Retrievers Retreat

About us

Being a Labrador mummy made me learn and appreciate the joys of doggy daycare.  Working a 9-5 job and leaving your fur-baby at home is hard.  I sent my two off to daycare at a young age just once a week at first - it was great - all day Wednesday I didn't have to worry about what I might find waiting for me at home; a chewed through fence, a plant destroyed or a new hole dug.  All day Thursday was great too, as the pups were too tired to get up to any doggy antics. I invested in plenty of puppy and dog training sessions and quickly learned I had two of "the most cleverest dogs in the world" (a bit biased - I know).  As the girls got older they started to go to daycare twice a week and whenever it was raining

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There were 3 points to a regular doggy daycare I found people struggled with:

The first one was the dogs going toilet indoors.  You drop your dog off to an extra large warehouse, with all the toys and things you would expect to see, but some places expect your dog to toilet indoors on the floor which goes against all that toilet training you have put in. The poor dog can feel naughty, or think they can then come home and toilet inside.  I personally found my poor babies going to the toilet as soon as I picked them up, before they got in the car.  They tried to hold on all day (how awful would that feel all day - would you want to run around playing with a full bursting bladder).

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The second thing was the timing. With drop off and pick up times not being flexible, what I needed was a pick up and drop off pet taxi to and from my work place or home.  People still keep telling me how time poor they are.

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The third thing was the mix of all breeds of dogs. As a Lab mum I really would prefer to know who my babies were playing with. Like-minded fur-babies, who play the same ways,  would make my mind stay at ease.  Doing research on the subject, it quickly came to my attention that indeed its the right thing to do for playgroups.    

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So here I am, after years of training and research, finally putting all these things into one awesome daycare!!!