If you haven’t already heard, there are mighty changes coming to the way that we commute to work in Seattle. Starting on January 4th, all exits off of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown will be closed. Later, on January 11th, 2019 the Highway-99 Viaduct that connects West Seattle to Downtown and Aurora Blvd will be closed permanently.

The tunnel that was built by Big Bertha to replace the Viaduct will not be open until the middle to end of February. This means that for between 3-5 weeks at the start of next year there will be no downtown access from the 2nd largest road serving Seattle proper.

Even if you do not commute via the Viaduct or SR-99, the additional traffic created by those re-routed cars will affect your commute greatly. As of now, the City is estimating that traffic congestion will increase at least 30%, with commute times estimated to double during that period.

Now is the time to be planning for these changes, and how they may affect not only your commute, but the commute of your favorite furry companion!

Our Hours

We understand that this will be a trying time as we all adjust our schedules to compensate for the new changes. Because so many people will be commuting to work earlier in an effort to avoid the worst of the traffic, we will be extending our hours for your convenience.

Starting on January 7th, and going until the SR-99 re-opens, we will be open at 5:30 AM and we will close at 7:00 PM, Monday thru Friday.

We hope that this change will help your morning commute and allow you to bring your pup to us even during the #SeattleSqueeze.

General #SeattleSqueeze Info

For more detailed information and a news feed of all City-related news associated with the #SeattleSqueeze the best place to visit is the city’s own traffic portal.

If using an app is easier than checking a webpage, there is WAZE for both Android and iPhone, which has real-time traffic updates.

Do you work downtown? Want to have a FREE consultation on the best way to commute to your workplace? Please contact Commute Seattle! Their representatives can assist you in finding the best ways to make it to work with minimal hassle. They are trained to give info on every commute– via car, transit, bike, or a mixture of those options.

West Seattle Info

As our West Seattle customers are likely to face the most impact from this situation, we here at Seattle Canine Club have put together some additional information in order to aid you during this time.

If you live in West Seattle and would like to use a bus to drop off your dog with us, there are a couple of different routes that serve our area of SoDo.

• Route 21 – West Seattle Stadium to 1st & Lander (Starbucks HQ)
• Route 50 – Alaska Junction to 1st & Lander
• Routes 116, 118, 119 (peak hours only) – Fauntleroy & Alaska to 1st & Lander
• Route 131 – Burien Transit Center to 4th & Lander
• Route 132 – South Park to 4th & Lander

Starting on December 17th the City has said that West Seattle residents can use an app called Ride2 (for Android and iPhone) or a phone call to hail a shuttle that will take them from their home to either the Water Taxi dock or the Alaskan Way Junction.

During the closure and through March 2019, the Seattle Water Taxi will double its service. To help commuters connect to the taxi, Metro has already announced an additional 250 parking spaces at Pier 2 as well as a shuttle to get people from the Pier to the Water Taxis at Seacrest Park.

No matter how you choose to commute during this time, we hope this information was helpful as we all cope with the city’s growing pains. Thank you for choosing Seattle Canine Club!

A quick guide to having a ready-to-go SCC customer account

In case you missed the news, Seattle Canine Club now has Online Customer Accounts. Customers can use these accounts to track your dog’s immunizations, your current daycare day totals and your transaction history.

While the majority of the transition to the new, digital system has been smooth, there has been a couple of bumps along the way. Thank you so much for your patience with us as we learn to integrate this new software into our daily routine. Today we would like to help our customers solve a couple of the more common issues that may be preventing you from getting your account as up to date as possible.

If You Have Not Yet Claimed Your Account

Every dog that is registered with Seattle Canine Club already has an account with us. If you have not already claimed your account, click HERE, and use the “forgot password” button if you know the email address you gave us on registering. If you are unsure of the email address used, please reach out to our staff (info@seattlecanineclub.com) and we will assist you in securing your account.

Claimed Your Account, But Cannot Request Reservations

There are three items that will prevent an account from being able to sign up for a daycare or boarding. These three items are:

• Meet & Greet Not Completed
• Unsigned Agreement Forms
• No/Overdue Immunizations

Meet & Greet Appointment Required

All accounts created for our customers by SCC should already have a Meet & Greet appointment recorded. If a customer created the account, then a M&G will need to be marked as complete by SCC staff.

If you and your dog have already done this, please book a Meet & Greet appointment for the day you would like to come in for daycare. We will mark the M&G complete when you arrive, and then update our system at that time.

Unsigned Agreement Forms

While we have physical copies of owner agreements for all current dogs, we are asking our customers to please re-sign the agreements digitally in order to have them associated with the online account.

You can find these agreements on the main account page by going to the top menu, selecting the “My Account” drop-down, and clicking on “Agreements.” On the left side of the screen there should be an option to “view” and “sign” the agreements. Please familiarize yourself with the documents and digitally sign them.

Unavailable or Overdue Immunizations

During the digitization process we transferred as much previous data as we could from our old pen and paper system. Unfortunately, vaccination/immunization data was not one of the items that was able to be automated in adopting the online accounts. We have been working on updating these records behind the scenes, but because of the sheer volume of data, we could use your help.

If you have access to your dog’s latest immunization records you can upload them directly to your account. File types supported are common image files (eg: .JPG, .GIF, .PNG) as well as .PDF documents. After being uploaded, the files will be reviewed manually by SCC staff and your account updated.

If you do not have access to your dog’s current immunization records, simply call over to your vet’s office and ask them to send the documents to us at (info@seattlecanineclub.com). Once they email us the records we will be able to manually update your account for you.

We Appreciate Your Support

We are so appreciative of your support while we upgrade! Let our staff know if there is anything we can do to make your experience with us (on- or off- line) more agreeable.

Sincerely,
Rick and Staff

Here at Seattle Canine Club we are dedicated to ensuring the highest level of customer care. It is because of this dedication to good service that we have entered into a partnership with Amazon to offer an online retail store. We control the item selection in the store, while the inventory and fulfilment is completed by Amazon. Our standards for canine food, treats and toys are much higher than the average dog store and we will continue to bring those high standards to our online retail partnership.

We hope that this service will be a useful convenience to our members. If you have any comments or concerns we would appreciate hearing your feedback directly.

Rick & the SCC Staff

206-957-9097
info@seattlecanineclub.com

You can access the Seattle Canine Club Online Store at:
www.amazon.com/shop/seattlecanineclub

November is a time of gratitude, self-reflection and eating a whole bunch of turkey! It’s always seemed to me that Thanksgiving is the most dog-like holiday. The holiday is all about eating a lot of food, lazing about the rest of the day, and reminding those you love how grateful you are for their contributions to your life. Sounds like an average day for a dog, doesn’t it?

Thanksgiving is a largely dog-friendly holiday, and there are few safety tips to be aware of before then. We have gathered some thoughts on having a safe Thanksgiving meal with your dog:

Thanksgiving Turkey

Dogs love turkey! Feel free to give your pup some Thanksgiving turkey with dinner. Just make sure that it’s cooked (dogs can get salmonella too!) and that the bones are all out of it. Don’t let your dogs have poultry bones or carcasses. Dogs don’t chew too thoroughly, and the sharp bits can scratch their insides. Stick to meaty bits, your furry friend will thank you!

Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes are a fun snack for your dog, and mashed potatoes are a familiar texture for them. Dogs don’t need much in the way of starches or carbs in their diet, so they don’t need a very large serving. Garlic is common in mashed potatoes, but is toxic to dogs. They also don’t need as much salt, so having a salt-free portion would be helpful. So if you are someone who likes to add extra flavor to your Thanksgiving potatoes, try to serve your dog before adding too many spices.

Vegetables

Many dogs enjoy a variety of vegetables in their food, some more than others. While I’ve seen dogs get crazy over baby carrots and green beans, by far the most popular vegetable is peas. Most dogs will eat frozen peas straight out of the freezer as a crunchy snack! The same warnings about spices apply to veggies as they do to potatoes, just take it easy.

Dessert

Eating dessert is my favorite part of Thanksgiving! Pumpkin pie is always the best part of the meal, and your dog agrees too! Pure, pureed, pumpkin and sweet potato can be served to your dog directly from the can as a tasty treat. Many dog owners mix a tablespoon of pumpkin with their dog’s food to aid in digestion. That said, you may reconsider giving your dog a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert.

What is largely known as “pumpkin spice” is mostly just a combination of a couple common spices added to pumpkin pie. Those spices are traditionally associated with Thanksgiving and are: clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Nutmeg and cinnamon can be toxic to your dog or cat, but not in any quantities they’d ever get from a piece of pie. Your faithful companion doesn’t need any of the refined sugar in pie, so it’s probably best to let them have some right from the can.

Relaxation

After all that great food shared between everyone, it’s time for a relaxing evening. Here at Seattle Canine Club we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

If you plan on being out of town over the Thanksgiving weekend, consider bringing your furry friend to Seattle Canine Club to stay. We board every day of the year and would like to help ensure that your dog is nice and comfy on Thanksgiving. Click Here to see our membership requirements or Click Here for our 2017 Holiday Hours.