I used to manage veterinary hospitals.  I managed the business end.  Even though I was the business manager, I was often involved in the handling and restraint of the pets who came to the hospitals for medical treatment.  I’ve always been fascinated with dog and cat behavior.  There are pets who walk into a veterinary hospital full of fear and some who become fearful while at the hospital during treatment.  Dogs and cats communicate with each other all of the time, so when a non fearful dog or cat is in the same proximity as a fearful one, the non fearful one can have fear responses as well.  It’s an incredibly rewarding experience to help a pet who is fearful and attempting to flee or bite learn to trust you and accept the medical treatment he or she needs. 

When I started in veterinary medicine, the tendency in both veterinary hospitals and grooming shops was to think of the safety and emotional well being of the humans in the room.  A negative or emotional reaction from a pet meant changing the restraint techniques to keep the humans safe.  The same was true in dog training.  Trainers would train dogs to be what their humans wanted them to be without taking into account the negative effects of the training on the dogs’ future behavior.

Somewhere along the way, some veterinarians, trainers and researchers realized that there is a better way to interact with dogs and cats.  By changing how they handled, restrained, interacted with and trained dogs and cats, they got the dogs and cats to change how they reacted to their care takers and handlers.  It’s called fear free handling.  The motto of one of my favorite organizations is “Take the pet out of petrified and put the treat in treatment”.   When a kennel, groomer or trainer stops doing the things that introduce fear and anxiety into the lives of dogs and cats and starts taking care of their physical and emotional well being, the dogs and cats become happy, content and less stressed.

We work extremely hard to keep our kennel fear free for all of our guests.  When our guests are boarding or in daycare, we use positive reinforcement to get them to want to do the things we need them to do.  We never force them or pull them to go anywhere, we use treats, praise and training instead.  If they are fearful in their runs, we spend extra time with them to help them calm down and be happy.  If they are stressed around other dogs or cats, we help them feel less stressed and less reactive through positive reinforcement.  If pets are scared or reactive when being groomed, we use positive reinforcement to help them know they can trust us.  We give them extra time to de-stress before continuing their grooming and we get extra people involved with handling the pet to help lower anxiety.  We use all positive reinforcement methods when we train as well.  We use positive reinforcement techniques with all of our guests whether they are fearful or not.

There is a better way to board, groom and train and we use it every day.

Daycare Fees

$14 for 1/2 Day

$28 for a Full Day

$230 for a 10 Day Pass

$360 for a 20 Day Pass

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