Hip Hounds

We love the dogs who come see us for daycare and boarding!  And we would really love to see some puppy pictures or videos of them!  Send any cute pics or videos to:  info@hiphounds.com and we might even post them on our facebook page!

Yes it is back to school season once again.  I cannot believe that fall is almost here.  The weather needs to hurry up and cool off!

Hip Hounds is now offering training classes!  They begin next Tuesday, September 15th at 7:00pm.  The classes are held here at Hip Hounds.  If you are interested or if you have any questions give us a call or shoot us an email at:  training@hiphounds.com.

Hello!  I hope that everyone is having a great week!  Hip Hounds survived the crazy storm last night.  Melissa was here with the dogs during the storm and told me that they had a dance party and that everyone got lots of treats and actually had a good time during the storm.  I was at home (for once) comforting Kiowa, my yellow lab who was terrified of the loud thunder.

I have a terrible case of writer’s block and cannot for the life of me come up with anything exciting for the blog this week!  So, if there is anything you are curious about or would just like to know more about something in particular, let me know!  I can try to answer any questions you might have about Hip Hounds or dogs in general.

Have a great week!

Woof!

Hello everyone!  I hope the week is going well for you all.  Melissa and I both have interests in doing  rescue work at Hip Hounds.  She volunteered wtih Town Lake Animal Center for years and I have years of experience working in animal shelters.  We both feel the need to help out when we can; so when she spotted Princess on Craigslist we both knew we had to go get her!  Princess is a little border collie mix who had about 2 days left at Town Lake.  Some depserate volunteer posted an ad pleading for anyone to help this little sweet girl.  Melissa went down to the shelter to meet her and then took me with her on a second trip.  We got her 4 days later!  We are giving her time to relax and properly socialize with other dogs here at Hip Hounds, then we are going to find her a great home!  If you or know of anyone who might be interested in adopting this little girl or helping her out, let us know!

We also still have our other foster girl, Daisy who is still available for adoption.  One meet and greet with her and you will fall in love with this laid back Newfie!

We will post more information on our Foster and Rescue program is it develops.  Thanks for reading and check back next week!

Woof!

That is correct folks, Hip Hounds is now on Facebook!  Check us out!  We have updated our website and added icons that will shoot you right to our facebook page, youtube site and this blog!  You can view our weekly videos and see who is the dog of the week. 

We are still working on the website so if you encounter any problems let us know! 

We are aware of the webcams not switching away from camera 1 and are currently working to fix the problem!

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

Woof!

Hello everyone!  I hope the week is going well for everyone.  We finally got some rain today in Round Rock!  The rain stopped at noon but hey, we will take what we can get.  I know this might seem a little strange but we get quite a few calls from people asking us if we sell dogs here at Hip Hounds.  The first phone call I answered regarding this issue, I told the person, “I’m sorry but we do not sell dogs here.”  I did not realize that people still go to pet stores to get their dogs.  Check out this link for some facts about pet stores.  While pet stores get their dogs from puppy mills, Animal shelters and rescue organizations take animals out of harmful situations and give them a new chance on life.  The staff at Hip Hounds supports local shelters by volunteering their time and donating items whenever they can.  We at Hip Hounds recommend that if you are looking for a new pet, to please check out local shelters and rescues before going to a pet store.

Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter

The Humane Society of Williamson County

Town Lake Animal Center

List of Rescue Groups in the Austin area

See you all next week!

Woof!

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a good week!  Most of you know that we have a sign posted on our front door that reads, "All dogs mut be on a leash".  We ask that all dogs arrive on a leash for safety reasons.  This rule is most important for new dogs and nervous dogs.  Even the smallest dogs need to be on a leash.  A dog can become very nervous and fearful if it is passed from mom or dad to a strangers arms; this may cause the dog to bite the stranger (or staff member).  This is why no matter the size of the dog, a leash is always the safest way to handle the dogs. 

This thought just came to mind earlier this week and I figured that I should post this week’s blog early so I would not forget!  Check back next week!

Woof!

A lot of dog parents watch their pups on our awesome webcams to see what their kids are up to throughout the day.  Often at pick up times we are asked, ‘ what is in the spray bottles that the staff carry around?’  The spray bottles are loaded with plain tap water.  We use the spray bottles to distract the dogs.  We use them to distract them from other dogs if play gets too intense, or to distract them from chewing on play equipment of fencing.  Most of the time the water works just fine and the staff does not even have to call the dog by name.  Some dogs though, love the water and the spritzing has no effect on the dog.  If the spray bottle does not work, then we call the dogs name to get their attention and tell them ‘no’ or ‘leave it’ if they are getting into mischief.

We at Hip Hounds do everything in our power to keep the playgroups safe and calm.  We do have to raise our voices at certain times to break up the dogs if play is getting too intense and if we feel a fight is about to happen.  If we raise our voices, this means we have used our more gentle methods of distraction and they have failed to get the dog’s attention.  We would rather use our voices to distract the dogs and break up an argument than physically manipulate them.  This is much safer for the dogs and the employees.

I hope this answers a lot of questions out there and of course if you ever have any additional questions about how we handle dog arguments, intense play, or mounting ; please let us know!  Thanks for reading and we will be back next week!

Woof!

Good morning! We hope that everyone is having a good week! We have a special guest blogger this time around. Meredith has been with us for quite some time and was particularly inspired to write the blog this week. So take a moment to read and we will see you back next week!

Woof!

Here at Hip Hounds we keep a plentiful stock of clean towels blankets, beds and toys for every guest, however, we understand that for the comfort of your dog many like to bring their own blankets and beds that smell like home. As this is perfectly welcome for all guests, we just like to remind our dog owners to bring personal belongings at their own risk. We try to the best of our ability to keep track of each and every dog’s belongings including giving everything a wash before their departure. There are certain times when things get a bit hectic around here! Such as Fourth of July weekend, many of the dogs staying in personal runs had their own blankets and beds. While we do not allow any other dog in an occupied run at any time, there is space between each bottom of the fencing allowing for dogs to pull and tug at their neighbors toys and blankets during the night if these things are in paw’s reach. Also, many dogs may be a bit nervous being away from home, causing them to chew away at their beds! We do apologize for any new rips and tears or missing belongings that may have been sent home with another family. For future boarding plans, if you intend on bringing any personal items from home, please be sure to put a name wherever it may fit!

-Meredith

    Hello everyone!  We are very busy at Hip Hounds preparing for the Fourth of July holiday.  We have a lot of pups staying with us over this weekend also!  Some of you may have noticed that our lobby is slowly being made over.  We have put up a new price board over the front desk.  This makes it easier for everyone to see our pricing options for daycare and our boarding rates.  We also spread out our food layout to make room for a larger selection of treats!  We carry large and small packages of yummy treats so you can pick up a small treat for your pooch on your way home, or stock up for the whole month!  We also carry venison treats for those pups with food allergies.  We still carry the full line of canine Natura products and can get feline products upon request, so let us know if your kitties need anything!

     We hope that everyone has a great weekend and stays out of the heat! See you next week!

Woof!