Pets Magazine: April/May 2023

Puppy Training Tips from the Experts

My Talking Pet: The App that Brings Your Furry Friend to Life!

In today's world of technology, it's no surprise that there are apps for just about everything, including ones that allow us to bring our pets to life.

My Talking Pet is a mobile app that has taken the pet-loving community by storm. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices and is incredibly easy to use. Simply add or take a photo of your pet and add the voiceover you want to use, and voila! Your pet is now talking.

One of the best things about My Talking Pet is how realistic the animations look. The app uses advanced technology to make the pet's movements look as natural as possible.

The app also allows users to adjust the speed and pitch of the voiceover, so you can make your pet sound just like you want it to. You can also add a prerecorded voice clip, accessories such as funny hats and sunglasses or add an envelope and share it as a birthday card to your loved ones.

One of the most popular uses of My Talking Pet is for pet owners to create videos of their pets talking and share them on social media. The app has a built-in social sharing feature that makes it easy to post videos on social media. Pet owners can also share videos with friends and family via email or text message. The videos are sure to bring a smile to anyone's face and are a great way to show off your pet's unique personality. No wonder why, the app has been loved by so many celebrities over the years, such as Ellen Degeneris, Jennifer Aniston, Matt Le Blanc & Halle Berry to name a few. My Talking Pet is not only fun and entertaining, but it is also used for educational purposes, allowing teachers and parents all over the world to create educational videos for children.

For all the pet lovers My Talking pet is offering a free monthly subscription for unlimited fun. It’s very simple to redeem the offer. If you are an iOS user just click here. If you are an Android user, open the app and enter the code PETSMAGAZINE into the “enter promo code’’ section in the settings menu. Just make sure you cancel the subscription prior to its ending to avoid an automated renewal.

More Tales from Cat Rescue

Cat lover and proud owner of Lola, the pampered feline, Dr. DAVID CLIFF, continues his regular series on stories from the amazing cat rescue Yorkshire Cat Rescue (YCR) where he is a volunteer. Here, David tells us about rescue cat ‘Scallop’.

Our columnist DR DAVID CLIFF relates another intervention by Yorkshire Cat Rescue into the life of a kitten that did not have the best start.

This is Scallop. Whilst the name Scallop is often refers to a mollusc, Scallop is a living breathing, furry four-legged moggy. The spiritual meaning of Scallop is a symbol of good luck, protection and abundance. Perhaps, the moral of this story.

Scallop was taken into the care of Yorkshire Cat Rescue (YCR)

in June 2022, coming from a multi cat household where the owner had fifty plus cats living in their home.

Originally the owner had three, but when you don’t neuter cats, you get only one outcome, more cats, and then more…… This is often the problem of well-meaning owners that love their animals, but the love, the insight and the finance are not always in kilter and after a while the sheer numbers result in things

getting completely out of control.

David with his beloved cat Lola

YCR were quick to leap into action knowing these cats needed urgent care and attention, as the cat’s welfare was a consideration as well as the well-being of the owners. In some cases, where this happens more than one cat charity needs to be involved. YCR took in a number of adult cats plus a number of litters, including Scallop and his four siblings. Every kitten had cat flu, fleas, worms, giardia, feline coronavirus and ringworm.

Little Scallop came off the worst of the litter for these conditions and was really struggling, then came another blow when the entire litter was diagnosed with Parvo virus which can be very severe. So severe in fact that one of Scallop’s siblings succumbed.

Scallop has visited vets on a revolving door basis as they fought the virus and everything else that was going on. In short order little Scallop took a turn for the worse, as the combination of Parvo and the coronavirus can weaken and inflame the intestines of kittens

causing even worse diarrhoea than poor Scallop had already struggled with through his life. The net result was, as Scallops siblings rallied, he remained very small for his age and extremely underweight.

As his siblings thrived, Scallop didn’t seem to be getting any better.

Scallop is now undergoing multiple investigations, injections to get vitamins into his body that he can’t absorb through his gut as well as probiotic supplementation of his food and a new faecal transplant to try and repopulate his gut with beneficial flora.

YCR is still working with the vets to ensure Scallop’s intestines become less inflamed permitting his intestines to repair. Progress is slow but getting there and there is no reason why Scallop cannot significantly improve to the point where he can be rehomed.

YCR has a no kill policy. This is an embedded value in the organisation. It is a value that ensures that an animal’s worth will not be subordinate to cost where that animal can have a good life.

Rather than using euthanasia, an expediency often used by other organisations when the economic cost of care is a challenge, YCR instead rally and call upon their supporters and the wider public to meet the challenge. That call for support is almost always responded to and an animal condemned to possibly a short and painful existence is given a chance of a full life. It is a philosophy I resonate with; the need is there.

philosophical issues of our care of animals brought up in an environment we have created for them and the potential for an animal to have a good life, with the unique bonds it can experience with a good human carer, who also benefits.

Charles Darwin asserted how we treat our animals is the

About Yorkshire Cat

Rescue:

Yorkshire Cat Rescue exists to save the lives of abandoned and unwanted cats and kittens in Yorkshire and beyond.

Sure, there are other needs in our community, there is, for example a cost of living crisis, people are struggling but that does not remove the moral and

measure of any society.

There is every hope that Scallop will return to good health and YCR will continue with their attentiveness to ensure he gets the best start in life he can. Good luck little lad!

The charity provides all cats with food, love, shelter and the necessary veterinary care until they find a forever loving home. They are cared for by YCR's many fosterers across Yorkshire or at their centre in Keighley.

All the cats are neutered, microchipped, vaccinated and given any other medical and behavioural treatment required before rehoming.

Charles Darwin asserted

how we treat our animals is the measure of any society.

Scot’s Timothy Hay has been grown on the Carse of Stirling in Central Scotland for hundreds of years, providing the finest forage to livestock breeding herds, flocks and performance horses across the UK.

This premium hay is now available for all small and urban pets, direct to your door across the UK via the high quality brand White Rabbit Hay.‘White Rabbit Hay’ is a local partnership set up to make this high-end product available to urban pet owners. This timeless native grass is perfect for rabbits, chinchillas, tortoises and all other small pets, providing the required roughage and nutrition as well as promoting dental health and general well-being for all foraging pets. The hay is sourced from farms that manage the land with traditional farming rotation methods and without the use of any pesticides. This allows the land to provide home cover and natural feeding for a range of native animals. From wild hares to birds of prey, with everything in-between. The hay is hand selected and packed on farm in 1.5KG boxes and sealed with paper tape with no plastics input at all. The packaging is completely recyclable and compostable with our boxes travelling only a few miles to our logistics provider before being delivered directly to your door. Thus, keeping the carbon footprint as low as possible. The brand’s mission is to provide our small pets and pet parents with the best value product totally farm fresh, to add value to the product by developing new markets while providing our growers with a sustainable on-farm price that will allow them to continue to be guardians of the land and its’ native species for generations to come. It is not so long ago that the continued growing of Scot’s Timothy Hay on home soil was in serious doubt due to financial pressures.

Please support us and allow us to supply you and your pets with the sweetest, crispest, long stem timothy hay available today. www.whiterabbithay.com Tel: 07513 069 187

Puppy training in the round !

Here, dog trainer Lorna Winter talks about why the 360 degree or holistic approach to puppy training is the best way to bring up a well-behaved dog

Photo by Andrew Wagner on Unsplash

By LORNA WINTER at ZigZag puppy training

For many first-time puppy owners it can be tricky mastering how and when to train your puppy. There’s so much contradictory information out there, which can make starting training feel overwhelming.

From the length of time needed to train a puppy to the different options people can take, there is a lot of pressure to go with one provider only. However, opting for one training provider at a time doesn’t give a holistic overview of what needs to be taught and can actually slow down your pup's development.

While taking your pup to a weekly training class is a great foot in the door in their development, layering training options can maximise your training to get the best results. This can be implemented by combining a number of different training providers such as; app training, in-person puppy classes, training outside in puppy parks and following training plans from blogs or

articles from trusted dog behaviour experts. When exploring the best options for your pup, it is important that you make sure that it is reward based and tailored to the age and breed of your dog - every dog is different and there isn’t such a thing as a one size fits all training package!

receptive to learning - which is why training at home from the get-go is the best approach.

Training at home from the get-go is the best approach.

Most puppy courses last 6-8 weeks, and while some allow you to start before your puppy is fully vaccinated, many ask you to wait until they’re fully vaccinated. This misses out on a key period of time when your puppy is at home, and in their socialisation period, and hugely

Once your puppy is settled in their new home; learning begins straight away.

Like humans, puppies learn and process things from the moment they are born, and they are like sponges in their socialisation period which is when it’s best to teach them not to be worried about loud noises, or surprise bangs, or when people look different to you .

Therefore, beginning training at home is a great way to teach your puppy these important life skills such as; socialisation and habituation as well as sleeping, toilet training and generally how to grow into a wellbehaved dog.

There are FIVE stages of puppy development:

The one we’re most concerned with as puppy owners is the socialisation period. All stages of puppy development are important, but the socialisation period, which occurs from around 4 to 12 weeks of age, is often considered the most critical.

and behave. This period of time is about giving your pup the life skills they need to be a wellbehaved pooch by building their social awareness. Socialisation is vital for puppies, as it makes them less likely to show aggressive or stressed behaviours when in exciting or new situations.

- neonatal,

- transitional

- socialisation,

- juvenile

- adolescent

During this time, puppies are particularly receptive to new experiences and can form positive associations with a wide range of people, animals, and environments. Proper socialisation during this period helps puppies become welladjusted, confident, and less fearful adult dogs. Puppy socialisation is a process that teaches puppies how to think

After the first few days of letting your puppy settle in; owners can begin adopting a 360 approach to training. A 360 approach looks at puppy training as more of a holistic plan - by recommending that owners should attend puppy training classes, alongside their own training sessions via training apps.

Training at home as well as in person allows for the socialisation and habituation phases to take place; as they become introduced to other pups, environments and noises.

Going to in-person training classes also means that you’re around trained professionals who can help explain things like body language and interactions between puppies. Doing both will help build your puppy’s confidence and emotional resilience for when you start to generalise and train your puppy in the big wide world!

A holistic approach to training is best as you get the best of both worlds; in person training classes for real time feedback, and the support of an app outside these hours when you need it, from highly qualified experts, and to save you asking the rather more dubious Dr Google. While both in isolation can still work well, together they give you the best start to puppy-parenthood.

Lorna is a Director of the UK Dog Behaviour and Training Charter and cofounder and head of training at ZigZag.

Why Losing a Pet Can be More Heartbreaking than Losing a Relative

Lianna Champ has over 40 years’ experience as a grief and funeral care specialist and is author of practical guide, ‘How to Grieve Like A Champ’. Here, she discusses the ultimate taboo of why people are so often more grief-stricken after the loss of a pet than a relative.

By By LIANNA CHAMP, Author of ‘How to Grieve

Like A Champ’

We just love our pets so very much. They provide a constant flow of unconditional love twenty four hours a day and even when they are asleep, they open one eye when we move. They are just so reliable, they make us feel needed and foster so much love in our hearts. We can never fall out with them, but …. can we say the same for our human relatives?

Relationships in families can be very interesting and not all plain sailing. We are truly blessed if we can enjoy completely uncomplicated, perfect and loving relationships with our relatives. However, being human and not always perhaps the most patient of species, there is usually something that niggles us about most people . We have to accept

this and make compromises or the battles will wage on. We see our relatives at their best and at their worse. We love them, we fall out with them, we sometimes even agree to disagree. All these things form part of our relationships.

When my mum died in 2011, I was completely devastated and even missed her telling me I was having a bad hair day which might sound funny, but

when you know you are having a bad hair day, the last thing you need is someone telling you. I think of her every single day and enjoy our ongoing emotional relationship but I have to admit, I love being in charge of it now. This is something that we do not experience with our pets. Even if they chew our favourite pair of shoes, we can’t fall out with them and just blame ourselves for not putting our shoes away.

When we are having a really tough day, they can make it better. We can cry into their fur, smudge our mascara and have a big blotchy face and we aren’t even aware of it because our animals never look at us to judge us, they just look so trustingly into our eyes. They totally accept us exactly as we are. This bond is as strong as tempered steel.

We lose so much more than just our pet when our pets die. We lose that freedom of emotional acceptance, that dependency that we share with them. They create this huge big ball of love inside us and it’s quite magical. They are uncomplicated and we can’t ever ignore them as they don’t do that stuff, like the humans do.

Humans get caught up in their own dynamic. Our pets are only interested in ours. Not to mention the pleasure we have watching them play. They bring us right into the present moment and switch us off from outside noise. Sometimes we find it easier to stroke and love our pets than to hug a relative.

We give our animals unconditional love, just as they give it to us, but in relationships we often have to bargain with each other to try and retain harmony. Humans choose to carry baggage or else we wouldn’t have to bargain with one another.

Not pets. They just want to be with you regardless of whether you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube or leave the loo seat up. Also, when we hug and stroke our fur babies, we release endorphins into our bodies and this serves to deepen the human to animal bond we share.

You have to take the time to mourn your loss, lick your wounds and, when you feel better you will know when, or if, you want to give another animal a loving, happy and safe home. It’s a great feeling when your pet comes to greet you at the door. It’s better than chocolate!

Lianna Champ has over 40 years’ experience as a grief and funeral care specialist and is author of practical guide, How to Grieve Like A Champ.

They can’t tell us when they feel pain, yet when we know they are in pain, we feel it a hundred times worse for them. It really is no wonder that we feel such an overwhelming sense of loss when they die. We have lost something extremely special.

Each relationship with every pet we have is totally unique.

The bond (with our pets) is as strong as tempered steel.

Retreating to Badger’s Holt…

Retired vet and author of ‘Pets Aplenty’ MALCOLM D.

WELSHMAN reflects on finding a haven of peace and quiet on his busy veterinary rounds.

Photo by Andrea Lightfoot on Unsplash

By MALCOLM D. WELSHMAN

There were days at the veterinary hospital when it felt I was in the middle of some violent sandstorm…

Not that I imagined myself as Lawrence of Arabia, mounted on a camel, charging through the sand dunes on a mission to save a distressed pet. If anything, I was more likely to be the dromedary. One with a perpetual hump.

So, whenever my receptionist booked a slot for me to go over to Badgers Holt, I relished the prospect. It was like an oasis of calm beckoning. Its centre was a circular log cabin with a turf roof standing in a patch of broadleaf woodland. Its owners were Nesta and Callum Summers, who had ditched the

day job and the stresses of a consumerist society for the tranquillity of this woodland wonder.

Sharing that retreat and its three acres were Primrose the goat, Bluebell, a Shetland pony, two wheaten terriers – Petal and Blossom - and a deer hound by the name of Willow.

As soon as I hit the chalky track that wound down to Badgers Holt I could feel the tensions of the day also winding away. None more so than on a late spring morning. The beech and birches through which I drove had now unfurled their soft mantles of green to the full.

Malcolm and Dora

The steep banks of the track were still swathed with buttercup-yellow celandines and dotted clumps of primroses. I found myself plunging through shaded tunnels peppered with sunlight. Intoxicating. Then to emerge, blinking, from the last tunnel, into the sun-dappled glade in which Badgers Holt nestled. Sheer magic.

Today the Summers’ stock was due for its annual check up. Annual booster vaccinations given; and give me a chance to relish time, however short, in this wondrous place.

Nesta was a lady of medium stature, ruddy complexion, hair a tangle of heavy curls. Nothing striking in her appearance. Not so her partner, Callum. He had a frizz of black and grey hair that cascaded to his waist matched by a beard of equal length. But both exuded an air of tranquillity. Calm. Unruffled. Never rushed.

They approached as I got out of the car. Nesta embraced me and smiled. ‘So, Malcolm, how are you?’

‘No doubt stressed as ever,’ said Callum, also giving me a hug.

But one that was more bearlike.

Was it that obvious?

I wondered as I snatched my black bag out of the car boot and followed them round to their collection of sheds and pens, feeling with every step I took, a lessening in my tension, Badger Holt beginning to exert its effect. Before we’d reached the yard, Blossom, Petal and Willow had joined us, quietly trotting alongside, as calm as their owners. The magic of Badger Holt had long since permeated their paws.

'The hounds look fine,’ I commented.

‘Touch wood, yes,’ said Callum reaching out to run his hand across the trunk of an oak that we were passing.

Once in the yard, Nesta went to put a head-collar on Bluebell while Callum knelt down with the three dogs and quietly ordered them to sit. Without a murmur, they obliged and continued to sit there, their eyes on Callum while I gave each of them their booster. Bluebell too was very obliging when Nesta returned with him. Placidly he stood there while I checked him over and gave him his flu and tetanus jab. ‘Good lad,’ I remarked as I withdrew the needle from his neck.

There’d been not been a flinch from him.

Marigold, the Nubian goat, had been watching proceedings from inside the paddock fence, front hooves up on the first rail. ‘Your turn,’ said Callum quietly, and reached through to gently grasp one of her horns before leading her along to the paddock gate for me to examine her.

milk off the affected side for a few days and she seemed to get better.’ Her udder was certainly fine now as she calmly let me feel it. Again, no flinching. No sign of stress.

‘Now, have you time for coffee?’ said Nesta when I’d finished.

I always made sure I had time for coffee with the Summers. Today no different. Time to soak up the scene. Their woodland glade ambersplashed with sunshine. Blackbird song ringing out in the treetops. A robin chiming

the camel that I’d revert to once back would have less of a hump than previously.

Malcolm D. Welshman is author of Pets Aplenty published by Austin Macauley Publishers

0207 038 8312 at £7.99 Kindle version 99p

www.malcolmwelshman .co.uk.

‘She did have a touch of mastitis last autumn,’ said Nesta. ‘But we stripped the

in. Then from a patch of brambles a delightful tune, sweet and soft. A willow warbler, one of the first of our summer visitors to arrive. Its arrival’s a reminder of my departure.

As I drove back through the tunnels of hazel, I was conscious I was taking with me a slice of the Summers’ serenity. I knew it wouldn’t last when back in the hurly burly of life at the practice. But maybe

A willow warbler, one of the first of our summer visitors to arrive. Its arrival’s a reminder of my departure.