I am a mobile groomer and a client cancelled her appointment for today because her dog has Giardia. How long after her finishes his treatment is it safe for me to groom him without contaminating my truck? I use a recirculating bathing system and high velocity blow dryers. He is a long haired german shepherd

Hi there! Usually dogs that are infected with giardia can be tested after treatment to make sure they aren't still shedding the organism. You can always request the client retest after the completion of treatment, which is usually done anyway to make sure the organism is gone. Giardia can be hard to get rid of, so a lot of vets will do this. There is a client handout about giardia that I really like that I will paste below. It also gives you instructions as to how to eradicate the organism in the environment. A way to play it safe would be for you to have this dog be your last appointment of the day and then disinfect if that works with your schedule. Otherwise, I think a negative retest would be sufficient when the dog is finished with the treatment plan from its vet. Here is the client handout with some great information for you! https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952529

Don't panic! Some dogs are carriers for life, and this certainly does not mean you cannot socialize your dog or allow her to have a normal life. Some dogs, like people, seem to have Giardia and periodically shed and it causes them no problems whatsoever. Yes, it is possible that eventually she will stop shedding, but we don't know this for certain.

Don't panic. Like people, some dogs tend to have the kind of immune system that takes a long time to clear some infections. Also, in some people as well as dogs giardia can be detected but not cause clinical disease. I suspect at some point researchers are going to recognize that in some individuals these organisms can function as commensals and not cause harm (and perhaps even be found to have some symbiotic, beneficial relationship to their hosts). I think it is important to reduce the shedding load so that the environs are not contaminated posing a risk to other animals, but not to get overly concerned that the dog always test perfectly negative. Hope that helps!