Of course, it's nothing like being at home, but we try to make it as pleasurable for them as we can. We try to interact with them and love on them just like you would. We love them as much as you do, and we try to portray that, but they are in a cage other than when they're out in the yard. So it was a little bit different than being at home, I'm not going to lie. But again, we try to make it pleasurable. We give them bedding, interactive toys, and treats. We feed them regularly. We play with them as much as we can. So, it's hard to say if they're sad, but we try our best.

So if your dog were ill, if they had an infectious disease like kennel cough, we would not accept them to be boarded because that's just not fair to the other animals that are here. So that would be one reason. If you declined to do the preventative care that we recommend, like vaccines or deworming, things like that. If you said, "No, I don't want to do that." Well, then, we have specific protocols in place, so we would say, "Well, sorry, we can't board your pet."

This is another good question that we often run into. Some dogs get very nervous or anxious in those situations. Sometimes we need medical intervention to help them calm down with their anxiety. Sometimes here at Good Vets, we try to do some fear-free practicing. Each dog has specific things and requirements they may need. Talk to your veterinarian and with the groomer to find the best answer for your dog and situation.

Great question. Here at Good Vets, we have a list of requirements to get our services with grooming or just our bathing services. Each grooming facility and hospital may have different requirements, so check with them, but I would advise having them up-to-date on vaccinations, heartworm, flea, and tick prevention.

Every dog is different. Some dogs need professional grooming help. Some dogs can just require bathing and nail trims at home. I would consult your veterinarian and your groomer for more advice.

Yes, you can bathe a dog too often. Dogs naturally have some oil production in their skin and their hair coat to keep them nice and healthy. If we strip that too frequently, you can cause dry skin, itching, and further problems. So I try to limit it every one week to two weeks for bathing.

Bonding comes through play. That's the best way I like to bond with my kids. Find what they love. Some cats will fetch. Perhaps they like the little laser pointer or a certain toy. Maybe it's just sitting down and petting them and interacting with them like that. You might have to learn what their love language is and foster that. You don't want to love them to death with food. Don't bond only on food, like when you're eating your potato chips or popcorn at night and watching TV, and you're giving them that—now they’re going to associate eating with socializing.

Punish just gives such a negative connotation, right? We like to say more redirect or appropriate discipline if needed. But if they are doing things that you don't want them to do, we don't want to hurt them or harm them, but we want to get their attention. I think that's our goal, along with placing them in the right place or redirecting. We feel that using a water bottle to squirt them will not hurt them, but it gets their attention. I've had one or two clients say their cats love it, but most of the time, they don't. Say they're on the kitchen table, and you don't want them there; you can squirt them with the water. That will sure get most of them down.

Or you can try making a loud noise—whether it's a rolled-up newspaper that you hit on a surface that makes a loud noise. Something to kind of redirect them from doing that. And then other things that they might be doing, you might need to investigate why they're doing that. Again, this goes back to the question about the litter box. If they're going outside the litter box, do you punish them for that? I don't think so because, one, they likely haven't been trained appropriately. Or two, something's going on that's making them behaviorally act that way. I would want to dig a little deeper and see why that behavior was occurring.

The other part would be: is that normal behavior? Are you punishing normal behavior? Is a cat scratching your couch, and you're punishing that when that's normal behavior for them to scratch and to shed those claws?