Post by robynsa on Dec 31, 2014 8:19:34 GMT -5
I hope you guys don't mind me posting this here, but I do think of it as a 911 as I am caring for other people's dogs and I am afraid that I am doing something very wrong in the management of the kennels. In short, I have now (in the past 4 months) had 4 dogs requiring Metronidazole (Flagyl) and an anti-inflammatory. In all 4 cases the dogs have presented with diarrhea (with or without blood), straining to defecate and in one case, a belly ache too. In one case (no diarrhea or blood present) the dog seemed to collapse her hind end. She came right with Synulox and something else (it was a slightly different case and I wasn't told by that vet - not my usual vet - of any protozoa). Yesterday I took one in to the vet because she has been steadily losing weight - her owners last wormed her 6 months+ ago (they told me yesterday) and the main culprit was worms, but there were protozoa present under fecal flotation. The one today had a blocked anal gland and an irritated bowel, with protozoa present under fecal flotation. One tested positive for Giardia a few months back. And one had a sore belly, but vets couldn't diagnose anything wrong with him, however he was subsequently PTS due to tumours relating to spirocerca lupi.
Ok - now that I've typed that all out, I do realise it is only 5 dogs out of 60+ who have come for boarding and daycare probably 20 days this year each on average, so likely only a small percentage of dogs, but I don't know how excited the owners will be if I say, "Hey, don't worry, your sick dog's only in the tenth percentile!!"
I drew up a kennel protocol management document, which I sent to my vet a few minutes ago. On that note, my vet's opinion of it when we've been speaking face to face is that things like Giardia are ever-present, everywhere, not all dogs are symptomatic - likewise with most bacteria and protozoa and worms to a degree. In the past two years our own dogs have not needed to see the vet for illness or upset - just things like breaking their legs and being bumped by cars I try to remind customers to deworm their dogs before they come but in all the cases I've taken to the vet this year, the owners couldn't recall when last they'd wormed their dogs, and all of the dogs have access to rivers, dog parks and the like.
The kennel protocol, exactly as it is detailed, has been practiced since July this year.
Here is a link to our public Facebook page (you don't need to have a Facebook account to view) with pictures from this year and last year: www.facebook.com/pages/Farm-Girls-Doggy-Daycare-Everything-DOG/203722263030762?sk=photos_stream&ref=page_internal
I've pasted the protocol document below.
Is there something I am missing, and am I making these dogs sick through carelessness in some way? I'd really appreciate some pragmatic responses to this - you guys have a ton of knowledge and understand the livestock/pet relationship probably better than most.
PS: regarding the deworming mentioned in the article, I only deworm the animals (I mean our own pets and livestock) if they seem to need it (looking unthrifty, acting "off" and always do post-partum) - I don't blanket-deworm except at the end of winter when grazing is virtually non-existent.
KENNEL MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL
As of 1 July 2014
General
• We accept a maximum of 26 dogs at any time – our seasonal periods are school holidays and public holidays, when we are full, and through the rest of the year we sit at between 30% and 50% occupation
• The property is 25000 square metres in size of which approximately 1500 square metres is dedicated to containment of visiting dogs (apart from off leash walks)
• Dogs are exercised according to their needs; some dogs run with the quad bike at a fair pace, some go for sedate walks, some don’t like to leave the pens
• None of the containment areas were previously used for livestock apart from occasional grazing
• Dogs should be dewormed and have had tick spot/collars applied prior to arrival
• Owners supply own food – should the food run out, we will buy the same type of food and bill the customer for it
• We spray the dogs with Buzz Off citronella fly spray once a day before they exit their kennels – some dogs get a second spray in the day if they are carrying a heavy fly load
• As of today (31 December 2014) we will deworm all dogs on arrival
Kennels
10 x kennels plus 2 x overflow kennels
• Earth floor
• Wire mesh from ground level to 1.8m
• Shade net over part of the top
• Houses constructed of roof sheeting (some cement, some corrugated iron) – 1.2m x 1.2m interior size
• Doorways facing away from the direction of the rain
• 2 overflow kennels constructed completely from pallet wood with corrugated roof and mesh gate (only used during peak periods)
• Beds - feed sacks stuffed with wood shavings (replaced every 3 months or when needed); blankets added in winter
• Stainless steel bowls
• Food bowls washed twice a day in hot water with Sunlight liquid
• Water bowls washed once a day in hot water with Sunlight liquid
• Kennels sprayed with high concentration of Jeyes Fluid once a week (and when needed)
• Dogs eat all meals in kennels
• Dogs in kennels 16h00 to 07h15
• Dogs stay in same kennel for duration of stay
• Dogs from the same household share a kennel unless they have issues
• Single dogs share kennels with other single dogs
• Kennels house a maximum of two large breed dogs or 4 small (Jack Russell size) dogs
• Kennels closed to dogs during the day
• Poo and waste collected 08h30 daily
• Blankets and jerseys washed in washing machine, with detergent
Pens
5 pens - combined size +/- 1500 square metres, consisting of one large communal pen, 2 medium sized pens and 2 small pens
• Communal pen – dogs in 07h15 to 10h15 then 15h00 to 16h00 daily
• Smaller pens – dogs in 10h15 to 15h00 daily in social groups
• If no new arrivals or departures on the day, dogs spend all day in the Communal pen with the gates to the smaller pens left open
• Pen time broken by one or two walks on the whole property each day
• Stainless steel water bowls washed once daily, refilled throughout the day
• Plastic paddle pools washed once daily, refilled throughout the day
• Toys and hoofies in pens
• No food given in pens
• Dog poo and waste collected 11h00 and 16h00 daily
• No livestock in pens
• Dogs requiring isolation for health reasons or behavioural issues are put into the courtyard at the side of our house, facing our lawn (no contact possible with other boarding dogs)
Other
All livestock and resident pets and working animals are dewormed quarterly with Dectomax/Valbazen/Mediworm/etc)
• 10 cows, mostly graze at other properties
• 3 horses resident – paddocks accessible to dogs
• 4 pigs resident – 3 pens - not accessible to dogs
• 2 goats resident – not accessible to dogs
• 6 free ranging bantam chickens that stay near the barn/horses
• 5 geese – free range at night only – manure not collected unless in common areas
• All livestock and resident dog manure collected minimum once/daily
• Swimming pool used by dogs, kept in good order with chlorine and copper sulphate
• Dogs are stopped from eating any sort of manure
• Dogs cannot access pig pens, cattle night kraal or laying hen coop
• No dead carcasses (rats/birds/etc) accessible
• 3 x barn cats and 3 x pet cats
• Many wild bird species (plover, hadeda, egrets, small birds)
• Grass around house and in all pens kept between 5-10cm in summer (very little grass in winter); longer grass on the rest of the property kept for grazing animals
• Sealed septic tank
• All manure is put into manure heap and collected by a compost company as well as used in our gardens
Van
• Cleaned with Jeyes Fluid once a week, more if there is a mess
Ok - now that I've typed that all out, I do realise it is only 5 dogs out of 60+ who have come for boarding and daycare probably 20 days this year each on average, so likely only a small percentage of dogs, but I don't know how excited the owners will be if I say, "Hey, don't worry, your sick dog's only in the tenth percentile!!"
I drew up a kennel protocol management document, which I sent to my vet a few minutes ago. On that note, my vet's opinion of it when we've been speaking face to face is that things like Giardia are ever-present, everywhere, not all dogs are symptomatic - likewise with most bacteria and protozoa and worms to a degree. In the past two years our own dogs have not needed to see the vet for illness or upset - just things like breaking their legs and being bumped by cars I try to remind customers to deworm their dogs before they come but in all the cases I've taken to the vet this year, the owners couldn't recall when last they'd wormed their dogs, and all of the dogs have access to rivers, dog parks and the like.
The kennel protocol, exactly as it is detailed, has been practiced since July this year.
Here is a link to our public Facebook page (you don't need to have a Facebook account to view) with pictures from this year and last year: www.facebook.com/pages/Farm-Girls-Doggy-Daycare-Everything-DOG/203722263030762?sk=photos_stream&ref=page_internal
I've pasted the protocol document below.
Is there something I am missing, and am I making these dogs sick through carelessness in some way? I'd really appreciate some pragmatic responses to this - you guys have a ton of knowledge and understand the livestock/pet relationship probably better than most.
PS: regarding the deworming mentioned in the article, I only deworm the animals (I mean our own pets and livestock) if they seem to need it (looking unthrifty, acting "off" and always do post-partum) - I don't blanket-deworm except at the end of winter when grazing is virtually non-existent.
KENNEL MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL
As of 1 July 2014
General
• We accept a maximum of 26 dogs at any time – our seasonal periods are school holidays and public holidays, when we are full, and through the rest of the year we sit at between 30% and 50% occupation
• The property is 25000 square metres in size of which approximately 1500 square metres is dedicated to containment of visiting dogs (apart from off leash walks)
• Dogs are exercised according to their needs; some dogs run with the quad bike at a fair pace, some go for sedate walks, some don’t like to leave the pens
• None of the containment areas were previously used for livestock apart from occasional grazing
• Dogs should be dewormed and have had tick spot/collars applied prior to arrival
• Owners supply own food – should the food run out, we will buy the same type of food and bill the customer for it
• We spray the dogs with Buzz Off citronella fly spray once a day before they exit their kennels – some dogs get a second spray in the day if they are carrying a heavy fly load
• As of today (31 December 2014) we will deworm all dogs on arrival
Kennels
10 x kennels plus 2 x overflow kennels
• Earth floor
• Wire mesh from ground level to 1.8m
• Shade net over part of the top
• Houses constructed of roof sheeting (some cement, some corrugated iron) – 1.2m x 1.2m interior size
• Doorways facing away from the direction of the rain
• 2 overflow kennels constructed completely from pallet wood with corrugated roof and mesh gate (only used during peak periods)
• Beds - feed sacks stuffed with wood shavings (replaced every 3 months or when needed); blankets added in winter
• Stainless steel bowls
• Food bowls washed twice a day in hot water with Sunlight liquid
• Water bowls washed once a day in hot water with Sunlight liquid
• Kennels sprayed with high concentration of Jeyes Fluid once a week (and when needed)
• Dogs eat all meals in kennels
• Dogs in kennels 16h00 to 07h15
• Dogs stay in same kennel for duration of stay
• Dogs from the same household share a kennel unless they have issues
• Single dogs share kennels with other single dogs
• Kennels house a maximum of two large breed dogs or 4 small (Jack Russell size) dogs
• Kennels closed to dogs during the day
• Poo and waste collected 08h30 daily
• Blankets and jerseys washed in washing machine, with detergent
Pens
5 pens - combined size +/- 1500 square metres, consisting of one large communal pen, 2 medium sized pens and 2 small pens
• Communal pen – dogs in 07h15 to 10h15 then 15h00 to 16h00 daily
• Smaller pens – dogs in 10h15 to 15h00 daily in social groups
• If no new arrivals or departures on the day, dogs spend all day in the Communal pen with the gates to the smaller pens left open
• Pen time broken by one or two walks on the whole property each day
• Stainless steel water bowls washed once daily, refilled throughout the day
• Plastic paddle pools washed once daily, refilled throughout the day
• Toys and hoofies in pens
• No food given in pens
• Dog poo and waste collected 11h00 and 16h00 daily
• No livestock in pens
• Dogs requiring isolation for health reasons or behavioural issues are put into the courtyard at the side of our house, facing our lawn (no contact possible with other boarding dogs)
Other
All livestock and resident pets and working animals are dewormed quarterly with Dectomax/Valbazen/Mediworm/etc)
• 10 cows, mostly graze at other properties
• 3 horses resident – paddocks accessible to dogs
• 4 pigs resident – 3 pens - not accessible to dogs
• 2 goats resident – not accessible to dogs
• 6 free ranging bantam chickens that stay near the barn/horses
• 5 geese – free range at night only – manure not collected unless in common areas
• All livestock and resident dog manure collected minimum once/daily
• Swimming pool used by dogs, kept in good order with chlorine and copper sulphate
• Dogs are stopped from eating any sort of manure
• Dogs cannot access pig pens, cattle night kraal or laying hen coop
• No dead carcasses (rats/birds/etc) accessible
• 3 x barn cats and 3 x pet cats
• Many wild bird species (plover, hadeda, egrets, small birds)
• Grass around house and in all pens kept between 5-10cm in summer (very little grass in winter); longer grass on the rest of the property kept for grazing animals
• Sealed septic tank
• All manure is put into manure heap and collected by a compost company as well as used in our gardens
Van
• Cleaned with Jeyes Fluid once a week, more if there is a mess