February, 2017
ALISON COLEMAN on rescuing her Wayward RUSSELL GRANT’S Whippet Pet Horoscopes!
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SOPHIE & NELL’S CHOICES
Premium pet products, destinations & activities for you & your pet chosen by Sophie & Nell, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, assisted by Marie.
Robo Vacuum Cleaner! The Vileda Cleaning Robot does the cleaning for you while you sit back and relax. This rechargeable robot is suitable for all hard flooring and short-pile carpet and sweeps and vacuums edges and under most furniture. There are three different settings (S, M and L) depending on the size of the room you want cleaning. It also contains a drop sensor to avoid falling down stairs. It’s great for vacuuming dust and dog hair, but we’d love it to be more robust on rugs – it stops when it encounters the tassles on rugs. Still, a good vacuum cleaner that is also a bit of a talking point, and a fascinating gadget for pooches! The Cleaning Robot lasts up to 80 minutes on one charge and with its intelligent navigation system it will find its way across the room, cleaning as it goes! Ideal for Thirsty Pooches! RRP £149.99 Stockists include Amazon, Argos, Hughes and The latest addition to its popular Pet Fountain www.vileda.co.uk range, the Drinkwell® Sedona Pet Fountain by PetSafe® Brand is designed to encourage your pet to drink more by providing a continuous circulation of fresh, filtered water. Holding up to 3 litres of water, more than the daily requirement for a large adult dog, it typically only needs to be filled up once a day and far less with smaller dogs, and boasts special features including carbon and foam filters to remove any bad tastes or odours as well as capturing hair and debris. The Drinkwell® Sedona Pet Fountain is suitable for cats and dogs of all sizes and is available now at www.petsafe.net/UK and selected retailers for an RRP of £85.99.
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No Bones! No Bones is a small family-owned business that produces lovely ‘confectionary’ for dogs. It’s range is handmade and includes tasty ‘pupcakes’ dog chocolates and even ‘pupcorn’. The products are very well presented and our canine taste testers enjoyed them. Check out its fun valentines day range. www.no-bones.co.uk
Great for Muddy Dogs! Dogrobes are practical dog drying coats that are perfect to use after muddy walks. The robes protect floors, walls and upholstery from a wet and muddy shake off. Dogrobes come in all dog breed sizes - from Chihuahua to Newfoundland - and are available in three classic colours: red, navy and green. Priced from £18.95 www.dogrobes.co.uk
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Raw Feast! Cotswold RAW is an independent, family-run company producing high quality Biological Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) for dogs. The dogs love their meaty sausages and raw mince recipes! Lip-smackingly good stuff! www.cotswoldraw.com
Food Fit For Wolves! Canagan (Celtic for ‘baby wolf) is a British-made, grain-free dog (and cat) food that is sourced from high grade meat and fish. In wet and kibble varieties, the dogs wolfed it down! www.canagan.co.uk
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A Home From Home in the Heart of London Cheval Gloucester Park The Cheval Gloucester Park, situated in Kensington, is an excellent and very dog-friendly place to stay in the heart of London. With easy access to Hyde Park, and the high-end shops of Knightsbridge and Kensington, these luxurious serviced apartments are a welcome break from corporate hotel land or boutique hotels. They provide a more homely setting for stays from one night to much longer. The Cheval is one of eight locations for the Cheval residences across London. The apartments come in several grades and sizes from one through to three bedroom options and include penthouse apartments. The ‘grades’ include Superior, Luxury and Deluxe. We stayed in a Deluxe apartment, which boasted wonderful views of the cityscape below, a self-catering kitchen with complimentary macaroons, artisan bread, coffee, tea, milk and preserves. The bathroom was large and fully equipped with a power shower and the apartment was tastefully decorated and spacious. The apartment was very pooch friendly with a dog bed and high quality treats and bowls. There’s a gym and sauna on the first floor, which all guests are free to use. The residence’s staff were lovely, extremely friendly and attentive. The transport links are excellent with Gloucester Road tube (served by the Piccadilly, Circle and District lines) in close walking distance. Ashburn Place, Kensington, London SW7 4LL. 020 7373 1444 chevalresidences.com
PS/ We’re always looking for premium products & services to review for both pets and people! Please get in touch with the boss at editor@petsmag.co.uk. Love,
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Sophie & Nell
xxx
ARIES
CANCER
March 21st - April 20th
June 22nd - July 23rd
Keep one eye forward and the other behind as you manoeuvre through the month. Even if you're not normally prone to accidents, one could be waiting to find you now. In particular steer clear of power tools! If you venture out of doors, avoid heavy traffic areas, better yet, stay close to home and stay alert! You may offer gestures of comfort to prefer to just find a cosy corner someone in need. and fantasise about the things that tickle your imagination; with the passing of time, GEMINI everything changes!
May 22nd - June 21st
You needn't be excessively helpful to secure the affection of TAURUS your home companion, but April 21st - May 21st because you have been, they're totally delighted with you. Some How frustrating to be in a playful of the work you've done around mood, but finding yourself with the house has even made them limited opportunities to let aware of their own bad habits! loose! Though the climate of this Since others could learn from month is somewhat restrictive, your good example your humans and you may find yourself losing will be bragging about you to a ground or slipping backwards, neighbour with a less that's no reason to curl up and accommodating animal. sulk. The caring connection you have with your people comes to They'll tell tales about how you the fore more clearly than ever picked up and put items in their when someone at home is either designated spots after playing. physically or emotionally under the weather. Use this chance to
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The love sparks you experienced over the past few weeks fade down a notch or two now, but that doesn't mean no one's thinking about you; it's just that the kind of attention you had been getting takes a different form. This is an excellent time to show your personality and express yourself in creative ways; returning to activities you used to enjoy when you were younger is a good place to start! Get together with your human companion for an outing in nature for inspiration.
LEO July 24th - August 23rd
Playing well with others is only one of the many reasons you are so adored. If your owner has a visitor who brings a pet along, do your best to make this creature feel welcome. You probably don't have any qualms about sharing toys or eating together. And while human onlookers will marvel at your friendly behaviour, that's only because they don't understand how truly sociable you really are. Keep up the good work!
VIRGO August 24th September 23rd
Whether in regard to your surroundings, your companion, the day's events or yourself, you're prone to criticise. Such a critical attitude can serve you and your housemate well under certain conditions, but at most other times, it only puts a gloom over your day to day existence. If there are things that truly need improving your companion will see to it, all the rest is just pie in the sky discontent. What actually needs improving here is your attitude! It's a new day; be happy!
excited voices. Your friends laugh at all of your antics, especially the daft ones. Stay out
spend some hours in a different location. Your human friend is reluctant to leave you, but when they're called away it's best you stay with a neighbour.
SAGITTARIUS November 23rd December 21st
late one night just for the fun of it, but be prepared to take the consequences when you get home.
It seems you've been floating above the clouds in recent weeks, so you'll be thrilled to know this lovely sensation will intensify yet more as the month progresses. Look forward to going with your companion to a place you'll both enjoy.
It's fun to have something uplifting to look forward to, October 24th - November 22nd especially something that involves acquiring treats for you Just because you don't want to and deepening psychic be in the thick of things, the one connections to people you and LIBRA you live with may think you're your housemate care for; prepare September 24th under the weather. You're not ill, October 23rd for this by clearing cobwebs out just in search of a quiet spot; you of your living space. have a lot to review as you think A sense of good cheer and great energy follows you around. Your back on the happenings of recent human companions are planning weeks, and that takes time and something and you think it must an environment of silence. As much as you enjoy being at have something to do with you. They keep talking to you in high, home, it's likely you'll have to
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difficult to relate to this climate Russell Grant’s Pet and make your way through it. Horoscope is sponsored by CAPRICORN Just lay low. This will pass soon The Dog Treat Company, December 22nd - January 20th enough and the household will renowned for producing delicious and ethically A friendly spirit permeates your return to a happier and calmer sourced dog treats. environment and you're happy to place. comply with whatever suggestions your housemates make. The activity level is to PISCES your liking and you'll often find February 20th yourself at the centre of things, March 20th so this period will be remembered as one of your most A good mood settles over you enjoyable. You're rightfully and all you hold dear. You're proud of some new tricks you've feeling good and looking learned since the last time forward to playful days in the special visitors dropped by and park, woods or local you'll have fun showing off these neighbourhood. Spending time off. You and your human outdoors helps to build your companion will share many connection with nature and pleasant and tender moments. enhances the bond with your family. Flowers decorate your special spaces like kitchen and hallway. Take care to cherish these simple pleasures. You're AQUARIUS on your best behaviour and January 21st February 19th admired by all so enjoy all the love and attention that is Confusing energies surround shown to you. your family. Human friends seem out of sorts due to problems of their own. This can create a strange and confusion atmosphere at home which can be quite unsettling for you. Animal friends seem disgruntled for their own reasons. You're finding it
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Why I Love Schnauzers... By Janetta Harvey
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Writer and animal welfare campaigner JANETTA HARVEY on her enduring love for the amiable and cheeky Miniature Schnauzer. My introduction to Miniature Schnauzers was 20 years ago. I knew little about the breed before my boss at the time suggested I’d love the cheeky bold character they’re renowned for. He’d never owned a dog, but had always hankered after a Schnauzer and enjoyed pushing me in their direction, JANETTA HARVEY explains. So it was, that Jasmine came into my life. He had a clear motive: I took her to work with me. He loved being her part-time companion without any of the responsibility. Some days I struggled to get a look in, as he utterly adored her, and she him. So in a way it’s all down to a dentist in Surrey that five mini Schnauzers later, I’m author of three books centered around the life my husband and I share with them. And Jasmine being the bewitching dog she was, certainly must get some credit for me founding a Schnauzer-themed annual fundraiser, Schnauzerfest which in three years has raised almost £50,000 for rescued dogs! When I bought Jasmine, I was pretty typical of many puppy buying novices and I bought badly. Jasmine’s breeder, I know with hindsight and it’s something I’ve written about extensively, was a puppy farmer-dealer. There were warning signals to me: the multiple breeds on offer; sheds housing unseen puppies and breeding dogs; pushing for a sale; no questions asked about the life I’d offer Jasmine. But, like many wanting a puppy, especially first-time buyers, I turned a blind eye, handed over my money, took Jasmine home and thoroughly loved her for the next fourteen and a half years. We involved her in everything we did. We took her everywhere, holidays were UK-based and geared around her as we couldn’t have enjoyed going away without her. When the PET Travel Scheme was introduced in 2000, we fulfilled a long-held dream and bought a house in France, which she enjoyed many trips to until her death in December 2010. She could walk miles in her younger years, but equally, if a lazy day was in order, she was fine just to be with us. As we faced the inevitable aging with our beloved old lady, we discussed getting another dog when she was no longer with us. The guilt of having those conversations still pricks me today. Breeds came up but always we came back to our deep affection for Miniature Schnauzers. We’d got to know a few over the years and it was impossible to imagine not having one in our life. They’re often described as stubborn, but I’m hesitant to say that to anyone living with, let’s say just for example, Beagles! Jasmine, despite her dodgy breeding background, was a pretty typical - boisterous, robust, noisy, friendly, devoted example of glorious schnauzeriness and we were inescapably smitten. We had to have another Schnauzer and Renae stepped into Jasmine’s paws when the time came.
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Renae came from a good breeder, and we’ve since since gone on to adopt three more, Susie-Belle, Twinkle and Cerise Rose. Ours have all been intelligent, eager to learn, sensitive dogs. I’m not at all sure my three adopted dogs can be described as typical Miniature Schnauzers as they were rescued from dreadful backgrounds in the puppy breeding industry. Sadly, with the growing popularity of the breed, and the crosses like ‘schnoodles’, ‘schwesties’, etc, Miniature Schnauzers make puppy farmers easy money and are currently confined in horrible numbers in breeding facilities across the world, supplying a booming puppy market.
have, just to live normal lives, constantly inspires me to do all I can to stop the suffering of all dogs caught up in the industry. The Schnauzer community is highly sociable and using social
media I’ve come to know many people across the world with a similar love and desire to help schnauzers in need. Schnauzerfest embodies this to perfection. I started it in 2014 as a simple fundraiser - over one October weekend Schnauzers would get out and walk with others in their area, My love of Schnauzers may and donations would be made have started with me buying to the Diana Brimblecombe from a puppy farmer-dealer but Animal Rescue Centre, the nowadays, I spend my time small rescue where my dogs writing and campaigning to end were cared for and in Susiethe abusive, commercial puppy Belle’s case received expensive trade. Living with my dogs and cataract surgery. It was a seeing the daily challenges they simple idea which rapidly
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became a hugely successful annual event with hundreds of dogs and people taking part across the UK, walks this year were hosted from Orkney to Cornwall and everywhere in between. Last year, it raised £24,000 which will all be spent on restoring the health of dogs rescued from puppy farms. A love of Schnauzers, from a lot of people, means a lot of dogs’ lives will be transformed. Schnauzers really do seem to bring out the best in people as Schnauzerfest demonstrates. Janetta Harvey is a writer and commentator on the international puppy breeding industry. She's author of three books: Saving Susie-Belle and Saving One More for adults and her latest, Saving Maya for young readers. All are based on the lives of her dogs, rescued from large scale breeding facilities. Janetta lives with her husband Michel, and their three dogs in England and France. www.janettaharvey.com
David Cliff reviews...
‘How to Be a Cat’
I have seen, the totality of behaviour, particularly around the house and in relation to a human host. It's one of those books you find thinking oh, just another book of one-liners and cartoons, but is the comprehensiveness of the collation of behaviours expressed in this format that particularly made me smile. Anyone who did not know about the cat, and their behaviour, would be cat savvy at the end of 10 minutes leafing through this piece of work. Great for children or cat loving adults alike.
by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar published by Abrahams and Chronicle books Ltd price £6.95, ISBN 978142 by Seth Casteel, 138923. £12.99 by Sphere, ISBN 9 780751 The small hardback book is the 566291. perfect instruction manual for your cat to interact with homo The author is known sapiens. Now there are a lot of already for quite books about cats and their quirky, amazing endearing, sometimes irritating, photographs of dogs but always attention grabbing taken underwater behaviour! The fact that this book and in this variation of the artist's is written as if for the cat with talents, kittens and young cats are some beautiful one-liners to captured in fabulous pouncing and summarise the behaviours they other interesting poses. The should deploy is what makes it so photography has a freshness and amusing. The tacit assumptions of lightness that conveys action and behaviour and expectation from fun and one can only imagine the that behaviour appear in just patience involved in capturing about every page in a pithy onethese pictures. Whilst the book liner, with a comic cartoon as predominates with images of these illustration. fun-loving felines, there are a couple of helpful pages of Each page builds up to introduction that set the scene for summarise, perhaps more the photographer/author's comprehensively than most works interest, his growing love of cats,
‘Pounce’
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the tacit realisation that he could not repeat the dogs’ underwater book for obvious reasons (cats+ water) and some helpful thoughts on helping cats in general. Problem is, this is the sort of book that you want to start tearing pages out and putting them in picture frames thereby desecrating the book, but having some of the awesome images generated out of the book covers and in plain view around your home or office! I guess each owner will just have to live with that dilemma! This is certainly one of the better books I've seen recently. It is a feast for those who love the visual and I can only guess of the hours of patience and cat centredness that went into the photography process. This sort of book is the sort of thing that would not be out of place in any waiting room for adult or child, as it entertains, enthralls and creates focus upon the sheer charm, elegance and poise of our feline friends. Cat lover David Cliff is MD of Gedanken, a company specialising in coachingbased support and personal development.
Dash - The Making Of An Unruly Rescue Dog...
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Pets Magazine Alison with Dash on the Rivington moors, near where they live (Photo taken by John Bentley, FourTwoGraphs.)
Adopting a rescue dog is a one of the most rewarding things anyone can do, but it’s also one of the most challenging, because a lot of them come with baggage, says ALISON COLEMAN. When I adopted Dash, an abandoned one-year-old whippet, I had no idea how much baggage he was bringing; separation anxiety, poor social skills, and leash reactivity to other dogs, behaviours that are often the reason why rescue dogs end up back at the shelter. I needed help and I found it in two powerful allies; a brilliant dog behaviourist, and brilliant doggy day carers, who have played a massive role in helping turn a wayward whippet around. Given his traumatic rescue experience Dash’s behaviour was understandable. He was picked up on the streets of Barnsley by the dog warden and put in the pound, where he stayed, unclaimed, for a week. Alison with Dash on the Rivington moors, near where they On day seven he was due to be live. Photo taken by John Bentley, FourTwoGraphs. destroyed, but was saved by Pat Senior, a lady whose you see a dog coming, distract life’s work has been “Within days, the façade him with a treat so he doesn’t rescuing dogs from the other dog, etc., which council pounds. disappeared to reveal an see avoided the hysterical Because her own home anxious, fearful dog...” outburst, but didn’t resolve it. was full, Dash was relocated to Animal Finally, I called Animal Care to Care, Lancaster’s disappeared to reveal an ask for advice, and they put me animal shelter; where I adopted anxious, fearful dog, who in touch with dog behaviourist him in June 2014. couldn’t tolerate being left and trainer Peter Archer at alone, and barked hysterically Pawsitive Training who worked Initially, he appeared calm, and at every other dog we passed. with a lot of adopters and their took yet another change of problem dogs. location in his stride, but within Well-meaning friends offered a few days the façade suggestions: do a U-turn when
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During our first session, the first thing I learned was that the problem wasn’t Dash. It was me. I wasn’t a strong enough leader, and he thought I wouldn’t protect him. Not what I really wanted to hear, but he had a point. My apprehension on spotting an approaching dog immediately transferred to Dash as ‘something bad is coming’, and predictably, he reacted. The way to deal with it was to meet it head on, assume an attitude of calm, strong leadership, and walk Dash past what had been his worst fear. Unbelievably, it actually worked. Within a couple of weeks we could pass other dogs without outbursts, take him in dog friendly pubs without causing a scene; and aside from stubborn habit barking at a couple of local dogs, within a couple of months the unwanted behaviour was close to being resolved.
is finding somewhere that your dog can learn social skills safely by mixing with small groups of calm, well-behaved dogs. Enter Anna and Dave France, owners of dog walking and day-care business Best Paw Forward. I’d first met them at the local park where they walked some of the dogs, and, off-leash, a tentative Dash seemed to mix quite well with them. They suggested a trial
not the only one. We’ve looked after a lot of dogs, including rescues, that are shy, or not just used to being around other noisy, playful dogs, and without exception, have always seen a positive change in their behaviour as they become more confident and learn how to be part of the group.” Dash is still a work in progress. His sight hound habit of chasing and knocking other dogs flying is being corrected by a remote control collar that squirts water if he gets too exuberant, and he still howls in the car on bendy roads, but he is a very different dog to the one I brought home nearly three years ago. He’s calmer around other dogs, quieter on his lead, and content to be left on his own for a while, all due in no small part to the help and support from Pawsitive Training and Best Paw Forward.
“People are doing a good thing when they rescue a dog, but the mistake they often make is to mollycoddle them because they’ve had a rough time...” visit to see how he coped with a) a few strange dogs at close proximity in a strange home, and b) being away from me.
I handed him over, ignored his ear-splitting vocal protest, and went home, wondering if I’d done the right thing. An hour later, a text from Best Paw Forward landed, with a photo of a very happy-looking Dash curled up next to an Italian Greyhound. That was the start of his slow-butsteady progress in a secure environment at Dave and Anna’s home where he could learn how to behave around a variety of dogs of all ages and sizes, with an I’d also realised early on that Dash assortment of personalities and had never been socialised as a behaviours. pup; he hadn’t a clue how to behave around other dogs. Anna says: “Dash has come a long Socialising an older dog is hard, way; he’s less anxious, and but it can be done. The challenge definitely more chilled. And he’s Peter Archer says: “People are doing a good thing when they rescue a dog, but the mistake they often make is to mollycoddle them because they’ve had a rough time. It’s all the more important for these dogs that they see you as a strong leader who will protect them. It’s not an easy thing to do, but if you are consistent in your own behaviour, and committed to getting a result, you will succeed.”
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It’s a sad fact that many adopted rescue dogs are returned to shelters because their new owners are unable to deal with their behavioural problems. But if you are determined, and find the right help from the right people, who really know dogs, that situation can be avoided, and can even lead to a wayward whippet like Dash becoming the wonderful dog he was meant to be.
Alison Coleman tweets @alisonbcoleman.
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