Heating
To keep our dogs warm in their kennels every pen includes a raised bed with a Herschel Infrared heater placed on the ceiling above the bed to keep our dogs toasty. The heaters are set to come on automatically if the temperature drops and are monitored daily by our staff. There is a temperature gauge in every kennel block, and the temperature is noted down each morning and evening.
All cat pens have an individual radiator to keep our cats warm. The radiators are set to come on automatically if the temperature drops and are monitored daily by our staff. Cats have various different options of places to sleep, including a bed in front of the radiator and a cosy set up on the shelf above the radiator.
We have wifi dongles throughout the kennels and cattery which allow us to check the temperature from our phones, and look back at what the temperature has been over the last 24 hours. These dongles also alert us if the temperature was ever to drop below our set warm level. This only ever happens whilst the door is open for us to clean, but it gives us good peace of mind.
For more details about our pen set up for both cats and dogs and a photo, please see our kennels page or cattery page.
Bedding
We provide bedding for every pet to keep them warm and cosy in the winter. We always use vet bedding as a base in every bed. We love vet bedding as it has excellent heat retaining properties in the fibres, and unique moisture wicking and drainage properties so dogs are never left to sleep on a wet surface.
We do recommend that owners bring their pets own beds. Although we try to make our beds as comfortable as possible, we all know there is no bed like your own!! With the added familiarity, and smells from home, we do think this will keep our pets the most content.
We have some waterproof mattresses that we use for added comfort for some dogs who don’t bring their beds from home. We tend to give priority to elderly dogs, or dogs who are staying with us for a long holiday.
On rainy days in the kennels, we take the beds up until the dogs are thoroughly dried off and ready to settle down for the night. This ensures that no dog is sitting in a wet bed, and helps to keep bedding fresh for our dogs.
Exercise
Exercise is important for all of our dogs, whatever the weather. This means that dogs will go out to exercise and play come rain or shine. If your dog is used to wearing a coat or jumper at home, please bring them along. We do have our own supply of coats and jumpers to use in extreme weather, but if dogs bring their own coats, we can put them on even in light rain.
In extreme weather, we adjust our exercise and play times to suit. For example, we may reduce the length of time our dogs go out for but increase the frequency. So the dogs are not out in extreme weather for a long time, but they get enough opportunities to go to the toilet, stretch their legs and socalise.
