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 

Keep cool this Summer! (Tips)

So, we mentioned in our last post that the weather here is starting to heat up, which means our girls need some ways to cool down! As promised, here's a list of the things we do, to keep our girls feeling fresh!

Food;
Keep their food light and where possible give them chilled/frozen foods, i.e 'pupsicles'.
You can make a pupsicle out of almost anything, mashed banana, a drop of honey and plain yoghurt for something sweet, or chicken pieces, salt free stock and carrot for savoury.
Turn your summer treat into a boredom buster by freezing foods within a toy, i.e a Kong :)

Doggy safe freezable foods include; Peanut butter, low fat yoghurt, low salt stocks, cream cheese, canned dog food, soaked kibble, chicken/meat pieces, various veggies, i.e carrots, sweet potato, peas etc and other commercial products, such as the Kong pastes or Fish4Dogs salmon mousse.

Always test your pooch with a tiny amount of peanut butter and/or honey before making the full treat, some dogs can have very mild allergies to these, however it is extremely unlikely, all 4 of ours are fine with them :)

Water;
Now more than ever your dog will need access to clean, cool water, but on those days where the tongues come out and panting is heavy, a couple of ice cubes in their water dish will do the trick. Make sure you rinse them first though, we don't want any tongues getting stuck!

Rest;
On hot days your dog(s) will probably rest a fair bit, so make sure they have plenty of 'cool spots'.
Make sure they always have access to shady areas, if necessary provide them a small child's tent to rest in.
If your dog is a sunbather, like Rafferty, dampen an old towel for them to lie on, make sure to keep the towel damp throughout the day, a spray bottle is ideal for this.

Fun;
Nothing beats playing with your dog on a sunny day, so feel free to incorporate some 'keep cool methods' into your fun! Sprinklers and shallow paddling pools make for great (supervised) fun!
There's a host of water friendly toys out there, from brand name retriever toys to the good old tennis ball :)
(Never pour ice water on your dog, or squirt them in the face, they'd like it about as much as you would!)

Other;
Hairless breeds and some white haired dogs may need a little sun cream on the tips of their ears etc.
Easy to overlook, but sunburn can be as bad for your pooch as it is for you :(
When the fun is over and it's time to relax, a small electric fan is great.
Just make sure your dog is dry and that the fan is kept of reach of inquisitive noses and paws!

Hope these tips we've picked up along the way help you have some fun in the sun, whilst staying cool!

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

P.S Don't forget; Never ever leave your dog in the car. Thieves aside, your pup would be at very high risk of sunstroke at this time of year. Sunstroke can be extremely dangerous and have serious consequences. If you suspect your dog has sunstroke, please call/visit your vet immediately.
Summer also brings more insects, including bees and wasps, which can give your dog a severe allergic reaction if they sting your poor pup. Again, please contact your vet asap if you think your pup has been stung/bitten.
Now is a great time to give your pup their summer wormer and flea prevention treatment!
And last but not least, remember to watch for poisonous plants in the garden/home and have a safe Summer!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snowww! ♥

It's been snowing for the past 5 or so days now (yay!) but this morning the snow has reached (by English standards) epic proportions! It's around a foot deep in some places!
Sooo, we thought we'd warm up your day with a few winter-y pics :)
Enjoy!
♥

Running towards me, Buffy, Monroe then Rafferty at the back!

Rafferty was eating snow, Buffy was rolling in it and Monroe had just headbutted it ;D

Spot the chihuahua! (Lilys first 30 second taste of snow, she had to be picked up shortly after these 2 pics)

Lily exploring in the snow, Buffy jumping over her!

Rafferty being a snow princess!

Rafferty again :)

While they enjoyed their 10 minutes of winter wonderland, they were sure glad to get back inside and snuggle in the duvet with Mummy! ^^

No doubt we'll have more over the next day or two, the snow looks set to last a little while yet but until then we say this;;

Snow Buddies, kiss our tiny furry butts!

♥

♪ ♫ Saturday, Sunday, happy days! ♪ ♫

This weekend has been very happy indeed so far!

Our good friends Emma and Chris came to visit Saturday, so we had plenty of fun with them :)

 Chris and Emma with God Child Monroe ;D

Then today, Granddad, Angie and Great Mamma all came over to see us ^^
It was lovely to see them all and they gave Daddy his birthday presents (early, cheeky cheeky) and we gave Granddad his Fathers Day present (ever earlier!), so it was smiles all round :)
Now Granddad has it, we can reveal what it was all along :)

The present!

It's a hand knitted "Aleksandr the meerkat" made by the lovely people behind the "Harry Hill knitted character"! :)

It went down very well, so a big pat on the back seems in order for Mummy ;D

Aside from all the fun, we thought we'd let you know that Monroe and Rafferty both made a very speedy recovery after their injections and that all is well with the Hiltons, big and little :)

That's all for now! More to come very soon :)

Love & licks, Rio, Buffy, Rafferty & Monroe.

CHA CHA CHA!

Hi everyone :)
So Mister Sunshine let us down, the BBQ is off :( but not to worry! We're still having plenty of fun!
Granddad, Mamma Angie and Great Mamma are all coming tomorrow, so we're all very excited to see them!!!
Especially Rafferty, she loves to jump all over Granddad and nibble his ears ^.^

A friend of ours sent us something on Facebook that we had to share, so here you are, hope you all find it as amusing as we did*!

Ty to Sarah for the video! :)

Oh and Miss Sarah's little boy, Bailey (yorkie) has become a big brother! Congratulations to his Mummy Milley!

That's all we have to say for now, but we'll be back soon, we might even have some new pictures ;)

Love & licks, Rio, Buffy, Rafferty & Monroe.


*For anyone about to go on a spiel about animal rights, the video/song is amusing, that's all. Chihuahuas are dogs and mine at least are treated as such! Yes, they have clothes and a bag, to keep them warm and to carry them should they need to go somewhere they can't walk. They still go on walks, still get dirty and still like rough and tumble play. :)