Today is her first day at the new daycare. They have a webcam on their website so you can see the action on the floor. So of course as soon as I get into work I bring up the webcam to see how Dar is doing and I see a blue Dane on the floor! Woo! And she's playing with a Boxer! Double woo!
I'm so proud of her and start telling my coworkers and friends on Facebook, "Hey, look at Darwin at daycare!" I was wondering where her collar was, but then thought, maybe they took it off because we forgot to put on her quick release collar before we left the house and they didn't want her buckle one on the floor.
I keep watching and after a while I notice a blue Dane with a pink collar, so I think oh they must be okay with her wearing her collar now. That's cool. And then I realize, I was watching the WRONG DOG! There are actually two blue Danes at daycare, and Darwin was not the one I first was watching and so proud and boastful of. As I'm watching the right dog, I realize Darwin isn't having much fun. Most of the times I check out the camera, she's in the middle of the floor, just standing there. The other blue Dane is playing and having fun, and Darwin just stands there watching all the other dogs run around her.
When a staff member comes on the floor, Darwin will go over to the person for pets and lean time, but doesn't seem interested in playing. She'll occasionally sniff another dog, but so far no playing.
When I realized there was a second Dane there, I was hoping Darwin would play with him, but so far no luck. He's having a blast, and Darwin... not so much.
I know it's her first day at a new place, but is it possible she's just not a daycare doggy? Is it possible that because we fostered her from such a young age (5days old) and she spent so much time in the office around people that she's more of a people dog than a dog dog? Am I just being a crazy over-thinking dog mom and just need to take a chill pill?
It's only lunch time, so I'll keep an eye on her and maybe by the end of the day she'll loosen up a bit. We're approaching fall, and the nights get darker a lot quicker, so dog parks after work are going to be out of the question soon, so she'll have to suck it up and just learn to tolerate day care.
