28/10/2026
🐾 PARVOVIRUS AWARENESS – A MESSAGE FROM THE DOGS PADDOCKS 🐾
Following the heartbreaking news that a local dog in Winsford has sadly lost its life to canine parvovirus, we wanted to share some important information with our dog-loving community. 💔
Firstly, our thoughts are with the dog’s family. Losing a much-loved pet is devastating, and we fully support raising awareness of this potentially fatal disease.
However, we’ve also seen advice circulating across numerous local Facebook groups specifically recommending that dog owners avoid secure dog exercise fields that don’t request proof of vaccination.
As the owner of The Dogs Paddocks, I feel it’s important to provide some balance and clarify a few points.
🐾 Vaccination is incredibly important.
At The Dogs Paddocks, we recommend that all dogs are vaccinated in accordance with veterinary advice.
Vaccination provides excellent protection against parvovirus, but no vaccine is 100% effective. Although uncommon, vaccinated dogs can still become infected and potentially shed the virus.
Importantly, a vaccination certificate is not proof that a dog is free from infection.
🐾 Parvovirus isn’t exclusive to secure dog fields.
The virus can survive in the environment for extended periods and can be spread through infected faeces and contaminated surfaces, including footwear, clothing, paws and equipment.
Public parks, footpaths, woodland walks, communal dog areas and daycare facilities can all potentially become contaminated.
🐾 Private hire is an important distinction.
Unlike daycare facilities or communal dog parks, where dogs from multiple households may mix together, our secure fields are hired exclusively by individual customers.
This means dogs can exercise without direct contact with unfamiliar dogs, reducing opportunities for direct transmission of infectious diseases.
Of course, private hire doesn’t eliminate the possibility of environmental contamination, and we would never claim otherwise.
🐾 Vaccination checks alone cannot guarantee a disease-free environment.
Whilst requesting vaccination records is a perfectly reasonable precaution, it doesn’t eliminate the risk of infectious disease.
Indeed, any environment where multiple dogs visit, particularly those where unfamiliar dogs interact directly, has potential transmission risks.
This includes daycare facilities, even those with strict vaccination policies.
Our concern is that specifically advising dog owners to avoid secure exercise fields based solely on whether vaccination certificates are requested creates a misleading impression of risk.
We operate a network of secure dog exercise fields across the North West and take canine welfare and responsible field management extremely seriously.
We encourage all customers to follow veterinary vaccination advice, promptly remove dog waste, and never bring dogs that are unwell or suspected of having an infectious disease to our facilities.
If your dog develops symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy or loss of appetite, please contact your vet promptly and keep them away from areas used by other dogs.
Ultimately, no dog daycare, public walking area or secure exercise field can guarantee a completely risk-free environment.
Let’s focus on accurate information, responsible dog ownership and sensible precautions across ALL environments, rather than singling out one particular type of facility.
Our heartfelt condolences remain with the family who have lost their beloved dog. ❤️🐾
Steph Cheadle, Owner of The Dogs Paddocks
