Hush Puppies K-9 Center

It was on June 9th that our clinic lead by our Senior Technician Supervisor Amanda McBean attended a kids camp located at Hush Puppies K-9 Center. It was here the kids would come daily for a week learning the importance of proper animal care through many pet friendly activities. This camp was wonderfully designed for the children to build their bonds through activities such as proper nutrition baking classes, exercise enrichments like agility, and medical care including first aid kits.

Our role with the children was to provide information to help prepare for emergency situations. We touched upon importance of up to date medical records, how to scan for a microchip, and essentials for first aid kits. The children, as instructed by Sr Tech Amanda, were able to use a microchip scanner to scan their personal dogs, gaining knowledge of the many techniques, and brands of microchips.

“First aid kits can have lifesaving material…” as directed by Sr Tech Amanda “…which is why I stress the importance of frequent inventory”. As there are many tools that can be in an emergency kit, we covered the necessities including the topic of common toxins. Here we asked the children what types of food, plants, and harmful material they believed that were dangerous to their pets. We had a great time comparing and educating the group on the large variety of hazards.

The day would end with us providing the children with surgical scrubs and allowing them to experience what it is like to prep for surgery. It would begin with proper scrubbing techniques followed by learning the proper way to dress to walk into a sterile room. The children highly enjoyed sporting their new cap, gowns, masks, boot covers, and gloves. After the group was scrummed and gowned they were given a very unique tasks demonstrating the importance of staying sterile in their given environment. As the room irrupted with laughter the kids attempted to move about, open doors, and preform similar doctor tasks.

As a senior technician that has been practicing for over 10 years, Amanda says it was wonderful to be given the opportunity to speak to the up and coming youth. It is also the perfect time to teach young adults the importance of proper pet care and the responsibilities associated. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to reach out and be a part of our growing contributing community. These small moments of education can have lifetime effects for some of these children