Dog Photographer of the Year 2011 - Entries.

4 long weeks ago we posted about the KC's 2011 'Dog Photographer of the Year' competition. Well seeing as the competition is officially closed to entries as of today, we thought we'd share our entries. We entered 3 of the 5 categories - Dog Portrait, Dogs at Play and Man's Best Friend.

We entered this picture of Rafferty in 'Dog Portrait'.
Doesn't she look lovely?

We decided on this baby picture of Monroe for 'Dogs at Play'.

And we chose this shot of Lola on my slippers for 'Man's Best Friend' :)

It was so tough choosing which pictures to enter! We have literally hundreds of pictures of the girls and we love them all ♥ The toughest choice was picking our 'Dog Portrait' entry, we had to rope in a friend to help us with the final 2!

Now for the judging to begin! We wish everyone who entered the very best of luck and to anyone who hasn't already entered hurry up, it's for such a good cause and today is the final day! To slip in a late entry or to find out more, click here.

We'll no doubt do a post once the winners/runners up are announced, so we can share loads of fabulous pictures with you :) The winners will be announced via the KC website and the pictures posted on Flickr. The Grand Prize winner will get their award at this years Discover Dogs. Judging will take place 14th September and winners/runners up will be announced 15th/16th September, when we should be about to post about it, but of course we'll be back long before all that happens ;)

Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Training Tombles (Lola).

Everyone who has a dog thinks theirs is beautiful and each dog is, in its own way. As any proud parents would, we think Tombles (Lola) is gorgeous. She's also really quite clever and very quick to learn new things, so we've decided to try her out in the world of doggy modelling. Before we can sign up with an agency though we need to get her trained up and be confident in her skills. While we're on the training path, we thought we'd share some of our sessions with you!

We actually started training her to 'sit' yesterday, so she's pretty good at that already;

However mid session Daddy (Jonny) decided to throw her a curve ball and try her with 'down'. We caught her first attempt(s) and her third attempt on film! (Her second attempt was used on a 'practise go' ready for the next video).

First ever attempt - working out what exactly 'down' is;

I love how enthusiastic she is hurling herself into the 'down' position in this next video, she seems so pleased with herself! Obviously over time once her confidence grows and she gets used to the commands we'll polish up her method of going into the lie down pose, but for now we'd rather she enjoyed our short sessions and keep it fun and happy for her :)

Third try - pretty darn good!;

Of course it's early days, so Tombles still makes mistakes, here's a little blooper video - she does a half sit, a real sit and then she drops her biscuit - please excuse my giggling, we were dying laughing!

We'll post updates on her training every so often, when she learns a new trick or really perfects one we've already started working on :)

Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Note; We don't use what's known as the 'Alpha method' (used by certain TV dog trainers/whisperers, ahem) and physically push them into a sit or a lie down, or scold them if they do it 'wrong', we exclusively use what's become known as the 'Victoria Stilwell method' (plus positive reinforcement) and wait patiently while the puppy/dog actually figures out what it is we want her to do. If she doesn't do it we don't make her feel like she's failed, we just try again and when she does do it, we give her a treat and praise her, so she learns doing the command = something really good. Personally we find it feels kinder and seems more effective than other methods, it's better for them to use their brains, right?

Baking Pupcakes!

Today we decided to do a little baking! I've done bits and pieces for the girls before, but today we decided to share the experience... We made honey muffins with a banana and vanilla cream cheese topping! These muffins are edible by humans (Jonny ate 3, minus the topping, he had icing on his) but the girls seemed to prefer it when they were eating them... I wonder why!

Our Pupcakes!

 Pre topping;

With topping;

Taste testing;

Mm yummy!
We can't stop laughing at all the big eyes and long tongues :')

Sharing;

The mysterious cake stealing Chihuahua that appears from the shadows only for delicious pupcakes;

The cakes are 100% dog safe and although they aren't super fattening, I do only give the girls a piece or 2 a day, so this batch of 12 will last them a good few days, although we'll probably send some over for Alfie, we best get a move on though before they're...

...all gone!

The recipe we used; 
2 cups all purpose flour 
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 egg 
1 cup milk 
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1/4 cup honey

Bake for 15-18 minutes at 400F/200C. Makes 12.

For the topping you need to combine 1 small/medium pot of natural banana yoghurt, 2 tablespoons of cream cheese, a drop of vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon icing sugar and 1/4 cup pouring cream (whipped).
Refrigerate for 30 minutes prior to piping, helps firm it up a treat ;)

You could also do different flavours - Apple and Cinnamon, Carrot cake, Peanut butter, Vanilla, Ginger, Pumpkin, Mint etc etc. There's so many to choose from :O

We hope you have a go at making your very own pupcakes and we hope they're super yummy!

Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo 

National Dog Day 2011.

It's National Dog Day! 

This is quite possibly once of our favourite holidays! So grab your pup and celebrate mans (and womans!) best friend :) 

Our dogs are so individual, so personal to us, they bring so much to our lives, it's only fitting that they get their own day ;) 

We hope wherever you and your furbaby are, you're having a blast and cherishing your time together, not only today, but everyday ♥

Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo 

P.S How awesome is that picture!? Our love of it has nothing to do with the fact it has a Chihuahua on it... well, maybe it does a little ;)

Open for Dogs.

'Encouraging local businesses to welcome dogs through their doors.'

Open for Dogs is a campaign run by the KC, encouraging businesses to open their doors to our 4 legged friends and give owners the opportunity to include their pups in more family days out.

As the kind of owner who bases my outings on if my dogs can accompany me or not, this really appeals to me. Dogs have been banished to posts outside for far too long (which in my honest opinion is both unfair and unsafe) and I can think of nothing nicer than including your furry family members in your fun!

The KC are in the process of getting a range of venues, including pubs, beaches, cafés and caravan sites, to accept dogs. Not only do they want our dogs to be accepted but also welcomed, with doggy bowls and even snacks, if you take a leaf out of the Metro Bank's book. Metro Bank have been named the Kennel Club's bank partner and were heavily involved in the KC's recent adopt-a-thon.

Another adopt-a-thon is currently in the pipeline and will be held at Metro Bank's Borehamwood branch on the 17th & 18th September, 12-5pm, when Metro Bank will be giving out doggy goodie bags to anyone who takes their dog/pup in store to open an account. Battersea Dogs and Cats Home will be there, looking to place some very deserving doggies in some nice new homes, with hopefully as much success as they had in the last adopt-a-thon! The KC will also be there giving out information on Open for Dogs, plus puppy training advice :)

A special website has been set up by the KC where you can check out all the venues currently 'Open for Dogs', recommend a venue that you know to be dog friendly and list your own business as one that welcomes visitors with more than just 2 legs. So we here at AHWTH encourage you to go and check out some places for you and your furbaby to visit! We hope you have fun wherever you go :)

Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Is it Love? (Lola's 1st bath!)

Or just 'Puppy Love'?

Puppy Love is a puppy shampoo from a brand we recently discovered called 'Animology'. We will be getting their full range and we'll be road testing it for a few weeks, then all being well we shall do a review type post on it letting you know what we think! :)

Anyway, onwards and upwards to the good stuff...

So we gave Lola her first bath!
To mark the occasion we took some pictures of her 'enjoying' her spa day ;)
(To be really fair to her she took it surprisingly well.)

Isn't this just about the best bath picture ever?
Her little tongue poking out makes me laugh every time!

Doesn't she look nice?  She's growing up lovely, we can't believe how tufty her tail, ear fur and feathers are getting!

We're all so glad we have our blog to share little things like this and to keep the memories to look back on, there's nothing nicer than going through old posts. On that slightly soppy note, we'll be on our way...

Nostalgic love & licks

Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Dog Vlog!

It's been a while since we shared a video here, so we thought it was high time we did so! We'll be back in the next day or 2 with a ton of pictures as well, we've been snap happy lately lol. We're hoping to do some more shopping soon, so there'll be some haul posts in the next 2/3 weeks and we might do a review type post? Maybe!

For now though,

Love & licks (and camera clicks!)

Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Filtered/Bottled Water vs Tap Water

This may seem an odd subject for a dog blog but I promise you it is totally relevant, just bare with me :P

Most people who know me, know how much I try to 'spoil' my dogs as much as I can...
(I don't really see it as spoiling them, just looking after them as well as possible!)

Well the other day I was browsing the web, thinking about what else I can do for them and I thought, they have good toys, nutritious treats, nice clothes, appropriate health care and great food and as I thought about it I realised they were missing a healthy drink. Apart from for a very rare treat my girls don't get cow milk, they can't digest it properly, so day in day out they drink plain old tap water. After a little research* I decided tap water isn't as good for them as I'd like and as it seems odd to me to give them the best food then any old water, I decided to take a look at my options...

1.  Bottled water for dogs. Great if you have the time and money to spare, but can be super inconvenient waiting for it to be delivered and possibly running out at times, plus most people (including myself) would rather put the money into other things for their beloved babies.

2. Buy normal bottled water from the supermarket. Okay so it's cheaper and a little easier to get hold of, but unless you buy bulk amounts it's still a touch inconvenient if you do run out and we personally don't have the fridge space to spare for a bulk crate of water.

Here in comes our third option;

3. A Brita Water Filter. Clean filtered water, as good as the bottled variety, cheaper and more easily accessible.  Takes up next to no space and if you run out, simply refill and 2 minutes later, voilà! fresh water!

It seemed pretty obvious to us which was our best option**, but moving onto filtered/bottled water is a personal choice and what suits us may not suit you :)

Putting your dogs onto filtered water is a priceless investment into their future health, but lets be honest, something described as 'priceless' does have a cost, well, at least with the selection of options, the price is up to you!

It may take a day or 2 for your furbaby to adjust to their new water if you make the change, as it would you, we drink the filtered water as well and it does have a different taste, by no means unpleasant, 'clean' I suppose lol! After a few days our girls are now more than happy with it :)

If you decide to make the switch to filtered/bottled water and are worried about transporting it, here's a useful product that we love; The Water Rover.

Filtered/bottled doggie water may not be for you and your pooch, so whatever you decide we hope your darlings are well,

Love & licks,

Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

*That is just 1 article out of probably hundreds or even thousands, it's not all encompassing but it's clear, pretty concise and one of the least controversial and unbiased I found :)

**We have the Brita Fjord ↓

A look at Lola :)

Lola's been here with us now for a little over a week and she's settling in great, the girls have taken to her (apart from Buffy, who gets bullied mercilessly by little Lola! It's all in good nature, or so Lola tells us...)

We had a play around with our camera earlier and got a few nice shots of Lola, so we think we'll end up choosing one of these to enter the Dog Photographer Competition :D

These are what we have so far;

Gorgeous right? And hasn't she grown up an absolute ton already? This is her just a week and a half ago...

It's crazy how different she looks already, just by her ears coming up! We can't wait for her fur to start coming in, in a few weeks, her fur is insanely thick already, she's what's known as 'double coated'* which just means she has a thick downy soft undercoat, so her fur should be lovely when she's older :)

*Unlike our other 4 who are single coated, i.e they have only their topcoat, which is longer, finer and less velvet-y.

We'll upload a video of her playing and some pictures of her with the girls in a day or 2!

In the meantime we're stuck trying to choose our favourite picture from this lot xD
Might be worth opening it up to a poll and asking your opinion...

Until then,

Love & licks,

Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo