Shio @ Daycare

Since it's been cold outside here in NYC, I've decided that I could drop Shio off in doggy daycare to run around for a few hours instead of suffering in the cold at the dog run for an hour every morning. From the moment that we walked in, he seemed pretty happy about being there.

We checked in and he went into the little doggy play area (where I saw a friend of his from our apartment building). I thought he would be happy there. In the picture below, you can see the top of his head as he entered the room.

He seemed hesitant and scared. There were so many pups mulling around and sniffing him. I would've been terrified as well!

Next step was to walk him into the rest of the room. He did so but stayed by the wall for protection. He typically does that when he is not confident in a new area.

Seeing that he was adjusting to his new environment in the way that I knew he would, I left the daycare and peered through the front window to see if he moved away from the wall at all. He didn't.

It broke my little heart to see him leaning against the wall and staring out the window. I left the daycare even though I wanted to sit there and watch him. Three hours later, I went back to the daycare to pick him out. This is what I saw:

My poor little bubba perched on the window staring out. He noticed me looking at him right away and became very excited. I was incredibly sad to see that he did not enjoy or play with any of the other doggies. The attendants at the daycare said he played "a little". I knew that he would behave this way because it was a new environment for him and he IS a Shiba and will be shy when introduced to a new place.

Would I bring him back there? Probably.

He'll warm up to the place... eventually.