Boarding Your Dog

During the summer months many individuals and families love to travel, but owning a dog and traveling is something that takes planning and creativity. Over the next few days/weeks I will be focusing on different things you may encounter when it comes to vacation planning as a dog owner.

If you decide not to bring your pet on your trip, you have a few options – leave your dog with a friend or family member, hire a dog sitter to come to your house multiple times a day, hire a dog sitter to keep your dog in their house for the duration of your trip, or use a boarding kennel (many veterinarians also provide boarding services).

Finding the right boarding kennel can be a scary and daunting task, but hopefully these questions will help you weed through all of the kennels in your area, and ensure you board your pet at a reputable kennel that will take excellent care of your beloved dog.

If you need to board your pet while you travel, there are several considerations in choosing a boarding facility. East Lake Veterinary Hospital in Dallas, TX (www.welovepets.net) provides their clients with the following questionnaire to help evaluate facilities:

1. How often and with what disinfecting agents are the pet’s quarters cleaned?

2. What type of bedding material is provided?

3. Are pets walked to eliminate and exercise? If so, where?

4. What type of walking surface is provided? Inside or outside?

5. Does the facility require current immunizations, especially bordetella (kennel cough)?

6. What steps are taken to assure that pets are healthy and parasite free?

7. What diet is provided by the facility?

8. Are staff members trained to monitor pets? Give medications?

9. What protocols are in place to provide medical care in the event of an unexpected illness, injury, or emergency?

10. Are pets kept in separate quarters, or is there a community area where pets intermingle?

11. Are separate cat and dog quarters available?

12. How is noise controlled in the facility?

13. Is ventilation good and temperature comfortable?

14. If community playtime is offered, do trained staff members supervise it? If so, what is the staff per pet ratio during this time?

15. How are pets screened for temperament and socialization skills for interaction with other pets?

16. Are the check-in and checkout times convenient?

17. Are there additional charges for medicating or exercising your pet or feeding a special diet?

18. What additional amenities (such as TVs, music, etc) are offered to make your pet comfortable and feel more at home?

19. Is the pet’s environment generally comfortable?

Preventative Medicine

There are a lot of preventatives out there that many pet owners chose to use to best take care of their pets – regular vaccines, heartworm and parasite preventatives, and flea and tick preventatives are some of the most popular. There is debate as to whether or not these do more harm than good, but the general consensus is use them if you are in an area with a high prevalence of heart worm (caused by mosquitoes), fleas or ticks (ticks can cause Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses) then you should use them.

Personally, I use heartworm preventative monthly, but only use flea/tick preventative in the fall, spring and summer. I do feel that doing a limited flea/tick preventative means I have to be that much more diligent about checking for fleas and ticks, and testing annually for Lyme and other tick borne illnesses, but I also worry about putting toxins on my dog.

There is even an entire movement to stop vaccinating dogs, or vaccinate on a limited schedule – I support limited vaccination, or simply not over vaccinating. In many states the rabies vaccine must be administered annually, even though this vaccine is good for three years of protection. Some states have caught onto the risks associated with over vaccination, and are now recognizing the three-year rabies vaccine. Last year I chose to use the new Lyme vaccine, and now looking back on it I’m not sure if I would make that same choice today having learned more about the risks associated with this particular vaccine, and over vaccinating in general. It’s hard, because I live in an area where Lyme disease is extremely prevalent (I myself have had Lyme twice, and both times were from Virginia ticks), but at the same time having learned the risks of the vaccine I question this decision.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many wonderful things to using preventative medicine, and the good tends to far out way the bad, but do do your research, and don’t over-do-it with the preventatives.

When it comes to acquiring your flea/tick or heartworm preventatives the safest place to guarantee an authentic product is from your veterinarian’s office. I believe all heartworm preventatives require a prescription and/or annual heartworm blood test, and some brands of flea/tick preventatives are only available through veterinarians, but do not require an RX.

However, getting these products from your vet can be expensive. Often the vet has already marked up the prices to cover shipping charges, etc. You must be careful before ordering online, as there are many imitators out there selling counterfeit products, but here are some reputable sites to buy these products at a lower cost to you, the consumer.

EntirelyPets.com has great prices on a variety of medications and supplements, and they give even greater discounts when you buy in bulk. 1-800 Pet Meds is also a legitimate resource for these products. You can also find these products at SmartPak.com for less than some veterinarians sell them. I would avoid turning to eBay, Amazon.com or small unknown companies to buy these products, as there is a risk of buying any medication online.