At Gordon Pet Services we have the best interest of the pets that we service in mind. For this reason we are alerting all our clients that there is a higher than usual rate of Kennel Cough in the Collingwood, Blue Mountains and Thornbury areas. Unfortunately the Bordetella Vaccine will not prevent all cases (see Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook by Delbert G. Carlson, D.V.M and James M. Giffin, M.D.)

Kennel cough is a canine respiratory disease; main symptom is a dry, hacking sounding cough that ends with gagging and retching. Sometimes it is accompanied by eye and nose discharge and partial loss of appetite. Although it sounds awful it is not a serious condition. Only dogs with a very weak immune systems will be in danger of complications.

For more information check out Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats.

What We Do at Gordon Pet Services:

The best prevention for this disease is to isolate dogs from each other.
Our protocol here at Gordon Pet Services is the following:

We only accept symptom free healthy dogs.

1. Any dogs that have contacted the disease are not to return to GPS for 7 to 10 days after they are symptom free.
2. If we need to host more than one healthy dog we separate them until kennel cough occurrences in this area subside. They could be asymptomatic carriers.
3. Kennel cough is airborne and transmitted through saliva and close contact (licking, smelling, etc…). Hence the need for separation.
4. Kennel cough is very rarely contagious for humans
5. We use non toxic air disinfectants and clean all surfaces daily

SECRET LIFE OF A PET SITTER

On a winter afternoon when I was returning her dogs after a long hike on the Bruce Trail one of my clients said “ Yours is the best of jobs…” She caught me by surprise and left me thinking… for a couple of days my fingers had felt as if they would freeze right off, driving was hazardous at its best and the trails were like sheets of ice.

Then my mind played a tape of a typical day in my life . The challenges were very real but I also remembered:

• the smiles on some dogs faces when they greet me ( did you know that some of them show their teeth when happy?)
• the licks of joy
• the prancing in circles when I come in to pick them up
• the whining when they are anxious to get out on the trail
• the hugs that the dogs give each other when they join others in the back of the van
• the sad look on their faces when I leave
• the beauty of dogs running
• the cats that rub against my leg and purr so loud that I cannot hear my cell phone ringing
• the beautiful changing scenery on our trails and the smells of the season I have had a lot of different occupations in my life and I have found that I have so much in common with animals that I can truly say “Yes, indeed, this is one of the best jobs.”

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

John Muir

Bobbi was the horse that came almost every day close to our fence at the back of the yard. She would wait patiently for my husband to pet her. The odd time he was allowed to give her a carrot. The children next door also came to enjoy Bobbi’s company at the fence. We made friends with her and we asked Coreen (her owner) about the story of Bobbi’s life.

She was a registered Quarter Horse barrel racer. One of the top in the world. Her talent was recognized when she came in fifteenth out of 500 in the World Championship race in Jackson Mississippi.

This was a timed course event in the Youth Class of riders age fifteen and under.

She competed in professional racing until the age of ten when she retired to a farm near Heathcote, Ontario. Her last owners Coreen and Jim, our neighbours, had Bobbi from the age of sixteen as a riding horse. At the Meaford farm she lucked out and found a horse’s paradise. Bobbi had a large field to run on, a paddock for riding, excellent shelter and dotting owners. She joined the family in their Florida stays during the harsh Canadian winters. Bobbi was cherished as a family member for the rest of her life until she passed at the age of twenty eight.

Now reading about such a motivated racing horse you might imagine an agitated fierce animal to be treated with caution. Surprisingly enough Bobbi did not fit that image. As a matter of fact she had a very gentle, kind temperament and was very fond of children.

One day in the fall of 2020 Bobbi did not show up at the fence. Shortly after, our next door neighbour told us that Bobbi had passed away. We miss her a lot. Whenever we look at our backyard fence we remember her with many fond memories.

Don visiting with Bobbi
Bobbi with her loving owner Coreen

How Spalding became part of our lives…

“Like everything else we shop for these days, we shopped for Spalding online. Once we decided on the breed the search started. However, as soon as we saw his picture online, we knew that the search was over. We had to wait until he was old enough to leave his litter and come home with us (no need to mention how hard the wait was). On April 17, 2006 Spalding became part of our family.”

Anne & Will & Spalding

The above was sent to me via e-mail by Anne, Spalding’s owner, on March 29th, 2011.

This is the dog that we will never forget; I do not know if it is his beautiful eyes – the eyes of a doe – or his magnificent slender body or the fluid movement of his gallop; maybe it is the innocent look on his face but Spalding really captured one’s spirit.

Spalding came to us for the first time when he was nine months old and fairly new to his owners Anne and Will – a young couple from Brasil. He was friendly when they brought him over for our Greet & Meet. However, when they left him at our home for a week-end he was unmanageable. He crouched under the dining room table all week-end and refused to come out from his hideaway. When we tried to take him out he growled at us and we could not lure him out with treats. Finally, we left him alone hoping that he would settle down; he crept out of his hiding place and had a bowel movement on the carpet. It was several months before we were able to take Spalding out to the dog run. At first we had to walk him around the block several times a day for his washroom brakes. Once he escaped and we had a very difficult time taking him back to the house; he was obviously looking for Anne and Will. It was quite clear that Spalding was terrified of being in our home; he was probably scared of abandonment by his owners.

Slowly, Spalding adjusted to visits at our home; we take the dogs out for long hikes on the Bruce Trail and free runs on private properties that we share with the owners. If there is a dog that loves to run it is Spalding. One could say that Spalding was “born to run” and even more than that his passion is to race with other dogs. It took a long time for us to figure out Spalding’s genetics – he has the markings of a border collie, the body of a greyhound and the tail of a husky.

Anne told me one day that she used to be scared of dogs because in Brasil most people keep them as guard dogs for security. It was only when she came to Canada that she realized that dogs could become good friends and companions. Why then, I asked her, did she get such a big dog? She said it was to match their active lifestyle. That is why they named him Spalding after the tennis ball. Anne and Will certainly got the right dog for their family. One day, when I was driving in Orangeville, I spotted Will training for a marathon with Spalding running beside him; Spalding was in
his glory.

Spalding became an example of what training and proper discipline can do to a dog; Spalding, that anxious and fearful puppy, grew into an obedient dog with an unusual zest for life. We, at Gordon Pet Services, really enjoyed his visits. Spalding lived to the ripe old age of fifteen. He passed on a few months ago, during the pandemic. We were glad that, since his owners were working at home, he had their constant company in the last days of his life.

Now he is in doggie paradise doing what he loved most: to play and run with his dog friends and perhaps cuddle with humans.

The thought that saddens me about Spalding is that, because Spalding was a mixed breed, there will never be another dog like him and yet that is what made him even more special.

By Agnes Gordon