A 30 year career with dogs and a passion for GSD’s meant it was inevitable that working dogs would become part of my life. I am still filled with awe watching the patrol and sniffer dogs do their thing, but they need help. Whilst doing this small scale for years, recent news items have shown that many working dogs have no retirement and simply get put to sleep. How can this be right? Continue reading
Our new non profit organisation has been set up to tackle the growing problem of dogs sold, rehomed or placed into homes with no assessment. Every day brings new cases of dogs that turn out to have behaviour issues that the original owner lied about, or the “pound coordinator” didn’t bother assessing. Pet Lifeline aims to help these dogs avoid death by finding professionals to assess them properly. Continue reading
Or maybe a spraying, fighting cat? A reminder of what we do here! We work with dogs and cats in need of help. We won’t run away if your dog has bitten you or someone else, or if your pet has reduced you to tears. If your cat is attacking the neighbours cats, we will try and help you. Help starts from just £3.99 and our new options mean you can even have us take on your dog for a day to help personally. Continue reading
Crufts 2012 introduced for the first time independent vet checks for 15 high profile breeds. Because several failed, a huge amount of criticism was aimed at breeders. This, of course started 3 years earlier with the show “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” by Jemima Harrison. The result of continued pressure was that the Kennel Club (KC) went from “we already do enough” to making some changes and vet checks were welcomed by the rest of the dog world. However the breeders have fought back. Updates on next vet checks at bottom of page and our new petition. Continue reading
My thanks to Julie Hill for collaborating in something I have wanted to set up for a long time. Twitter is a great source of pet news, as is facebook, but there is no one stop shop for dog news.
Now there is! Continue reading
The last three years have been one of criticism and turmoil for the world of pedigree dogs and in particular, for the Kennel Club. Arguments going back years were brought to the masses by Pedigree Dogs Exposed, a TV documentary by Jemima Harrison, highlighting the prevalance of hereditary disease and conformation deformities created by breeding. See link at end for KC chairman response to request from Canine Alliance to suspend vet checks. Continue reading
The Crufts 2012 Best in Show is a Lhasa Apso, Champion Zentarr Elizabeth. In a year of huge controversy after the introduction of vet checks for high profile breeds which resulted in 5 not passing, the life of some show dogs is also an issue. Dogs living confined, restricted lives simply to create or preserve the glory of winning at shows. The owner of this dog, Margaret Anderson has given an interview to the Daily Mail which exposes the real life of this poor dog and her 19 others. Continue reading
Although I have seen many arguments and controversies over years of visiting Crufts, this year will stick in my mind for ever. The introduction of vet checks for the Best of Breed dogs for 15 high profile breeds was always going to be the taking point and the dogs that failed have created a whole new set of arguments. See end of this post for newest info and links. Link to vet statement and petition at end.
In 2008, the world of breeding and showing dogs was rocked by a documentary called Pedigree Dogs Exposed. For the first time, film of dogs suffering from often preventable hereditary illness and disease was shown. The shock wasn’t just in film of an epileptic Boxer or a Cavalier with syringomyelia, distressing though that was, it was in the continued showing and breeding from dogs known to be carrying these diseases. Last night saw the broadcast of Pedigree Dogs Exposed – Three Years On. Continue reading
The second part of Debbie Connolly’s new funny blog about her pets and their unintentional, although sometimes possibly deliberate attempts to thwart her love life 🙂 These snippets will eventually become a separate blog, so do tell us your own stories too.
