Animology

If you've read any of our past shopping posts you'll know that we're constantly looking for new/exciting/better products for the girls. A few weeks ago I became aware of an interesting brand called 'Animology'. Animology are pretty new, they only established themselves last year (2010) but they are quickly proving themselves to be at the top amongst the pet hygiene product retailers.

After checking out their website, they immediately ticked 2 boxes for me. Good branding with plenty of clear, concise information and nice packaging. Not as important as the actual product of course but as I've said in the past, there's nothing like a good first impression, right?

After a little research I found the prices were pretty good too, especially when compared to other quality shampoos. 3 boxes checked, looking good so far!  
(Retail prices that is, they do also do Groomers bulk amount products, which can be found here)

Animology do a total of 8 different products, some specifically for puppies and some for adults; they do normal shampoos, a specialised whitening shampoo, a flea/tick treatment, deodorising sprays and also dry spray on shampoos.

Flea&Tick PuppyLove DogsBody DirtyDawg WhiteWash StinkBomb PuppyFresh MuckyPup

(Click product names above for more info on each individual type & click pictures above/below to enlarge)

We purchased the full line a few weeks ago so we could give them a good try before sharing our views on Animology :) We decided to test out all 8 products and I have to say so far I'm really loving them!

Our set.

As soon as we got them we were surprised by the bottle sizes, they're very generous considering the price and the packaging is great, it has a really high end designer feel to it. Loved that.

The 3 puppy products 'PuppyLove', 'PuppyFresh' and 'MuckyPup' all smell absolutely gorgeous, they smell of baby powder and there's something seriously cute about a fluffy puppy snuggling you smelling of baby powder :) After a little while a seriously yummy cinnamon scent comes through as well and it's really hard to pull your nose away from your pups fur!

The adult products 'DogsBody', 'DirtyDawg', 'WhiteWash' and 'StinkBomb' have their 'signature' scent, it's hard to describe but it's a light, sweet fruity smell, very very nice indeed. I find myself constantly rubbing my face on the girls' fur when they've been sprayed, just to get a sniff!

The 'Flea&Tick' shampoo smells simply of a nice soap, kind of like a nice hand soap? A pleasant surprise as a lot of flea shampoos tend to smell horrible, so we were very happy with this!

None of the shampoos/sprays were overpowering with their scents, in fact they're all very light but do last between 5 and 7 days, perfect really because when we do our weekly brush we can top up with our deodorising spray!
The shampoos rinsed out easily and left the girls' fur very soft and shiny and their fur actually felt thicker too.

The deodorising sprays 'Stink Bomb' and 'Puppy Fresh' are actually incredible and really stand out as a unique product, we've tried similar things and they just mask any odours with a heavy smell, where as these really seemed to lift any nasty smells out of the fur and left only a very subtle fragrance. Very impressed by those.

The spray in dry shampoos/no rinse shampoos were easy to use, they didn't leave any sticky residue in the fur and didn't make the girls feel damp. If you had unexpected company on their way these would be fabulous to freshen up your pup.

The overall quality of the range was excellent, I'm so pleased that I honestly will be continuing to use Animology and saving space for it in our grooming bag for a while yet! The price for what you get from the product is amazing. I'd recommend them to anyone with dogs, they're well worth trying and if you can only get 1 or 2 items I'd say go for the shampoo and a deodorising spray (which ever set is appropriate for your dogs' age).

I'm clearly not the only one who has rated the Animology line so highly either, in their first year they won 'Best Product 2010' as voted by the UK's Pet Product Retail Association. Impressive!

Plus with lots of Crufts award winners having used Animology this year, their popularity seems sure to sky rocket and we think Animology is going to be the brand to watch. We would certainly keep a very close eye on them and their available stock. ;)

Well we hope you enjoyed our look at the Animology line and we hope someone found it useful! If you would like to try out Animology for yourself, it's available in store/online at your local Pets at Home or at any other good pet store :)

Love & licks,

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

P.S See what the folks at Animology had to say when they featured our review on their blog! :)

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 :)

♪♫...Red ain't nothin' but a Hound dog...♪♫

Crufts is over for another year and while our congratulations go to all the entrants and winners, a special congratulations is due a little closer to home...

So a huge well done to my mum and Red* for winning Best of Breed and qualifying through to the 'Hound group'!

You're our Best in Show always :) 

♥

*(Sengepabu St. Valentine)

To see a clip of Red in action, go here!

 

Find out more about my mum, Red and the rest of her gang at; Sengepabu Kennels

Crufts Controversy

It's that time of year again, it's Crufts! 

But this year, more than ever it feels, there is an underlying murmur of changes to come and clashing opinions in the air...

What should be a great opportunity for dog lovers, breeders, showers, experts and general enthusiasts to gather and share their love of all things canine, has become a massive bone of discontentment amongst those in the know...

But who is really at fault here?

Most people with any interest in dogs (breeds aside), will know that due to extreme selective breeding, often employed by less scrupulous breeders trying to produce the 'perfect' breed example, there have been many physical (and behavioural) issues, that could have been so easily avoided or at least minimised, if the temprement and health of the resulting litters, had been the key focus.

However, a lot of blame has been put on the KC and Crufts organisers/showers alike for having strict 'Breed Standards', but few can or would deny a lot of the issue can be traced back to both ill educated/back yard breeders trying to meet these standards in an often cruel, uncaring and unhealthy way and of course, the general public, a case of supply and demand.
The blame that lies with the general public is mostly due to a lack of education and down to ignorance about the magnitude of the issue.
The problem is less about the standard, more about how the standard is met.

Now however the RSPCA has really taken a stand and is trying to make the issue clear and known to all, by it's very public refusal to attend this years Crufts.

Although some may say it's coming across as a little too harsh, needs must and hopefully it, coupled with efforts from other charities and the KC themselves, will draw enough attention to get this issue on it's way to being resolved, which is long overdue, despite previous attempts to rectify it.
(Last year was also particularly notable, several shows surrounded the airing of Crufts highlighting the issue. It was touched upon in a memorable show called 'Good dog, Bad dog'.)

For the RSPCA's statement regarding what and why, click here!

(Especially shocking for me was in the above statement, a study showed that only 26% of dog owners researched illnesses that affect their chosen breed, before purchasing a pup. I'm very proud to be firmly in the 26% who did do their research and I'm proud to constantly continue improving my knowledge of my breed!)

To learn more about what the Kennel Club are doing towards 'Breeding for the future', go here!

For fact sheets released by 'Get Puppy Smart' (RSPCA), regarding Exaggerated Features click here and Inherited Diseases click here.

To learn more about Inherited Diseases, please visit the following sites and learn more about the health of your breed;
Canine Inherited Disorders Database/CIDD // Hip Dysplasia Scores - breed list // Inherited Diseases in Dogs/IDID

I hope the information I've provided is helpful, many thanks to the KC, RSPCA and Get Puppy Smart for the links and figures.

Here's to a better future for our canine companions and also to enjoying Crufts, with happy, healthy, beautiful winners!

Crufts is being aired 7pm - 9pm Thursday - Sunday on More4.
There are live shows available at http://www.dfscrufts.tv/
Live commentaries and discussions on Crufts FM (87.7FM)

Red! (1st CC)

Congratulations to the gorgeous Red, well done on winning your first CC, we love you!

 

Now go win another ;)

Congratulations to my lovely mother too, we're all proud of you!

♥