20 March 2020

Shelter In Place….Is Dog Daycare “Essential”?




“Shelter In Place” has been declared in Illinois by Governor Pritzker. All non-essential businesses should close up shop until April 7. What does that mean for Play All Day? Is dog daycare “essential”? I’m sure we all have different opinions on that. To tell you the truth, I’ve had a difficult time figuring out my own opinion on this.

One moment, I am sure we are essential. Then I hear the Governor say that we need to protect lives rather than our livelihoods, and I question myself. But I pause to ask myself if I am really trying to protect my livelihood by staying open and the answer is a clear NO! Play All Day has been fiscally responsible and can weather a storm like this for a few months with no problems. I do worry about my employees’ livelihoods, but I know that they can get IL unemployment benefits. While not perfect, they will survive. In light of all this, I know that I need to keep my doors open, because we are essential. Perhaps we are not essential to all of our clients, but I know that we are essential to some of our clients. Some of you are working in the very clear-cut essential workforce and your hours are probably longer than usual. You need care for your dogs. And we are those caregivers.

For this reason, we will remain open. If we are told to close by officials, we will. I am not doing this out of defiance to the government. As I stated earlier, I agree with this policy. I’m just trying to define PAD as essential. And I think we are. I do not want to abandon those clients who need us.

I feel that we have put exceptional policies in place, regarding check-in and check-out, that fully respect social distancing and keep you safe. We can keep our doors open and offer safe and essential services to those who need us.

But here is what I need from you. This new policy has probably changed the minds of some of you who have been bringing your dogs to daycare. I absolutely, 100%, need to know who is planning to bring their dog to daycare each day. You all know what your scheduled day is. Please email me and let me know if you will or will not be keeping your regularly scheduled day. I’m not here to decide who is essential or non-essential….that is up to you. I will not judge. BUT, I do need to know how many staff members I will need each day. So if you could just email me to let me know what your plans are for now and between April 7, I would greatly appreciate it.

We are here for you now, whether you choose to keep attending or hold off until after this crisis. There are no penalties or judgment for missing. Please just let me know one way or the other. That is all I ask of you. And I ask your patience. If I don’t hear from you, I will be calling or texting to confirm.

You may email me at info@playalldaydoggiedaycare.com or april@playalldaydoggiedaycare.com. Or you can call 309-698-1200. If you have already notified us that you are not planning to attend, no need to contact us again. We’ve already taken you off the schedule.

DOG FOOD and supplies: We will continue to take phone orders and deliver to your car. Depending on how daycare goes, there may be limited hours for pick up. We’ll stay in touch on that. And so far, no mention of any shortages on supply, so I think it is OK to just order your normal supply.

15 March 2020

We Are Open For Business….But With Some Changes For Your Safety




In light of the current COVID 19 pandemic, we are taking every measure we can to ensure that Play All Day is here to meet your needs and continues to operate safely and efficiently, while respecting the current need for social distancing. Our leadership team met and we’ve put the following plan in place.

First order of business, your dogs are safe. To date, there is no evidence to support that dogs can get this version of the Corona virus or pass it along to you. As a daycare and boarding facility, we already have very high cleaning standards. To further protect you and our team members, we are re-focusing some of our cleaning efforts towards COVID 19, by addressing areas of contact for human beings, as opposed to just protecting the dogs.

We fully support the concept of social distancing and want to do our part to make sure that, by being open for business, we are not contributing to the spread of this virus. As I considered this issue, the main factor in my decision to remain open is that we do have the ability to provide social distancing in our facility setup and operations. Our lobby is the only area where we get non-dog traffic, outside of our staff. So, this is where much of our effort is being focused.

What is our plan?
• During check-in, we will meet you at the front door and we will open the door and take your dog from you (please potty your dog prior to this, as usual). You will not need to touch our door or come inside. We ask that you schedule all appointments with us, by phone or email, during this time of social distancing.
• You will have two options during check-out.
1. Come in as usual. We will keep hand sanitizer at the door and the desk since you will be using our door. Or you can wash your hands in the bathroom and use your shoulder to push the door open on your way out. During this time, credit card payment is preferred. We will make the card reader available to you so that you can insert and remove your card. We’ll take care of the rest. If paying by cash, please have exact change if possible. We can always hold your invoice for a week or two if necessary. If you have children with you, please use Option 2 listed below. Children cannot resist touching everything. Please do not bring them inside the daycare during this time.
2. If you prefer, you may stay in your car and call us at 698-1200. We’ll bring your dog to your car. You can call us that day or the next day to make payment over the phone with your credit card. We ask that you do this during noon – 1:30pm or 2:30-3:30pm.
3. Again, during check-out, we do ask that you ask questions and schedule/change appointments via phone or email to reduce the amount of time you are in a common social area.
• If you are boarding with us, the same options are available to you as daycare. Bring your dog to the door at check-in and either come in or call us from your car for check-out. Please program our phone number into your cell phone. 698-1200 so that you can easily call us without coming in to read our sign with the phone number.
• If you need to buy retail items, you are welcome to use the same two options available for check-out. You can come in or call. If you want us to bring your retail to your car, email or phone your order to us. If you call your order in, please do so during the hours listed above. Then when you arrive, call us and we will bring it to your car.
• Staff Protection. So, all of this is well and good for your safety, but you might be wondering about the staff’s safety. In a normal day’s work, the majority of the staff already practice social distancing just by the nature of their job. To further increase their safety, we will be routinely disinfecting all door handles. Those staff members handling leashes and boarding belongings will be washing their hands after each encounter. And there will be hourly handwashing reminders for all staff members. Things like community food (takeout, chip bags, etc) will be removed. Any staff member exhibiting symptoms will be required to stay home.
• Our Request of You. Please do not bring your dog in if you have been exposed to someone who has symptoms. Please do not bring your dog if you are experiencing symptoms. And please be patient with us as we navigate this very odd time.

Please keep in mind that these new processes will be new for your dog. New things can sometimes make them behave differently. Don’t cluster at the door and give your dog and other dogs space. If you see quite a few waiting at the door, perhaps stay in your car or on the yard a bit longer to let the congestion ease. And DO KEEP YOUR DOG ON LEASH during this process.

Thank you for your continued business and your support during all of this. We want to be here for you, because life goes on for all of us in spite of the COVID 19’s impact. Things are going to be odd and stressful for your dogs as changes occur for you at home and work. Daycare is a loved and safe place for your dog. Hopefully you will feel that we are taking steps to make it safe for you to bring your dog to us during this time. If not, we will understand. As always, if you do not plan to attend on your regularly scheduled day, we ask that you call or email us in advance.

All the best,
April and the Play All Day Team

11 March 2020

Corona Virus – Is Your Dog at Risk?




Unless you are living off the grid or you are giving up news and social media for Lent, you’ve most likely been inundated with news stories about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We’ve been fortunate in Illinois so far, but who knows what course this virus will take.
You may be wondering if your dog is at risk. You may be wondering if you can catch this virus from your dog. And those of you who know me and my love for educating our PAD family, you’ve most likely been wondering, “why isn’t April saying something about this?”
I’ve been mostly silent on this because I just haven’t felt I had enough good information to give you. The last thing you need, when you are being bombarded by conflicting reports on how serious this all is, is for me to throw my two cents in when I really don’t know anything more than you.
Trust me, I’ve been doing the research. The consistent findings relevant to your dog in daycare is that, at this time, your dog does not appear to be at risk of getting COVID-19. Here is a link to a quick and easy read by Steve Dale. I’m not endorsing Steve Dale as an expert on the Corona Virus. He’s just done a nice job of summarizing the data. And, based on my own personal review of the data, this blog post appears to be factual, based on the information we have to date. https://www.stevedalepetworld.com/blog/pets-and-covid-19-do-i-let-my-dog-kiss-me/