Treating your dog for lice
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For those of you new to the Dog City family, I've been a part of the dog pack for well over five years now and have managed our grooming department for three years. In this newsletter, I am taking the opportunity to express concern about a recent community issue we have been having, and to help educate you about maintaining the health and comfort of your best friend. In all my time caring for your loved ones, I have never diagnosed and treated anything close to the number of lice cases we have encountered over the past year or so. Consulting with other pet professionals at several local retail and veterinary facilities only further confirms my concern about the recent frequency of lice occurrences at Dog City, as well as along the entire front range. First off, and perhaps most important to note, is that lice are extremely host-specific and will not generally leave their preferred animal. As a result, there is no threat to you or your family or other household species, such as cats and birds, so the impact of lice infection may not be immediately apparent. Dogs are generally affected by two species of lice: a biting trichodectus canus and a sucking linognathus piliferus. Of all parasites, lice are by far the easiest to treat because they are not active in our environment, like fleas and ticks. Lice are transmitted from dog to dog through close contact with an infested pet or by discovering a delicious dead animal, most commonly birds, while off-leash at Mt. Sanitas. (Don't make me name names!) Treatments for both forms of lice are the same: two consecutive treatments with a pyrethrin-based shampoo at seven-day intervals. Again, because lice only attack dogs, no additional in-home treatments are necessary, although I always suggest washing their bedding materials. The key to truly eliminating these critters once your dog catches them is ensuring they always receive the second treatment seven days later—I can't emphasize that enough. Shampoos cannot kill the eggs (or nits), which generally hatch 5-7 days after the initial treatment, so a second treatment is imperative in preventing the infestation from reoccurring. We can provide lice treatments for your pals here at Dog City or you can perform your own treatments at home. We must all play a role in maintaining a comfortable and enjoyable environment for our loved ones—for more information or for a free lice consultation, feel free to track me down at Dog City (I'm always here!). You can also contact your vet—they may also have some information or a preventative regimen to avoid this mess altogether. It has been a pleasure meeting and working with all my canine friends over the years, I thoroughly look forward to continuing to serve all my dog pals well into the future. Matthew Fordyce would like to thank Jaime Schwalb for her help with this article. |
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Meet Master Groomer Bethany Bonvillain
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Bethany Bonvillain has been helping dogs put their best fur forward for 15 years. Currently pampering pooches at Dog City, she was recently named Best Dog Groomer in the area by the Denver magazine 5280. Bethany was 17 and living in Fairfax, Virginia, when she approached a local dog care salon for a job. “I didn’t even know dogs got hair cuts,” she confesses. “I was just looking for a job.” But once she started working there, Bethany knew she had found her passion. “The woman who hired and trained me was kind of a second mother to me. I had to beg her to teach me.” Bethany recalls her gruffly saying, “You want to groom a dog? Then here you go.” She then set Bethany to the task with no instruction. Once Bethany was done, her soon-to-be-mentor just said, “Oh, crap, you have talent. I have to teach you now.” With her mentor in place and the additional guidance of the other women in the shop, Bethany was soon grooming more than 10 dogs a day. “They embraced me,” says Bethany. “They wanted to teach me everything they knew, and I loved working with the dogs.” Bethany’s love of the work prompted her to acquire certification in each of the four dog groups (Terrier, Sporting, Non Sporting, and Toy) from the National Dog Groomers Association. In 1996, she completed her master’s certification from the same organization. Bethany ran her own grooming salon, Bethany’s Pet Grooming, for a number of years until a car accident (continue story) |
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| DOG CITY HAPPENINGS |
| Basic Obedience Class Calling all dogs -- and puppies too! Using positive enforcement and gentle methods, Kika works with you and your dog in this popular class covering the basics. Saturdays, 9-10 am. Holiday Photos November 29 through December 1 |
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| Sebastian and BooBoo |
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| A letter from Lula and Hagerty |
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Dear Dog City, We are moving with our owners to Salt Lake City, Utah, and would like to take a moment to thank you for the terrific job you've done for us each time our owners needed to go away. We love everyone in Dog City, and as one of your first pets six years ago up 'til today, some of our best memories (that's 42 human years!) are our times with you all. It was great to have a place to stay that we loved, and our owners trusted. After we moved away from Boulder three years ago, our owners drove us to Dog City even though we were over 50 miles away, simply because they were so satisfied with the care and expertise of your stafff... we will miss you. Lula and Hagerty We'll miss you, too, Lula and Hagerty!! |
| To unsubscribe please click here. Newsletter created by Jennifer Turco, Peak Design Services. Published by Dog City, LLC. Copyright © 2005 Dog City, LLC. All rights reserved. |