Bark City Doggy Daycare

It's coming (enter scary Jaws music)-- Cold and Flu season. It hits canines as well as humans. Like humans, if you furry friend is feeling under the weather, it's best if you keep him/her at home until fully recovered to reduce the risk of spreading infection. Also like humans, there are certain things you can give your dog to help support recovery. Here are my top five not in any ranking order: 1. Coconut Oil : Coconut oil has a composition of medium chain fatty acids. One of these medium chain fatty acids is called lauric acid. When lauric acid is present in the body, it is converted into monolaurin. Without getting all "scientific-y" on you, I am just going to say that monolaurin is a super hero in the body: it exhibits anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-microbial properties that destroy all those enemies that infiltrate the body.  It is recommended that you start with 1/4 tsp for a small dog or 1 tsp for a large dog every couple of day...

Bone broth should be in everyone's freezer during the flu season. It's great for 4-legged and 2-legged family members on the road to recovery from a bout of germ mayhem. It's full of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes and very easy to make. It does need to be made ahead of time, because it takes a LONG time to make-- like 10 hrs. The good news -- that 10 hours has nothing to do with preparation or you in the kitchen. It has to do with all the ingredients simmering into goodness in a crockpot. After it's made, you just have to freeze it into portions and wait for the germ apocalypse to strike. What you need: Bones-- any kind of bones. Chicken, beef, pork... whatever suits you fancy. Meat is optional, but obviously Fido will think it's delicious. A popular choice is Oxtail, but anything will work.  Vegetables-- please see this list for vegetables that are good/ bad for your dog. Onions and garlic are not a good choice for Fido (TOXIC), but are a good choice...

It seems that an outbreak of Kennel Cough has hit the Bozeman, MT area and has dog owners (and daycares) in quite the panic. Kennel cough is often called "Bordetalla" after the bacteria Bordetalla bronciseptica , which dogs can get vaccinated. BUT Kennel Cough, aka infectious tracheobronchitis , is actually a term for an infection in the trachea and bronchial tubes that can be caused by bacteria or virus. This infection is highly contagious and has an incubation period of about 5-10 days after exposure. It usually diminishes after the first 5 days, but can linger for up to 10-20 days. Infected dogs can remain contagious for up to 14 weeks even after symptoms disappear. The classic symptom of Kennel Cough is a forceful, persistent cough. Infected dogs may also exhibit sneezing, runny nose and eye discharge. Luckily, here at Bark City, we have not had any cases of Kennel Cough in our daycare . We would like to keep it that way! In order to try our very best, we have taken...