We realize that we are not limited to just educating our fur parents about dog behaviour and socialization, It is also our duty to educate you on canine health.
Because canine cough can be a challenge, we have put together some information for each of you to read.
Dog safety is number one in our facility. By helping you understand the truth about kennel cough and being willing to talk about it, we believe you can help us and the surrounding dog community be better informed and keep dogs safe and healthy.
The Truth about Canine Cough
Canine Cough is equivalent to a common cold or flu. As some of our children come home from school with a cold sometimes our fur-kids may catch a cold. With proper education, the current WT procedures and proper veterinary treatment of our dogs, we can reduce exposure as much as possible.
Canine Cough is a common ailment in dogs. It is caused by an airborne virus and highly contagious. Just as humans contract illnesses, canine cough can be caught by being exposed to areas where infected dogs have been.
We do not manufacture Canine Cough it is brought into our facility by one of our furry friends.
When an infected dog coughs, sneezes, barks– just once – he releases thousands of microscopic contaminates into the air. The bacteria and viruses can remain viable (alive and able to infect) in the air for up to 2 weeks on tiny dust particles, traveling throughout the environment until inhaled by another host.
If an infected dog drinks from a watering dish, picks up a toy or stick, or hikes his leg on a post, and another dog comes in contact with these objects, he will most likely contract Canine Cough. Bacterium like Bordetella can survive on surfaces for up to 48 hours, ready and waiting to be transmitted to another unsuspecting host to continue the cycle of infection.
If a dog is suspected to have this illness, he must be isolated immediately.
Symptoms:
- Dry, “non-productive” cough. Sounds a bit like a honking noise
- Coughing and gagging
- Abnormal bouts of coughing in repeated intervals -Rapid breathing
- Lethargic
- Not eating
- Sneezing, runny nose and runny eyes
Common Places For Canine Cough Exposure:
- Veterinarian Office
- Dog Day care and Boarding Facilities
- Dog Parks
- Pet stores
- Walking trails where dogs frequent
- Homes and yards with an infected dog
The Facts:
- The potential for infection is there any time your dog is around an infected dog.
- The incubation period for Canine Cough is 8-10 days meaning a dog could have the virus and infect other dogs while showing no signs of illness.
- The Bordetella (KC) vaccine is not 100% effective. Like the human Flu there are many strains of Canine Cough and the vaccination does not cover all strains.
- Dogs with weaker immune systems (puppies and older dogs) are more susceptible to the virus.
- Recovery usually takes 2-3 weeks. Proper treatment will prevent symptoms from getting worse leading to pneumonia
If you suspect your dog may have Canine Cough:
- Call the vet to set up a time for treatment and tell them you suspect Canine Cough
- Follow the doctor’s instructions and treatment plan to ensure a complete recovery
- Contact us immediately if your dog is showing any signs of Canine Cough – If your vet has confirmed that it is Canine Cough your dog will need to stay home from day care for 3 weeks.
Waggy Tails is a facility where dogs interact in groups. Our facility, like any other common place listed above is at risk for an infected dog to expose the virus to other dogs. By bringing your dog to WT (or the common places listed above), they run the risk or catching Canine Cough.
The cleanest facility in the world can still get a Canine Cough outbreak.
Here is how it happens: Spot goes to the local dog park on Monday to run around. He interacts and touches noses with 6 other dogs, one of them named Rufus who doesn’t know it yet, but is harbouring an upper respiratory infection because he is not showing any symptoms, now Spot has it! That Thursday, Spot goes to doggy day care and touches noses with 15 other dogs. Spot has no symptom but on Saturday he starts a coughing and hacks up phlegm. A week or so later, many of the dogs at day care start showing symptoms along with the other dogs at the dog park that came into contact with Rufus.
The day care centre is sterile at the beginning of the day, but then along came a happy dog with no symptoms who just spread sickness around like cake at a birthday party.
If you have or have had kids, this scenario would sound familiar. This is exactly how infections and viruses spread around in children. Do the parents blame the school for being dirty and unclean? No, because people understand that kids sneeze into their hands and then high-five their buddy. Dogs are no different.
WT Cleaning Policy- WT disinfects the entire building daily. All bedding, Play equipment, toys, fences and floors are disinfected each afternoon. We us a product called F10 which we believe is the best product on the market. While we maintain the cleanliness of our facility, we cannot guarantee another dog won’t bring an illness into our facility. Dogs are constantly under observation and as soon as one exhibits any kind of abnormal symptoms, the dog is removed from the group and isolated. Owners are immediately called to pick up their dog.