Madison Southeast
Enrichment Dog Day Care
Dog Day Care. Reimagined.
There’s no bond like the one you share with your furry best friend. But our human lifestyles can make it challenging to fulfill all of our dogs’ needs to stay healthy and happy. This can lead to issues at home, from loneliness and boredom to weight gain, anxiety, and undesirable behaviors.
Central Bark® Madison Southeast Enrichment Dog Day Care gives your dog a place to play and learn in a safe and loving environment. With socialization, mental stimulation, and physical exercise, their minds and bodies need to stay healthy and happy for a lifetime.
Our focus on canine enrichment aims to enhance your dog’s overall quality of life. Through fun and rewarding activities that encourage them to use their senses to problem solve, learn new skills, and gain confidence. You can have peace of mind knowing that your dog is having a great day with all of their friends. Enrichment Dog Day Care is our specialty, and nobody does it quite like us.
Central Bark
Madison Southeast
2530 Advance Rd,
Madison, WI 53718Get Directions
Open Today 6:30 AM – 6:30 PM
Request Appointment
A Healthy Balanced Day
Enrichment Dog Day Care provides a healthy balance of play, exercise, socialization, learning, rest, and TLC. We tailor each day to your dog’s individual needs and preferences. To nurture their bodies, minds, and senses so that you can enjoy a healthy, happy, calm, and well-rounded dog at home.
- Play, Exercise, and Socialization – Exercise helps your dog maintain a healthy weight and muscle tone. It helps to improve their mood and provide a healthy outlet for their physical and mental energy. This means they can be more relaxed at home. Positive experiences with new humans, new dogs, and new environments help create happy dogs who are well-rounded and well-socialized. We offer both small and large playgroups in indoor and outdoor play areas where your dog can enjoy the social environment that’s right for their age, personality, and comfort level.
- Rest – When dogs play and socialize, the opportunity to rest, relax, and recharge is vital for their physical, mental, and emotional health. Our daily schedule aims to help dogs avoid unhealthy overstimulation and achieve the right balance of rest, play, and learning.
- Learning – Dogs learn from humans and other dogs – along with our guidance, dogs are always teaching each other what is and isn’t appropriate social behavior. Our highly trained staff use positive training techniques to promote safe play and help your dog practice healthy social behaviors while at day care.
- Love – Your dog will become part of our family and get all the love and attention they need while you’re away. We develop a bond with your dog to help them feel comfortable and confident. With regular attendance, we get to know your dog’s personality, needs, and preferences. We are better able to recognize things that might otherwise go unnoticed, like moods, behavioral changes, or even health issues.
Commitment to Safety
Our #1 priority is the safety and well-being of our guests. As dog parents ourselves, we take great pride in treating every dog as our own. And we are committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for everyone that enters our facility.
Central Bark® Enrichment Dog Day Care Features:
Flexible Group Play
Flexible playgroups allow us to match your dog with the social atmosphere and play schedule they can enjoy and benefit from most. This helps give them a healthy balance of play, rest, and learning and creates a safer social environment with a better quality of play. And our lower dog-to-staff ratios offer more individual attention, education, and love.
Group Play Skills
Interactive group activities and positive reinforcement help dogs practice important skills like name recall, and behaviors like group sit and calmly going in and out of doors and gates. These activities are fun and rewarding for your dog and help improve behavior and impulse control, prevent overstimulation, and create a safer social environment.
Rest Period Enrichment
Your dog gets to relax and recharge in their own private space with calming interactive toys and healthy food pairings tailored to their preferences and diet. It promotes physical and mental relaxation which can help them achieve a healthy balance of play, learning, and rest. It can also help them become more comfortable in crates by building positive associations.
One-on-One Enrichment
Personalized One-on-One Enrichment sessions give your dog the extra attention they love and the freedom to use their senses and safely explore their instincts through interactive toys, puzzles, and games. It’s fun and rewarding and exercise their bodies and minds and engage their senses. Add complexity with fitness and agility equipment.
Central Bark is easily the best daycare/boarding facility in Madison. They have been attentive and very hands on through my dog’s entire life!! He has been going for 4+ years on a variety of schedules and I have never had a single instance where I couldn’t book a day of daycare or boarding.
Flick is particular, to say the least. To start, he’s very suspicious of strangers and every single employee over the years has taken the time to get familiar with him instead of forcing him along on a leash.
He’s also a reactive dog and has a hard time on lead around strangers and other dogs. This can get difficult dropping off and picking up. However, the team knows him and knows he needs space, so every time multiple people come in behind me, they confirm with me that they’re going to help other pet parents and bring Flick out when it’s cleared out. It sounds simple, but that consideration is such a huge stress relief for me and for him.
When Flick first started daycare, he was rubbing his nose raw on the top of his crate during downtime. Once I noticed it, I called the same day. Ever since then, they’ve put Flick in one of the boarding areas so he doesn’t do it again. A quick fix was much appreciated.
Speaking of boarding, every boarding experience we’ve had at Central Bark has been wonderful. I’m always able to get in, even on short notice. Most times, we’ll even get a Report Card!
Flick has a chicken allergy, lactose intolerance, and IBS. This lead to a lot of diet trialing, medications, and supplements. Central Bark offers an enrichment toy for your pup during downtime, but they have yogurt in them, so Flick could not partake. I make our own frozen Kong’s at home and bring one in each week. Flick has it and CB is nice enough to even clean the Kong. Flick is on a medication where he can’t eat anything, even treats, after 4pm. I called CB and they had no issue accommodating. When we board, I send pre-measured food baggies with his supplements, his medications, and sticky note with his schedule. They’re able to get him taken care of without a problem! He also has separate treats for group because at the time they were using cheese based treats (not sure if that is still the case), so I bring a Tupperware full of ours and they let me know when they need a refill.
The staff are absolutely amazing. I have yet to come across someone who isn’t thrilled each Wednesday when we walk in the door. I don’t know a lot of staff names (unfortunately) but they all deserve recognition! He drags me to the door each Wednesday morning and gets the wiggles no matter who he sees!
Flick is signed up on a monthly package to get his nails done. It’s definitely worth it to me, and much easier than trying to do them ourselves.
However, I have to speak specifically of Alyssa. She LOVES Flick truly beyond measure. She spends so much time with him, shows me extra pics, and always makes sure he’s having a good day. I want to preface with saying Flick is not a cuddler. I picked him up from boarding one day and Alyssa told me she went into his boarding suite and he crawled into her lap!!!!! He has never done that with me or my partner, and I am truly jealous. He loves her just as much as she loves him.
Lastly, I want to talk about the play groups. Flick has gone through at least 2 groups over the last few years. When he was younger, he was always playing so hard that he would come home tired for 2+ days after. Over the last year or so, that has evolved. He’s an Australian Cattle Dog and has definitely grown into the “herding/supervising” role that the breed is known for. He might even look a little grouchy. I believe he now spends his days with the puppies or the older crowd, keeping his eye on them. He’s more into panhandling for his treats and getting some pets than he is into playing these days. He’ll hang out with the other dogs a bit for a photo op, but you’ll probably catch him on a bed in the sun!!
Frequently Asked Questions
Selecting the right doggy day care is an important decision for you and your family. You want to make sure you find the right fit for your dog and your family’s needs. Follow these tips to find the perfect place for your pup!
Tour the day care center before leaving your dog there. We recommend visiting several centers in your area before making a final decision.
While you’re there, ask yourself:
- Is the play space clean, odor-free, comfortable, and safe for the center’s stated capacity?
- Pay attention to how the management and staff treat you, your dog, and the dogs in their care. Are they mature, knowledgeable, courteous, professional, and patient at all times?
- Note how the dogs respond to the staff – do they seem happy, relaxed, and excited? How do staff members greet and treat each dog?
- How do other dogs act during your visit – relaxed, happy, stressed, scared, or out of control?
- Is there a great deal of noise?
- Does the facility seem well organized and equipped with essential tools and supplies? Look for access to fresh, clean water, sanitation tools, ready access to treats to reinforce good behavior in playgroups, toys, secure fencing, rubber flooring in the inside play spaces, and access to outdoor play spaces.
- Are there enough crates for every dog on-site in case of an emergency?
- Are the dogs ever left alone together without a staff member present?
- Are the handlers engaged with the dogs in their care and actively working with them? Or are they sitting on the sidelines?
Questions to ask the doggy day care provider:
- Will my dog get individual attention time with staff?
Ask if staff will have time to work individually with your dog on behaviors, play with them, and give them support and love while at day care. - Are there small group play options?
Small playgroup options help ensure your dog will have a social environment that allows them the freedom and comfort to thrive based on their unique needs, preferences, and play styles. - What’s the daily schedule? Is this tailored to my dog’s unique needs and preferences?
Dogs thrive on routine, so the center should have a clear schedule for how things run every day. A consistent program tailored to your dog’s individual needs and style will promote a healthy and happy dog. - Are there regularly scheduled playtimes and nap times throughout the day?
Day care should offer your dog a safe and balanced day of play, learning, rest, and love so you can look forward to a happy, well-balanced dog at the end of every day. - How and where are the dogs’ given downtime to wind down from the day’s activities to help prevent exhaustion and overstimulation?
Maintaining a healthy balance of rest and play is important for the physical, mental, and social health of dogs. Just like human athletes, rest helps dogs avoid bodily injury and provides a space for them to unwind, so they do not become over-stimulated or over-aroused during play. This creates a much safer social environment for dogs. - Are there fenced and secure outdoor play areas?
Safe outdoor areas are important for a healthy, fun playtime. Whether it is romping in the snow or playing in swimming pools, everyone loves recess outside! - How are new dog introductions handled?
The center should clearly outline their procedures around new dog introductions, with effective policies that encourage happy, healthy, and lasting relationships and experiences. - What training does the staff receive?
Doggy day care staff should be professionally trained and educated in animal behavior, socialization, and obedience training to ensure every dog’s well-being. - Are the dogs supervised at all times?
A trained staff member should ALWAYS supervise dogs. - Ask about behavior management tools used at the facility while caring for the dogs. What happens if your dog does something right? What happens if your dog does something wrong?
Staff should use positive reinforcement and reward-based techniques to develop and reinforce behaviors that will enrich dogs’ lives at home and day care. Avoid centers that use punishment or correction to manage dog’s behavior as those techniques can create negative associations and fear. Utilizing reward-based techniques and positive reinforcement, on the other hand, can help build healthy relationships and happy experiences. - What provisions are there for avoiding dog scuffles?
Ask staff how they manage the dogs in their care. What do they look for in dog-dog interactions? How do they deal with emergencies and scuffles? How do they interrupt and redirect dogs? How do they build useful playgroup skills to keep the dogs safe proactively? Pay attention to how staff redirects dogs who need additional support to stay safe and whether they respond promptly and use effective strategies in these situations. - Is there an in-depth interview to determine relevant background, behavioral, and health information including confirmation of spay/neuter, proof of vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, etc.? How is this information kept up to date?
Find out what kind of assessments and evaluations the center uses before they accept a new dog. Also, every dog’s information should be regularly updated and kept on file to prevent illness and injuries. - Do they have safety, cleaning, and disinfecting policies and procedures? What are they?
Central Bark® Enrichment Doggy Day Care combines our industry-leading doggy day care expertise with the latest science-based activities and techniques. We personalize your dog’s day with fun, healthy, and well-balanced activities that appeal to their instincts and enrich their bodies, minds, and senses.
Each day at Central Bark includes exclusive options like:
- Flexible play groups allow us to match your dog each day with the social atmosphere and play schedule they can enjoy and benefit from most. This helps give them a healthy balance of play, rest, and learning and creates a safer social environment with a better quality of play. And our lower dog-to-staff ratios offer more individual attention, education, and love.
- Group play skills help dogs practice important behaviors and life skills like name recall, group sit, and calmly going in and out of doors and gates. These activities are fun and rewarding for your dog and help improve behavior and impulse control, prevent overstimulation, and creates a safer social environment.
- Rest Period Enrichments help dogs relax and recharge in their own private space with calming interactive toys and healthy food pairings tailored to their preferences and diet. It promotes physical and mental relaxation and can help them become more comfortable in crates by building positive associations.
- One-on-One Enrichment add-on sessions give your dog the personal attention they love, supplemented with interactive toys, puzzles, and games. Sessions are fun and rewarding, exercise their body and mind, and engage their senses. Add complexity with fitness and agility equipment.
- Training sessions during day care visits help your dog develop essential skills and behaviors like name recall, sit, stay, down, wait, leave-it, door and gate control, and loose-leash walking. Excellent for your dog and easy for you! Your dog will come home tired and well-socialized, with the training and skills they need to be a well-behaved member of your family.
Our top priority is the safety of every dog in our care. Our staff members are not only highly trained but also “fluent in dog speak,” which means they can read canine body language and behavior cues. Our rigorous dog day care safety protocols use a science-based positive reinforcement approach to constantly monitor and manage play. We believe in proactive and preventative care, working to de-escalate potential issues before they start, which is a key part of how dog day care handles disagreements and maintains a secure environment for all dogs.
Dog day care gives dogs a fun place to play with their friends while their owners are busy at home and work.
At Central Bark®, doggy daycare is our specialty, and nobody does it quite like us. We don’t just give dogs a place to play. We create a personalized program of activities that optimize your dog’s whole health – their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Central Bark goes beyond a traditional doggy day care with our unique Whole Dog Care philosophy. Our personalized approach helps enrich your dog’s whole health and well-being throughout their entire life so you can enjoy a healthy, happy, and loving life together.
The heart of our whole dog care approach is our Enrichment Doggy Day Care program. We combine Central Bark’s industry-leading doggy day care expertise with the latest dog behavior science. Our mission is to give dogs a balanced blend of exercise, social group play, learning, rest, and TLC. To help your dog be a healthy, happy, calm, and well-rounded member of your family.
Central Bark® Whole Dog Care
Our whole dog care approach offers a full range of fun and personalized products and services. To promote your dog’s physical, mental, and emotional health and happiness throughout their entire life.
