Join us at Whiskey River in the EpiCentre on June 1st from 6pm-9pm for the Third Annual Family Addition Dog Rescue Fundraiser!
Admission of $25 includes: food provided by Brixx Woodfired Pizza, unlimited non-alcoholic drinks, a silent auction, goodie bags, and a lot of great company!
Q: I am trying to get my dog from jumping on people. He gets very excited and loves attention. But the jumping needs to stop.
Please help!
A: I think a lot of people are in your situation...
Dogs do like to jump up! Most of the time dogs jump on us to be close to our faces as it is a form of greeting behavior. Unfortunately jumping dogs can tear our clothing, knock over children or older people, scratch or bruise and generally be considered a nuisance.
The good news - it’s easy to fix!
There are several things you can do with any behavior your dog exhibits, and for jumping we’re going to replace the behavior. Instead of jumping your dog is going to learn that calm behavior will be rewarded. Here are eight easy steps to a dog who will greet people politely.
YOU WILL NEED:
One Jumping Dog
A six foot leash
A plain buckle or martingale collar
A bowl of treats
A safe place to tie the end of the leash
Some cooperative family and friends
STEP ONE: Put a plain or martingale collar on your dog. This collar should not be a slip or pinch collar. You can use a body harness if it fits your dog securely. Please don’t use a head halter to do this training.
STEP TWO:Attach the six foot leash to a secure, safe place for your dog. This can be anywhere but your dog should be able to see the door. Examples include: attach the leash to a stair rail, door knob or large sofa.
STEP THREE:Place a bowl of treats near the dog but not so close he or she can reach them. You can use your dog’s regular dog food for treats.
STEP FOUR:Lead your dog, gently, over to the leash and attach the collar to the leash.
If you have behavioral questions about your dog(s), send them our way!
It can be about anything at all...chewing, biting, housetraining, walking, barking! Each month we'll sort through all of the questions that we receive and our wonderful and brilliant trainer, Susan Greenbaum from Barking Hills Country Club, will choose one to respond to.
Izzie T is affectionately called "Tis-Tis" by her mom, and comes running in the lobby in the morning to give us either a high-five or high-ten! She loves to snuggle and gives great hugs, but don't let this fool you - she's a tomboy at heart! Whether she's wrestling, swimming in the pool, or playing chase in the yards, it's always with one of her many boyfriends!
Memorial Day is right around the corner. Please make your reservations as far in advance as possible to ensure a spot for your pooch!
...and don’t forget, requests for Boarding Reservations can be made online right from our website. Check it out!
It’s Approaching That Time!
The nice weather seems to have arrived and with it, more dogs are out in public at dog parks, vets, groom shops, daycares, boarding facilities, etc. Naturally, that means that it’s a time when canine cough becomes more commonplace. So it’s as important as ever that all of us are diligent in keeping our pups vaccinated and educating ourselves on canine cough.
There has been some confusion lately as to how often the Bordatella vaccine needs to be given. So it’s important that as a responsible pet care provider, we help you to understand our policy on the Bordatella vaccine and the reasons for our policy. While some veterinarians only require the vaccine to be administered annually, we DO require that the Bordatella vaccine be administered every 6 months.
Why do we require the vaccine every six months?
Veterinarians give all different kinds of bordatella vaccines made by a bunch of different manufacturers. Some are good for 6 months, some are good for 1 year, some are given intranasally, some are not. Some vets say that an intranasal shot is more effective than the intramuscular one. Some say the Bordatella vaccine is effective the moment it is given, some say wait 24 hours before it's effective, some say two days, some say two weeks. Some say it depends on the method and the vaccine. I’ve even heard “a month” before it is effective! The differences are amazing, huh? A lot depends on both the veterinarian and the manufacturer of the vaccine.
How susceptible is your dog?
In addition to all of this, dogs vulnerabilities to illnesses vary tremendously based on a number of different variables. Younger dogs, older ones, and ones with compromised immune systems, for example, are not as capable of resisting certain illnesses and viruses as...say...a healthy and active mature dog. There are a lot of variables at play that make every dog's ability to stay healthy in an environment like ours different.
More dogs, more germs...It's the nature of the beast.
It’s important to keep in mind that in an environment like ours (or any doggie daycare), there are more dogs in a smaller area which, in turn, means more germs, viruses and other things that dogs are exposed to in more concentrated volumes, and more frequently than they are in other environments. It's the nature of the beast. It’s similar to children going to child daycare or school. They too are exposed to a lot more than they might be if they didn't go to school. That's why the flu vaccine and now even the H1N1 are mandatory in most schools at certain ages.
How contagious is it?
Let’s add yet another ingredient to the mix: just like the flu is very contagious during flu season, canine cough is very contagious always...especially in a doggy daycare/kennel where dogs are constantly coming and going. The incubation period is 3 to 10 days which means dogs could be contagious without showing signs for 3 to 10 days. That can translate to lots of doggies getting sick without anyone knowing until it the situation has spread. Customers get angry that their dogs are sick and think it's the fault of the pet care facility for faulty business practices when in fact this is far from the truth. Customers then have to spend lots of money at the vet when their dogs get sick, and they can’t bring their dog back to daycare/boarding for several weeks. As you can see, the consequences of getting canine cough are far more expensive and inconvenient for both your pet care provider and for each dog owner and their dog(s) than the inconvenience of getting the vaccine every 6 months.
For us, safety is paramount.
Our job as a pet care provider is and always will be to ensure that despite this all, we ensure that our guests are as safe as possible and we do what we need to in order to minimize the chance of illness.
So the short of it all is this:
1) There are a ton of variables the affect the vulnerability of each of our guests to canine cough.
2) There are a bunch of variables that cause vets to have different philosophies on the effectiveness and duration of their particular vaccine.
3) The environment that we provide has more inherent risks than others, in terms of canine cough.
4) Again, the consequences of getting canine cough are far more expensive and inconvenient for both us and each dog owner than the inconvenience of getting the vaccine every 6 months. In fact, many vets are now giving 6 month vaccines instead of 1 year vaccines.
Keep in mind that all of our policies are veterinarian recommended and a tremendous amount of thought has been put into them. So despite the fact that some vets suggest only vaccinating for canine cough annually, it's our duty to be safer than we may need to in order to ensure the well being of every one of our doggy guests that is ultimately at stake.
I hope all this makes sense. To avoid any confusion, you can find all of our vaccination requirements right on our website.
Sammy is a great girl who participates in daycare every single day at our New Jersey facility and absolutely LOVES it! Sammy is a pit/boxer mix and full of love and energy. She is extremely loyal and looking for her forever home. Until then, she continues to spend her days socializing with her friends in daycare. Sammy is spayed and up to date on all her vaccinations.
For more information on Sammy, please email info@thebarkerlounge.com.
Join us on May 5th at Independence Park for the Humane Society of Charlotte's Pet Palooza!
A: I think a lot of people are in your situation...
The good news - it’s easy to fix!
Izzie T is affectionately called "Tis-Tis" by her mom, and comes running in the lobby in the morning to give us either a high-five or high-ten! She loves to snuggle and gives great hugs, but don't let this fool you - she's a tomboy at heart! Whether she's wrestling, swimming in the pool, or playing chase in the yards, it's always with one of her many boyfriends!
Memorial Day is right around the corner. Please make your reservations as far in advance as possible to ensure a spot for your pooch!
...and don’t forget, requests for Boarding Reservations can be made online right from our 
It’s Approaching That Time!
Why do we require the vaccine every six months?
