Biosecurity involves following procedures designed to protect animals from harmful, disease-causing viruses and bacteria. Keeping your kennel clean and free of pathogens helps babies stay alive!

Why Worry About Biosecurity?

Good biosecurity often prevents common diseases like parvovirus. Recently, I helped a breeder with a parvo outbreak that happened after a veterinary visit. Four days later, the breeder had her first parvo case. Protect your pups by limiting their access to the floors at the veterinary clinic. Ask the staff to wear a disposable gown and gloves and wash their hands prior to handling your pups.

Canine parvovirus, a highly resistant pathogen, can live in materials like soil or clothing for a very long time.

Unfortunately, these incidents happen too often. Know the importance of protecting your puppies from potentially fatal infectious agents. Most people are unfamiliar with biosecurity practices and population medicine, so reminding them of healthy procedures and limiting access to outside visitors is essential. Neonates lack a fully developed immune system and are highly susceptible to these diseases. If you limit the access, you prevent the disease from entering and will send healthy, disease-free puppies to their next forever home.

Handling Biosecurity Issues

I find animal lovers looking to adopt a puppy understand limiting access when the goal is protecting your puppies. Most of us have cameras on our moms or have pictures to show potential owners how the moms care for their babies. Meeting puppy buyers on Zoom or Facetime can help protect pups from unnecessary exposures. Once pups reach eight weeks of age and their vaccines are effective, we can allow new owners to meet them. Limiting access to the whelping area is still important, so introduce pups to new people in another area. Even if all your pups are vaccinated, litters born months from now could be compromised by pathogens that enter your kennel today.

Inform Your Visitors

Post signs designating biosecurity areas on your property. I find most people will be respectful if they know the rules. If someone ignores the signs, be persistent and educate them on the importance of biosecurity. Most people don’t want to endanger puppies.

The True Cost

A disease outbreak in the kennel is expensive to treat, but the cost doesn’t stop there. Losing a whole litter breaks your heart, especially when you stayed up all night with mom as she gave birth. You feel like you let Mom down! Get the message out that you limit access because you love your puppies, not because you don’t want them seen. Lastly, don’t hesitate to ask someone who refuses to follow your biosecurity protocols to leave your property. Biosecurity is the basis of disease control in population medicine, so do it like your puppies’ lives depend on it – because they do!

If you need help, call us at 800.786.4751.