Local Dog Events NI – August 2017

Published on by Laura1 Comment

August looks to be a great month for up and coming dog events so hopefully see you and your doggies about!

Saturday 12th August

Tellington TTouch Workshop for Dogs and Owners with Jetta Reis – Mallusk

Link to Facebook event page – need to buy tickets for this event

 

Bark in the Park – Lurgan

Link to facebook event page
 

 

Summer Sale at Assisi Animal Sanctuary – Newtownards

Link to Facebook event page
  

 

Sunday 13th August

All About Greyhounds – I’m looking for my forever HOME walk – Belfast

Link to Facebook event page
 

 

Omagh RDA Dog Show – Omagh

Link to Facebook event page

 

Kesh Family Pet Show – Fermanagh

Link to Facebook event page

 

Saturday 19th August

Mid Antrim Animal Sanctuary Summer Open Day – Antrim

Link to Facebook event page

 

Rosie’s Trust Family Fun Day – Comber

Link to Facebook event page

 

Sunday 20th August

Dundalk Dog Rescue Paws in the Park – Dundalk

 

Northern Pride – Banbridge

Link to Facebook event page

 

Saturday 26th August

Pooches at the Port – Portrush

Link to Facebook event page

 

Sunday 27th August

Benvardin Kennels Fun Dog Show & BBQ – Ballymoney

Link to Facebook event page

 

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

 

Doggy tips for beating the summer heat!

Published on by Laura1 Comment

It’s that time of the year again here in Northern Ireland where we get a few scorching days then back to the usual. Although the good weather may be fleeting it’s important to keep our doggies safe in this heat so here’s my top tips for beating the summer heat!

Be very careful and considerate with the following  dogs that are prone to struggling more in this type of weather;

  • Young puppies
  • Elderly dogs
  • Brachycephalic dogs – flat faced dogs such as pugs etc
  • Thick coated dogs

 

Keeping them cool

Why you shouldn’t shave a double coated dog
  • Do not shave a double coated dog – make sure to brush regularly to get rid of dead coat
  • Cooling products such as cooling mats, cooling vests/harnesses, and bandannas soaked in water are great to help keep dogs cool – DIY options such as damp towels are also a good option

 

  • Give your dog some cooling treats – some ideas for frozen goodies are;
    • frozen kongs
    • homemade ice treats using low sodium broth, yoghurt, peanut butter, coconut oil, fish oil etc.
    • frozzys instead of human ice cream as it’s healthier for them
    • frozen fruits like berries, watermelon, banana
  • Always have water on outings, when at the beach make sure to provide lots of fresh water to help prevent them from drinking the salt water as it will dehydrate them
  • Ice cubes can be put into their water bowl to keep water cool and refresh the supply as it melts

 

Protection from the sun

  • Special dog sun cream should be used on dogs with short or sparse hair such as dogs with short white hair and exposed pink skin
  • If you must absolutely walk your dog on pavement then use booties or pad wax to protect their feet
  • Walk in shaded areas or if you’re hanging out in the sun bring a pop up tent or a wind break that can provide shade for the dog to escape the direct sun
20170622_073719.jpg
Choose wooded areas for walks rather than walking in the direct sun

 

Avoid heat exhaustion

  • Walk early in the morning and later in the evening- avoid midday when the sun is strongest
  • Be careful when playing fetch or anything high energy as dogs can easily overdo it when they are having fun
  • Avoid any forced jogging or running on leash – let the dog decide when enough is enough
  • If there are any bodies of water nearby let them have a dip before or during their walk so the dampness will keep them cool
IMG_20160410_114130
A little paddle in water will help keep them cool

 

Take care travelling

  • Goes without saying do not leave a dog unattended in a car
  • Make sure to cool down the car with the AC 5-10 minutes before letting the dog into the car as we know how stiflingly hot cars can get by just sitting in the sun
  • Use a non spill travel bowl to make sure they have access to water while travelling or provide a frozen kong to cool them down
  • Provide a cooling mat or dampened towel that they can choose to lie on if it gets too hot
  • If putting down the window in the car make sure the dog is secured and can’t jump out, also considering using a mesh window guard to prevent injuries to your dog if it likes to stick it’s head out the window, as debris from the road can get kicked up into their face

 

Do you have any top tips for beating the summer heat? We usually play a lot of fun games, mental stimulation and training inside when it’s too hot for outings.

 

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

 

Local Dog Events NI – July 2017

Published on by Laura3 Comments

This will be the first in a series where I will bring together all the doggy events happening in Northern Ireland that I can find for the upcoming months. There’s always lots of fun events over the summer months so hopefully you can find an event that suits you and your dog!

Saturday 15th July

Castlewellan Agricultural 50th Anniversary Show – Castlewellan

Facebook event with details

Dalriada Festival – Glenarm (On Sunday 16th as well)

Facebook page      Website

Sunday 16th July

Grovehill Animal Trust Annual Family Fun Dog Show – Omagh

Pre Rose week Greyhound Walk – Lisburn

Facebook event with details

Saturday 22nd July

PDSA Bark in the Park – Bangor

Facebook event with details

Park Life Fur and Flora event – Belfast

2-4pm @ Moat Park Bowling Green

Park Life

Sunday 23rd July

Pooches in the Park – Derry / Londonderry

Facebook event with details

Sunday 30th July

The Dirty Onion Pooch Social – Belfast

Almost Home Greyhound Rescue NI Month End Meetup – Lisburn

Facebook event with details

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

Hello Again!

Published on by Laura3 Comments

Needless to say this blog had taken a bit of a back seat but I’m going to do my best to get back to blogging with a focus on the reasons why I started this blog. I want to share more about local products, places, services and events as well as sharing training progress and tips.

So thought I would share a little catch up with what’s happening. Lots of exciting stuff and I hope to share some of the upcoming events and news with you guys.

Angus will be 6 months tomorrow on the 13th July and he has gone from a little cute pup to a handsome teenage doggy.

He attended his first dog show in May and although he didn’t compete, we met up with his father, it was so lovely to see him again.

Bonnie is getting on great, she has really taken on the big sis role and loves to play with Angus.

I’ve been helping out at dog and puppy training classes recently and even got to help teach a class with another assistant while the trainer was away at the IMDT conference.

I will be attending a Suzanne Clothier Seminar on 15th July. The seminar covers Relationship Centred Training and also Enriched Puppy Protocol. I’m super excited for a day of learning and can’t wait to see what new info and ideas I will take away from the seminar.

I will be taking a Practical Dog Training course with the same tutors that held the previous training course I completed. This is a 4 week course and will involve practical training with a local animal rescue centre’s dogs. I’m looking forward to gaining more experience with working with other dogs and it will be nice for the rescue dogs to get some extra enrichment and training too.

In August I will be attending a Tellington TTouch Workshop held by Jetta Reis. It will be really interesting to see the techniques and how I can apply them to my own dogs.

I am also doing the couch to 5k program as I entered the Waggy Races which is a 5k race where you run with your dog. I’ve entered with Bonnie and I’m hoping I can progress enough to jog the full 5k but we will see how my training goes!

Lots of exciting stuff ahead so hopefully I can share these with you guys!

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

Puppy Socialisation

Published on by Laura5 Comments

Angus is now 15 weeks old and since the socialisation period ends roughly between 12-16 weeks we have been super busy making sure he gets plenty of positive socialisation experiences with plenty of time to rest in between.

He is doing really well and I’m so pleased that he has such a happy, confident and cheeky character. He does have the odd shy or unsure moment but I feel that for such a sensitive breed he is doing super!

I thought I would include some of the socialisation work we’ve been doing to give ideas for any other puppy owners out there.  And if you don’t need any ideas then I hope you enjoy the photos and videos of a pretty cute pup (even if I do say so myself!).

20170313_110305-COLLAGE.jpg

20170320_131015-COLLAGE.jpg

We have been having so much fun raising and socialising a puppy right from the start and look forward to many more fun and positive outings with him 😀

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

 

Introducing Angus .. finally!

Published on by Laura8 Comments

We brought Angus home on Wednesday 8th March so I’m a bit late getting around to this! But between getting him settled, getting into a new routine (3 feeds a day, so many toilet trips and late nights/early mornings) and recovering from my daytrip to crufts (up at 4.30am after 3 hours sleep and back home at 8.30pm – was excellent but I was wrecked!) I finally feel able to write about him!

So far Angus has just slotted straight into our family without much hassle and stolen the hearts of all of us even including Bonnie! She loves to play bitey face with her little bro and she is doing really well with him. We are very proud of her as she is learning to share her space with him and this is the nervous, under socialised, resource guarder who is teaching him bite inhibition, body language and play. Don’t get me wrong she still has the odd moment of resource guarding that is a bit OTT, we manage all feeding, and she sometimes gets overstimulated but she is doing well and is easy to redirect –  we are not scolding her in anyway as we do not want to potentially create negative associations with Angus.

Angus’ training and socialisation is going really well. He is very steady and copes well with most situations so far, the things we most need to work on in terms of socialisation is passing cars, baths and sudden noises away from home. He is a smart pup that is doing really well with positive reinforcement training and is currently in the process of learning auto-attention (look into my eyes for attention/food etc), sit, down, stand, touch, rollover, recall, loose lead walking, pee on cue (piddle), go into his pen, go into house from garden and a basic fetch for fun. His house training is going well enough I think – he has only had one poop accident the first evening, 2 have been on the grass potty tray and others have been outside. The pee on the other hand is going slightly worse with more accidents but is improving as we know his routine better, I would say we have a success rate of about 80% with the pee which isn’t the worst I guess.

He is such a lovely pup with a lovely character and personality. I am honestly so pleased we brought him home. It has been a huge adjustment and change of routine for us but he has slotted right in like he has always been part of the family and I love him so much already. He is growing like a weed and is noticeably bigger than since we got him so although I look forward to when his bladder is bigger I’m going to appreciate how cute and dinky he is for now!

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

Our Future Family Member!

Published on by Laura5 Comments

For those of you who don’t follow our social media you might have missed out that we had finally met our special puppy to add to our family. He is a tri colour rough collie puppy that was born on Friday 13th (unlucky for some but not for us!) and will be joining us in just over 2 weeks time and we couldn’t be more excited!

20170212_182435
Caring mum entrusting her little pup with me
20170212_182442
Content wee pup and delighted me!
20170212_182733
Think he will be happy enough with us 🙂

We are very lucky to have found such a wonderful breeder as we only wanted to support a reputable breeder that would carry out health tests, raise pups in the house and so on. While visiting we met both parents who were absolutely lovely and had wonderful temperaments. We have received weekly updates since his birth and have loved seeing him grow up and change week on week.

screenshot_20170217-201158
5 weeks old and so adorable!
img-20170217-wa0000
It’s tiring work being this cute!

His registered name will be Caronlea Dark and Stormy and we’re pretty much set on Angus as his normal name. We though it quite fitting as it matches the rough collie Scottish heritage and because Bonnie’s name is Scottish in origin too. I genuinely feel so lucky to be adding such a lovely pup from such a good background to our family and can’t wait to start this next chapter in our lives!

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

 

Smithvale Dog Centre Visit

Published on by Laura2 Comments

We finally booked a session at Smithvale Dog Centre for today and it was amazing! I’ve been here before to help with classes and behavioural sessions but this was the first time me and my partner had been here with Bonnie and it was so much fun! She really enjoyed having the enclosed area to run about freely and was super at the obstacles, even the ones she hadn’t tried before!

I was so proud of her as not only was she great at learning how to do the obstacles but I was also able to use a tennis ball and her tug as both a lure and reward for her. This is a huge deal for us as she came to us not knowing how to play tug and was wary of taking anything from our hands so for her to enjoy it so much is amazing. I always hoped for a tug obsessed dog and she’s slowly getting there – dragging her around with her firmly clamped down on the tug is the funnest thing ever especially considering how gingerly she used to be with her mouth!

20170205_112325.jpg

20170205_112039_001-ANIMATION.gif

20170205_112256(0).jpg

20170205_112423_001-ANIMATION.gif

20170205_113735.jpg

20170205_111948_001-ANIMATION.gif

20170205_115348_006.jpg

20170205_111952_001-ANIMATION.gif

20170205_120132.jpg

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

Taggart’s Famous Liver Cake Review

Published on by Laura8 Comments

I’m really excited to share one of our favourite treats and a secret weapon for high distraction training! Taggart’s Famous Liver Cake is made locally in Ballymena Northern Ireland from an innovative dog owner who practises reward based training and wanted to create a natural, healthy and high quality treat. I love that it is made locally and by a dog owner with similar ideals as regular readers will know I love to train using positive reinforcement and I’m always coming up with new things to work on with Bonnie.

The liver cake comes in 2 varieties;

  • Treat sized bag – cut into small chunks ready for training
  • Pre-sliced 1kg loaf

Both varieties are meant to be stored in the freezer until ready to defrost for use. It’s hard to miss their lovely branded freezers in store! As we like to do a lot of training with Bonnie we always have a loaf stocked in our freezer. Their products are stocked in independent pet shops and stockists can be found here.

livercake.jpg

20170122_150227.jpg

We defrost slices in the fridge and then they can be used for up to 5 days after defrosting so is really convenient. My absolute favourite part of the loaf is once it’s defrosted it is so easy to cut up into whatever size of treats you want to use whether you want larger or smaller pieces. It’s also really easy to break up by hand when you’re on the go so really is a versatile treat!

livercake2.jpg

To sum up the Taggart’s Famous Liver Cake range;

Positives

  • Healthy treat with good, real ingredients with no cheap junk fillers, additives or preservatives
  • High value treat – Bonnie loves it even in high distraction training scenarios
  • Soft texture which is easy for dogs to eat – great for rapid rewarding and repetitive training such as clicker training as less time is spent chewing
  • Get a lot of treats per loaf
  • Easy to cut and break into whatever size training treat you want to use
  • Made locally
  • Reasonably priced

Negatives

  • If you wanted to be picky you could say that it needs defrosted before use but I will just chuck a slice into the fridge the day before a big trip out

Overall I cannot fault the product, both me and Bonnie love it and would highly recommend!

20161204_112120.jpg
Taggart’s liver cake? I love that stuff!

Check out their website here and their Facebook page here.

Do you have any favourite dog products made locally? We are very lucky that more and more local dog products and services are popping up regularly and I can’t wait to try more out!

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

Tug-E-Nuff Dog Toys Competition

Published on by Laura1 Comment

I thought I would share this awesome competition with you – enter for a chance to win over £500 worth of dog toys! We love Tug-E-Nuff dog toys so it would be great to win as we could choose a select few to keep then donate the rest to local rescues for the dogs to enjoy while waiting for their new homes.

If you want to enter using my referral link then please enter through this link. This means I will get extra entries for the competition if you enter through the above link.

If you want to enter without using the referral link then please enter by clicking the link from the Tug-E-Nuff Facebook post below.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftugenuffdoggear%2Fposts%2F1220064818069795%3A0&width=600&show_text=true&height=480&appId

I would definitely recommend checking out their products as we have a few of their toys that we love!

You can also follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter