That is not our car Danni :)

Our senior pest control officer - Danni - is so cheeky as she jumped into someone else's car. 

She thinks she rules the roost and she probably does. She is phased by nothing and no one, not even the largest of dogs which may bark at her, she just smacks them.

She does a great job at keeping the "pests" under control but she and her assistant Missy do insist on bringing us all the dead bodies 

Keeping cool

I am so very pleased we have built the kennels as we have with a cool granite floor and roof from front to back as with the weather the way it is dogs can easily die from heat exhaustion but we are COOL

The self filling water dispensers are "worth their weight in gold" too as I need never worry about dehydration as the dogs always have water and cannot knock the bowls over

Some of our runs have trees for shade and we have erected a wooden fence to create additional shade but at afternoon let out we are very careful how long the dogs are our in the sunshine for, especially the black/chocolate.

We do sometimes put the hose on them and they love it, those who don't stand back but those who do jump, bite and play in the water. We have a couple of trays of water in the play pens too for them to splash and cool off in.

We have had many lovely dogs boarding with us and I thank their owners for continuing to support us.
I have met some very "tricky" dogs with quite tricky owners but I'm afraid they aren't welcome at Dogs Paws

A challenging winter

The boarding dogs and cats have all been warm enough as have their own heating in their own unit.

The self filling water dispensers have proved a little more challenging with the very low temperatures as the pipes froze and then popped apart on de frosting which surprised me as I thought the under floor heating would help through the night. I have he'd to resort to the "old fashioned" way of buckets to fill the water pots but repairs will soon be made and the automatic system in full swing yet again.

No real plans for this year in terms of building but improving what we have already. One job is double fencing all the runs, that way the dogs in neighbouring runs cannot get to each other, even if they wanted to.

We do enjoy what we do even in this inclement weather as the animals always make us smile

Cleaning, cleaning with a little painting in between :)

This is what we do at this time of year as dogs are so destructive and messy. We do, of course, on a daily basis clean but a deep clean is what will stop our kennels ever harbouring diseases or becoming smelly. We use a specialist detergent called Virkon too

We are quiet at the moment so it"s preparation for our next busy time which will be Christmas now

We are open 365 days a year and have quite a few pets to care for over the Christmas period as people go away or have family visiting so we get to care for their pets. 

What ever the reason we don't mind. The pets have a nice time and all are lovely and snug, the dogs have under floor heating the cats heat pads and they all get a Christmas treat too

Summer worked well with the extra dog runs. We now have 14 separate exercise areas which means we can have a lot of dogs out at the same time but not together. We have very strict policies as to who can safely go out with who so no one is put in any danger of having a fight. It also means all dogs in our care have a long period, twice a day to be out in a run playing, doing their business or what ever they like but not sat in solitary confinement  24/7

We do have a few small groups who will get along well together and it is so lovely watching them, having total freedom to run, play and wrestle then when they are back in their own unit they are quiet as tired. It makes the job worth while especially if we have had one in who starts off a little nervous but after time spent comes out of its shell and joins in the fun and goes home shattered

Phew!

Summer madness is almost over and we have been busy with lots of new and happy customers at the same time we maintain our standards and ensure our existing customers are happy too.

We have had a couple of tricky dogs in this year but it hasn't posed a problem as we now have so many different exercise areas to keep them at a safe distance from the rest and we very tight policies as to who, what breeds can go out together or need to be out alone. Even with the very sociable we never have more than 3/4 playing together and no dogs are ever left out unattended.

It has, as always been fun too. We have introduced a gold award scheme. The idea is that my staff take it in turns, on a weekly basis to award it to a dog. The usual criterion is those coming for the first time, who are quite nervous but settle well and leave having enjoyed themselves as this is important to me and my team.

At this time of year we focus on repairs and cleaning and making any improvements as necessary ready for our next busy period.

Dog fleas!!

For all we have many, many dogs in and out of our kennels we have never had any fleas.

A boarding dog came in with them recently thank goodness we have bult our kennels of materials fleas cannot live in and we have a rigorous cleaning policy as there were no fleas left behind.

The family are fumigating their house to rid there of them as well as the dog herself.

I do think the use if Frontline has made a difference as we seldom see any of the little kritters

Can you spot Missy?

Cats Whiskers, boarding for cats and small pets has an assistant, pest control officer

Missy