Daycare. It’s Like A School for Dogs.
Terriers, Bentley and Murphy, enjoy each others company at Lucky Dog Daycare & Resort.
Playground Gossip: Sibling West Highland
When you open the door after being away from home all day, is that excitable dog signaling that she is happy to see you, or is she really suffer- ing from mental anguish? Dogs are social creatures, just like we are. It is not natural for a dog to be left alone for long periods of time with nothing to do, and no safe way of relieving himself when nature calls. Think about the effects this sort of
isolation would have on a child left home alone all day, five days a week. What would happen to the child’s developmental and social skills? Dogs react to a lack of exercise
and the stress of becoming separated from their humans in varying ways. They may become destructive, both to themselves or something within the home. They may bark continuously or suddenly start eliminating in the home. There’s the troubling story about
I prefer to watch: That would be Mr. Squiggs, a Scottish Terrier at Lucky Dog Daycare & Resort.
a family adult dog who was housebro- ken, but had suddenly begun having accidents in the home. The man, who had just broken up with his girlfriend, wondered if his dog was having some emotional issues as a result of the breakup. In actuality, the simple expla- nation was that the man, in his new- found freedom, was working and socializing more, which was keeping him away from home for longer hours than the dog was accustomed to. “Dogs don’t have accidents,” said
dog trainer Jacqui Silla. “If a dog has got to go, he’s got to go. And if there is no one to let him outside, he’s going to go somewhere. But, that is not an acci- dent — at least not on the dog’s part,” she emphatically adds. For the busy working parent who
Who’s a Good Dog? Tucker is a two-year-old red Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
36 THE NEW BARKER
would like their dog to have more physical stimulation and socialization with other dogs, dog daycare could be the answer. It’s kind of like Pre K school for children. Today, neither one is considered frivolous or silly.
In a study conducted by Gregory
Burns, a professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University, M.R.I. scans were conducted on dogs to study their brains. While the ongoing study is still in its infancy, researchers said they could not ignore the striking similarity between dogs and humans in both the structure and function of a key brain region: the caudate nucleus. Rich in dopamine receptors, the
caudate sits between the brainstem and the cortex. Because of the complexity of how different parts of the brain are connected to one another, it is not usually possible to pin a single cogni- tive function or emotion to a single brain region. But, the caudate appears to be an exception, as specific parts stand out for their consistent activation to many things that humans enjoy, such as food, love and money. The study found that, with dogs,
activity in the caudate increased in response to hand signals indicating food. The caudate also activated to the smells of familiar humans. It appears that many of the same things which activate the human caudate, associated with positive emotions, also activate the dog caudate. The ability to experience positive
emotions like love and attachment, would mean that dogs have a level of sentience comparable to that of a human child. Which brings us back to the idea of dog daycare. We are not advocating daycare as
the cure-all to end a dog’s separation anxiety. But, perhaps gradually incorporating it into your dog’s training and re-directing exercises would be beneficial. At facilities such as Lucky Dog
Daycare and Resort of South Tampa, dogs receive plenty of supervised socialization and exercise. Training, grooming and boarding services are also available.
www.TheNewBarker.com
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