Traveling This Holiday Season? 5 Boarding and Daycare Tips for Your Pet

Traveling This Holiday Season? 5 Boarding and Daycare Tips for Your Pet

The holidays are an exciting time when many people travel to visit their families and friends or take advantage of their time off by setting off on a vacation to a faraway land. No matter where you’ll be traveling this season, it’s important to ensure your pets will be well-taken care of while you’re away. Consider the following tips for choosing a boarding facility for your pet.

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5 Tips for Choosing a Boarding Facility for Your Pet

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1. Take a Tour

The best way to check out a boarding facility for your pet is to actually stop by and take a tour. While you look around the facility, pay attention to how clean the kennels and play areas are kept. Additionally, you can ask about all of the details and extras the boarding staff provides to keep pets comfortable.

2. Ask About Social Time

Look for a boarding facility that spends one-on-one time with your pet in addition to regular exercise, supervised play, and social time with carefully selected groups of friendly pets.

3. Personalized Care

How personalized will your pet’s care be while you’re away? When choosing a boarding facility, be sure to ask about diet and nutrition, feeding times, and medication administration. Some boarding facilities will keep your pet on their normal food and feeding schedule, while others feed all the pets at the same time on a standard diet.

4. Emergency Care

Most likely, your pet will be perfectly fine while you’re traveling. In the unlikely event that your pet does have a medical emergency while you’re away, though, you’ll want to rest easy knowing that the boarding facility has an action plan in place. Ask whether they have a veterinarian on staff, a go-to emergency pet hospital, and what the protocol is for handling pet emergencies (if they can or can’t reach you).

5. Vaccination and Health Requirements

Most boarding facilities have vaccine and parasite testing requirements for pets that must be handled within a certain timeframe of the pet’s scheduled stay.
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Veterinarian-Supervised Pet Boarding in Woodland Park, Colorado

At Compassion Animal Hospital, we are proud to provide the pets of our area with boarding services that are closely supervised by our team of veterinary professionals. We board pets in a high-quality, clean facility and provide them with plenty of love, attention, and care to help them stay happy and comfortable while you’re away. To learn more about boarding your pet with us over the holidays (or any time of the year), we welcome you to contact our office today.

8 Fun Fall Activities You Can Do With Your Pup

8 Fun Fall Activities You Can Do With Your Pup

Fall is finally here and that means cooler weather, changing leaves, and plenty of fun activities to do with your pet! Whether you’re looking for a new activity to keep you busy or just want to spend some quality time with your furry friend, we’ve got you covered. From hiking and camping to visiting pumpkin patches and rolling around in the fall leaves, these eight fall activities are sure to please both you and your dog.
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Spending Time Outdoors With Your Pup

Hiking is a great way to get some exercise and take in the beauty of nature. Just be sure to stay on designated trails and keep an eye out for wildlife. Always bring a leash for your pup to make sure you can keep them close to you.
Camping is another great option for outdoor adventures. Spending a few nights under the stars is a great way to bond with your pet and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Embrace The Spooky Season With a Halloween Adventure

Pumpkin patches are a must-visit during fall, and many of them welcome furry friends! This is a great opportunity to teach your dog how to sit or stay while you pick out the perfect pumpkin.
Dress up your pup in a cute costume and take them to the local trunk-or-treats, and halloween festivals; your pup is sure to love all the extra pats and snuggles from passing by kids, and will enjoy being the center of attention in their festive costume.
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We Can't Get Enough of Those Fall Photo Shoots

Photoshoots with your family and pet is the perfect fall activity. Matching sweaters and all, your pup is sure to love participating in the fun. But if it’s too complicated trying to get your pup to pose, I’m sure your pup would love just playing in the fall leaves under a nearby tree.

Spend Some Time On The Water

Canoeing or boating is another fun activity you can do with your pup during this fall season. The water is usually starting to get a little too cold to swim but the weather is perfect for a nice breezy boat ride with your pup.
Fishing Trips are also great ways to spend some quality time with your pup, and the fall weather is perfect for it. Your pup is sure to love laying out on the fishing dock and enjoying the calm peace and quiet while awaiting your first catch of the day.
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DIY Activities You Can Do With Your Pup Indoors

Special Fall Snacks: Spending your time indoors with your pup this fall may not be at the top of your list, but there are plenty of opportunities to spend a few days making special fall treats for your pup. Fall treats that include the delicious staples of fall: Pumpkin and Apple Spice. Check out this Delicious Pumpkin Spice Dog Treat Recipe that your pup is sure to love!

Celebrating Fall With The Help Of Compassion Animal Hospital!

As the leaves start to change and fall, it’s a wonderful time of year to celebrate with your family – including your furry friends. At Compassion Animal Hospital, our vets want to make sure that all pets are healthy and happy as we head into winter. That’s why we recommend getting a routine wellness exam for your pet. So call us today and schedule an appointment!

How to Be a More Responsible Dog Owner for Responsible Dog Ownership Month

How to Be a More Responsible Dog Owner for Responsible Dog Ownership Month

September is National Responsible Dog Ownership Month, and we like to celebrate by helping people learn more about what responsible dog ownership entails. While adopting a new pet can be a great source of joy in anyone’s life, it is not a decision to take lightly because dog ownership does come with quite a bit of responsibility. Consider the following tips to ensure you’re being a responsible dog owner.
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7 Tips on How to Be a Responsible Dog Owner

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1. Health, Wellness, and Veterinary Care

Dogs need ongoing care to maintain good health and prevent illness. This includes routine veterinary appointments for checkups, vaccinations, and parasite prevention.

2. Exercise and Enrichment

Dogs require lots of exercise and activities to keep their bodies and minds healthy and happy. Some breeds, such as working or racing breeds, require more exercise than others. Be sure you make time in your schedule to play with your dog and them for plenty of walks.

3. Nutrition

Nutrition provides the building blocks for your dog’s health and wellness. It not only gives your dog’s body everything it needs to function and stay well but proper nutrition can also help maintain your dog at a healthy weight. Feed your dog a diet of high-quality food in the right portions.

4. Training and Socialization

To function safely in the world and get to experience as much as possible with you, dogs need to be properly trained and socialized so that they know what to expect in the world and how they are expected to behave in it.

5. Grooming

Some dog breeds require more grooming than others. However, all dogs will need a bath and brushing occasionally in addition to nail trims and ear cleanings.

6. Safety

Responsible dog owners create safe environments for their pets by pet-proofing their households and yards.

7. Permanent Identification

It’s also responsible to have your pet microchipped in addition to providing them with a collar and ID tags.
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Schedule an Appointment for You and Your Dog at Compassion Animal Hospital

When it comes to being a responsible dog owner, veterinarians can do a lot to help you learn the ropes of pet ownership while also helping you to keep your pet healthy and happy. We welcome you to schedule an appointment for your dog with our veterinarian to learn more about caring for and training your pet, meeting all of their needs, and helping them to live a full and long life.

Why Won’t My Dog Listen?

Why Won't My Dog Listen?

Without training, our dogs would simply be wild animals. It’s their willingness to exist and interact with us in addition to pleasing their owners that make dogs so wonderful to live with. Plus, proper training helps our dogs have happier and healthier lives. So, what if your dog is struggling to behave? Understanding the reasons why your dog might not be listening can help you address the issues and improve your dog’s behavior.
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6 Reasons Why Your Dog Is Not Listening to You

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1. Too Much Energy

If your dog has a lot of energy, they are going to have a tough time focusing on training and listening to your commands. Take your dog out for long walks or play vigorous games of fetch in a big (enclosed) area to burn that energy before settling in for a good training session.

2. Too Many Distractions

Dogs can get easily distracted. Consider the environment you’re training your dog in. If there are a lot of distractions (squirrels, traffic, other dogs, or food smells), then your dog might have a tough time focusing on your voice and listening to your commands.

3. Boredom

Bored dogs tend to act out with undesirable behaviors such as disobedience and destruction. If your dog’s exhibiting these behavior patterns, then add more enrichment into his or her life with more play, exercise, challenges, and toys.

4. You've Forgotten Positive Reinforcement

Dogs need lots of positive reinforcement like praise, love, and treats when they obey commands. If you let rewards slide, your dog might stop listening too.

5. Your Dog Might Be Overwhelmed

Trying to teach your dog too many new commands at once can be overwhelming and confusing, leading dogs not to listen.

6. Your Dog Might Be Sick

If your once obedient dog has suddenly stopped listening to your commands, this could indicate an underlying health problem. Behavior changes like this can occur when a dog is unwell. You should schedule a veterinary examination as soon as possible.
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Canine Behavior Counseling at Compassion Animal Hospital

If you’re having trouble training your puppy or if your dog has suddenly become disobedient, we strongly encourage you to schedule a checkup and behavior counseling appointment with our veterinarian at Compassion Animal Hospital in Woodland Park. We can examine your pet to rule out any underlying health conditions that might be contributing to their behavior problems and also provide you with some helpful tips and tricks for training your dog.
To learn more or schedule an appointment, we welcome you to contact our office today.