Behaviour

Behaviour Expectations

At Wishing Creek Farm, our goal is simple: to provide a safe, happy, and enriching environment where every dog can enjoy their day. We believe that successful daycare is built on good manners, respectful interactions, and positive experiences for every member of the pack.

Just like people, every dog has their own personality and play style. Our team carefully supervises all playgroups and matches dogs based on temperament, energy level, and compatibility. While we understand that dogs naturally communicate through play, we also expect all dogs to interact respectfully with one another.

Dogs attending daycare should:

Be friendly and social with both people and other dogs.
Be comfortable being handled by our staff.
Enjoy group play without becoming overly stressed or overwhelmed.
Respond appropriately to social cues from other dogs.
Allow staff to redirect or interrupt play when needed.
Be able to settle and relax between play sessions.

Behaviours We Do Not Allow

To ensure a safe environment for everyone, the following behaviours are not acceptable in our daycare setting:

Aggression toward people or other dogs.
Repeated bullying, intimidation, or targeting of another dog.
Resource guarding of toys, water, resting areas, or people.
Persistent mounting (humping) after redirection.
Excessively rough or uncontrolled play.
Fence climbing, escape attempts, or destructive behaviour.
Excessive barking that cannot be redirected.

Any behaviour that compromises the safety or well-being of another dog or our staff.

Our Approach

Dogs aren't perfect, and neither are people! It's completely normal for dogs to have moments of excitement or make poor choices from time to time. We use positive redirection, supervised breaks, and adjustments to playgroups to help dogs make better decisions whenever possible.

However, if a dog consistently displays behaviours that create an unsafe or stressful environment, we may determine that group daycare is no longer the best fit. Our responsibility is to ensure every dog at Wishing Creek Farm feels safe, comfortable, and is able to enjoy their day.

Every Dog Is an Individual

Not every dog enjoys the busy social environment of daycare—and that's okay. Some dogs thrive in large playgroups, while others are happier with quieter activities or one-on-one attention.

Our decisions are always made with the safety, health, and happiness of every dog in our care as our top priority. We believe it's better to make thoughtful decisions that protect the entire pack than to place any dog in a situation where they are uncomfortable or unsuccessful.