Continuing the theme, Healthy Dogs Are Happy Dogs.
Last week, we dealt with Nutrition.
This week, I would like to discuss Housing, Kennel Management and Hydration.
It is very important to have good housing that allows the dogs to have comfortable dry warm place to seek shelter.
The housing here are made of plywood with insulated floors, offset door way with an extended framing (to help keep out the rain or snow) and a removable roof.
The offset door way gives the dogs a section of the house to stay away from the entrance to keep out of the weather and to give privacy for sleeping.
During the Winter months fresh straw is added to the house for additional warmth. It is very important to change the straw often as needed to keep it dry.
Warm/dry housing is important to keep the dogs comfortable and prevent weight loss due to burning extra calories to stay warm.
The removable roof makes changing the straw much easier!
Spring/Summer maintenance on the housing to keep it in good shape and can easily be repaired.
We also, lift the dog houses with each significant snowfall to keep the houses on the top of the accumulating snow pack throughout the Winter.
This makes a big difference in the Spring when the snow melts keeping the houses above the melt and preventing water flooding the houses.
Kennel Management is a daily occurance to keep our Canine Athletes healthy.
Luckily here the ground is basically a sandy base allowing for good drainage and keeping a nice dry environment for the dogs. It is also easy to fill in the holes the dogs love to dig and keep their area level.
Another daily occurrence here is cleaning the kennel removing the daily scat (poop). Dogs love to have a clean area and enjoy it as much as feeding.
They also love to add fresh poop as soon as you clean!
Here, I make this task a pleasurable one, as I take the time to have some one on one time with each dog as I do the cleaning.
They look forward to this quality time!
This time is also beneficial to check on the dogs health, food absorption and with the petting to examine each dog.
I check for any abnormalities as well as observing their coats to be nice/shiny and soft.
During the non freezing months the dogs have fresh water available to them for hydration.
As I mentioned last week, I feed the dogs with a soupy mixture to ensure they are hydrated.
During the Winter months, they are watered two/three hours before training and also right after the run back at their houses. These watering is baited with meat to encourage drinking.
Feeding is done one hour after the run to ensure maximum absorption of the feed.
The kennel here is cut out of the forest giving the dogs shade, privacy and shelter from the wind.
Half the kennel gets Sun in the morning and the other half in the afternoon.
Getting the Sun also helps in controlling parasites.
The dogs here are tethered and are close enough to have safe interaction with their neighbors.
The males are on one side of the kennel (with a central pathway) and the females on the other side.
This certainly helps with unwanted breedings!
Until next week.......
Last week, we dealt with Nutrition.
This week, I would like to discuss Housing, Kennel Management and Hydration.
It is very important to have good housing that allows the dogs to have comfortable dry warm place to seek shelter.
The housing here are made of plywood with insulated floors, offset door way with an extended framing (to help keep out the rain or snow) and a removable roof.
The offset door way gives the dogs a section of the house to stay away from the entrance to keep out of the weather and to give privacy for sleeping.
During the Winter months fresh straw is added to the house for additional warmth. It is very important to change the straw often as needed to keep it dry.
Warm/dry housing is important to keep the dogs comfortable and prevent weight loss due to burning extra calories to stay warm.
The removable roof makes changing the straw much easier!
Spring/Summer maintenance on the housing to keep it in good shape and can easily be repaired.
We also, lift the dog houses with each significant snowfall to keep the houses on the top of the accumulating snow pack throughout the Winter.
This makes a big difference in the Spring when the snow melts keeping the houses above the melt and preventing water flooding the houses.
Kennel Management is a daily occurance to keep our Canine Athletes healthy.
Luckily here the ground is basically a sandy base allowing for good drainage and keeping a nice dry environment for the dogs. It is also easy to fill in the holes the dogs love to dig and keep their area level.
Another daily occurrence here is cleaning the kennel removing the daily scat (poop). Dogs love to have a clean area and enjoy it as much as feeding.
They also love to add fresh poop as soon as you clean!
Here, I make this task a pleasurable one, as I take the time to have some one on one time with each dog as I do the cleaning.
They look forward to this quality time!
This time is also beneficial to check on the dogs health, food absorption and with the petting to examine each dog.
I check for any abnormalities as well as observing their coats to be nice/shiny and soft.
During the non freezing months the dogs have fresh water available to them for hydration.
As I mentioned last week, I feed the dogs with a soupy mixture to ensure they are hydrated.
During the Winter months, they are watered two/three hours before training and also right after the run back at their houses. These watering is baited with meat to encourage drinking.
Feeding is done one hour after the run to ensure maximum absorption of the feed.
The kennel here is cut out of the forest giving the dogs shade, privacy and shelter from the wind.
Half the kennel gets Sun in the morning and the other half in the afternoon.
Getting the Sun also helps in controlling parasites.
The dogs here are tethered and are close enough to have safe interaction with their neighbors.
The males are on one side of the kennel (with a central pathway) and the females on the other side.
This certainly helps with unwanted breedings!
Until next week.......
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