So, 2019 has begun in gusto. Having started the year poorly it has got better and better. Apparently, it is the Year of The Pig and in Chinese custom, a pig represents luck, overall good fortune, wealth, honesty, general prosperity. I have to say that so far this has rung true for me. I was shocked at receiving news last week that I had won the Dog Friendly Magazine Reviews Competition that I had entered last September with my blog about the Lake District! Even more shocked to realize that I had won not only a digital SLR camera but also a laptop! The timing could not have been more perfect as...

I am always amazed lately at how many new Dog Walker vans I see appear and then quickly disappear after only a few months.  I can only assume it’s because they are of the impression that it’s an easy way to make a lot of money.  Often, they quickly discover that if you’re doing it properly and professionally, it really isn’t “easy money”.   If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to wind me up, it’s when a conversation starts like the above.  It normally goes like this “so you’re a Dog Walker……….so how many dogs do you walk at a time?” I reply with 6.  This is then fol...

Well where to start about this week, it's been a little fraught for one reason or another and to be completely honest, I'm finding it hard to be positive about it at all.  Still it is almost over thankfully. All I will say is that where a pack of dogs is involved, whether it is a pack of 2 or a pack of 8, their position in the pack is extremely important to them.  We as humans, have to be careful how we inadvertently behave or do small gestures which mean nothing to us but to dogs they mean a lot.  We totally forget that dogs communicate via body language as they cannot tal...

This week has been all about the itching and scratching for one reason or another. I've made the title photo of this blog our Daisy Basset as she was incredibly itchy and scratchy when she first came to stay with us permanently, thankfully not anymore.  It seems that with the very mild Winter we had and the warm temperatures since Spring has meant an abundance of the dreaded fleas.  As pet owners this is one of the things we fear.  As with everything, prevention is definitely better than cure.  It is extremely hard to get rid of the little blighters once they have set ...

This week has been all about receiving deliveries; another raw food order for the hounds, the ultrasonic toothbrush has arrived, plus the new telescopic dog ramp (as mentioned in a previous blog!).  Fortunately, the deliveries have been made while I've been at home grooming.  Normally they arrive in the lunchtime period when I am out walking.  I swear the drivers wait around the corner until they see me go out! The other subject I want to talk about this week is ticks.  I know, last week it was fleas, this week ticks.  Pesky little blighters and the reason I've been ha...