it’s all glamour
I love the fact that dogs are often portrayed in the media as being glamorous accessories for their particularly glamorous owners. And the few journalist bods who have been here thankfully tend to go down the same route: sooo sweet, such fun, sooo gorgeous
Dogs are gorgeous – obviously – but here’s our Top 5 recommended products / services for how to deal with perhaps some of the ever-so-slightly less gorgeous bits….
Stains. With dogs, puppies in particular, come wee circles on carpets. Having tried many (many) different products and tacks, we’ve now hit upon a very firm favourite. The Vax Rapide Ultra… Getting the liquid off the surface of the carpet asap is obviously paramount, and whilst we always used to mop, kitchen roll, dab, stamp etc as soon as an offence was spotted, it never really cleared off the liquid as much as it needed to. With a Vax on standby, pre-armed with cleaner in the tank, it’s but a moment’s job to plug it in and literally vacuum up the wee. A speedy spurt of cleaner from the tank as you go back over the crime scene, and all signs of wee are gone. Forever. Believe me, this is A Good Tip!
Hairy washing machines. It’s good to wash your dog’s bed regularly, but it’s not good to then wear the fluff on all the clothes that follow the bed into the washing machine. Look up Vamoosh….
Insurance. There are loads of dog insurance policies out there, and I am absolutely not purporting to be an expert on which ones are best. All I will say is that I’ve been asked quite a lot recently about insurance and my (caveat’ed) recommendation is to look at www.pet-insurance.co.uk. I’ve only ever heard good things about them – and those who have got quotes recently have reported back with some very happily-emojie’d emails. They’re worth a look
Mud & matts. Hairy dogs and muddy walks do not good bedfellows make. Our ethos here is that dogs should never be deprived of our kinds of walks because their long hair makes it difficult – either for them from getting twigs and sticks stuck in their coats, or for us because we’ve washed them ready for home but there’s time for just one more walk before they go. So, what to do? I’m not a huge fan of coats on walks because I reckon off-lead dogs on the move generate enough heat to keep themselves warm but we’ve found some pyjamas that stop the entanglement of twigs, keep fluff clean, don’t seem to restrict movement, don’t over heat dogs and don’t rub or chaff when they dogs are a full pelt – Cosipet. The only downside is …ahem.. they tend to make the wearer rather resemble a ’70s porn star (the devil is in the detail …SuperModelDuke if you dare) but, that apart, they’re much recommended!
Critters. Ticks are vile little things that do like a dog. We’ve tried pretty much all products, and always come back to the same thing: Bravecto every 3 months, and a lot of daily checking, especially during the tick season (spring – autumn). And if you find any, go at them with Tick tweezers if you have some, or standard eyebrow tweezers if you don’t. Grab, and TWIST, don’t pull. Job done.
