Just like people, animals need physical and mental activity, and good hygiene to
look and feel their best. Keeping up with your furry friend’s grooming needs along
with healthy socialization and enrichment activities is always a challenge and
winter poses even greater obstacles. Kedron Valley Boarding, Grooming and
Daycare is here to help and it all starts with offering free evaluations for both their
Pop-in Daycare Program and Grooming.
Let’s start with Hygiene. There is a bit of a misconception that we can relax our
grooming regimen in the winter to allow our dog’s winter coat to get longer,
thicker… warmer. Dogs do benefit from a long and/or thicker coat in the winter
but maintaining it can become challenging for pet parents as it often requires daily
maintenance to prevent matting. Matting occurs when the undercoat tangles and
knots, pulling on the skin causing skin irritation and in severe cases can even cut off
circulation. Longer hair may appear normal while the matting beneath becomes so
tight and widespread that when assessing your pet’s fur, the matt itself can be
mistaken as skin. Brushing out matts is painful for your pet and should never be
done with scissors as getting beneath the matt may be hard and identifying skin
difficult. Doing so often results in cutting the skin and a trip to the veterinarian for
stitches. Brushing the matts out may cause your dog too much pain and the only
alternative would be to clip them out with clippers at skin level. Minor matting in
small areas can be brushed out or trimmed if necessary while maintaining the
length of the remainder of the coat but this time of year, it is not uncommon for
groomers to have to remove matting in large patches – a process called pelting.
Regular bathing by a groomer and at home brushing routines that addresses your
pet’s entire body with the correct brushing tool for your dog’s type of coat is the
best prevention. Other helpful hints are making sure your dogs are dried
completely after they get wet, that feet are trimmed short and collars removed
overnight to reduce the risk of moisture buildup, hair loss and matting beneath the
collar.
Our Groomer, Mary Bovaconti, is noticing an increase of matted dogs coming in
recently so we would like to offer a brief, free evaluation when Mary will assess
your dog’s grooming needs with you so you understand your dog’s coat type and
what your dog requires for the healthiest coat possible. Should you choose to
bring your pet for grooming, after Mary grooms your dog and has an even better
idea of what you are working with for their coat condition and pup’s temperament
and tolerance of the process, she can then go over tools and practices you can do
at home between grooming and a maintenance schedule to reduce the risk of
needing to clip matts down the road. If you are interested in exploring this
opportunity, please call or email us. You may expedite the process by logging in to
our website at KedronBoarding.com and click on the Customer Portal tab to create
your personalized profiles for you and your pets.
With colder temperatures, slippery conditions and shorter days, dog parents
increasingly report high energy, difficulty redirecting, and poor behavior –
basically, Cabin Fever sometimes lasting well past your bedtime. Keeping up with
both physical and mental activity are important for our pet’s overall health.
Reduced activity in the winter can also cause weight gain which can contribute to
illness and injury. With Covid19, many dogs have had minimal or reduced
socialization both with both people and other dogs which contributes to fear,
aggression or simply undesirable behaviors both at home and when out in public.
Kedron Valley Boarding, Grooming and Daycare has two daycare programs. Last
fall, we eliminated our waiting list by creating the Pop-in Daycare Program. To
ensure we have room at our facility to meet the boarding needs of our community,
we announce our availability on Fridays of open daycare spaces for the upcoming
week. The Pop-in Daycare dogs may fill these slots on a first come, first serve
basis. Our amazing groups of pups spend several hours in the morning and
afternoon enjoying supervised play in our 3 outdoor play yards alternating with
indoor play when weather requires. Activities include ball play, tug of war, Frisbee,
chase, pool time in the summer, and special holiday events. During quiet time from
noon to 2pm the pups, recharge and take a nap. If they need extra mental
stimulation, for a small fee, we offer frozen Kong treats during our break time. We
offer full- or half-day Daycare options to meet your needs or budget.
Public dog parks can be a great way to consume energy, but daycare offers many
advantages dog parks cannot. Daycare programs like ours evaluate newcomers’
behaviors and cues before any social interaction occurs. Our regular dogs are
vetted for safety, play styles, and set the standard for the yard. Pop-in clients,
especially those with younger puppies, benefit from learning how to properly
interact with other dogs, ask for play, and create healthy relationships. Daycare is a
highly supervised environment which minimizes the risks posed at unknown dog
parks.
If you are interested in exploring this opportunity, please call or email us. You may
expedite the process by logging in to our website at KedronBoarding.com and click
on the Customer Portal tab to create your personalized profiles for you and your
pets.
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