09/11/2026
🐾 ADDRESSING KENNEL COUGH, AIR QUALITY, QUARANTINE FACTS, AND OUR 21-YEAR HISTORY 🐾
We’ve been receiving questions and concerns from clients regarding recent social media posts circulating locally about a new highly contagious strain of kennel cough sweeping through DFW.
We understand why hearing something like this is concerning, particularly for families whose dogs attend daycare, boarding, or grooming facilities.
First and foremost: The Pines Pet Pampering is not currently experiencing an outbreak of respiratory illness, and in our 21 year history we’ve never had a facility-wide outbreak.
That isn’t to say we’ve never had a dog with a contagious agent walk through our doors and infect another dog. But we’ve been able to avoid facility-wide outbreaks.
At this time, we also have not been able to find any information from the Texas Veterinary Medical Association or other veterinary-health sources confirming that a newly identified strain of "kennel cough" exists or is sweeping through the DFW area.
"Kennel cough" is a broad term for Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC). Infectious coughs can be caused by a variety of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and mycoplasmas. The most widely known is the classic Bordetella Bronchiseptica (a bacterial pathogen which can also rarely infect humans). It manifests with a loud, honking, persistent, hacking cough, as well eye/nasal discharge and lethargy and is similar to Bordetella Pertussis in humans (causing Whooping Cough).
No facility can guarantee that a contagious illness will never walk through its doors, as dogs can be exposed elsewhere and spread it before even showing symptoms. What we CAN control and what makes a difference, is our serious commitment to prevention, observation, and early intervention.
💨 THE ROSS FIRE, AIR QUALITY & WHY EVERY COUGH ISN’T “KENNEL COUGH”
There is a massive environmental factor affecting North Texas dogs right now. The enormous 90,000+ acre Ross Fire has been burning since August 24, marking the largest summertime wildfire recorded in Texas.
Wildfire smoke and fine particulate matter severely compromise air quality, causing heavy upper-airway irritation. Our area already deals with heavy environmental allergens: grass, w**d, and tree pollen issues. Hearing a dog cough does not automatically mean they have an infectious illness. Here are some common differences in physical triggers and symptoms:
Environmental / Allergy / Smoke Irritation (Non-Infectious): Often triggered directly by physical activity, pulling on collar/leash, or excitement - putting pressure on an already irritated or collapsing trachea. The dog acts completely normal otherwise - maintains high energy, a great appetite, and NO fever.
Infectious Kennel Cough (Contagious): A persistent, sudden, hacking "honking" cough that happens even when the dog is completely at rest or sleeping - typically accompanied by systemic symptoms like lethargy, a runny nose, eye discharge, or a loss of appetite.
🩺 STANDARD VETERINARY FACTS ON QUARANTINE
If a dog is diagnosed by a veterinarian with an actual infectious respiratory illness, standard veterinary protocol is non-negotiable: they must be strictly quarantined.
The Timeline: A truly contagious dog must be isolated at home for a minimum of 10 to 14 days from the onset of symptoms, or at least 7 days after the very last cough disappears.
Responsible pet owners should never bring a coughing dog around other pets, daycare facilities, or grooming salons until this full quarantine window has cleared to prevent close-quarters transmission.
📋 TWICE-DAILY WELLNESS CHECKS — A 14-YEAR TRADITION
Catching potential health issues early is vital. For the past 14 years, we have performed and recorded comprehensive wellness checks twice each day on every single dog in our care. Our trained team physically inspects:
Eyes & Nose/Mouth: Checking for unusual discharge, irritation, or eye corner build-up.
Feet & Paw Pads: Ensuring they are clean and free of abrasions/inflammation
Urinary & Stool Areas: Monitoring elimination and checking for bowel movement abnormalities.
Overall Demeanor: Tracking appetite, activity, and anything different for that individual dog.
These observations are documented daily in our records. This gives us a baseline for each guest, allowing us to recognize changes and act upon a pattern from Day 1, rather than waiting until an illness has had time to develop and spread.
🧼 INFECTION PREVENTION IS A DAILY PRACTICE — NOT A REACTION
A clean facility doesn't happen by accident. At the end of every operating day, our entire staff spends a full 2-3 hours deep-cleaning and disinfecting the entire facility. That is 15+ man-hours of dedicated scrubbing and sanitizing every single night. We thoroughly sanitize every floor, cage bank, boarding area, daycare room, grooming table, and solid surface—including inside and outside lobby door handles and all high touch surface areas.
Our Sanitizer: We use PurTabs (NaDCC) throughout our facility. NaDCC technology is so safe it’s trusted globally to purify drinking water and make it potable.
The NaDCC Difference: It’s entirely odor-free and completely non-toxic. If a dog licks a surface, countertop, or bowl that has just been cleaned with it, it is 100% safe for them. Unlike harsh chemicals or bleach, it completely destroys pathogens without irritating their highly sensitive noses, skin, or paw pads.
It’s costly, but we refuse to compromise on this advanced and reliable protectant. Despite its considerable and ever-increasing cost, our sanitation standards are based on what provides the best protection for your pets—not what costs the least.
📋 WE MANAGE EXPOSURE BY MANAGING OUR NUMBERS
Our daycare is intentionally limited in size, and dogs are strictly screened before joining. Attendance is by reservation, and we maintain a firm daily maximum. The same philosophy applies to boarding; we cap our guests and refuse to cram dogs into spaces just because we can. Keeping our population manageable allows our staff to actually know the dogs, observe them closely, and execute our protocols effectively to maintain our high standards.
🔍 TRACEABILITY: WE KNOW WHICH DOGS HAVE BEEN TOGETHER
Another critical part of infection control happens behind the scenes. We maintain daily attendance, roll-call records, and documented boarding groups. If we’re ever notified that a guest developed a communicable illness after visiting us, we don’t have to guess who they interacted with. Our precise records allow us to immediately identify potential contacts, increase monitoring, and communicate directly with the appropriate families.
💯 21+ YEARS — AND THE SAME COMMITMENT
In more than 21 years of operating The Pines Pet Pampering, we have never experienced a facility-wide kennel-cough outbreak. We’re extremely proud of that history.
That doesn’t mean we believe we’re immune from infectious disease, nor would we ever promise that a contagious organism couldn’t enter our facility tomorrow. It means that prevention, sanitation, population limits, observation, documentation, and responding early matter.
These aren’t procedures we suddenly implement when dogs begin getting sick. They’re what we do every single day. And if we ever have information about a communicable illness that could affect your pet, you will hear it directly from us.
— The Pines Pet Pampering
