The Importance of Health and Wellness

Everything we do begins and ends with the dogs in our care. At NSD, we are committed to ensuring the health and wellness of each of our Service and Facility Dogs.

All of our dogs in training get routine vet care and preventative medications throughout their time in training. In addition, they will have health check-ins and scans to ensure they don’t have any health issues that would affect their working career. As you can see in the infographic, that means a lot of vet visits in the first 2 years just for routine care.

If the dog in training is being considered for our breeding program they will undergo genetic testing, an echocardiogram clearance and Pennhip test. Otherwise, male dogs will be neutered after they have fully matured and female dogs will be spayed after their first heat cycle.

In addition, NSD retains ownership of all of our working Service and Facility Dogs and continues to hold the responsibility for their well-being throughout the length of their lives. Our client services team works with all our clients to ensure each dog remains happy and healthy throughout their working life including annual wellness checks, preventative care and weight management.

We are grateful to have the Cambridge Bingo and Gaming Centre support the health and wellness of our dogs in training through charitable gaming. Their donations help cover the costs of vet care for our dogs in training. For more info on charitable gaming, visit https://www.cgcgood.com/