Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Get Free Dog Food

In the current economic climate, we have to save money wherever we can.  Whenever I am nearby, I make a point of popping in to Pets at Home.  It’s a great pet store and I love wandering round and looking at all the mad, crazy things people buy for their pets.  It’s even better when there are a few people in the store who have actually brought their dogs in with them.

In fact, if you have a puppy and are looking to socialise him or her, then this is one place you should definitely take them.  It must be full of great smells for them and they get to meet new people and dogs too.

To get to the point, when you walk in the door, there is always a great big drop bin full of sample dog food.  There’s always a variety for different ages (senior, puppy, adult) if you dig about and I usually pick up one of the more expensive for my shih tzu.  You do need to get it scanned at the till, so just buy one of those cheap bags of treats each time, which you’d have probably bought anyway.

Don’t forget to mix the free dog food in with the existing food as switching your dog’s diet suddenly isn’t good for them.

Most Destructive Dogs: Great Dane And.. The Chihuahua?!?

According to a new survey by eSure of 3000 dog owners, the Great Dane cost its owners on average £669.64 in its lifetime through stained carpets, chewed cables and ripped sofas and also chihuahuas notch up a remarkable £638.41worth of damage.

Mastiffs came third in the destructive survey, costing £585.71 over a lifetime and Basset Hounds were found to cause £564.13 worth of damage.  The Whippet completes the top five, with destruction totalling £518.75.

Other dogs with destructive tendencies include Bulldogs, English Setters, Boxers and Dachshunds.

There were also a few horror stories such as a Great Dane who, thinking the patio doors were open, hurtled to them and actually knocked them out of the wall – and a Border Collie’s wagging tail knocked red wine onto a cream carpet, that had just been laid costing £3,000.

Chihuahua owners are not impressed:

Wendy Thorogood, 44, from Brighton: “It’s down to the owners, not the dogs.  You have got to let them know who’s boss and what you say goes.”

Sylvia Brady, 64, a chihuahua breeder from Sailsworth in Lancashire, said:  “Alright they can be quite feisty little things and they sometimes chew things and scratch wallpaper, but what dog doesn’t?”

Mike Pickard, Head of Risk and Underwriting at esure pet insurance, said much destructiveness is due to boredom:

“To help minimise your dog’s destructive behaviour, remember to house train them from a very early age, maintain their health with regular vet check-ups, and give them plenty of exercise.”

Eleven Dogs Per Day Put Down

According to the Belfast Telegraph, eleven dogs per day are put down because they simply have nowhere to go.

Ireland does have a real stray dogs issue, which was apparent to me within 15 minutes of arriving in Dublin earlier this year.

As a whole, the UK puts down 18 unwanted dogs each year and Northern Ireland accounts for 11 of these, a pretty high proportion!

There is some good news.  The Dogs Trust charity says the numbers are lower than last year so we’re moving in the right direction.

A spokesperson said:

“Dogs Trust is working closely with local authorities in Northern Ireland and for the past nine years has run extensive education, neutering and microchipping campaigns in the area to tackle the issue of stray dogs.  Figures from our Stray Dog Survey and from DARD both show that the number of stray dogs in Northern Ireland has dropped gradually for the past ten years.  Unfortunately numbers now seem to have reached a plateau so in 2009 we will be increasing our campaigns presence in the region and focusing even more in the areas of greatest need.”

Dogs to Rescue Bumblebees

Well you’ve heard of dogs being trained to sniff out drugs and find people, and now they’re being used to help track where all the bumblebees have gone!

Toby the springer spaniel was trained in Melton Mowbray to sniff out bees nests.  It has been causing concern for many environmentalists that the bumblebee seems to have been gradually disappearing in recent years and so it is important to find out what is going on.  Their nests are hard to find because they are usually hidden deep in undergrowth so dogs can help to find them.  I hope he doesn’t get his nose stung!

Toby was abandoned as a puppy and has now been trained to help find bees.  It isn’t that unusual, because badgers also hunt bees using smell.

Take Your Dog To Work

Wednesday September 17th is Take Your Dog To Work Day!  I don’t know how many employers can or will allow people to do this but I know my company won’t.  Having said that, even if they did allow it, I’m not sure I’d be that keen.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to take my shih tzu to work and she’s very well behaved so I know she’d be quite happy to sit in a basket near my desk, snooze all day whilst I work hard and go for a walk at break time and lunch.

My issue is with other people’s dogs.  Naturally, it would be up to the dog owner to decide if their dog is well behaved enough to go to work with them, but you can never tell if two dogs will get on.  Imagine if the person next to me brought in their staffordshire bull terrier.  If he took a dislike to my dog, he could practically eat her, she’s hardly a tough dog!

There will be other places where dogs aren’t allowed by law anyway, for example, in pubs, for hygiene reasons.  I still think the whole concept is a great idea though.  Dogs are great and there are so few places where they’re allowed to go any more.