Puppy awareness week blog

Time to tell you about what is special about this week. 8th-14th September is National puppy awareness week !

Why do I need to talk to you about puppies we all know they are cute and lovely bundles of energy. Unfortunately it's not about them but to insure you buy a puppy from a registered kennel club breeder. As well as trying to stop puppy farms.

Please watch this video that will show you more but some of the scenes that dogs raised in puppy farms live in. You may find some scenes disturbing.

Hey I sound like a television programme! But it's serious.

After watching the video the first thing I then did was download a twibbon for my twitter account you can do yours by http://twb.ly/RGZWOb

In a recent study for the Kennel Club it found 20% of puppy owners bought their pet on the internet, a pet shop or a newspaper ad, all outlets used to sell farmed puppies, instead of direct from the breeder or a rescue home.

It revealed 30% had not seen their puppy with its mother, rising to 37% of those who bought their puppy from a newspaper ad, online or a pet shop, while 31% did not see their puppy in its breeding environment, rising to 40% of those buying from newspaper ads, pet shops and online.

"Puppy farmers and scam artists cash in on this. I urge potential puppy buyers to steer well clear of any breeder or outlet that does not assess your suitability as a dog owner and doesn't give you every opportunity to vet their suitability as a breeder."

I personally know of someone that bought a border collie from a service station. The following day developed a lot of pain a cough and a rash. £400 vets bill but 2 days later had to be out to sleep.

In closing

Stop and spot the signs of an irresponsible breeder
Tell the relevant authorities if you suspect a puppy farmer
Opt for a Kennel Club Assured Breeder or rescue dog
Please, spread the word.

Fur friend Saturday - Star blog

Today I renamed my blog to Saturday fur friend as I wanted to introduce the hound I share my forever home with Star.


Name. Star
Breed. Greyhound
Colour. White with 4 black spots.
How old are you? . 4 years old
Do you have any nicknames ? . Twinkle or Crazy Bitch (as I run around like a mad thing.) or Meerkat - when I'm in the boot of the car so you can have the back seat I sit up and lean forward onto the seat like a Meerkat!
Where did you come from?. Monmore retired greyhound trust (Wolverhampton)
Where do you now live? Birmingham
Who do you live with now? . Mike, Emma and you, but we are cousins as we have the same grandad - Larkhill Jo
Are you on any social networks?. Yes twitter @MissStarhound

This photo was the day I came home with you.

Where did you race?. Monmore (Wolverhampton)
Were you a good racer?. 41 races won 11
When did I first meet you? when you came to get a hound pal to share you home with. You walked in the paddock with me and a little black bitch. You made the right decision and chose me. November 2011

Favourite walk? . Waseley hills as I get excited and pull Dad up the hill
Favourite place to visit? . Chatsworth house and gardens. Lots of lovely smell and loads of visitors make a lot of fuss over cute me!

What is your Daily kibble?. Good questions it's a bit varied. I used to be on Red mills Greyhound food. Then I got moved onto pedigree vital protection and pedigree complete tinned. Did that for 2 weeks don't really like it so now some greyhound, pedogree dry and raw pet mince
What is your favourite treat?. Raw bones nom nom !
What do you dislike? . Being told to calm down and to get down when I jump up the hoomans. Listening in dog training classes.

Which would you prefer rabbit? Squirrel? or cat? . Only retiring last October 2011 I will chase anything. Cat on a daily basis but when visited hooman friends in Kent their pet bunnies looked very nice!
Favourite toy?. Squeaky dog toy with a squeaker and a bell in it.

Interesting fact . I'm famous as I Star in a book - walking with Boomer Staffordshire book !

Fur Friends Friday - Janey blog

Today is another greyhound that I go to dog training with - Janey

Name Janey
Breed. Greyhound
Colour Brindle
How old are you? 5
Where did you come from? Solihull Daybreaks
Where do you now live? Solihull and Devon
2 homes I'm confussed how?
I live with my Hoomom during the week when Nicola works then at the weekend we go to Devon to this house project that Nicola is doing up.
Who do you live with? Nicola and Mum
Are you on any social networks? No
Where did you race? Nottingham
Were you a good racer? I guess so 9 wins out of 32. Is that good?
When did I first met you? Solihull Daybreaks RGT - you went down to look for a mate and you Hoodad liked me but I was already being walked by Nicola and Mom. So we were nearly living together!

Favourite walk? Teignmouth beach
Favourite place to visit? Greyhound training – Saturday’s and my cousin Mook’s house (my brother’s mad Collie/Staffy cross)

What is your Daily kibble? John Birch Chicken and Rice
Schmakos
What do you dislike? Not a lot! Winalot shapes bore me…
Which would you prefer rabbit? Squirrel? or cat? Bunny….
Favourite toy? Big furry squeaky mouse

Tune in next week I'm keeping it a surprise who it will be.

Greyhound walks charity dog show blog

After visiting Grandad in Kent and seeing my fur friend Betty it was time to go back home. But hoomans then told us it was via a diversion to the greyhound walks charity dog show. The event should have been in April
but all the heavy rain forced them to cancel it.

After an hour or so drive in the car the clever talking machine in the car got us to the dog show.

Star and I went straight to the registration area to be entered into a class each. Unfortunately we didn't win so no rosettes to show you. The show was well run giving away poop bags, lots of water on stands. As well as a great variety of stalls selling food, treats, collars and others.

After our time in the ring we went shopping and bumped into a famous dog. Dash bitch of the year and her hooman Andrew Dilger. If you haven't read Dash's book it's all about Andrew her hooman taking her on straight after retiring from racing and the journey in her forever home. It's a great read and good news for my american friends it will soon be on sale there. So a photo call with the famous hound was a must

Further round the stalls I bumped into Barley Kennels (Walthemstow) where I spent a happy 18 months when I first retired from racing. Joy who ran the kennels recognised me and me her - I went mental jumping up her, giving her cuddles (my little white fleck in my head gave me away) Hoomans got some of their key rings and some of my food. I helped myself to large gulps of their cold water!

After buying some of the biscuits on sale and checking out all the stores including more collars for Star and me from AK Creations.

With such a lovely sunny day and park it was time for a quick walk and to admire the views.

Today was a great day but made enjoyable as Star and I had our keep cool jackets on (www.keepcool.org.uk) other dogs had other sun jackets on but ours looked the smartest and fit the best. Even in the direct sunshine they stayed wet for 4 hours.

The show was fab and I will have to nag hoomans for a return visit next year.

Fur Friends Friday - George Blog

This Friday I want to introduce you to another non greyhound friend - George

Name George
Breed Welsh Terrier
Colour Black and Tan
How old are you? I'm 2 years 7 months old.
Where did you come from? The Clee Hills in Shropshire
Where do you now live? Telford, Shropshire
Who do you live with? My pesky Sister Tess who’s also a Welsh Terrier
Are you on any social networks? Yes, twitter@GeorgeTheLad1 Fuzz Book and my Blog http://georgethelad.blogspot.com
I love George's blog feature called Saturday Steps!
When did I first met you? On a walk with Boomerang the pub crawl round Ironbridge. It was a sunny day a year ago walking us hounds was a break between the pints. You are so tall !

Sorry had to include the picture of me on the pub crawl getting a cuddle from Mom.

Favourite walk? To the pub with Dad
Favourite place to visit? Attingham Park
Favourite past time? Sleeping

What is your Daily kibble? Vet Kitchen, Salmon & Potato also Chicken & Brown Rice. Thanks for vouchers your hoomans gave mine to save money on it.
What is your favourite treat? Nasher Sticks
What do you dislike? Bin linner’s

Which would you prefer rabbit? Squirrel? or cat? Cat, but Squirrel would go down well.
Favourite toy? Ball
Do you have a claim to fame? Yes, I was at Crufts 2012 in discover dogs section representing Welsh terriers

Thanks Rolo for letting me be on your Friday Friends, I hope we can meet up for a walk sometime soon.
I always look forward to visiting your blog to see what you have been up to.

Next week is another greyhound Janey

Fur Friends Friday Jasper Blog

Today is the second of three hounds that live together - Jasper


Name Jasper
Breed Greyhound
Colour Black
How old are you/when were you born?
I was born on 2 May 2004 and am 8 years old
Where did you come from?
I’m an Irish dog and came across to England to race. When my racing days were over the lovely Lincolnshire Greyhound Trust helped me find a home.
Where do you now live?
In a lovely village near Market Rasen
Who do you live with?
My hu-mum & hu-dad, along with Mina, Stevie and Tula the cat (yes, I live with a cat!)
Are you on any social media sites?
Yes, I’m on Twitter - @JaspertheHound
Where did you race?
I raced mainly at Brough Park, Newcastle
What was your racing name?
Boherash Bravado (http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=1195363 )
What were you parents names? (sire & dame)
Roanokee (sire) Boherash Cait (dam)
Were you a good racer?
I ran in 162 races mainly grades A7-A5 and won 13 races.

When did I first met you?
At the Great Greyhound Gathering 2011
Favourite walk?
Willingham Woods
Favourite place to visit?
My Granny’s because I always get lots of treats.
What is your Daily kibble?
Autarky
What is your favourite treat?
I like all food… but especially cheese
What do you dislike?
I can be quite a scaredy greyhound – I’m not fond of children (they move quickly and frighten me) and bicycles. My humum (who’s a dog trainer) has been helping me overcome my fears though, and I’m much better now.
Which would you prefer rabbit? Squirrel? or cat?
I get excited over squirrels but I really love birds! I don’t chase cats as I live with a cat called Tula.
Favourite toy?
My hu-mum bought me a reindeer toy for Christmas and I love it.
Any other comments
I only have 4 teeth left and because of this my hu-mum calls me Mr Snaggletooth. My lack of teeth doesn’t stop me from liking all my food but it does mean that I can’t eat bones.

Stars food trial blog

You may have seen my tweet the end of May 2012 my hoomans went to the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition. It's a Mars company were they research new food for Pedigree and the other company's they own.
Dad signed Star up for a 3 month trial feeding her on wet and dry food. The reason being Pedigree have just launched a new complete dry food called Vital Protection. We got disturbed from our beds Monday afternoon (30th July) by a delivery man. Hooman not in so the parcel got left outside.

What could it be further tearing by Dad revealed

2 minutes late

When changing food over you should always introduce it gradually. Decrease old food by 1/5th day 1 and add 1/5th new food. Then day 2 decrease old food by further 1/5th replace with new. Hoomans had to get calculators out to do Stars food for the next 5 days.

Today 1st August is day 1 for star and as you can see from the photo her bowl looks and interesting sight!

Time to mix it in!

I'll talk about the more scientific part of the reason for the trial in a later blog.
Good luck with the trial Star hope you find it tasty!