Discover Dogs Tickets

Yesterday morning we had some exciting post indeed... Our Discover Dogs tickets arrived!

Thanks Caroline!

I think Lola is as excited as me and Jonny are!

We're super excited to go and we'll post about our time there, plus share pictures and things :) There's still plenty of time if you want to order a ticket for yourself too.

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

Lola's 'Donkey Stripe'.

After yesterdays ordeal we decided a happier post was a good way forward! So we thought a Lola post would do the trick :)

Lola's been here with us now for nearly 2 months and she's growing up fast! She doesn't seem much bigger to us but when we look back at pictures it's clear how much she's grown. The biggest change in her lately though is her coat! Every puppy we've had has gone through this, the 'donkey stripe' stage as we call it.

See the stripe down this donkeys back? Well, Lola has her own version...

Can you see the stripe down her spine? Doesn't it look 'ri-donk-ulous'!?
(sorry about that lame joke...)

It's where she's starting to lose her puppy coat and her longer, slightly coarser adult fur is coming in. Dogs can lose their full coat several times before their 'adult' length/colour is definite, but this shed is by far the most dramatic and noticeable. For whatever reason it always seems to come in first in a long stripe right down their backs... hence we nicknamed it the 'donkey stripe'!

We're far from being saddened by her growing up, we're super excited :D We can't wait to see how she's going to turn out, fingers crossed she should have a lovely long coat when she's older... She's getting 'gangly' at the minute, she's becoming an awkward teenager :) She's still a fair bit smaller than we expected though!

Beautiful, isn't she? ♥

We'll be back soon with more pictures and things,
Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and of course, 'donkey stripe' Lola.
xo

P.S Monroe has had no more mishaps today, so all is well! :)

Monroe's Accident

Today ended up being a very stressful day! The girls have lots of toys and one of their favourites is a chew bone, which Monroe was lying playing with on one of our sofas. Monroe has trouble with her throat/soft palate and hacks/coughs quite a lot, but she usually either sorts herself out or is pacified by one of us rubbing her throat gently.

This afternoon though, mid chew, she began to choke. It was different from her usual 'hacking' and as I picked her up I noticed she wasn't actually breathing and her stomach was pulled right in. I patted her back and rubbed her throat, but nothing happened and she couldn't get her breath in for a good 30 seconds. In situations like this it's incredibly hard not to panic!

I pushed her head back so her nose was in the air and (on our vets advice) pushed my finger down her throat to try and free whatever was stuck. It must have dislodged something because she managed to suck a breath in. She continued to breathe, although she was extremely wheezy and obviously very frightened. (Jonny was on the phone to our vet throughout the ordeal.) After 5 minutes she was breathing normally and after 10 she'd stopped shaking and the panic was mostly over. She was quiet for a while, understandably and is now back to her normal self. I've been around dogs for years and been around a few emergencies, some with happy endings and some not so, but I've never been around a dog unable to breathe.

It's times like this I honestly believe Animal Ambulances should be a national service, with the same status and availability as the human version! It's a 15 minute drive to our vets and if we hadn't been able to sort her ourselves, with our vets advice, she simply wouldn't have made it to the vets. It doesn't bare thinking about...

Luckily we can say Monroe is fine and seems to be none the wiser as far as what happened!

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

Buffy's 'paw-ly' paw :(

Today we decided it was high time for a 'spa day', so the girls all got brushed out, dry shampooed and had their nails clipped. It all went smoothly, until we got to Buffy's nails, when we discovered one of her nails on her right hind paw had a split down it, right into the quick and it had bled a little :(

It looks to be a few days old, so we've no idea how she did it! You can't see the split in the picture but you can see a little bit of dried blood and a little piece missing on the end of her nail, where the split starts D:

(click the picture to enlarge it.)

1. Is where the dried blood is & 2. Is where you can see the split starting.

It doesn't seem to be hurting her so I smoothed the edge of the nail off and gave it 2 coats of an extra strong clear top coat to hold it together and stop it splitting more as it hopefully grows out!

Isn't she a brave little soldier?

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

News and Updates! (with pictures and videos)

It's been ages since we've done an update/picture type post! We've been so busy with PAW and our reviews and things around the house/garden...

We've had a lot on lately anyway, but we managed to put some time aside to play with the girls :) We had a blast playing with Lily's birthday toys, the Aikiou and the Dogit.

This is how they did the very first day we got the toys -

 And this is them now, 2 weeks later, this is roughly the 4th time they've used them :) -





I love how excited they get when we get the new toys out, even if it is only Lily and Lola who seem to have mastered them :')

To give Monroe some credit after 2 weeks of not seeming to even notice the new toys, she did this -



It makes me laugh that she didn't even bother to take the treat after, she just wandered off with a satisfied look on her face. We call it her 'I did it!' face :')

And look what Buffy learnt to do!



Still got a bit of work to do on her 'crawl', she's supposed to do like an army crawl, but she gets over excited and just skitters about :')

We also had some work done in the garden! A few months ago our area was flooded with dog thefts and we almost had our girls taken. Our garden only has very low wall, about 4 foot and to cut a long story short they were out to pee late one night and a guy came over our wall and tried to grab them. Luckily we interrupted him and he ran. Since then we never let the girls out into the garden alone, even during the day. We've been thinking about sorting some fencing since that happened but never got around to it.

Everything was quiet for a while anyway and then a few days ago we had our gate unbolted in the the night (it had a heavy pad bolt on the inside, but was low enough for someone to easily lean over) and we were worried about the girls getting out if it happened again. So, we decided to have some fencing panels put up on top of our existing wall, making it about 7 foot and a new taller gate put on with a padlock. My dad and Jonny did it Thursday morning and we all feel more at ease :) We're looking at moving again in a few months, hopefully we'll get a nicer garden, until then our new fence is exactly what we needed!

This is our new fence! You can see just how low our wall really was :(

We'll be back in a few days with some training updates/videos of Lola, plus we're hoping to do some more baking, so we'll have more pupcake info and pictures soon, but until then...

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

Laughing Dog Food! - Review.

It's not very often I come across a new brand of pet products, as a life long pet owner and current dog devotee, I consider myself pretty up to date with the best brands out there. However, I received an email a few weeks ago now, about a wonderful farm run family company, called Laughing Dog. After checking out their website, (which I liked - very bright and easy to navigate), I found them to be right up my street, my girls nutrition is so important to me and as anyone who knows me will already be aware, I'm always researching and trying to keep my girls at their peak, with the best of food, toys etc. So we agreed to a sample on the basis of us doing a review.

Laughing Dog were extremely kind and sent us both the adult Chicken flavour and the adult Lamb flavour kibbles from their range. They do a total of 7 different products; 2 adult kibbles, 1 senior kibble and 1 puppy kibble - all of which are complete meal foods. Laughing Dog also do 2 mixer meals - 1 adult, 1 puppy and some 'biscuit cakes' treats which are suitable for all ages.

 Adult Chicken and Adult Lamb.

When we took a look at their site the first thing I noticed is the packaging, I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, the packaging isn't everything but it sure helps make a good first impression!

As far as the kibble itself, all of their products are 100% natural, hypo-allergenic and are made with top quality ingredients. They don't use any dairy, soy or wheat gluten in their kibbles and there's also no nasty additives or added preservatives. The barley and oats they use in their kibble is home grown on their farm!

One thing I found fascinating about their kibble is that the pieces are irregular in shape and size, making them a little tougher to eat, which slows your dog down and in turn promotes better digestive health! In the pictures (below) you can see the 'wobbly' shape of the Laughing Dog kibble - seen in a promo picture and then again, close up, in my hand...

 (Click to enlarge).

Our 5 extremely qualified taste testers (enter Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola) really seemed to enjoy Laughing Dog, so it's 2 happy paws up from each of them! We let them try it over a few weeks and they didn't seem to get bored with it, which is always a positive. The girls were happy to eat the kibble out my hand, scattered on the floor, from a bowl etc but they were also equally happy to 'work' for it, when I hid it in their Aikiou bowl or their Dogit toy! I took that to be a good sign, they aren't too easily impressed usually, so with the quality of ingredients and their enthusiasm towards it, I'm more than happy with Laughing Dog's kibble and will continue to shop with them. :)

Price wise Laughing Dog is very reasonably and competitively priced, it's comparable to other high end dog foods and is readily available to order online via their website, with next day delivery. Laughing Dog is also making its way to a pet shop near you!

If you choose to try Laughing Dog we hope you enjoy it as much as we did and we'd love to see some pictures of your dog enjoying their Laughing Dog! You can tweet your pictures to us at @RioChanelHilton or email them to us at riochanelhilton@hotmail.com :) You can also contact Laughing Dog directly via their website or their twitter @ReefLaughingDog

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

(Products mentioned in this post were sent to me for review.)

Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) - The final chapter.

It's been a busy week and firstly we'd like to thank everyone who has read our posts - we hope you found them helpful!

Puppy Awareness Week may have drawn to a close now, but we urge you to keep on learning. You can truly never know too much about dogs/your breed. A dogs life can span 10 - 15 years, or more. You can't expect to learn everything you'll need in that time, in just 1 week. Owning a dog teaches you something new each day you're with them, whether it's from an educational point of view, or they simply teach you how to have a little more kindness and compassion.

Dogs will teach you how to kick back and relax, how to jump up and play, how to be delighted by the every day things we humans seem to pass by. I don't necessarily recommend you stop and smell everything your dog does, but taking some time to 'smell the roses' never hurt anybody. And you can sure bet your dog will find you some lovely ones!

Your dog will show you real loyalty and teach you a new language, dogs don't have words because they don't need them, anything that can't be said with a tilt of the head, a well placed paw or the use of their expressive eyes, isn't worth hearing sometimes anyway, is it?

We hope you've had a 'ball' this week and will continue to learn about your very best friend, your dog.

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

Pup Idol 2011/Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) - Part 6

This is our penultimate PAW post! I think I'll miss these when we're done with them :( Today though we wanted to tell you about Pup Idol and how you can enter :)

Pup Idol is a competition to the doggy stars. Think your pup is adorable? Think they have a certain je ne sais quoi? Then they could be the first ever Pup Idol! 

If you think your pup has what it takes to be a Pup Idol, scoot on over and enter here by uploading your adorable puppy pictures. You'll be in with a chance to win family tickets to Discover Dogs and Crufts 2012! Discover Dogs will be held at Earls Court 1 in London, between the12th - 13th November and Crufts will be at The NEC, Birmingham, between the 8th - 11th March 2012.

The only rule when entering Pup Idol is that the dog in the picture needs to be a puppy! Other than that snap away and get entering :)

You can post as many pictures as you like and your puppy can be a perfect pedigree or a cute as a button crossbreed, every pup is welcome!
Entries close on the 23rd September and judging will take place on the 30th September.

Good luck if you enter and we hope you'll come back tomorrow for our final word on Puppy Awareness Week!

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

P.S We'll remind you about entry details in a few days when we share our entry :)

Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) - Part 5

Did you take that deep breath we mentioned last time? If not don't worry, puppy training really isn't all that bad... The time and patience you put in will be rewarded ten fold the first time you really need your dog to do something and lo and behold she/he does it! Plus the sense of pride you'll get when you puppy learns something new is always nice ;)

To begin with your puppy really only needs the basics - house training and simple commands like 'sit', 'stay', 'down', 'heel' and 'come' - commands like these are not only impressive and stimulating, but essential in keeping your puppy safe, especially later on when you take them out and about. We started teaching Lola 'sit' and 'down' a while ago, to get an idea of what to expect you can check out this video! :)

'Drop'/'leave' is also a worthwhile command for puppies, as many tiny mouths like to chew and they often like to chew things they really shouldn't. There's a long list of unsafe foods/plants that they'll love having a go at, so prevention is better than a cure! Another thing to consider is loose wires, if your puppy chews them sure your appliance will need repairs or to be be replaced, but your puppy may come off needing to be 'repaired' too... and I'm sure you don't even want to think of having to 'replace' them! So take extra care to make sure all wires and cables are firmly out of the reach of tiny teeth. Don't forget appliances that come and go, things like hoovers need to be turned off at the socket or unplugged when not in use, even turning your back on them for 30 seconds to answer the phone could result in a burnt tongue, or a lot worse...

Now puppy is home you'll want to make an appointment for their vaccinations, worming and micro chipping, plus a general health check to make sure everything is as it should be. It's a great time to ask for any advice from your vet and start building a good relationship with them, so don't be afraid to ask questions, they should be happy to help you. It's also time to get puppy settled, keeping the first few days calm and quiet is helpful. it might be hard to say 'no' to say excited relatives/friends, but your pup needs his/her time to settle, the move is a big change and can be a little daunting for even the most confident puppy.

Tomorrow - is your pup a star? Find out with Pup Idol, part of PAW thanks to the Kennel Club!

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

Mexican Independence Day.

It's Mexican Independence Day and we'll be celebrating with a Mexican themed day! My girls may come from various part of England but their ancestors were Mexican born and bred, we take a lot of pride in their heritage :)

We'll celebrate the occasion with themed food and a 'pawty' type atmosphere :) Are you celebrating today? We hope so!

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

Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) - Part 4

So you've done all the leg work, researched your breed, made your choices, found your breeder, saved your pennies, puppy proofed and talked to your family. You're ready for your puppy. Or are you?

Like preparing for a baby there's a fair bit of kit you're going to need! You're going to need everything from bowls, food, toys and a bed, a crate, to a carrier to transport your puppy home in, a lead and collar, blankets, puppy training pads and maybe an experienced friend on hand, should you need some advice. Don't forget things like pet gates, for puppy proofing and cable covers to keep little teeth safely away from wires! When you get your puppy the breeder should have included a small bag of the food he/she has weaned your puppy on to. Cross tapering on to a food of your choice over a period of 1 - 2 weeks is always best to avoid upset tummies! Food is an important part of your puppies life, so taking some extra care and choosing the best food you can is priceless in preparing your dogs body for a healthy life.

Our crate!

(Ours is from the Croft website, it's an Alpine cage in pink)

Now you've got all you need, found your perfect breeder, gone to see some puppies they have available. You have a furry multi pup whirlwind of cuteness dashing around your feet, so how the heck do you choose which bundle of love to take home?

I have to answer this with a story - When you go to see a litter, it's likely you'll have seen a picture of the litter and whether you admit it or not you're probably going to be leaning towards 1 or 2 pups based off the photo. I did it, with my first Chihuahua, Buffy. I went with 2 of her litter mates in mind, when we got there however 1 was far too timid for us and the other I didn't click with. I never looked twice at Buffy in the picture, but as soon as I picked her up something clicked and I knew she was 'the one' for me.

Buffy's Litter 

(You can see her easily, she's the only one with a mask lol!)

If you can put looks aside, there will absolutely be one puppy who grabs your heart and is not going to let go. If none of the puppies do that then don't be afraid to walk away, you owe it to yourself and to that puppy too, it could be perfect for someone else. There will be other litters. Buffy's markings/colouring may not have jumped out at me but her personality did and I think she's as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than any of her litter mates ever could be.
Love isn't fur deep!

At this point you'll have a puppy! Congratulations :)
If you thought choosing your puppy was a labour of love, you best take a deep breath, because tomorrow comes the training...

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

P.S Sorry this post went up a little late - we had a busy morning having our new fence put up! We'll post all about it in a few days! :)

Puppy Farming ePetition! (PAW)

It's a campaign close to the hearts of many and it's backed by millions, it's the fight to end the cruel practice of 'Puppy Farming'. The KC, amongst others, are pushing for an end to hundreds of thousands of dogs' suffering. They can't do it alone though, they need your support! So we urge you to sign here and help convince the UK Government to take puppy farming more seriously. If 100,000 people sign it then it will go forward to be debated in the House of Commons! So if you haven't already signed please take 2 seconds to add your name to the list of people who are backing this campaign.

By signing you're not only helping end suffering, you're also helping educate people and by spreading the word so much heartache could be avoided. If more people know about the horrors that go on and what to look out for, imagine how many people would be able to spot a 'farmed' puppy and report it. That puppy would then be removed, looked after and the farm shut down. As for the farmer, they'd get everything they deserve. Without public knowledge though things will continue and so many young puppies will be born into an endless cycle of over breeding and abuse. Please do your part and spread the word, share the petition any way you can and help put a stop to puppy farming, forever.

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

Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) - Part 3

Last time we looked at choosing your breed, well what if you've not been around that many breeds of dog? Or what if you like the sound of a slightly more unusual breed of dog, that you've never even heard of before? Well all is not lost!

Sometimes you might want something a little bit different, or come across a breed that seems suitable for you, but you've never heard of it, so then what do you do? Well the best thing is to go along to dog shows, there's no better way to meet your chosen breed in person and meet people who not only own and love the breed but will also know more than their fair share about it too.

If you have 1 or 2 breeds in mind you can go along to any of the hundreds of breed specific shows held countrywide, or if you have a longer list of dog breeds to choose from you, especially unusual ones, you could consider going along to something like Discover Dogs! Going along to these kind of events is a great way to get any questions you might have answered. It's also a good place to start looking around for the right breeder for you, after all the right breeder will bring you the right pup. A bad breeder may not bring a bad pup but they will most likely bring a pup with poor health and a bad start in life. The wrong breeder could be selling you fur covered heart ache, while the right breeder could sell you love on 4 paws.

You can find some superb breeders through the KC's Assured Breeder Scheme. A good breeder will be willing to go the extra mile for you, in terms of matching you with a suitable puppy, advising you on temperament, giving you advice on how to care for them and much more. A lot of breeders will give you a 'puppy pack' which will give you things such a a blanket that smells of mummy doggy to help settle your new puppy and bits such as the food your pup has been weaned on to. To avoid upset tummies it's always best to cross taper them on to the food of your choice after a week or 2 of having them. A caring breeder will be on hand and many like to stay in touch and keep up to speed with their puppies!

There's no rush to get a puppy, they'll be with you for years, all being well, so take your time finding the right one. A lot of top breeders will have waiting lists, sometimes a litter or 2 in advance! Don't let this discourage you though, it just means people are prepared to queue for their puppies... They obviously have something worth the wait!

We'll continue tomorrow with what to do once you've made your final decision on a breed and a breeder!

So until then,
Enjoy your Puppy Awareness Week,
Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) - Part 2

As promised in our last post, we're back! This will be the first in a short series of information and advice based posts, in honour of Puppy Awareness Week! We'll be covering 1 or 2 different aspects of dog ownership every day, so be sure to check back :)

Ready then? Here we go...

Are you ready for a puppy?
One of the key things in preventing rising numbers in dog shelters, is evaluating how suitable your life is for a puppy/dog. So many people get a dog to then find they can't afford it, can't cope or as some people in rented properties can find, simply aren't allowed one.

Only if you have the time and money for a puppy should you consider getting one. Consider your family situation, if a (human) baby comes along unplanned, will the puppy pay for it by losing its new home? Money sadly plays a huge part of a lot of dogs ending up in shelters, so look at your bank balance before looking at a litter! Aside from the initial cost of the puppy and obvious expenses like food, toys, puppy vaccinations, yearly boosters, micro chipping, spaying/neutering etc, you could also run into unexpected costs with things like illnesses.

Your puppy/dog getting ill  isn't something anyone wants to imagine but every eventuality should be prepared for! When you buy a puppy you take out an unspoken moral contract, a silent agreement to love, protect and care for your puppy, for as long as he/she lives. Pet insurance is often the best way forward for those of us who aren't heir's to a throne or empire.

There's also things like exercising your puppy, taking time to play with them and training them to consider. A puppy brings a lot of love to your life, but it will need a lot of attention and work in return. The reward will outweigh any effort on your part though, so it's worth putting your best foot forward and going in with your sleeves rolled up. Whether you're new at this or not, puppy training classes are a great way to get some expert help and provide your puppy with invaluable early experiences and socialisation.

The second most important part of preparing for a puppy is making sure you get the right dog for you. Forget Mr/Mrs Right, it's your perfect pup that you want to find! The first thing to decide is if you want a pedigree or a cross and if there are any breeds that stand out to you. Older dogs have as many benefits as puppies and may be easier on first time owners, so don't rule out the golden oldies, they still have a lot of loyalty and love to give. Then take into account you have over 210 breeds to choose from and you will begin to realise it's a decision worth taking some time over...

A good thing to do is to make a 'short list', single out 3 - 5 breeds you have some love for, then research those breeds until you could do an exam on them. Different breeds have different requirements, so you need to be looking for one that will suit the kind of life you live.

If you think a cross breed or an older dog could steal your heart, try taking a look at a dog who needs a hero willing to give them a second chance. Charities like Oldies Club, Blue Cross, RSPCA, Dogs Trust and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home do amazing jobs and could have your best friend waiting for you!

Next time we'll be giving our views and ideas on how to meet your chosen breed in person before you buy and all about finding the right breeder for you, so be sure to check back tomorrow!

We hope you're enjoying Puppy Awareness Week so far,
Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) and Pup Aid - Part 1

Today marks the beginning of the Kennel Club's first annual Puppy Awareness Week (PAW; 12th - 18th September) where they're aiming to spread not only love, but knowledge, about our tiny furry friends.

The aim is to give both existing and potential owners as much information as possible, including training tips and to spread the word on the fight to end Puppy Farming. Every dog started its life as a puppy and every experienced owner started out as a nervous novice, so the KC wants to help make those first steps a little easier and get new owners on the path towards being a loving, informed, responsible carer for generations of dogs to come.

Seeing as it's Puppy Awareness Week, we'll be doing a week of posts - We'll post daily segments on all the different aspects of puppy ownership throughout the week and we'll also be covering Pup Aid later in this post. We will cover everything from the exciting side of puppy ownership - choosing and researching your breed, getting ready for your puppy, bringing them home - to the heartbreaking side most people think they'll never see - the cruelty of puppy farmers and how you can help. There's a lot to say, so lets jump right in...

We'll cover everything we can think of for the happy side of PAW over the next few days, however sometimes things don't go the way we'd like and that needs attention too! The KC, coupled with everyone behind Pupaid, including Marc Abraham - TV vet and author of 'Vet on Call', are leading the fight against Puppy Farming. They're bringing knowledge to those who need it most - the people buying the puppies.

The second annual Pup Aid is being described as a 'boutique music festival and celebrity judged charity dog show'. Celebs such as actress and Strictly Come Dancing star Ali Bastian will be judging the dog show and there will be a whole host of live bands! It will be held on the last day of PAW (18th September) at Stanmer House near Brighton, Sussex. Be sure to grab your tickets before they're gone!

The message is to get involved in Puppy Awareness Week however you can, whether you donate by buying one of the KC's fabulous badges (we have ours!) or you go along to Pupaid to support the cause and do some sneaky celeb spotting!

Whatever you do we hope you'll get behind our dogs and celebrate all things puppy. It might be obvious with our 5 girls that puppies have been a huge part of our lives here over the past few years and will continue to be, however it has to be said Puppy Farming is an issue close to our heart, to find out why and to get more info about the issue, you can take a look at the full story behind getting Buffy here.

Have a wonderful Puppy Awareness Week,
Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

P.S To see how Scruffts and Pup Aid will be combined, you might want to have a look at this. :)

Natural Vitality Treats - Review.

A few weeks ago we got a lovely message via twitter from the pet brand, Bob Martin's account. They asked us if we would like to review their new line of 'Natural Vitality' treats, which we were more than happy to do!

The people at Bob Martin were kind enough to send us all 3 flavours - Chicken, Salmon and Lamb.

Our treats!

Packaging wise we're happy, it's nice and bright and with the choice of 3 flavours there's something to tickle every dogs fancy :) The packs are resealable, which is handy if you only have 1 or 2 dogs and because the treats are soft it helps keep them fresh too.

The treats are made from good quality natural ingredients, with at least 70% of the total contents of each pack coming from meat or fish. Each flavour is aimed at benefiting a different aspect of your dogs health, with the Chicken flavour for oral health, the Salmon for flexible joints and the Lamb for improved digestion.

All the treats have lines scored down them, which is really handy if you want to break them up to use as rewards for training sessions or for smaller/older dogs;

Our 5 official taste testers, (Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola), all enjoyed the treats and came back for seconds. The girls all gave them 2 paws up... That's a lot of paws! The treats have a good strong smell, which the girls seemed to appreciate and find moreish. Even little Lola found them easy to eat, although they can quickly be broken into smaller pieces if required, as we said.

The fact that these treats are moist is a bonus because it means your dog wont be running to his/her water bowl straight after eating them and they seem to be very easy on even sensitive stomachs, none of our girls had any problems with them :)

At around £1.50 - £2 a pack, they're very reasonably priced and they're available from all good pet shops and online pet stores, so finding them shouldn't be a problem :)

We hope you'll give them a try and see what your pup thinks! 
Love & licks,
Rio, Jonny, Buffy, Rafferty, Monroe, Lily and Lola.
xo

(Products mentioned in this post were sent to me for review.)

The card that came with the treats - Thanks Jo!

Scruffts!

Scruffts is a competition for our nations cute crossbreeds and offers a fun day out for the whole family. This is Scruffts 11th year and The Kennel Club have been running this years shows countrywide since late February. The last show will be held mid October. There's still plenty of time/shows left to get your dog a place at the final, so to find a show near you, check out the shows page here. This years heat winners will go on to the Grand Final which will be held at Discover Dogs 2011, in November.

Pretty much any dog can enter, as long as they're aged 6 months - 12 years and of course, a Scrufft-y crossbreed! Rosettes are awarded to the dogs who get 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each local heat and the 1st place rosette winner from each heat goes on to Discover Dogs for the Grand Final!

Entry is simple, you just turn up to the show nearest to you and be ready to wow. Entry is only £1 and all the money goes to a great cause - The KC Charitable Trust!

The KC Charitable Trust are working hard to 'make a difference for dogs' by funding research into canine diseases, helping welfare organisations and promoting better care and understanding of all our 4 legged friends, pedigree or cross.

So with that in mind and the possibility of seeing your dog with a winners rosette, there's every reason to go ahead to one of the local heats and let your dog have its day!

There are 5 heats left - Sussex, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Nottinghamshire. To find out where to go and when, check out the information here. We hope you'll turn up to support the KC's Trust and let your dog strut its stuff :)

Each local heat has 4 classes for entry - 

• Most Handsome Crossbreed Dog 6 months - 7 years
• Prettiest Crossbreed Bitch 6 months - 7 years
• Child's Best Friend* 6 months - 12 years
• Golden Oldie Crossbreed 8 years or over **

*(Handled by a young person between 6 and 16 years of age).
** Dogs entered at the organiser's discretion.

Scruffts is a fun competition, for the owners and the dogs entering, so the judges will be looking for happy, healthy dogs, with sound temperaments. Does your dog fit the bill? Try out and let us know!

As a bonus each dog that enters any Scruffts heat will get a free bag of Wellbeloved treats - as they kindly sponsor Scruffts :)

We hope you go along, whether you enter or you just go to have a fabulous doggy themed day out with your human family members!

Best of luck to everyone going!

Love & licks,

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

Birthday Pawty!

As you may know from the 'Birthday Post' we did, Lily and Alfie just had their 1st birthday! They both got lots of lovely presents, we mentioned our gifts to Lily and Alfie in the original post and when my Dad and Step Mum visited with Alfie, they brought Lily some presents along too! They got Lily a bag of sweeties and a cute squeaky cupcake toy! When my dad put the toy down Lola wandered over and started licking at the 'icing', we think she confused it with one of our pupcakes!

These are the toys we got Alfie :) -

Alfie and Lily had a great time celebrating their special day and we can't wait for the next Hilton birthday! :)

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

Happy 1st Birthday Lily and Alfie!

None of us here can believe it's been a whole year since Lily and Alfie were born! It's gone so quickly! Both Lily and Alfie have grown up beautifully and both are much loved ♥ 

We got Lily 4 gifts to celebrate, although they will be shared between everyone, because Lily was raised to be kind to her sisters ;) We got her the Aikiou (pronounced IQ) dog bowl, the Dogit Mind Games 3-in-1 toy and 2 packs of The Organic Pet dog treats!

This is the Aikiou - it's a dog bowl and can be used as their regular bowl or as a fun toy - it comes in blue & pink.

We got the pink naturally ;)

You just fill it up like so...

And off you go! :)

The Dogit has 3 set ups, the first your pup simply has to pick up/knock over/remove the 4 cups to get to the treats underneath...

The second you remove all the cups, place treats in the holes and pop in the 'spin-a-whirl', your dog has to nose/paw it around to reveal the holes!

And lastly, the slider puzzle, you pop in the white guider piece and the cups can no longer be lifted or knocked over, your baby has to slide the cups to find their reward :) I think this level is going to be our favourite!

I love these kinds of games for dogs, sadly most of them are too big/heavy for small dogs, so I'm crazy about the fact that the Dogit toy has little handles on the cups, perfect for helping tiny mouths grip them!

And finally, The Organic Pet treats, we got the Carrot & Apple and the Cinnamon & Honey flavours!

They do 4 other flavours, so if the girls like these we'll have a look at grabbing some more to try and we'll probably do a post on them :)

So that's Lily's birthday haul! Lucky Lily huh? As I said before all her gifts will be shared nicely, so lucky everyone!

Of course we had to get Alfie a little something too... We got him a blue octopus toy (we have the pink version!), an Air Kong squeaky tennis bone and a black 'iPawed'!

Alfie is coming over soon to show us his other presents and celebrate with us! We'll do a birthday 'pawty' post tomorrow morning with some pictures of his gifts in person and of Lily's gift from my dad/step mum :)

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