Sled Dog Tours
Veterinary Care
Compassion • Vitality • Longevity
Our pack’s health is carefully overseen by our team and the professionals at Cochrane Animal Clinic to ensure our pack remains in optimal condition physically and mentally year-round.
For any animal, the ability to perform at their best means that they need to be healthy. Nutrition and hydration of course play a huge roll in this however, so does veterinary care. Many people often wonder what professional vet care looks like in larger a kennel facility such as ours. The answer? It is really no different than that of the average pet. Our husky heroes see our vet care team for annual health check ups and physical examinations at which time they receive their annual vaccines. Further to this, our pack visits our vet for teeth cleaning, lump removals and biopsies, neuters and spays, or any specialized procedures like ultrasounds, x-rays or blood work for example. Like with most pet owners, we bring any pack member we have concerns about in for prompt assessments by our vet team.
The vast majority of our health care management program for our pack is administered by our team under the direction of our veterinarians. This includes de-worming, parasite defense (flea, lice, ticks), grooming, nail clipping, basic teeth cleanings and the administration of medications for minor wounds and ailments. However, our husky heroes will see our vet in cases of emergency.
What happens to the very old or terminally ill sled dogs? This is a very good question. Most all of our pack members are adopted when they retire which means when it comes time for them to cross over the rainbow bridge, they are with a new family. In saying this, even though our retired sled dogs move to a new home, they will always be a Snowy Owl husky hero at heart -they will always be our family so with this in mind, when possible, we will attend the appointment to say goodbye. Because of our successful adoption program, on average we have between 5%-10% of our kennel over the age of 9. Any husky heroes that do not get adopted out stay with us – these dogs get to go for sleep overs at our staff’s homes, go on hikes, camping trips, off leash walks – essentially they are adopted by all of us!
When we can see that a dog is no longer thriving due to terminal illness or just very old age, we use a points scale chart that calculates the dog’s quality of life. Although for us it is very visible that the dog sis no longer doing well, this chart provides us with the extra confirmation that it is time. When a dog is no longer eating and drinking, in constant pain, can’t stand or walk, unaware of their surroundings, unhappy and all options have been exhausted – we know it is time. We use humane euthanasia in form of an injection performed by our veterinarian.
Veterinary Care
Compassion • Vitality • Longevity
Our pack’s health is carefully overseen by our team and the professionals at the Bow River Veterinary Center (BRVC). We have been working with BRVC for well over 15 years and together we ensure our pack remains in optimal condition physically and mentally year round.
For any animal, the ability to perform at their best means that they need to be healthy. Nutrition and hydration of course play a huge roll in this however, so does veterinary care. Many people often wonder what professional vet care looks like in larger a kennel facility such as ours. The answer? It is really no different than that of the average pet. Our husky heroes see our vet care team for annual health check ups and physical examinations at which time they receive their annual vaccines. Further to this, our pack visits our vet for teeth cleaning, lump removals and biopsies, neuters and spays, or any specialized procedures like ultrasounds, x-rays or blood work for example. Like with most pet owners, we bring any pack member we have concerns about in for prompt assessments by our vet team.
The vast majority of our health care management program for our pack is administered by our team under the direction of our veterinarians. This includes de-worming, parasite defense (flea, lice, ticks), grooming, nail clipping, basic teeth cleanings and the administration of medications for minor wounds and ailments. However, our husky heroes will see our vet in cases of emergency.
What happens to the very old or terminally ill sled dogs? This is a very good question. Most all of our pack members are adopted when they retire which means when it comes time for them to cross over the rainbow bridge, they are with a new family. In saying this, even though our retired sled dogs move to a new home, they will always be a Snowy Owl husky hero at heart -they will always be our family so with this in mind, when possible, we will attend the appointment to say goodbye. Because of our successful adoption program, on average we have between 5%-10% of our kennel over the age of 9. Any husky heroes that do not get adopted out stay with us – these dogs get to go for sleep overs at our staff’s homes, go on hikes, camping trips, off leash walks – essentially they are adopted by all of us!
When we can see that a dog is no longer thriving due to terminal illness or just very old age, we use a points scale chart that calculates the dog’s quality of life. Although for us it is very visible that the dog sis no longer doing well, this chart provides us with the extra confirmation that it is time. When a dog is no longer eating and drinking, in constant pain, can’t stand or walk, unaware of their surroundings, unhappy and all options have been exhausted – we know it is time. We use humane euthanasia in form of an injection performed by our veterinarian.
