Scampers Weekly Recap – March 4, 2016

Especially on busier days, your pooches love it when we can get them outside. This week, we have actually been able to stay outside for more than a few moments, although those outdoor runs have been so unpredictable with the early Spring giving us weird surprise storms and rain-showers and intermittent periods of glorious sunshine. Our wranglers are getting lots of practice moving groups of dogs in and out along our long runway - so much fun, so much excitement, and with very little preparation - whenever another deluge hits.

Pooch of the Month - March, 2016 - Congratulations, Jax R

Wow! This month's Pooch of the Month contest was hotly contested indeed!

Jax R is our winner, as he narrowly edged out our other two top contenders. Congratulations to Jax's very proud mom, Jennifer.

And, to recognize how close this battle was, Honorable Mentions go out to Cali O (above) and Flapjack (right)!

You can enjoy the entire album on our Facebook page.

Reservations, please!

We're filling up these days!

Please make sure you get your reservations into our system, whether via the GingrApp Portal, or by phone or email. We are also very happy to set up recurring appointments for our customers who have predictable schedules.

We have hit record numbers this week, and we've been very lucky to be able to have our pooches outdoors where the energy dissipates a little better.

(This picture is a little bit exaggerated, by the way. They all gathered around because they wanted to know what Amanda had in her hand.)

Did you know?

In 2006, the PETS Act (Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act) was signed in to law.

The PETS act requires that local and state emergency response plans include provisions for pet and service animal owners.

Despite the many lessons learned by professional rescue groups in the wake of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, local emergency response organizations are still struggling to acquire and store adequate supplies to care for the pet population in the greater Seattle area.

The best way to be prepared for you and your pets is to create a personal emergency plan. To get started, attend a free workshop here at Scampers on Saturday, March 12th! You’ll learn how to identify risk, keep yourself safe, and make your pooch comfortable, even under less-comfortable conditions.

Get a head start by visiting http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/disaster-preparedness.

Thanks to Elise Poston for this submission. Look for more Did You Know tidbits from Elise in future editions of Scampers Weekly Recap.

Community Emergency Preparedness Seminar
for Scampers Clients
at Scampers
Saturday, March 12, 2016
1:00 p.m. - 2:30

Last year, Elise Poston, weekly contributor of "Did You Know", CERT (Community Emergency Response) trainer and WASART (Washington State Animal Rescue) volunteer, and former Scampers wrangler, provided training for our staff in Community Emergency Preparedness - think earthquake, fire, flood - with your dogs in mind.

We were all so impressed with the seminar and so grateful for the information we received that we followed that up with a second seminar, this one for our clients, at no cost.

That seminar was well attended, but we heard from many of our clients that they were hoping we'd hold a second seminar for those who were unable to attend.

We have scheduled another seminar to be held on Saturday, March 12, at 1:00. If you would like to attend that seminar, please let us know.

Scampers Online Reservations and Account Management

Our online management system , otherwise known as GingrApp, is cooking along nicely now. If you wish, you are able to create your own login to make your reservations online for boarding and for daycare, upload photos and set up a credit card on file (encrypted to a fare-thee-well!) if you feel so inclined.

By the way, for users who have set up a credit card on file, you may use another card at any time, but please let us know before we run the transaction for you so that we can de-select that account.

Pooch need a spruce up?

Chris Sugarbaker of Cut-N-Run, mobile groomer extraordinaire will make his next visit to Scampers on Tuesday, March 15th.

His schedule really does fill up often, and while we'll try to squeeze everyone in, please make sure to get your request in early if your dog needs a spruce-up.

Give us a call to schedule an appointment for your pooch, or ...

If you've created your GingrApp identity, you can set up your reservations now on GingrApp. When you make your daycare reservation, you'll notice the option to select "Additional Services". Choose the service you'd like to add, then confirm by clicking the blue bar on the right, then choose the date (again), and choose from one of the times available.

Early Adopters? PupPod Now Available at Scampers!

PupPod is the new fun and training game for your dog that everyone is talking about.

We've launched the pilot PupPod program at Scampers, and have set up a PupPod in our boarding area for interested pooches to exercise their minds. You can sign up your pooch for a 1/2 hour's PupPod time - just let us know if you're interested in having your dog participate in the brain training with PupPod at Scampers.

We're learning that some dogs are very receptive to the PupPod, and find it a great distraction, especially for a couple of the dogs who are more prone to separation anxiety. And with all that brain work, they get good and tired!

If you're interested in seeing whether your pooch enjoys PupPod, let us know, and we'll add them to our schedule. Then, as soon as your pooch is introduced to PupPod play, we'll let you know so you can view them in action.

You'll be able to access their profiles on the PupPod website, and find links to the videos of your pooches' PupPod play as they are uploaded.

By the way, if you don't have one already, you can create a profile (link to helpful information here) and that's another way to let us know you'd like to add your pooch to the PupPod schedule for an upcoming Scampers visit.

Weekly Features

Have a Cuppa Joe in support of pet rescue

Hey all -- look for our coffee service each morning when you are dropping off. We're donating the coffee and trimmings to the cause. Any funds we take in for cups of coffee will be forwarded to Homeward Pet.

We hope you'll opt for a quick Cuppa Joe from right here at Scampers so we can all help support canine rescue efforts.

and... as promised, Debbie Jennings has contributed a lovely selection of St. Patrick's Day themed neckerchiefs, all available to you for a $5.00 donation to the Homeward Pet collection box.

Weekly Report - We are delighted to report that this week we collected $53.00 for Homeward Pet through our coffee fund and the sales of the St. Patrick's Day neckerchiefs. Thank you very much. We hope you enjoyed your coffee!

Friday Funny

Every once in a while we come across a dog-oriented joke.

This one's today's:

We often see our Scampers families driving by in their cars, but we haven't seen this kind of thing... yet.

Watch for the updates of our framed Friday Funny in our reception area.

We'll also make sure they're posted on our Facebook page so you can share them with your friends.

What's that smell?

Every once in a while one of our customers will notice there's a certain "Je ne sais quoi" about their dog, a certain aroma.

We use a few things inside our facility and you may be noticing one of those scents lingering on your pooches.

The first is an aromatherapy formula of calming essential oils. If dogs are becoming agitated, either with barometric changes or negative energy from over excited play within the group, we will sometimes spray it on our hands and then waft it around the play zone, as well as gently petting them under their chins to get the scent nearer their noses. We find that this method can be quite effective.

The second possibility - the scent may be coming from our Pure Citrus odor eliminating spray. We use this as anyone would in their own home. If a dog has an indoor accident and the air is quite foul as a result, we will use this spray to make the air more pleasant. We do not spray this on or near the dogs, rather high up in the air, but droplets will settle with gravity.

The third one, and less likely, as we don’t use it often, is citronella. Dogs absolutely hate that aroma. Our wranglers all have a cylinder of it on their person so that if a dog fight actually breaks out, we can spray the citronella to disperse the rest of the group away. Use of this one is quite rare here.

Finally, there is one other thing that could be occurring. Our outdoor yard is all solid-surface. Dogs will eliminate anywhere out there. When they do, our wranglers pick up and clean up with disinfectant and water. Further, the yard gets a thorough cleaning each night with a solution to break down any residuals. However, given our dog population, we can’t completely stop them from sometimes laying down or traipsing through where things are not as clean as we humans might prefer. Our own dogs will often come home a little bit ripe from the same thing. It is common with any dog daycare because of the very nature of what dogs do. However, we feel that the dogs enjoy a full day of outdoor play is a reasonable trade-off.

Canine Influenza: H3N2 and H3N8
There are continued concerns about canine influenza, both H3N8 and H3N2, in Washington state.

Please remember to set up an appointment with your veterinarian immediately if you see symptoms - runny nose, coughing, lethargy...

Treatment is simple, but containing the contagion is not. So, of course, that also means you should keep him away from places (like Scampers!) where there are other dogs until your vet has given you the all-clear.

Heard 'round the water bowl

We're a pretty close knit group of pooches - we form strong friendships, and we get to know each other very well. When we new pooches join us, we love to introduce them around and get them started in their Scampering adventures - that's why they call us the "Welcome Waggin".

We love welcoming all the new pooches, and we've introduced a bunch of newbies this week too...

This week, we welcomed Kaylee and Flynn, who have just moved into the area from Ohio. They're pretty savvy, daycamp-wise, and lots of fun, so it was an easy job to get them up to speed on the way we run and play at Scampers - pretty much the same way they run and play in Ohio, it turns out! We didn't even notice an accent!

We were very pleased to welcome Sophie C back into the Littles after her long bout with ill health. We're so pleased to see that she's doing very much better.

Hey, Peeps, don't forget, if you're curious about how we spend our days and you're not quite sure what those report cards really mean, you can watch the adventures in the photos and videos our wranglers are posting on the Scampers Facebook page.

There's also a ScampersDogs channel on YouTube where you'll find all kinds of fun videos, and we update that selection periodically.

Scampers Boarding Facility

Our boarding facility has very been busy this year, especially over the holidays and long weekends. Remember to get your boarding requests in early to make sure there's room enough for your pooches.

Samson is a frequent Scampers boarder. Here he is greeting the morning staff with his great big grin!

Send us your pix

Every once in a while we receive a photo from one of our customers showing us what their beloveds are doing after their day at Scampers.

We're always looking for new material but we have some classics to share:

Tired Dog Series...

Apparently, young English Setter Leica is getting lots of exercise when she comes to Scampers. Here's what she looks like at home.

Here's Tillie H giving us her impression
of a tired poodle. Too pooped to notice
her lovely rawhide chewy.

We loved this shot of Sadie - the look on her face says that she's not pleased that her belly rub got interrupted for the sake of a camera.

Like many pooches, Swiffer enjoys the world through an open car window, even if he so tired after his Scampers day that he sleeps through it!

Bliss is a place to rest my head, a hand to stroke my neck.

It's a dog's life

This category of owner-contributed pics features dogs enjoying their extracurricular fun.

This is where we'll post the pics we've received of your pooches enjoying summer vacations, beach roaming, ball games, and any other such general exploring.

In his off-Scampers time,
Odie is a therapy dog -
he's such a great listener.

Little Miss Chomchom is all dressed up and ready for her tromp around Whistler.

These boots are made for walking!

Murphy C surveys his domain!

Luna Blue Pit is learning to enjoy her kid sister's attention. Emily is learning that Luna's a great big sister.

The real reason

We have also received some great shots documenting "The Real Reason" you bring your furkids to Scampers.

Fenris finds his Scampers time not only a great time to bond with his good friends of the canine variety, but also as a much needed escape from his new friend of the feline variety.

The famous Odie is at it again.
Mr. Champion Counter Surfer has his eye on the beautiful beignet!

Pretty Abby G is a very helpful pooch indeed. This lovely picture shows her effort at helping to unpack mysterious things at the office.

Canine Nosework Classes at Scampers

Dogs have an incredible sense of smell and an inborn desire to hunt. The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop the natural scenting abilities of your dog by using their passion for hunting and their love of toys, food and exercise.

It's a great class for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy and you get to find out just how good your dog's nose is.

Vicki Francks, owner of Cascade Canines continues offering K9 Nose Work Classes using Scampers facility. If you'd like some information on the next round of classes, give Vicki a call at 206-849-7643. More information is also available as Scampers front desk.