Health Update: Canine Cough

At Best Little Dog House, the health, safety, and well-being of the dogs entrusted to our care have always been among our highest priorities. We wanted to share a brief update about canine cough and the steps we're taking to maintain a healthy environment for our pups.

Canine cough is a general term for contagious respiratory illnesses in dogs, similar in concept to a cold or flu in humans. It can be caused by several different viruses and bacteria, and even vaccinated dogs can occasionally develop symptoms.

While we've experienced occasional cases over the years, we've recently received a higher-than-usual number of reports of canine cough among dogs who have visited our facility. We're taking this seriously and have implemented additional precautions to help minimize the potential for further spread.

Our Established Health & Safety Practices

Maintaining a healthy environment has always been an important part of our daily operations. Some of the preventive measures we routinely have in place include:

  • Vaccination Requirements: All dogs must be current on their Bordetella vaccination before participating in daycare, boarding, grooming, or even an initial meet & greet.

  • Health Monitoring & Screening: Our team monitors dogs for signs of illness, and dogs exhibiting potentially contagious symptoms are not permitted to check in.

  • Care for Dogs Exhibiting Symptoms: If a dog develops potentially contagious symptoms while staying with us, we'll promptly notify their owner and separate the dog from others to the best of our ability until the owner or an authorized emergency contact can arrange pickup.

  • Veterinary Patient Precautions: At Lucy's Veterinary Care, clients whose pets exhibit potentially contagious symptoms, such as coughing, sneezing, or nasal discharge, are instructed to remain in their vehicles and call upon arrival. Our veterinary team then escorts their pets directly into an exam room to minimize time spent in our shared lobby and reduce potential exposure to other pets.

  • Routine Cleaning & Disinfection: We follow established cleaning and sanitation protocols throughout our facility, including kennels, play areas, and shared equipment.

  • Air & Surface Sanitation: Approximately two years ago, we invested in Aerus air and surface sanitization technology throughout our building, including dedicated systems attached to all four of our HVAC units and two supplemental units.

  • Veterinary Expertise: Our close relationship with Lucy's Veterinary Care provides access to veterinary expertise and guidance on pet health and wellness.

Additional Precautions We're Taking

In response to the recent increase in cases, we've taken several additional steps to further strengthen our prevention efforts:

  • Enhanced Health Screening: We've introduced additional questions during check-in to help identify potential symptoms or recent exposure before dogs enter the facility.

  • Additional Cleaning & Disinfection: We've conducted extensive deep cleaning and are reinforcing our sanitation procedures throughout the facility.

  • Increased Air & Surface Sanitation: We've temporarily relocated our two supplemental Aerus units to our daycare and boarding areas to provide additional air and surface treatment in those spaces. We're also working closely with both our air and surface sanitization provider and HVAC professionals to inspect our systems, ensure all sanitizing components are operating properly, address any needed repairs, and replace HVAC air filters.

  • Additional Operational Precautions: We've strengthened procedures involving shared toys and equipment, outdoor play areas, and team member hygiene to further reduce opportunities for transmission.

  • Ongoing Monitoring & Veterinary Oversight: We're carefully tracking reported cases to help identify potential patterns. Dr. Kathy Baker of Lucy's Veterinary Care is actively involved in reviewing the situation and guiding our prevention and mitigation efforts.

Why Ongoing Prevention Matters

One of the challenges with canine cough is that dogs can carry and spread respiratory illnesses before showing any symptoms, sometimes for several days. This means that even thorough cleaning cannot completely eliminate the possibility of future exposure.

That's why our approach emphasizes multiple layers of ongoing prevention, including vaccination requirements, health screening, cleaning and disinfection, air and surface sanitation, and careful monitoring.

How You Can Help

We ask that you continue to monitor your pup for signs of respiratory illness, including coughing, sneezing, or nasal discharge.

If your dog is experiencing any of these symptoms, please keep them home and contact us before their next visit.We also appreciate hearing from you if your dog develops symptoms following a recent visit so we can continue monitoring potential cases.

Our Commitment to You

While no facility where dogs interact can completely eliminate the possibility of contagious respiratory illness, we're committed to taking thoughtful, proactive measures to minimize risks and maintain a healthy environment.

We continue to welcome pups for daycare, boarding, and grooming while maintaining our established health and safety practices and enhanced precautions.

We understand that your dogs are family, and we take the trust you place in us seriously.

If you have any questions or concerns, including about a pup currently staying with us or an upcoming reservation, our team is happy to help. You can reach us through any of the following:

Thank you for your continued trust and support. We look forward to seeing you and your pups soon!

Dr. Kathy Baker, DJ & The Best Little Dog House Team 🐾