What questions should I be asking a boarding facility? - Carolina Value Pet Care

The main questions would be basic stuff. You would want to know what will be in your pet's best interest, what will be the welfare situation, and how much time they are going outside. Do you need to be bringing your food? Can I bring my pet a doggy bed or a blanket of some sort? Sometimes they don't want you to bring chew toys because they're concerned that they might chew the blanket because of anxiety, and that could create some intestinal issues. So again, those are discussions you need to have. But more importantly, medications. What medications does your pet need, don't forget to bring your medications if your dog needs to be medicated in your absence. Is somebody on the premises all the time or just during certain hours of the day? How are they going to deal with emergencies? These are the sort of things you need to start thinking about if you need to board your dog.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

What will the boarding facility do in case of an emergency? - Carolina Value Pet Care

I can only speak for North Carolina. I can't speak for other locations or other states, but at least in North Carolina, each boarding facility has an annual inspection. They're checking for things like cleanliness and ensuring that there are exits, the equipment is secure, and there's fresh food and fresh water available for the dogs at all times. Those inspectors take their job very seriously because the welfare of your pets is really at stake. One of the considerations with an emergency is every veterinary or every boarding facility will have a resource veterinarian, a source of a local veterinarian where there is an emergency contact. So in the event of an emergency, although every clinic or every facility does it differently, they will alert the pet parent that there is an emergency, in which case they will take the pet to that emergency clinic. Some boarding facilities will want to know who your full-service veterinarian is when you bring your pet in. If that full-service veterinarian does provide emergency care during operational hours, and if there is an emergency during office hours, they can take your dog to that clinic. There are after-hours veterinary clinics in many towns, but not every town, and for the weekend situations, if your regular veterinarian is closed, so they can always take it to an after-hours emergency clinic if need be.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

What do I do about dog boarding if my dog has anxiety? - Carolina Value Pet Care

Good question. Let's dig into it a little bit. If your dog has anxiety, it depends on the degree of anxiety. If it's quite profound, there are medications that veterinarians can prescribe to help reduce anxiety. If you're going to do something of that nature, I recommend starting to give the medication before going to the boarding facility. Don't wait till the day of. You want to have a loading period of a couple of days or around three days, depending on the medication. That's a discussion you'd have with your full-service veterinarian to help reduce the anxiety. There can be other ways of trying to address that. Depending on the boarding facility, they might allow you to go into the facility with your dog so they can start making that association. You're with them, and you can be there to support them with their anxiety. Again, if the dog has severe anxiety issues, that might be a situation where you can try a probiotic called Calming Care that you can add to the food. I would do it well before the visit. There's another medication called L-theanine that you can get. I do have a handout on these medications with dosages that you can look at. CBD can also be used. I'm probably going to get canceled for saying that, but you can try CBD. It definitely has a tremendous benefit for many dogs with anxiety. A lot of research is going into dosing for that, but that's another consideration.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

Will my dog be sad when I board them? - Carolina Value Pet Care

It depends on the breed. If you have a goofy golden retriever, probably not. They're probably going to be happy to make new friends. But in all honesty, yes, there will be a degree of anxiety with every dog that will be taken out of its comfort zone and out of its element around strangers. But there are those occasional dogs who do well in any kind of situation. That is one thing you are going to have to give some consideration to. If you have a high-anxiety dog or one that has separation issues from you, yes, you definitely need to be prepared to deal with that.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

What are some reasons why I wouldn't be able to board my dog? - Carolina Value Pet Care

You have to consider the situation with your dog. If they are in high medical need and you don't think it is appropriate for somebody to take care of the dog in the way you think is in your dog's best interests. If you have a dog with special needs, understand that at the dog boarding facilities, many individuals are not trained to handle some of the situations arising with your particular pet. So keep that in consideration. Some other reasons will be if you have a very aggressive dog that may not do well with the handlers because, obviously, they have to be able to handle your dog and take them outside, or maybe they have to avoid interaction with other dogs. Also, consider if your dog is a very high-anxiety dog, and we'll talk more about that in a moment; there can be some other reasons why you may not find it appropriate to board your dog. I'm always going to circle back to the fact that if you need to leave town and leave your dog with someone or at a boarding facility, always try to see if you can get an in-house pet sitter or take your pet to somebody else's house. If you can get more in an in-home environment, that will always be less stressful and a better situation for everybody.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

Are there any products that can help my dog with itching? - Carolina Value Pet Care

There are loads of products for itching. In the context of bathing, I will tell you this. I think bathing can be extremely beneficial for itchy dogs. More baths are better. Two or three times a week, no problem at all. However, if we're going, if you're going to rely on bathing an itchy dog, it's really short-lived. It's only going to last maybe a day to provide some relief. But if I have a really itchy dog, I definitely want to do something in a pinch, and bathing them is probably one of the simplest ways and the best ways of giving them some short-term relief until we can get more appropriate medications for allergies and itching. But yes, you can absolutely bathe them for the itching. That's where the aloe oatmeal shampoo can be beneficial.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

Do I need to use conditioner on my dog? - Carolina Value Pet Care

Good question. I'm probably the wrong person to ask if you look at the video right now, but as far as conditioners go, if you have a longer-haired dog and you're concerned about their hair getting a little bit tangled from the shampoo, yes, there are conditioners for dogs available. You could certainly use a conditioner and, of course, use it according to the recommendations for that particular product. In general, most dogs don't need one, but you absolutely can if you would like to use one. Just make sure you get one that's for dogs and not something that's in your bathroom dresser.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from

What shampoo should I use to bathe my dog? - Carolina Value Pet Care

It depends on the situation. In general, my favorite shampoo for general cleansing purposes is an oatmeal shampoo. Realize we see a lot of dogs with allergies. I like the oatmeal because it does have a little bit of an anti-itch benefit. It's not potent, and it's not going to linger for days and days by any means. It's going to provide very short-term relief for itching. But an oatmeal shampoo, which we offer and have available at our clinics, is an aloe and oatmeal shampoo. The aloe, of course, is a skin moisturizer. So they're getting the moisturizer from the aloe and a bit of an anti-itch benefit from the oatmeal. That makes a great combination. If your dog has skin issues, it really depends on the skin issues. We see many dogs with bacterial and/or yeast infections, and we have a medicated shampoo for those situations. Again, it depends on the purpose, but my general go-to all-purpose shampoo is an aloe and oatmeal shampoo. I really like that combination.

Contributed by Dr. Bob Parrish ,DVM from
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