gives them lots of love and attention.

The current graduates of our puppy program are doing great, all of their social skills improve every week. What is a big factor in that is the training courses all of them have taken while in our puppy program. Training is required for our younger crowd (10-16 weeks old) to help them learn commands needed to make their time with us successful.

Help us show Madison where the best dogs play!  It is time to vote for your favorite businesses in the Madison area on the Best of Madison Ballot for Madison Magazine.  We are not one of the marked choices on this years ballot so you have to add “The Dog Haus” in the “other” line under the category of Pet Pamper.

Thank you!

www.madisonmagazine.com