As you all know, we now have a new camera, the Rover Cam, that has been generously provided by Explore.org. The Rover cam is special in that….it roves! The focus of the Rover Cam was to be able to show the whole feeding process through the building. Since we only feed twice a day, this also allows the cam to be moved from one area to another throughout the day.
Our feeding takes place at about 9 am and 4pm central time. We use the cart that is attached to Rover in different areas for each feeding. We have a total of 5 areas that are fed separately, from separate carts.
The journey starts in the kitchen. You will see the food getting placed on the cart by group. As you’ll notice, each bowl is labeled with a number and color. This identifies which cart the bowl goes on. When the food is placed in the bowls, each may look a little different. While most of our dogs get a grain free kibble and our own, homemade, Aunti Stew, some of the dogs are on special diets for gastro-intestinal ailments, kidney support, liver support, urinary tract support or other special dietary requirements. A few of our Old Friends are just plain old picky eaters, so we give them something that we know that they will eat.
Once the cart leaves the Kitchen, the next stop is medical. Because of the sensitive nature of some of the aspects of our medical area, we often cover the camera while it is in the Medical area. It is here that the various medications and supplements get added to each dog’s food, as required.
From medical, the cart is parked in our Warehouse area. This is where everything that isn’t in use gets stored. We have cleaners, dog clothes, beds, drying racks for mop heads, you name it….. When our caretakers are ready to deliver the food to a specific area, they will pick up the cart from the warehouse.
From here you will see the cart go out to one of the five feeding areas. The dogs, already in their feeding spots, are fed and then the bowls picked up and put back on the cart. After feeding, the caretakers will note anyone who hasn’t eaten all of their food.
After feeding, we often will park the cart back in the reception area to watch some of the newly introduced, special needs and dementia dogs in their area. We can also bring the cart into one of the areas not shown on the Gathering Room cam such as Big Dog Hall, Little Dog Village or somewhere else. We will also be using this camera in the future for live chats. We have found that the Gathering Room does not work well for any type of chatting (as some of you may remember from our last chat).
Reception Area
