Deluxe day care keeps tails wagging

Parents, you know how it is. One of your little ones is alone at home part of the day while you're at work. You worry he's not going to grow up right, that he's being neglected, that he doesn't have enough supervision in his life.

The solution: day care, of course. But first he'll need his shots. And neutering.

Oh, you knew I was talking about dogs, right?

This is what a busy, prosperous world has come to: day care for dogs. And not just any day care for dogs, but day care with movies and playground supervision and snacks and baths and pools and time-out rooms for misbehavior.

"People love their dogs," says Leslie Pappas, owner of the Old Farm Pet Resort. "They don't want to leave them home alone. They want them to have fun and interaction while they're gone."

This is no dog's life, or if it is, then your kids should be so lucky. In one room, a salt-and-pepper dog named Raymond is about to watch a video — "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving" or "Jungle Book" is the standard fare.

Out back, there are two dozen dogs — Wolfgang, Hamilton, Diesel, Maggie, Jasper the New Kid, Heidi and the rest of them — playing on the large gravel playground under the watchful eye of a playground monitor named Kayla, who doubles as Chief Pooper Scooper.

They play in portable plastic pools or on the playground equipment or inside a building that is equipped with air conditioning and heating. They play ball on a portable sport court. Periodically, they are taken inside for snacks, meals and naps.

Welcome to summer camp for dogs.

There is a little bickering, but not much. Each new dog gets a social evaluation — he's taken into an enclosed area to interact with a couple of dogs, then a few more and a few more to see how he gets along.

When there are disagreements, dogs are sent to time-out, a small enclosed cage, for a few minutes "just so they have time to think about what they've done," says Leslie.

"They're just like children," she says.