Vet medicine
Robalee Kennel, Vet medicine and animal studies
My family (the Roberts' family) has been involved in kenneling, breeding, and showing dogs since I was a pre-teen.
Robalee and Kahluah kennels boarded up to one hundred dogs daily, so I can speak with some expertise.
Brucellosis
Brucellosis is a virulent bacterial infection. We found that anus to anus infection transmission ofen occurred when a dog "sits" where an infected dog has previously had dog to anus-to-ground-to-anus contact, leaving even trace amounts of urine or fecal matter behind.
- The use of A-33 as a bacteriacide to clean and disinfect kennels is highly recommended.
- When training your pet to heel and halt while on a leash, teach them to halt and stand rather than halt and sit. This tactic will lessen anus-to-ground-to-anus transmission.
Kennel cough
Kennel cough is a bronchial infection spread by an animal inhaling airborne pathogens.
- Do not allow any animal close contact to another animal unless it in the same family.
- The use of A-33 to disinfect kennel surfaces.
Insulin study
Robalee Kennel housed one hundred beagles for two-plus years. We maintained a strict diet for the entire study population. Davis University veterinarians would draw blood from the whole population weekly or monthly in a double-blind test to verify the efficacy of several blood sugar medications.
Retinopathy and hip displasia
Robalee Kennels bred a population of Irish Setters over thirty years (five generations) to establish the genetic linkages for these diseases.
A Personal Note from Robin
It became somewhat of an "inside joke" in the Northern California veterinary community that veterinarians would call my parents to verify their own diagnoses. A vet only sees a pet when it is sick or needs shots—once every six months. When boarding at Robalee, we had contact multiple times a day during their stay: during two or three meals a day, cleaning their runs, and doing outside exercise. We had a Malmute, "Chuck," who was with us for almost four years—his owner being a military officer on deployment.
When "loading in", we never placed animals of the same sex or breed in adjacent runs unless they were from the same family.
Females in heat were lodged in a separate building
In one specific case, a vet prescribed a medication for an animal and instructed that the animal should be administered on a rigid schedule. After three rounds of the drug, the symptoms did not clear up. For the fourth round of medications, the owners were instructed to board their dog at Robalee Kennel. All symptoms were cleared up after administering the fifth of seven days of meds, proving the problem was the owners not giving their dog the prescribed medication.
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