We are generally a bit wary of daycares. Too often, too many dogs are put together and there isn’t enough care put into trying to curate appropriate play groups. Instead of investigating daycares, we suggest looking at sites like Rover to see if you can find someone in your neighborhood who has a dog or two, and would be happy to welcome your dog into their home during the day. Social engagement with just one or two dog friends in a home-like environment can benefit many dogs more than hours on end with a mix of unknown dogs in a larger, not-necessarily-well-monitored space. In fact, depending on your dog and the situation, finding someone to just hang out with your dog, in your home or in their home, might benefit your dog more than a daycare! So you may see if you can find someone who works from home, or a teenager who wouldn’t mind doing homework in your home instead of their own.
If you do go the daycare route, see what kind of obstacles they put up in order for you to join. You want it to be slightly difficult. The more “exclusive” it is, the better the chances are that there will be a stable group of well-vetted dogs at the daycare. Better that then a place that has a lot of drop-ins, which can create an environment where dogs are constantly having to negotiate new social situations. You want a place more like Cheers: Wouldn’t you rather your dog hang out at a bar where every knows his name?!
Also keep an eye on the dog/person/space ratio. The more people interacting with dogs, the better. Ditto people per square foot. The larger a place is, the harder it is for a person to get to your dog quickly if your dog is on the other side of the room and needs attention. For that reason, sometimes smaller facilities score higher in my estimation: There is simply less room for a dog to get into trouble!