Its a dog's thing | Doggy Behaviour

Lottie here - Ok, ok. I know I haven't posted a blog post for agessss. Butttt both me and mum have been really busy really. Mum is graduating from University this summer so she has had lots of deadlines for her degree.

Anyway mum assures me that the hectic period is now over so busy can resume as normal (well as normal as possible in our house).

Over the last 24 hours we have been experiencing a heatwave here in the UK. So its really important to keep us doggies nice and cool. Mum has been pulling out all the stops to make sure I do just that. Anyway its time for me to go and seek out a few more birds so I will hand you over to mum, who has much more time on her hands than me.

Jessica here - I know 'Lottie has already apologised on our behalf for our lack of posts but I feel I should too. If you lives are anything like mine you can be half way through the year before you even know it. Just where has this year gone?

Anyway that isn't what I came here to write, so I had better get on with it.

With today being the hottest day ever recorded for July in the UK. I woke up this morning and thought I had better make Lottie some iced treats to help keep her cool.

I made her up several kongs using a wet dog food and some doggie ice cubes. For these I mashed a whole bananna and mixed it with some plain natural yougurt and just for good measure I popped a liver treat on the top (they always go down really well in this house).

During the midday sun I decided to see if they had frozen. Bingo! We had frozen iced cubes.

Now I'm not going to lie, they didn't look the most appealing treats I have ever given Lottie. Although a lot of doggie treats definitely DONT look good enough to eat.

Even though they had frozen I knew that once little madam had her paws on them, thing would turn messy. So, I decided to pop them into her normal food bowl to contain it.

Lottie has a Hing Bowl and she loves it. It's great at helping stop mess and I never accidentally run over it and end up with a swimming pool on the kitchen floor. I got it her when she was around 6 months old so its all she's ever know (just bare that in mind).

The 'Hing Bowl' 

On leaving the kitchen I had the little waggy tail hitting my wheelchair in excitement. Off we went into the garden so Lottie could enjoy her treat.

I placed the bowl (minus the holder ) on the floor and instructed Lottie with the normal wait command (so i could get the camera ready). Ok, I said. What happened next I definitely did not expect.

She went up to the bowl and immediately backed off. It soon became quite clear she wasn't going to eat them. Oh no! I thought. She doesn't like them. Then I thought, surely her taste buds can't change in less than 12 months, she loved them last year.

Then I had a light bulb moment!

She wont eat out of the bowl without the holder.

Off I wheeled back into the kitchen to fetch her holder. We repeated the whole process again and BINGO she went straight up to the bowl and took one of the ice cubes out and eat it on the grass (I don't know why she does that, but she always has).

Afterwards it really made me think. Dogs really are more intelligent than we give them credit for. Lottie in her canine brain knew that something wasn't quiet right with the bowl and made the decision not to eat out of it. Something my human brain had never even thought of!

You can check out the whole 'thing' below in the video.

Does your dog have any funny traits/behaviour? We would love to hear them?

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Until next time friends.

Woofs and kisses
Jessica and Lottie

Tasty Tuesday | Kong Quest Review.

Lottie loves food. What dog doesn't? So for her birthday which was the 12th July I decided that most of her toys would be food orientated as that's what she seemed to like best.

After much debating in our local Pets At Home store I settled for a Kong Quest Bone. We love the Kong brand in this house and Lottie nearly has the full collection. From our experience they are durable, fun and can really come in handy when us humans are not around. Lottie is very used to a stuffed kong either frozen or unfrozen. So when we saw another product that can be filled with treats I just had to buy it. Boy am I glad I did.

Over the weekend we had some really high temperatures with some parts of the UK reaching 30 degrees. Dogs and heat are just not a good combination and Lottie really suffers as the heat rises. Luckily her frozen treats come to rescue and I only have to open the freezer and she knows exactly what she is getting.

On Saturday morning I decided to use Lottie's new Kong Quest to see if it reached up the normal standards we expect. Needless to say it reached them and higher

To fill the Kong Quest I used the wet variety of the food Lottie's normally eat and a few strawberries (Something which Lottie had not tried before). The holes at the end of the bone are surprisingly big and I fitted at least two spoons of food in each one. I popped it in the freezer and waited for it to set.

About two hours later I looked to see if it has frozen, and it had! As soon as I opened the freezer door Lottie came bounding through in excitement. Once I actually had the toy in my hand she rushed outside and waited patiently on her bed until I came through. After I few photos she could finally do the taste test.

Her normal frozen Kong will last her around 20 minutes depending on what we stuff it with. The Kong Quest however lasted her a good 45 minutes and even once it was virtually empty she kept going back to it to empty that tiny little last bit (Something she doesn't do with her normal kong, often there is some still left at the bottom).

As you can see Lottie had great fun with her new Kong toy. It definitely gets 5 out of 5 in our woof rating. It's a great toy with so many advantages it's easy to use, durable, reasonable priced, stimulating and dishwasher safe making cleaning really easy! The only thing I would say is that if you do decide to use wet food or something similar it may be best to give your dog the toy outside as it can become quite messy once the food starts to melt. For an indoor version I would just swap it for dry treats or biscuits.

Jessica and Lottie

We're participating in the Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop kindly hosted by Sugar The Golden Retriever and Kol's Notes If you are looking for tasty ideas, take a look at what other dogs are baking and eating!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday's Mischief | Pool Time.

Well summer is officially here so that means only one thing. It's pool time! As I mentioned in my Summer Safety Series one great way of keeping your dog cool in the hot weather is a small paddling pool.

Lottie's having her summer groom tomorrow so we thought its best she gets some pool time today (We tend not to let her in after she has been groomed).

Come on mum fill it up!

How does this thing work?

Previous times when Lottie has been in the pool she hasn't been 100% sure. She goes in for a few seconds then jumps out. This time I decided to place a treat inside the pool and here's the results.

Don't worry guys the thing floating in the pool is just a treat!

 

She spend at 20 minutes trying to get the treat out which she eventually did do. I highly recommended this for dogs that are not sure of water. It sure has worked with Lottie and she even kept going back for more long after the treat had gone.

Jessica and Lottie

We've taken part in Monday Mischief blog hop hosted by Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog and My Brown Newfies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Safety Series Part 1 | 7 tips to keep your dog cool this summer.

I live in the UK and we are currently in the grip of a heatwave which could see temperatures reach up to 30 degree this weekend. You may think looking after dogs in summer is common sense but with so many dogs suffering unnecessarily it really does not harm to go back to basics.

Dogs are great at many things but keeping themselves cool is certainly not one of them. So it's best us humans give them a helping hand. Here's how: 

1. Keep them hydrated. 

I know you are thinking, yeah obviously dogs need water. But it's really important to keep their water bowls topped in the summer with clean cool fresh drinking water. Especially as it's goes down quicker! During the really hot days we also like to add some ice cubes to keep it cooler for longer. I know there has been several suggestions of the possible harm ice cubes can bring to dogs. Personally, Lottie loves them and we feel they are just a myth. There is however always this handy Rosewood Cooling Bowl which needs no ice cubes what so ever. We also like to use our travel water bottle to take some with us on those summer evening walks.

This is great for travelling and we don't leave the house without it. 

2.  A child's pool for your furry children. 

It's definitely summer in this household when Lottie's pool comes out. She loves it and it's a really cheap fun way to keep her cool. It's doesn't need to be anything fancy just a cheap children's one will do fine (Ours was under £5!) I am aware you can buy proper doggy pools but personally feel they are over rated and definitely over priced!

Lottie loves the hose pipe. 

3. Make some yummy frozen doggy treats. 

If your dog is anything like Lottie they will love eating more than anything on earth! Until this summer we had not tried frozen treats, needless to say we are hooked. It's a great way to use your dogs love of food to your advantage by feeding them treats that are cool, high in water content or both. Lottie's favourites are a frozen Kong stuffed with lots of yummy treats, frozen Popsicles, peanut butter ice creams and an easy no need to prepare treat of frozen cucumber which has the added bonus of been full of water. 

Lottie's favourite frozen Kong. 

4. Provide a nice cool spot. 

Whether it's indoor or outdoors don't forget to provide your dog with somewhere nice and cool to lie. Lottie will often be seen sprawled across our kitchen floor tiles. We also leave the curtains and blinds shut in one room all day so it's keep it extra cool, we both then have the option of going and cooling off in there if the heat gets to much. If you don't have a cool flooring or your dog is outside soak a towel in cold water and let your dog lie on that instead. It's also handy for cooling your feet on too!

Cooling her belly on the kitchen floor tiles. 

5. Don't forget the shade. 

We have a lovely back garden but unfortunately not many shady spots. If your dog is outside don't forget to provide a shady spot so they can escape the hot rays! We like to set up a few umbrellas or a table which makes a shady spot underneath. There is also the option of a little pop up tent which could provide the ideal spot. 

Here's Lottie favourite shady spot! 

6. Less hair is not always best. 

As tempting as it may be to have your really furry dog cut extremely short in summer, DONT!. Your dogs furs is actually providing a barrier which stops them getting sunburn and acts as an insulation against the heat. This does not means your dog won't benefit from a summer cut (Provided by a professional dog groomer) the undercoat is actually there natural cooling system, if left it can become matted and prevent air flow to your dogs skin. 

7. Never leave your dog in the car! 

It's sad to have to keep repeating this, but time and time again people just don't seem to listen and more dogs end up suffering! Only last week a dog had to be saved from a hot car in our local are when the owner decided to leave the dog for the day whist at a theme park. Many people will response with I left the windows down. In fact leaving the windows down has very little affect on the overall temperate of the car. I always live by the motto of "if your dog can't get out at your destination don't take them'. It's much kinder to leave them at home than leave them in a red hot oven! 

These are just a few ideas to keep your furry friends cool this summer. Do you have any others you would like to share? 

Jessica and Lottie. 

Doggy ice cubes

Now the hot weather is here I could finally try out an idea I heard of a few months ago. 

I saw in a magazine an article about making dogs yummy ice cubes to keep them cool on those hot summer days. 

There were several ideas some of which seemed a bit too bizarre. The one that caught my eye was wet dog food which is something Lottie is not used to as she has a dried kibble diet. 

I purchased a separate ice cube tray (I'm not keen on dog food flavoured water) and brought my first packet of wet dog food. There are so many on the market it was difficult to choose but eventually I went for the wet verison of the kibble she already has. 

I filled each hole with a spoonful of wet food and popped it into a freezer bag so it woud not make a mess of the freezer. 

Three hours later I checked to see if they were done and they were. Lottie could not wait to try them. 

I think it's safe to say Lottie was extremely grateful of a tasty alternative to plain water ice cubes and they were definitely a hit! 

These are something I will certainly be making again and am now on the look out for other ideas to try. 

What yummy frozen treats do you make in summer for your dog? 

Jessica