Our Blog

29 June 2019, 17:05

Healthy dog treats for good boys and good girls.

If your dog is anything like Bottle, then food is high on their priority list! Aside from dog walks and training, food plays an important part in a dog’s life. Bottle is particularly food-driven, and he has had his fair share of bin raids, stealing bread from the shelf and staring with puppy-dog eyes and drooling when anyone is eating. In addition to just giving him high quality dry dog food, I have also added a variety of tasty and healthy treats to his diet.

I have found the below treats to be great for food-motivated dogs or simply to be part of a healthy dog’s diet (hopefully your tail-wagging friend will love these too!):

• blueberries
• peas
• carrots
• cucumber
• raw bone marrow
• large raw bones from the butchers
• apple

To make the treats last a little longer, and especially appropriate during the summer months, you can also try freezing the above treats 😊

28 May 2019, 9:30am

Bottle (my Labraboy) is getting on a bit and has arthritis. After getting overly excited and running around or waking up from a long nap, he usually limps or licks at his legs., so doggy care and dog walks have been adjusted a lot for him. For owners or anyone providing pet services to an older dog or a dog which suffers from joint problems, here are some of the things I have incorporated into Bottle’s life to make his golden years a little more manageable and comfortable:

• Memory foam bed – this gives his joints a little more support.
• Salmon oil, flax seed oil and I’m a huge fan of Yumove (containing green lipped mussel) – all of these have helped with his joints.
• The vets have prescribed Metacam (anti-inflammatory pain relief) – I give this to him on his bad days rather than administering it daily as I don’t want to knacker his liver and other organs.
• During winter months, I give him a microwavable beanbag to ease the stiffness and pain in his joints.
• Although this was one of Bottle’s favourite games, I no longer play fetch with him. The additional sprinting and skidding made his joints worse.
• Rather than going for 1 long walk a day, I try to give Bottle a couple of shorter walks (e.g. two 45-minute walks a day).
• I am gentler when playing with him or petting him (especially near the bum and pelvic area).
• Making sure that he jumps as little as possible.
• I pick him up when putting him in and taking him out of the car.
• I keep his nails short.

The above will not magically get rid of your dog’s joint problems, but it’ll provide a bit more comfort and support. Remember, they can’t tell us how they feel or the pain they’re in, so it’s important that we do as much as we can to be responsible dog owners, whether that’s in their doggy day care, dog walks or dog boarding.

29 April 2019, 4:00pm

Hi all, Grace and Bottle here.

Welcome to our first blog!

We’ve recently had some great weather in London and so we have been going on some lovely dog walks. Yesterday Bottle and I had a doggy date with JJ (the almost 9-year-old Beagle) in Roxbourne Park, Northolt, West London. Bottle and JJ have known each other since they were 6 months old. I can’t say that they play much, but they do enjoy walking together like two old men and check up on one another occasionally. Here’s a photo of JJ – he is a complete gentleman and the happiest Beagle in the world. After a lot of sniffing around and an off-lead wander in the bushes, our dog walk ended at a local pub where plenty of fresh water and shade was available. So, a bit more info on Bottle – he is an old boy, and being a Labrador, he suffers from a lot of the joint problems associated with Labradors (Bottle has arthritis on all limbs). Dog walking for him therefore needs to be shorter and more frequent. Some adjustments have also been made to his everyday activities and his doggy day care and wellbeing. But that’s just a bit of an intro on my best friend; I’ll write more about dog day care and dog walking for an older dog, and ways to make their golden years more comfortable and enjoyable in our next blog.

Have a great day and give your dog(s) all the love in the world.