COVID-19 and The Dog Den/The Puppy Den

Mar 15

Written By

A Message from The Dog Den and The Puppy Den:

As COVID-19 continues to have a dramatic impact across the globe, our top priorities at The Dog Den/The Puppy Den remain the health and safety of the pets you entrust to our care, in addition to the health and well-being of our employees, loved ones, and you, our valued clients. We will be following the CDC and WHO closely to stay up to date on the latest recommendations while we try to navigate these unpredictable times. As things change and are updated, we will update you.

Effects on Services

At this time, we will remain open for all daycare services. As your canine experts, we know that keeping a routine that includes regular exercise and socialization is important to the overall health of you pup.

Due to the social nature and the inability to maintain social distancing during our Puppy Social Hour and Puppy Yoga, we will be cancelling Puppy Yoga and Puppy Social Hour through the month of March. The affected PSH dates are 3/21 and 3/28. Due to the ever-changing nature of this virus, changes are expected and we will update you with information as we have it.

Additionally, with our classes being in a social environment as well, we are taking extra protective measures to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

Current Classes

If you are in a class that is currently running, it will be postponed one week. There will be NO classes meeting at The Dog Den or The Puppy Den during the week of 3/16-3/20 and we will be adding 1 week on to the end of your scheduled class period. During this time, we will be working diligently to set up virtual classrooms which we will use for the remainder of the scheduled class sessions. You will receive more information about this in a separate email. If you would prefer a refund, please reach out to your instructor who can take care of issuing that for you.

Classes starting between 3/16 and 3/20

If you were in a class scheduled to start next Monday through Friday these classes have been postponed 2 weeks and are tentatively scheduled to resume the week of 3/30. You will be contacted separately with the new start date for your class.

Classes starting after 3/20

Classes scheduled to start after 3/20 are currently unaffected by our schedule changes. Please stay tuned for updates as we navigate the unpredictable nature of COVID-19

If you have a private lesson scheduled and are feeling well, we would be happy to meet with you as scheduled in person. If you would prefer a virtual lesson, we are happy to offer that as a service as well. Please reach out to your scheduled instructor to schedule a virtual lesson if this is something you prefer.

While we remain open in the daycare, the health and safety of our team is of the utmost importance to us. We have required employees to take extra precautions and have asked them to err on the side of precaution for themselves, including staying home if they are not well.

Sanitation Practices

We have always practiced very strict cleaning and disinfecting protocols in our facilities and have added additional steps for our lobby and client areas. One of our main disinfectants, which is safe for the use with animals, is also effective against COVID-19 (https://help.rescuedisinfectants.com/knowledge/do-rescue-disinfectants-kill-coronavirus-covid-19). You may notice some changes in our lobby areas in the coming days such as the removal of community treat buckets and general coffee areas.

Reservations

If you have an upcoming reservation with us and are not feeling well, please do not come in the building. Instead, give us a call (Fitchburg: 608.278.7529, East: 608.241.3647, Puppy: 608.665.3375) and we would be happy to meet you at your car to bring your dog inside or run your dog out to you. We have also waived any late cancelation fees during this time to allow you to stay home if you feel it is in your best interest. We do ask that you kindly give us a call if you are going to be keeping your dog home which helps us staff accordingly and keep our overall costs down.

At this time, it is still unclear the impact that COVID-19 will have on our pets. The CDC recommends that anyone who is sick with COVID-19 restrict contact with their pets. (LINK: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Fsteps-when-sick.html) Although we are not a boarding facility, we have several staff members that watch dogs at their homes. Please contact us and we will connect you with the staff members who may be able to help you. We are here to support our Dog Den family through this!

How you can Help

We also ask that you practice social distancing while picking up and dropping off your pups. Give each other space in the lobby areas. Wait outside or in your car until the person before you exits the building, or call us to bring your pup out to you. Additionally, you can take this opportunity to log in to your customer portal and ensure your Emergency Contact is up to date. We are all in this together!

During these unknown times, we expect there to be many changes and we will keep you up to date on any changes as they occur. Please don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of any assistance during these trying, confusing, and overall uncertain times.

Thank you for sticking with us this far. Here are some smiles to prompt your smile :)