Gundog EMS

It's been a busy summer! At the end of July I went to Perth for two weeks to work at a gundog kennel. With around 200 dogs and puppies, we definitely had our hands full!

While I was there, I spent most of my time working in the puppy block, where the puppies under 12 weeks of age are kept separate from the rest of the dogs. This is because before 12 weeks the puppies are not fully vaccinated and are susceptible to a variety of diseases as they only have passive immunity from their mothers. They receive their first vaccines at 7 weeks, and then a booster at 12 weeks, after which they are moved out of the puppy kennels into outdoor paddocks. Since the puppies inside are so susceptible, disinfecting the kennels is key, we even had special shoes to change into just for the puppy kennels!

We would start each morning by cleaning and disinfecting the kennels, then moving the puppies around into the clean kennels. We would also repeat this process again in the afternoon. Between cleanings we would feed the puppies and big dogs, clean the outdoor paddocks of the older puppies, and of course enjoy some puppy cuddles!

This was a really great experience to learn how a large operation such as this functions with so many dogs, as well as some insight into how Gundogs are raised and trained.