Dogs will be dogs and occasionally they cause problems for themselves. Some problems can be prevented; some cannot. If the only time dogs got sick or hurt was while they were in the resort, then every veterinarian would be out of business. The truth it that less than 1% of the dogs we see ever have a problem. Most problems we do see are minor and easily solved without the need of a veterinarian.
The few dogs with problems requiring a veterinarian are initially evaluated by the staff veterinarian and, if necessary, transported to an emergency hospital for further care. If the problem is not life threatening, we attempt to contact the owner prior to going to the hospital, as the owner is responsible for all veterinary charges. We are not going to spend the owner’s money unless it is absolutely necessary for the dog’s well being.
We do everything possible to prevent dogs from having problems. All dogs are required to be current on all vaccinations, including rabies, distemper (DHLP), parvo virus, intra-nasal bordetella, and canine influenza, both H3N8 and H3N2. Additionally, we do not allow any sick dogs with anything transmissible to other dogs in the Resort. Allowing sick dogs to be in with healthy ones is not the right thing to do. We are a resort, not a hospital. Sick dogs belong in a veterinary hospital.
Dogs can get sick or hurt anytime, anywhere, in your backyard, at the veterinary hospital, or in our resort. Nobody is at fault. Stuff happens. We do everything possible to prevent problems; but dogs will still occasionally have them. We have fully trained kennel staff here seven (7) days per week, thirteen to fourteen (13-14) hours per day, holidays included, doing everything possible for all dogs.
If you feel your dog has a problem after going home, call us. We may be able to give you a few things that you can do before spending a lot of money at the vet. Many minor problems can be handled by the owner at home. If you end up going to the vet and they say the problem was caused by our negligence, and that it shouldn’t have happened, have them send us a letter stating this and we can turn it into our insurance company. Otherwise, the problem was out of our control and we cannot accept responsibility for something we have no control over.
You’ll need to sign that you understand and agree with the above when you sign your dog into our Resort.