Green Acres Kennel

When selecting a place to take your pet for boarding, daycare, grooming, training or behavior counseling it is very important that you ensure that specific pet care business is "pet friendly." Green Acres has always prided itself on being such a facility; however, I believe it is important that pet guardians realize not all people in this business operate as we do. The following are a few examples of what we consider to be unacceptable and unethical behavior on the part of some people in the pet care business.

Recently I read an article in The Whole Dog Journal where a pet guardian was astonished to find that the daycare where she had been taking her dog for six months was using an electric shock collar on her dog. Sadly, this lady's previously well adjusted dog is now very fearful of other dogs. Fortunately she has now found a "pet friendly" daycare, but the damage to her friend has been done. And if you think this could never happen in Maine, it

Pet Friendly, Force-Free, Fear Free
By Don Hanson, ACCBC, BFRAP, CDBC, CPDT-KA

This article first appeared in the April 2015 edition of the Downeast Dog News.

<You can listen to a companion podcast to this article, first broadcast on The Woof Meow Show on the Voice of Maine on April 11, 2015, by clicking here>

Leaving your dog at a boarding kennel, doggie daycare, grooming salon, training facility, veterinary clinic or even leaving them at home with a pet sitter is not a decision you should make lightly. The question you need to ask yourself is: what happens once you are gone? How will your pet be treated? Will your pet be comfortable

This article first appeared in the May 2015 edition of the Downeast Dog News.

<You can listen to a companion podcast to this article, first broadcast on The Woof Meow Show on the Voice of Maine on May 2, 2015, by clicking here>

Trust. Before becoming part of the pet care service industry I found it essential to get to know someone very well before entrusting them with the care of my pets. It’s a character trait that I find essential when leaving my pets in the care of someone other than myself. I need to be confident that my furry family members will be cared for to my standards.

I find that those

This article first appeared in the July 2015 edition of the Downeast Dog News.

<You can listen to a companion podcast to this article, first broadcast on The Woof Meow Show on the Voice of Maine on June 27, 2015, by clicking here>

When this series started back in April, the intent was to alert pet owners that not all pet care services are pet-friendly and to emphasize the importance of making sure a pet has the most positive experience possible when it is boarding, day-caring, being groomed, training or while at the veterinarian. All of these animal care services can be done with a pet friendly approach; our pets deserve that. In this column I’ll be focusing on visits to the veterinarian and how many in the veterinary community are working to make those visits fear-free.