April's K911 Academy

April's K911 Academy provides supervised dog daycare and dog training in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at 2735 Desert Wind Way. The daytime program is called Support Therapy Playcare, and it runs on structured group play rather than kennel time. Dogs work on boundaries and get practice around other dogs under supervision.

What's offered

• Support Therapy Playcare, supervised daytime playcare
• Beginner, intermediate, and advanced obedience classes
• Behavior modification for reactive, shy, and aggressive dogs
• Grumpy Dog evaluations and workshops
• Peeps2Pups K9 energetic connection workshops

Who it fits

Plenty of daycares want easygoing dogs only. A good share of the work here points the other way, toward dogs their owners describe as reactive, shy, or grumpy. Grumpy Dog evaluations and workshops sit alongside the regular obedience track, so an owner can start with an assessment before committing to a full class. Obedience runs in three levels, beginner through advanced, which gives a dog somewhere to go after the basics stick.

The outdoor space

The play area is built for desert weather: shade, room to run, tunnels, and toys, plus pools in the summer. For a Las Cruces dog, shade and water are the difference between a good afternoon and a miserable one.

Hours, rates, and booking

Posted hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Daycare pricing published on the academy's site runs $18 to $20 per day. Booking happens by phone at (575) 635-9888. The academy also posts on Facebook and YouTube, which is a reasonable way to get a feel for how the trainer works before scheduling.