Boarded Charlie for the first time

Our first time boarding Charlie was on Memorial Day weekend. It was the families first time staying at my parents shore house overnight. My parents said we could bring the dog but I wanted more time making sure the dog was use to the shore on day visits before he slept there overnight. This would avoid him waking up the family in the middle of the night.

Last weekend I finally took him to the shore for his first overnight. He did wake up once (which he doesn't normally do at home) but I think it was because he drank a lot of water to stay hydrated in the heat. So potty time was needed at 1 am.

Overall, back to boarding Charlie. He was happy to come home. In a little shock, but no behavior problems or stomach upset.

I used a kennel that I used to use for my old dog. I have two kennel places that I used for Stoney and those are the only ones I will consider for Charlie. Kennel choosing is like choosing a pre-school or summer camp program for your child. You need to get the full tour while the business is in operation to see the real goings on. Any kennel that does not allow you to see the dogs kenneled and will only allow drop off at the check-in counter is not where you want to board your dog. I expect full revelation of facilities.

I know that when I check myself into a hotel I require to see the facilities before I sign my name and give a credit card. A nice front desk with a sweet face at the counter doesn't mean a clean, bug free room. Do the same for your pet. He/she is a family member. Save yourself aggravation and start looking for a kennel before you need one. Also find out what shots/immunizations are required for that particular kennel. There is a new shot out required by some kennels. It is called the Influenza Vaccine which is a 2 shot series. The old vaccine Bordetella is also still required. Most places seem to take just the Bordetella but make sure. You don't want to find out at the last minute that you didn't have all of the required ones.

update on DE usage

Monday was the first day I gave Charlie the full 1 teaspoon dose of DE in his breakfast. This did not work well for him. He had numerous stools of all shapes, sizes and consistencies and tiny spots of blood. I fed him his regular (no DE) dinner later than usual in the evening. The next morning I gave him a late breakfast to monitor his potty breaks and then would feed him if everything seemed fine. It did, so I returned to the 1/2 teaspoon of diatomaceous earth(DE) and he is fine. Stools returned back to normal.

Diatomaceous Earth

After using worming medicines, I decided to prevent any possible problems from happening with this puppy who eats everything inside and outside. I am continuing the usual heartworm medicines and the flea tick drops, but now the new addition is the use of an organic treatment of diatomaceous earth. This DE is supposed to be a preventer of any internal parasites from staying in gut of the dog (or human or farm animal for that matter). The DE is scratchy and doesn't make the dogs insides a comfortable place to live so it evacuates with the poop. The other benefit of the dog eating DE is his poops will be less tasty to flies and to the dog. Thankfully I haven't had the dog eating his feces.

This is his first partial week. I obtained the 50 pound bag of food grade DE from a garden center near Lambertville, NJ for 22.50. This is enough DE for the dogs life so I stored it in airtight containers.

I will keep an eye on his poops and see if anything seems to change.

By the way I did run this idea that I came across to use the DE with a vet. She seems very interested in my trial even though many people on different websites seem to claim this DE is great.

I started with 1/2 teaspoons - once per day for 4 days and saw that Charlie would eat it mixed with his food so I increased the dose to 1 teaspoon - once per day. That is the maximum dosage for small dogs.