With summer just around the corner, it’s time for pet owners to start back up on their flea prevention routine. For those who live in places that are warm year-round, like Florida or California, it is essential to keep up this regimen all year. According to AKC, here in Indiana, flea and tick season begins in March and doesn’t end until December. Although your pet is really always at risk of getting fleas or ticks, when it’s warm these parasites simply become more active. Below is a chart for when fleas and ticks are most active in each state.
It is recommended that you keep your pet on preventatives all year long for the best defense. There are various methods of protection including: flea collars, oral medications, and topical treatments. Consult with your vet for more information on which method is best for your pet.
If you’re going to an area that is more prone to fleas and ticks, like wooded areas, dog parks, or camp sites, you can double up your pet’s protection. For example, if your dog already regularly takes medication and you know you’re about to go camping, you can put a flea collar on them for double the protection. Always do your research and consult with your vet before adding any new preventatives. What may be right for one pet could be unsafe for yours and combining medications should only be done under veterinary guidance.
Both fleas and ticks can carry diseases, which is why it is especially important for us to be on top of our pet’s prevention routine. During spring and summer more people and their pets are out and about which inevitably ups the risk involved. Contact your vet today to prepare your pet for the warmer months to come. That way you and your pet can have a carefree, fun-filled summer, that’s full of adventure!
Meet Chewbacca!
Hi!!
My name is Chubaka but my friends call me Chewy! The vet thinks I am almost 5 years old and that I am a mix between a Great White Pyrenees and a St. Bernard. On this one beautiful day, I showed up at a “roller derby meeting” at the “Circle City Socialites”. I was a stray dog and my parents found me there. They instantly fell in love with me and took me home.
Some of you might think my name sounds familiar. I’ll give you a hint…My sister’s name is Leia!!! For all the winners out there – you won!!! My parents LOVE Star Wars!!
In the movie, Chubaka is an immense, fur covered warrior of great strength and loyalty. He is a wise, sophisticated being with exceptional skills in starship piloting and repair. And this, my friends, pretty much describes me!! My friends call me the “gentle giant”. I weigh approximately 120lbs, I have a lot of fur, and I am super-sweet!!! Chubaka also makes funny noises in the movie, just like me. I talk back to my parents and they say I sound like Chubaka from Star Wars. My favorite thing to do at Good Dog is play in daycare. At first, I was very scared of the floors. I don’t like slippery floors at all and I was afraid when they were a little wet. Now, I am used to the floors and I love to come in and play.
My parents also bring me and my sister Leia to Good Dog Hotel and Spa for grooming. We like getting clean and pretty, it just makes us feel so good. That’s all for now!! See you guys around town!
Article Written by Veronique Brown
Definitely a Mother Hen!
I know we have all heard about Momma dogs taking in a kitten as their own. We may have also heard about a gorilla taking in a kitten as her own, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen or heard anything quite like this story!
Mable, a one-year-old hen, has taken to keeping these puppies warm by snuggling up to them while their mother, Nettle, sits out in the yard at a family owned farm in Strewsbury, UK.
Owners Edward and Rose Tate said that Mable was hatched there on the farm a year ago and would have gone onto someone’s dinner plate had they not decided to keep her. Fortunately for Mable, she was in an accident with a horse. The horse stepped on her foot and because of that they decided to bring her in to their home!
About the same time, their dog Nettle had given birth to a litter of pups and after just a few days, she was up and about in the yard. Mable saw her chance and began roosting these puppies to keep them safe and warm while Nettle was out. She is truly a mother hen!
Article Courtesy of Kara Poole
Happy Friday, everyone! I have to admit that I was getting a little bit nervous because I knew I was going to get featured in today’s blog. I’m usually a pretty mellow and relaxed girl. I guess I’m just kind of excited. Jen from Good Dog Hotel kept telling me there was nothing to be worried about, and that I could brag about my jumping capabilities, after all, it is my feature. But before I go into all that, a bit about me.
My name is Tess Zlatos. I’m a 2 ½ year old Goldendoodle with a lovely apricot coat. I’ve been coming to the Indianapolis Good Dog Hotel daycare since I was just four months old! I’ve pretty much grown up here. My family and the staff at Good Dog tell me I’m a real character. I think I’m kind of a loner. Goldendoodles in general are pretty smart dogs (I should know). Perhaps that’s why I have great climbing and jumping skills. Maybe I’ll be a fence jumper when I grow up.
As a matter of fact, I can jump and climb over ANYTHING…watch out Mt. Rushmore. I get to stay in the hotel for visits sometimes and have to upgrade to the Deluxe or Master suite because I can even climb over the hotel walls of the standard suite.
I know I mentioned earlier that I was a loner. Most of the time, I enjoy time to myself but every so often, I like to join the other ‘doodles’ and also the terriers. Since I’m the ‘original’ fence jumper, I can play anywhere I please. I also love people. It’s not uncommon for me to pop my head on the lap of a Good Dog Staff member if they sit down somewhere. I also love food, so, if someone else or another dog is eating, I hang out to see if they want to share.
Thanks for listening to my story. I know Good Dog is having a funny dog contest. The winner is getting a free pass to check out the daycare. I’d love to meet your dog. You can enter by uploading your funny dog video onto YouTube and sending Good Dog Hotel the link.
Good Luck!
Happy Friday!
There have definitely been some exciting things going on. After an amazing bulldog party last month, and some great Butler Blue II visits, Good Dog Hotel has decided, along with Blue’s Mom and Butler University, to become THE official grooming sponsor for Mr. Blue II. That’s right! Butler University’s beloved Mascot will be frequenting our salon often. Blue II is a 6 year-old male bulldog, and he’s kind of a big deal. Acting as BU’s mascot and good luck charm, he gets to go to all the games and even got to go to the Final Four!!
That being said, today’s dog blog is a guest post by Butler Blue II himself!
It’s true, a clean dog certainly is a happy dog and thanks to my pals at Good Dog Hotel & Spa in Broad Ripple, I will be both clean and happy for a long time to come!
Of course, I’ve been those things for a long time, but now I’ve got the sponsorship support to make my cleanliness that much easier to come by as I’m pleased to announce that Good Dog Hotel & Spa is now the exclusive and official groomer for Butler Blue II (that’s me!).
During all of that March Madness stuff I got a call from Jen Funk, a fellow Butler grad who worked at Good Dog Hotel & Spa and wanted to recognize Butler’s advancement to the Final Four. To commemorate the occasion, she was planning a “Bulldog Party” and was offering a discount to all bulldogs (four legs) in the neighborhood that wanted to get cleaned up for the big game.
Of course, she invited me to attend as an appearance fee, she granted a full-service grooming. You may remember the occasion being televised by many of the local TV stations and featured in print thanks to The Indianapolis Star. (http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/9232-blue-ii-spa-and-party)
I still have people telling me they loved watching my spa treatment and frankly, I loved it so much that I wanted to come back for more. So the kind folks at Good Dog Hotel & Spa were happy to oblige and now I get to come back whenever I want! To know me, is to know clean and happy from now on!
In case you missed out on the excitement of the aforementioned Bulldog Party, Good Dog Hotel has PHOTOS and VIDEO on their website (www.gooddoghotel.com) for viewing. Be sure to check it all out!
I’m looking forward to partnering with Good Dog Hotel & Spa on many projects and special events in the future. They are good bunch over there and I’m happy to add them to my sponsor lineup, which includes…
Woodland Animal Hospital (Dr. Kurt Phillips)
WellPet & Holistic Select
City Dogs Grocery (Susan Smith)
VCA Animal Hospitals (Dr. Deb Rowley)
Good Dog Hotel & Spa
Many thanks to Good Dog Hotel & Spa owner, Matt Kurtz, my contact, Jen Funk, and all of the great people there. Here’s to a great partnership!
Now get your dog to Good Dog!
Blue II
P.S. Don’t forget to follow Good Dog Hotel & Spa on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/gooddogindy and look for them on Facebook too!
P.S.S. I’ve got another partnership to announce very soon and there’s potential for even more on the horizon! Stay tuned!
(Butler Blue’s original post can be seen here on his blog.)
We’re not only excited to be the exclusive groomer of Blue, we’re excited to be an official sponsor of Butler University as well. We’re proud of our Butler Bulldogs!
(Note from Blue’s Blog) Butler Blue II is the official mascot of Butler University. Born 3/27/2004, this 60 lb. English Bulldog is enjoying his 6th year as mascot of the Indy-based, 4,000 student, liberal arts institution. His blog is a look into his world as well as an account of his adventures as retold by his parents, Michael and Tiffany Kaltenmark. While his blog wasn’t created until Jan. 2008, Blue has actually been on the job since May 2004, thus Blue will be looking back as well as looking ahead. Enjoy the read!
Hello Indy dogs and friends. We’re Rupac and Owsley. We’re both 2 years old boys and are Rottweiler mixes. Today is kind of a sad day. This is technically our last Friday at Good Dog Daycare. We’ve been coming here for over a year. Half of our life has been spent with the amazing people here. They’ve seen us grow from pup to dog.
WHY is it our last Friday? …Glad you asked. You see, we’re moving to another state next week. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. Our parents decided to move, so we’re along for the ride. We can only hope our parents will find as awesome a doggie daycare as Good Dog. We’ll also miss Indianapolis.
We are both really big and super playful. You could say we are definitely a presence when we enter daycare. However, we are NOT aggressive. We’re energetic. We made a deal that we wouldn’t act like some brothers or brother/sister pairs. We’ve seen some that are kinda mean and act like “bullies,” ganging up on other dogs. Nope. We don’t like that. We’d rather be friends and playmates with the dogs we’re around everyday. That’s how we’ve been able to become best friends with Clyde, Favory, and Max Ford. (We’ll miss you so, so much!)
We’re the type of dogs that can really control a room. The energy level increases as soon as we come to daycare, but in a good way…probably because we don’t really lay down that much. We’d rather go, go, go and play, play, play. And now we’re on the move…quite literally.
Well, Good Dog ~ we’ll miss you. We promise to send photos of the new places we end up, and we promise to send photos of us as we grow up. The new doggy daycare will have big shoes to fill. Thank you for loving us and caring for us all this time!
Hello World!
I’m pretty excited to be featured in Good Dog Hotel’s blog today because it is the perfect ending to a perfect week. It has been so beautiful outside. Although I love the snow, springtime is much more fun because I love to be outdoors and it’s not so messy.
Well, my name is Bailey MacDonald. I’m a Terrier/Aussie Mix. I’m almost 3 years old, and I’ve been coming to doggie daycare in Indianapolis for over half my life. My first time was back in February 2008! I think it’s the best decision my parents could have made!
So, I’m a little prissy, but at the same time, I’m very sweet. The staff at Good Dog Hotel calls me “little Bailey,” which I love. There is something endearing about it. I love to play fetch, and the staff plays fetch with me all the time, but I’m very particular about which ball I’m fetching. I have a favorite that’s blue. I could go all day long playing fetch with that ball.
I have lots of friends in doggie daycare but I’ll admit, I really like to be hanging out with the little dogs. There’s just something about being the biggest dog in the area and playing with them! Many of the dogs follow me around…perhaps because I’m such a beauty? Speaking of, I’m pretty sure Bartholomew has a little crush on me because he hangs around quite often. I like him, but not like that. Maybe it’s because I get so much attention from the humans. I just love to be held by them and love to lick their faces. Good Dog, doggie daycare gives me plenty of faces to lick!
Hi there! It’s Friday and I am one happy pooch! My name is Dexter Wallace! I’m a 2 and a 1/2 year old, Chesapeake Mix. I’ve been coming to Good Dog Hotel doggie daycare for about a year and a half. Now, if you think about it, that’s really like ten and a half years for me. Whoa.
I’m not originally from Indianapolis. I’m actually from DC, but I really love Broadripple because there are so many dogs to play with. I’m pretty social so I’m all about playing and being friendly with all the dogs and staff here at the doggie daycare…for the most part. (yes, I can be moody…can’t we ALL?)
The funny thing about me is I can fall asleep anywhere. The staff over here at Good Dog Hotel are always taking snaps of me napping in random spots. Here’s one of those shots. 
As you can see, I’m a big dog, so I pretty much stay in the big dog area, but sometimes…just sometimes…I wonder what it would be like to play with all those little dogs on the other side of the fence. It seems like they are always hootin’ and hollarin’ and making all sorts of commotion. Uh, I mean, they’re having all sorts of fun!
Well, truly, big or small, we ALL have fun here at doggie daycare.
Good Dog Hotel and Spa has been a home away from home for me for many years. I just love all the staff there! They’ve been so good to me.
Hi! My name is Jasmine Allman. I’m 3 ½ years old, and I’m a Jack Russell Terrier. I not only get to go to daycare and play with all my pooch pals, I also get to stay in the hotel every once in a while when my parents go out of town. It’s so awesome because they treat me like a queen! Some people say I’m very friendly. I just really love people, especially friendly ones.
A special thing about me (and most Jack Russells) is that I can jump VERY high. I don’t ever jump over the fence, but I’ve sized it up and bet I could if I wanted to!
Even though I’m a smaller dog, I typically play in the medium dog area because all my friends are bigger than me. I play most often with Millie, Sophie, and Tess. They’re like three and four times my size, but that doesn’t stop us all from having a good ‘ole time!
I like to nap during the middle of the day because I get a little worn out from all the running around and jumping with my friends. So, when I do get sleepy, I have my own special shelf I like to hop on where no one will bother me. It’s my favorite place to take my afternoon nap.
I’m really happy my parents let me go to Good Dog Hotel. It’s way better than being at home all day!
Hey everyone! My name is Annie Lagrotte. I’m a 4 year-old Great Pyrenees. I’ve often been told I have beautiful long white fur, which could be the reason why I am MY OWN WOMAN. I have to admit, I don’t really like everyone I meet. It just takes me a while to warm up to people.
At Good Dog, there is a staff member named Lucas. Everyone LOVES Lucas, but no, not me. He has this crazy, curly blonde hair. (Okay, so I may be a little jealous…whatever.) I just don’t like him that much. I’ll let the other dogs love on him. Maybe I’m just a rebel.
I have a brother. His name is Soldier. I’m VERY protective of him. Same goes with my mommy. I’m just as protective of her. I feel as though some pooch needs to be responsible for them, so I don’t mind taking that responsibility. I love them very much. I also LOVE Lauren, in Good Dog’s Daycare. I liked her the moment I met her.
I’m really not that playful. I like to think I have a bit of dignity and grace to me. Honestly, I’m a princess and everyone needs to know that. I’m not one for silliness or games, and it is highly unlikely for me to EVER act inappropriately. After all, I have a reputation to uphold.
I’m also pretty tall. I almost reign over all my doggie subjects in Daycare, but in a motherly protective way. I never move fast, always walk slow and never rush because I don’t feel there is a big hurry to do things. Life is sweet and should be taken in.
But, at the end of the day, I am unfailingly loyal and protective. I love being at Good Dog!
