Dear Scampers People –
Martin Luther King Day
Scampers will be open on Monday, January 16th, Martin Luther King Day. We are looking forward to seeing our Monday pooches … and their people!
Health Alert – Bordetella
Mark S., a family friend, reports that his pooch has been diagnosed with Bordetella, aka Kennel Cough. As he is a show dog, this pooch is not a Scampers camper, but he is a frequent visitor to one of the area’s most popular dog parks – in all likelihood, he contracted the disease from one of his playmates there. Bordetella has a long (7 – 10 day) incubation period, and is extremely contagious. Furthermore, the vaccine for Bordetella becomes less effective over time. As with most doggy daycares and boarding facilities in the region, Scampers requires attending dogs to be on a 6-month repeat cycle of the Bordetella vaccine. This is for the protection of your dog as well as all the other dogs in the Scampers community. If your dog was vaccinated more than 6 months ago, please be sure to schedule a booster shot as soon as possible. After Friday, January 20th, we will not be able to accept dogs whose vaccinations are overdue. We really do not want to turn anyone away at the door, so if you have new information for your dog’s file at Scampers, please forward a copy of the vaccination certificate to us as soon as possible.
Requesting Reservations
With Scampers Campers attending in the numbers we have been seeing recently, it’s all the more important that you please notify us in advance of your plans to bring your pooch. We do have some “drop in” space available, however, our roster must be limited by the number of staff we have on hand in order to maintain safe staff-to-camper ratios. With advance notice, we can schedule our staff so we can be sure to accommodate all your pooches. For those of you whose pooches’ attendance does not follow a pattern, notification by phone or email works best – you can “Reply” to these Weekly Recap Messages to get your notification to both Stina and Linda by email.
Pooch Health – a Cooperative Effort
Please remember your role in protecting the health of your own dog as well as all the Scampers Campers. If your dog is displaying symptoms that warrant veterinary care, please ask your veterinarian if or when return to a daycare environment is appropriate. Also, as a reminder, we maintain a policy that all Scampers campers must have current vaccinations. Please keep your dog’s vaccinations current, and ask your veterinarian to forward a copy of any updated vaccination records to Scampers via fax. Finally, please ask your vet to place your dog on a 6-month reminder cycle for bordetella (kennel cough), letting them know that your dog participates in daycare.
Photos and Video
We are posting videos on YouTube as well as Facebook, Flickr and the Scampers Blog. Take a tour from time to time to see if there are any new shots of your pooch in action.
Stina Hughes and
Linda Olsen, Partners