Hayes HappyDog Boarding and DayCare

Hayes HappyDog Boarding and DayCare Carefully planned day care boarding and training services. No more than 7 dogs. Designed to be a st Small home based kennel and daycare.

Owned and run by experienced trainer. All green, no harsh chemicals used. Big outdoor pens to play in. Dogs are separated according to size, age and temperament.

I've been lax about updating this page but time to get going again! The latest trend I'm seeing with dog folks is the "s...
01/30/2023

I've been lax about updating this page but time to get going again! The latest trend I'm seeing with dog folks is the "send your dog to me and I'll fix it quick" trainer. Especially the ones who will slap an e-collar on the dog and say it's trained. a big fat NO to that one.
Full disclosure, my dogs are trained field dogs and they are all collar conditioned-but the collar is a tool that can be very helpful and effective when used properly and can be equally damaging to the dog when it is not used properly.
As an example, a young couple came to me for help with their energetic rescue. The couple loved to hike with her on weekends but she was not reliable on the trail and had taken off numerous times. It had gotten to the point where they were considering leaving her home.
This dog was an excellent candidate for collar conditioning-she was young with a stable temperament and her owners had already put training time into her. So we began the process of introducing her to the collar.
At the end of the training the dog was able to hike freely on the trails but was under the control of the owners at all times. Her training put her in control of the collar correction-she knew the "rules of the road", basically to stay within eyesight of her pack. She enjoyed freedom but within the parameters that kept her safe.
In some situations like this one, training your dog on the collar makes sense but it is an intensive process and involves work and time. Like most things in life there are no easy fixes!

We are starting a new round of puppy classes next Friday, October 22nd at 1PM. This class will be a limited enrollment c...
10/14/2021

We are starting a new round of puppy classes next Friday, October 22nd at 1PM. This class will be a limited enrollment class for puppies up to six months. We will meet once a week for four weeks and will help you to build the foundations of a strong relationship with your puppy through attention-work and teaching self-control. For more information or to enroll your puppy please email Nora at [email protected].

05/16/2021

Today in the park I saw a bunch of families and children enjoying the lovely spring weather. Several children began to play together as the parents socialized. Soon the childrens' play got rough with pushing and shoving, finally the biggest child, a little boy, pushed a small child down. She ran crying to her parents and was absent mindedly comforted and was sent back to play. Now the going got rough and the children were out for blood-kicking and shoving and spitting. Finally the parents noticed, broke them up and lectured them about playing nice.
Why does this scenario remind me so much of our local dog park? A group of adults interested in socializing and leaving the dogs to play with little or no supervision. When a scuffle breaks out the dog parents allow it until a real fight starts and then intervene. Meanwhile the dogs have already tagged or been tagged and backs are up. The kids, like the dogs, mind being shoved and knocked around and even the most gentle ones are forced to use feet or hands or teeth to protect themselves.
Whether we are the caretaker/parent of a dog or a child we are responsible for teaching them to play nice-ahead of time, not after they are banged up or bloodied. Why is this so hard?

02/15/2021

Today I received an early morning call from a customer. She has been coming to me for training day care and boarding for 13 years since her dog was a pup and today her dog was failing. Over the years as can sometimes happen we became friends and I also loved this dog. My last sad task was to find a way to help her help her beloved girl pass. The mobile vet came this am and left a heartbroken family. I feel privileged to be able to help but so sad they had to lose her.

02/12/2021

every once in a while I get feedback like this from a training customer-much appreciated-
"Sammy is doing great! It's like he's a completely different dog. His anxiety seems to be much more under control now and he seems much happier. We have mostly stayed out of the dog park, but he had a playdate there the other day with one of his friends and his behavior was excellent! He's also shown a huge improvement in his crate training! I've left him up to an hour and a half with little vocalization (maybe a whimper here and there) and he's kept the crate pan inside. I'm so pleased about the progress he made with you! "

I have had a "soft" reopening due to COVID. Much less boarding as few are traveling. Day care operating and a good deal ...
01/12/2021

I have had a "soft" reopening due to COVID. Much less boarding as few are traveling. Day care operating and a good deal of training as folks are taking any puppy they can find to keep them company during stays at home. When I get calls for intermittent/occasional day care I am not taking on those new dogs. My day care is small and the dogs have been coming on a regular basis. I have a number of young dogs who come 2x weekly for socialization and/or training. My older/long term dogs come when they want-they know the program.
I feel a strong sense of responsibility to make the experience here a good one for the dogs. There is a good deal of structure and the play groups learn good manners-no bullying or out of control behavior. I cringe when I see large commercial day cares with frenzied play-not good for the dogs and fights or bites can result.
So...less $$ for me but the satisfaction of knowing I am delivering high quality care.

Getting calls from past customers always makes me happy and reinforces my belief in my skills as a trainer. Today an ind...
12/11/2020

Getting calls from past customers always makes me happy and reinforces my belief in my skills as a trainer. Today an individual who came to me 13 years ago! Wow! Time flew! And.. cannot leave out my long term day care (some also training) dogs..Sophie here at 13 for some TLC, I've known her since she was a pup--and my pittie mixes Malakai and Lula, both grew up in day care. Makes my small home based day care boarding and training center feel like home and the dogs that come here are extended family.

Lots of local requests lately for a trainer to help with dog training. One problem is everyone who has watched a show or...
11/07/2020

Lots of local requests lately for a trainer to help with dog training. One problem is everyone who has watched a show or trained their own dog is an instant expert and feels fine about giving advice. If you are looking for help you need to check that the trainer you are considering has bona fide skills and experience AND that their training style is compatible with you. Can you see their dogs-do they behave? What about references? Have they trained multiple breeds? Do they "get" you and your dog? And any trainer who says they can just fix your dog quickly and easily without your involvement is just plain talking malarkey. Good help is out there, just do your research.

Lovely day to be out with a customer and her young lab-teaching him to wood walk.We have so many outdoors spaces to take...
11/06/2020

Lovely day to be out with a customer and her young lab-teaching him to wood walk.
We have so many outdoors spaces to take our pups out and they can really stretch their legs off leash. The best exercise for them!
The trick is to train your dog to check in and to stay where you can see him. A bit of work with big payoff.😊

Yikes! So many calls during the pandemic for training. Many folks have taken on a new pup and perhaps have accepted a le...
09/17/2020

Yikes! So many calls during the pandemic for training. Many folks have taken on a new pup and perhaps have accepted a less than perfect match at a time when adoptable dogs are hard to find. For instance an older couple with a new large breed active pup (they would have liked an older dog but none were available)--or a family with young children at home and suddenly the kids are not going back to school and the parents are overwhelmed. Just no time to raise their new dog in the way they would have preferred. Please do not hesitate to ask for help. With proper safeguards (social distancing, masks etc) we are here make it work for you.

05/18/2020

A young couple came in to see me to talk about their dog. It's not uncommon for trainers to blame owners for the problems they are having with their dog And sometimes,for various reasons-inexperience, lack of time, lack of knowledge, the owner is at least partially responsible for their dog's issues. This time I saw a dedicated and knowledgeable couple at their wits end with a dog they loved but with very serious problems.
In the recent past their dog had bitten them and a neighbor. Both times the dog gave no warning and the bite was serious.
As we discussed the dog's past and upbringing I became more and more concerned. They had their dog since he was 8 weeks old and they had worked hard to raise him correctly and to take good care of him. He had started guarding his food bowl at 12 weeks and graduated to aggressively biting his owners and others as he grew older.
His owners did everything they could to help him. They described going to numerous trainers and spending a lot of time and money in an effort to fix him. Nothing worked and he was getting worse.
So here we go, I thought to myself. I needed to tell them what I was seeing and it wasn't good. Their dog was unstable-his erratic and sudden outbursts of aggression were symptomatic of a dysfunctional nervous system. Really tough stuff and really tough to handle.
They didn't blink, they agreed their dog was troubled and they wanted to see if there was anything that I could recommend that might help him. So we had a promising start to our training relationship-firmly rooted in the reality of his condition. We proceeded to put together a rehabilitation plan involving behavioral interventions and medication management. And we'll see.
What bothers me a lot is the time and money wasted on trainers who did not clearly assess the breath and depth of this dog's issues and recommended training plans that did not help him. They didn't "get" him. One trainer used an electric collar to shock him out of his aggression. Not good and not helpful. When a professional trainer takes money for their work they should have the experience to do the job. Unfortunately too many hang out their shingles and make a lot of money and blame the customer when the dog doesn't improve. So when you go to a trainer and it doesn't feel right or you don't understand them feel free to walk away. The good trainers are out there but it might take a while to find the right one.

05/07/2020

I lost my Pinky (the pretty girl on my home page) last August. My first young dog to die (she was just 7). After while I was able to write about her: A Breeder's Truth

Yesterday I went to my Golden Retriever club's annual banquet. It's the yearly round up of members' titles and achievements. Beautiful ribbons and trophies are given out to the accomplished handler/dog teams and we clap and cheer for each one.
In the past I have won trophies and ribbons with multiple dogs and I have felt the pride of achievement.
The past year was a quiet one for me I sat out shows to protect my sick female at home. Pinky was dxed with Lymphoma and the chemotherapy treatment impaired her immune system. I could not risk bringing dog show germs back into my home.
So for once I sat as a spectator and had room to think about the winners and losers. My Pinky will never be a winner ever again. She died in August a year and a half after her diagnosis. I have her daughter Gwen and her grand daughter Babe and I intend to train and compete with them.
Sometimes I see Pinky in her daughter- her quirkiness and some of her habits. Gwen just decided to not be a field dog just like her Mom. She's not a pressure player and didn't like the stress of the hunt tests. We're going to try agility and breed shows instead.
Babe, on the other hand, is a mini me of Cara, her great grandmother, and loves the field game and handles pressure well. Like Cara she is also very determined to do it her way, right or wrong and often wrong.
So here we are, Pinky is gone 6 months now and after 2 years of elective exile I am trying to figure out how to re enter the world of dog sports.
At the dinner a great deal of emphasis was placed on the worth of the successful dogs and their handlers. Great success clearly equaled great value. And I sat there thinking of my dead dog of her worth and value in her all too short existence. I know for sure that I wished she had her head more in the field game but I also know she meant the world to me and I did everything I possibly could to keep her on this earth with me.

So underneath it all, it is always the same, love is everything.

Pinky won her place in my heart maybe not in spite of but because she was so much herself, so clearly flawed as a performance dog-anxious and worried, jealous of my attention, demanding and needy. Beautiful to look at and capable of immense happiness when things went her way.
Just Pinky —a wonder how we found our way to loving each other and meaning the world to each other.
I must remember that as I continue on with her daughter and grand daughter. We are all worthy and good enough just as we are.

Address

423 State Route 71
Hillsdale, NY
12529

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 2pm - 6pm

Telephone

+14135280877

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Hayes HappyDog Boarding and DayCare posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Hayes HappyDog Boarding and DayCare:

Shortcuts

Share

Category