Kennel Cough is a common ailment that affects many dogs, but it is more common in puppies or dogs with compromised immune systems. Kennel Cough is just a generic name for a common respitory infection that dogs can get and is often associated with kennels. It is quite contagious but it generally isn’t very serious.
Common symptoms of Kennel Cough are a dry hacking cough, hacking up spittle, lethary (add more). Most dogs exhbit mild symtpoms and the first thing the owner notices is the distinctive hacking cough.
The challenging thing about Kennel Cough is that dogs can pick it up almost anywhere due to its ability to be spread by dogs that are showing no symptoms. A dog can be a carrier for kennel cough and pass it to many other dogs without ever being sick or showing symptoms. This means that a dog can catch kennel cough anywhere they see other dogs or any place that other dogs have recently been. Although this sounds scary, Kennel Cough needs to be seen in perspective. It is simply a respiratory infection that is easily treated. Some vets will prescribe antibiotics, while others will suggest just giving the pup honey (if there is coughing present) and letting it run its course.
There is a vaccine that is often given to dogs that can help prevent Kennel Cough and it is called the Bordetalla vaccination. The vaccine has been proven to help lower the rates of kennel cough and many owners choose to get it for their dog. That being said, like many vaccines there are some people that don’t believe in it and choose not to get it. Since the risks assocatied with Kennel Cough are fairly low it is a judgment call on whether or not you get the vaccine for your pup.
Since Suburban K9 only performs boarding and training in our trainers’ homes, the risk of a dog getting Kennel Cough in our care is quite low. Our trainers only take a couple of dogs at a time and monitor their dogs closely. This means the risk is dramatically lower than in a kennel that frequently has hundreds of dogs passing through every couple of days. We take the safety of every dog in our care very seriously and keep extremely clean homes with a small number of dogs in order to provide the safest environment in which to perform our training.
