Please note, all information found on my Did You Know pages are from my own research and experiences, If you are concerned about your pets health and wellbeing, please seek professional help from your Veterinarian, Behaviourist or Trainer.
So your looking for some one to walk your pooch, look after your pooch whilst you are on a well deserved holiday, someone to pop in and feed your cats, small animals etc,
Well this is some information to look for when looking for that person, after all there are a lot of people out there who offer these services and you want to make sure you get the right person for your amazing pets.
So for someone to be allowed to look after your pet in their home they MUST be licensed through the local council, they will they have an inspection to make sure their home is safe for your pooch and they have all the relevant paperwork in place, such as risk assessments, fire plan and isolation procedure, there are lots of rules and regulations that boarders have to abide by, this is for the safety of your pets. They MUST also be insured for pet boarding.
Although there is very little regulation in the industry if any, please make sure the person you have asked to look after your amazing pets is INSURED, this is to protect your pets. We often hear about neighbours feeding cats etc which is absolutely fine however if something was to happen to your pet, Who would pay the vet bill? if some thing was to happen this could put a lot of strain on your friendship so why not employ a insured pet professional to look after your pet whilst you are away.
Correct documents, ( Licence, Insurance)
Preferably first aid trained, DBS checked (even a basic)
Preferably some sort of qualification in Animal care
Preferably someone who has experience with animals and has a basic understanding of the animal and there behaviour they are asking to look after
Someone who is willing to provide references ( a person I call an open book professionally)
Someone who will put your pets needs first, after all they are what’s important
and the list can be never ending.
A lot of Pet professionals will provide a free no obligation meet and greet, I would always recommend meeting several this will make sure you find the right person for your pet, we are all different and we all work in different ways,
I would always recommend asking to see their paperwork (insurance, license etc), any reputable pet professional will bring this with them when they come to see you on the meet and greet.
Your local council will have a list of all licensed boarders
Please note, all information found on my Did You Know pages are from my own research and experiences, If you are concerned about your pets health and wellbeing please seek Professional advice from your Veterinarian, Behaviourist or Trainer.
For me animal welfare is about giving an animal the best. Its simple really, before i decide on housing an animal in my home I do research, read books, search the internet, talk to people who own them. I try to get as much information as possible in order to make the decision on whether or not I can give that animal everything they need.
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst: by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
2. Freedom from discomfort: by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease: by prevention through rapid diagnosis and treatment.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour: by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.
5. Freedom from fear and distress: by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.
The 5 freedoms give the animals an ok life, but why not give them the best. By getting to know their natural behaviours, getting to know what they need to have the best life possible. To me animals should and are part of the family.
I find it very disheartening seeing all these unwanted animals in rehoming centres, on social media, people deciding they can not look after their animals anymore, for numerous reasons with a lot of them being my child has lost interest, because people see the fluffy cuteness of baby animals and fall in love but sadly they have underestimated how much time that animal needs, handling requirements, husbandry requirements, welfare requirements and even the lifespan of the animal.
Animal welfare was a huge reason why I started Pooch and Pets, because I believe animals should have the best.
Over the years working in pet shops, I have heard many reasons why people want to buy a new pet.
Some of my favourite are;
” oh look their so cute”
“I want to buy my young child a hamster because they are so cute”
“oh they are so cool ”
“my 6 year old has really wanted a pet for the past few months”
“my dog/ cat is lonely I think they need a friend”
Unfortunately, many people do not fully understand the impact of having another living breathing baby to look after and care for.
Before considering bringing a new pet into the family, please consider the following;
Handling and exercise every day, from hamsters to dogs, cats.
Dogs need training, so do you have time to take them to socialisation / training classes?
Most animals need at least 1 hours exercise a day.
Children do get bored or lose interest in them, especially as some animals tend to be less active when they are older, or maybe they have bitten your child so now they are scared of their new pet, do you as a parent have time to take them on and fulfill the pet's needs?
As sad as it is pets unfortunately don’t live forever, I wish they did. Are you prepared for them to only live for the following;
Syrian hamster 1-2 years
Gerbils 3-5 years
Rabbits 10-12 years
Guinea pigs 8-10 years
Cats 15-20 years
Dogs average 15 years
Reptiles can life up to 20 years
Tortoises can live over 100 years
So you need to ask yourself will you be able to give your new pet everything they will need for their whole life.
It's not just time pets take up but also money, pets can be expensive not just for their housing but on a weekly, monthly basis too, monthly you will need to buy, food, bedding, toys but also vaccination’s, vet visits etc.
So when you write down your monthly budget do you have spare money that you can use for your new pet.
When looking at adding a friend be it a puppy, kitten, rabbit, guinea pig, please think about the following:
What will you do if they don’t get on?
Are you willing to house small animals separately for a slow introduction with the possibility they wont get on?
Do they really need a friend?
Can you afford a second pet?
There are lots of animals in rescues please where possible, I would always encourage you to rescue rather than buy. When you rescue an animal, you get support from the rescue who have worked with these animals all day , every day and they will be happy to give you help and advice.
I always advise people to think twice and do lots of research about the animal you are thinking about, speak to people who own them, use the internet, read books, get as much information as you can BEFORE you make a decision so that you can make an informed decision.
If you decide to go ahead and get a new animal to share your home, why not pop along to Pooch and Pets online store for all of your pet supply needs.
Please note all information found on my Did You Know pages are from my own research and experiences. If you are concerned about your pets health and wellbeing, Please seek professional advice from your Veterinarian, Behaviourist or Trainer
Some people may think this is an easy subject however I think a dog walk shouldn’t just be “take your dog to a field and throw a ball” dogs need to interact with their surroundings, they need to be able to sniff and find out who’s about, they need mental stimulation.
Don’t just take them to the same place on every walk change it up, this keeps them interested in exploring their surroundings, it will also help with building your bond with your pooch.
At Pooch and pet’s I have certain areas I use but I don’t walk the same area 2 days in a row, I will always walk a different direction or walk down paths I haven’t been down. I am always exploring new areas to see if they are suitable for walking the pooches in my care.
Taking toys can be fun and I do some times take a Frisbee with me depending on the pooches I am walking. So, on an hour walk they are maybe only playing Frisbee for about 20 minutes this is so they can interact with their surroundings and each other (nothing better than seeing pooches playing with each other) when I feel they need a little bit extra I will throw the Frisbee for a little while and then stop so they can interact again.
A walk is always a good opportunity to practice training, such as walking to heel, recall, and basic obedience.
These are a few other things you can do whilst walking your pooches
Always get them to use their brains especially if you have a working breed, change the walk, allow them to interact with their surroundings, add in a toy occasionally to keep it interesting. Walking your pooch helps to build the bond between you and your pooch, and by interacting with your pooch on a walk makes to walk fun for you and them.
Please note all information found on my Did You Know pages are from my own research and experiences. If you are concerned for your pets health and wellbeing, Please seek professional advice from your Veterinarian, Behaviourist or Trainer
So wild birds, in my house they are fed just as well as my other animals. they are fed a premium seed mix, suet balls, suet pellets and suet blocks. I also make sure that their bird baths are always clean and full of fresh water. I feed the birds all year round. In the spring and summer the birds are laying eggs and feeding their young so do need a higher energy food like suet because its takes a lot of energy to bring up the young, also when the fledglings leave the nest suet is easier for them to eat.
In the autumn and winter birds need the higher energy food to keep warm. I love feeding the wild birds and watching them. I have watched the baby birds grow and get their adult feathers. In my garden I get a huge variety starlings, wood pigeons, collared doves, Gould finches, house sparrows, blue tits , coal tits and many more.
In the spring I even had a daddy greater spotted woodpecker bring his 2 babies to my feeders, it was amazing. Their favorite food has to be suet but also sunflower hearts.
Wild birds can be very nervy animals so if you put food out give it time they will come eventually.
Use a food that is of good quality because a lot of wild bird food contains a lot of fillers like wheat and the birds will just throw it on the floor, this can lead to plants growing in your garden, unless you have the bigger birds coming down to feed like pigeons, they are really good at clearing up after the other birds that like to make a mess.
Two main important things to remember when feeding the wild birds are
Look what birds are around and get the right food accordingly
Please make sure you properly clean your feeders out with a bird safe disinfectant because salmonella and E.coli are big killers of our very beautiful wild birds.
Please note all information found on my Did You Know pages are from my own research and experiences. If you are concerned for your pets health and wellbeing, Please seek professional advice from your Veterinarian, Behaviourist or Trainer
This might seem obvious but you would be surprised. Dog flea treatments generally use a active chemical called permetherin which is toxic to cats, this can also be found in a lot of the household flea spray, and also over household pesticides
When spraying your home the best way to do this is to turn your heating on to warm up your house, then hoover your whole house and soft furnishings, this will help to wake up any fleas living in your home, as well as helping the pupae to hatch.
Follow the instructions on the canister.
Make sure you spray in the dark warm areas for example the edges where the carpet meet the skirting board. A lot of the products for the home will advise you not to hoover again for around 2 weeks this is to give the chemicals chance to work, whilst the fleas are coming out of the pupae stage of their life circle.
Its always best to use both treat your home and pet at the same time,
Don't forget to also treat them for worms, fleas can carry tapeworm.
You can not use a flea spot on at the same time as a collar, spray, or powder.
Always check how long the treatment is suppose to last, most last around 4 weeks, don’t treat again within this time. If you are having a problem with fleas or worms, seek veterinary help and advice .
]]>Please note that all information that is found on the Did You Know Pages are from my own research and experiences if you are concerned at all about your pets health and wellbeing, please seek professional help from your Veterinarian, Behaviourist or Trainer.
Nutrition is so important when it comes to your pets health and wellbeing. I have done a lot of research into this over the years and I have completed an advanced cat and dog nutrition course through the animal care college.
What food you feed can affect behaviour, weight issues, bad breath, teeth problems, flatulence, excess waste production to name just a few, ingredients in your pets food can also lead to more serious problems like pancreatitis and digestion issues, joint issues etc.
There are two main things to do when looking at food for your pets and they are read the labels and do lots of research, speak to other owners find out what they are feeding and why, what experiences do they have with the food?
Ingredients are listed by weight so the first ingredient will be what the food contains the most of.
Cereals
This could mean anything, wheat, oats, barley, maize, rice, sorghum. Quantities could change from batch to batch unless it is stated on the ingredients list with a percentage.
Meat and animal derivatives
This can be anything that isn’t used for human consumption. This means that the meat is low in quality. It can contain items like eyes, feet and feathers to name a few.
Meat meal
Meat meal is ok as long as it is a name meat source for example chicken meal, lamb meal etc. Meal is basically ground down clean parts of the carcass ground down in to a powder.
Fresh meat
Fresh meat is the higher quality of the 3 meat sources found in food.
Dogs and cats don’t need sugar and colorants in their food, a lot of manufacturers put sugars in to make the animal to eat it because it smells and tastes sweet. Colorants are generally added for us humans because a multi coloured food makes it more appealing to us and we believe that just a plain brown biscuit is boring and that our pet must get bored of this.
Food for Dogs
So in my experience I have found that dogs do really well with a low grain and a high meat content, as long as they are both named sources and have percentages. Most dogs can only digest around 10% of the grain that is in the food. Dogs also get their energy from the carbohydrates that are in the food, because the carbohydrates get made into sugar which then gives the dog its energy, if the food had a high amount of carbs it can cause behaviour issues, especially if the food then contains sugar and colorants as well. The dog has all this energy and is unsure how to use it, then the dog gets frustrated and behaviour issues can start.
Food for cats
Cats are funny animals, they really do like a variety. Cats do really well on a high good quality meat content food and either low or no grain content. Unlike dogs if cats refuse a meal they cant be left with no food, cats generally are graziers so they will generally eat little and often. They generally also like moving water so a water fountain or even a dripping tap.
Rabbits
Rabbits need a Pellet food because if they are fed a muesli mix they will pick what they want and leave the rest so they wont be getting everything they need from their food. They also need lots of long stranded hay and fresh fruit and veg daily. Their diet should consist of 80% hay , 10% nuggets and 10% fruit and veg to give them a balanced diet and to keep their teeth down. Bunnies should be given lots of things to chew on because their teeth are constantly growing. Bunny food should be free from colorants and sugars they don’t need it and you could end up with a overweight bunny.
Guinea pigs
Guinea pigs are funny little animals and I love them. Guinea pigs are the same as rabbits in the fact they need 80% long stranded hay, 10% nuggets 10% fruit and veg. Guinea pigs must be fed Guinea pig food, now this might sound obvious but guinea pigs can suffer with vitamin c deficiency if they are not fed the correct food they can not eat rabbit food.
Hamsters
Hamsters should be fed a muesli mix because they are natural selective feeders and this is what they would do in the wild. However a hamster only needs a teaspoon of food a day, Hamsters are natural hoarders so they will collect that bowl of food and store it in their bed and then the next day they will do the same and so on, whilst snacking on it throughout the day and night. Hamsters will get very fat quickly. Did you know hamsters can travel 9 miles a night on their wheel.
Gerbils
Gerbils are again natural selective feeders but they prefer to graze feed, so with mine I don’t use a bowl I put the food all around the cage and he goes and finds it, gerbils are very intelligent they need a lot of mental stimulation. They also really like hay which not many people realize.
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