Puppy Protocol: Puppy Admission Illness Prevention
Care of admission-area puppies and nursing moms
***WASH HANDS FREQUENTLY***
Wash hands frequently especially between runs of unvaccinated, newly vaccinated or ill puppies and runs containing newborn puppies and moms. Gloves may be worn but good hand washing is still necessary.
Gowns and gloves should be worn if a run has ill puppies. Gowns and gloves must be changed between runs, and hands washed. If gross contamination to clothing occurs despite wearing a gown, scrubs/clothing should be changed before entering a run with healthy pups. If possible, an assigned caregiver should care for the run of ill puppies and should not have contact with other puppies or nursing moms. If this is not possible due to staffing, special care must be taken to prevent cross-contamination of ill and well puppies by washing and the use of gowns and gloves.
Nursing moms and puppies require special precautions to prevent contamination of their areas. Extra attention to hand washing, changing soiled clothing (e.g. clothing soiled with feces, urine or excessive saliva from other puppies) and cleaning shoes well in addition to using the foot bath before entering the run will help to minimize the risk of introducing disease. If any other runs have obvious signs of infection, such as an upper respiratory infection, the mom and newborns should be cared for by a caregiver who does not have contact with the infected run. If this is not possible, the healthy puppies and the nursing mom should be cared for FIRST and then the infected run.
It is mandatory that you do not handle other sanctuary dogs while caring for puppies. This is for both their protection and for the protection of the puppies. If the caregiver is caring for ill puppies and the caregiver has puppies/dogs at home, we advise that when arriving home you shower and change clothes before handling your own personal dogs.
Revised- 11/2011