Bella and Me

My freind Bella @bellisimobella1 on twitter and I have launched our own newsletter fing, here is our first one

Christmas is coming!

Hello everyone, its Squiggle here, it has been a while since I wrote my last blog and I felt it was time for another, especially as Christmas is approaching fast! So what better topic for me blog than a few notes about Christmas safety for pets.

 

 

All us dogs know the Christmas holidays are a time for all the family, with the house decorated, festive food and lots of excitement but it is also a time when there are added risks for us pets.    

Many foods eaten at this time of year are dangerous to your dog if eaten, these include chocolate, grapes, and raisins and these are just some of the foods you must not give to your dog. So watch out for all those mince pies, Christmas cake and Christmas pudding and make sure your pets cannot get hold of them.

Cooked bones are a risk to dogs and they might become lodged in a dog’s throat or perforate their intestine so make sure all are disposed of carefully Always keep an eye on your dog and seek veterinary attention if necessary.

With all the excitement of visitors ensure everyone is aware of the items they must not feed your dog and that they don’t leave doors open, to make sure your dog cannot access potentially  dangerous things or escape from the house.

Certain plants are poisonous, Poinsettias, Amaryllis and Mistletoe are popular at Christmas, so it is important these plants are kept out of reach, as they are poisonous if eaten.

Christmas tree decorations can cause a nasty accident or be fatal to your pet. Cats and young pets in particular may show a great interest in decorations hanging from your tree. Try to use unbreakable decorations and nothing too small. Avoid tinsel or ribbons as these are dangerous to the gastrointestinal tract if your pet swallows them. Never leave your pet unsupervised around Christmas decorations.

Make sure your tree is well anchored so your pet can’t pull it over & cover up electric cables so your pet can’t chew them and electrocute themselves.

Fallen Christmas tree needles can be sharp and so make sure you sweep up needles regularly so they don’t get stuck in your pet’s paws or throat.

Do not hang your chocolates from your Christmas tree, your pet will be tempted if they can smell them and chocolate is toxic to dogs. Also ensure no presents are left under the tree that may contain potentially harmful items.

All us pets love to be spoilt at Christmas and we hope to find Santapaws has visited with lots of lovely new presents and toys but supervise play with any new toys, in case parts break and are swallowed and only buy toys that are specifically designed for your pet's use and are from a reputable supplier.

Please think about your pet’s safety this Christmas so you can all enjoy the festive season.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas, I  will be busy working up to the last minute helping the humans to ship parcels for our shop www.kind4k9.co.uk as some lucky dogs will be getting presents from us. I can’t wait to see what I will be getting …………………………………………….

 

Well that’s my last blog of 2012J

 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all

 from all of us at

 Kind4k9

 

Kind4k9 believes animal welfare is of the highest priority

Herrroow Squiggle Here:)

It has been a while since I wrote my blog, that is because as we have been so busy here at Kind4k9 that I have hardly had time to borrow things from the stock room let alone write a blog! I call it borrowing but the humans call it stealing, but what I don’t understand is if I am chief tester how can it be stealing, it’s my job to test things as I won’t have them selling any old rubbish. We at kind4 k9 only stock good quality products as we care about the type of toys your dogs play with, the quality of the shampoo you bath them in and the ingredients in the treats and snack you feed them. We want your dogs to have the best there is. The wellbeing and welfare of your dog is our highest priority and if it’s not good enough for me then it sure aint good enough for your dog.

We have had a busy summer attending shows selling our lovely dog products and making sure other dogs get the chance to get their owners to buy them the best!

We are always happy to receive enquires from customer wanting to make sure they get the right product for their dog so just get in touch if you need some help.

Over the summer I have also been busy on twitter (@squiggledog) where I chat wiv my dog and humans friends about all sorts but one campaign on twitter this year has been one close to my heart. I did not always have such great humans looking after me and when Alfie started his campaign to improve the legislation for animal welfare then it got me interested.

Alfie is a 6 month old Bearded Collie who has discovered in his short life the harsh world of animal cruelty after joining twitter. So many horror stories came to light that he and his mum did some research into why this is so prevalent.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 states that cases can only be tried in magistrates courts & carry a maximum sentence of six months & or a £20,000 fine. The RSPCA currently bring cases to court via costly private prosecutions as Animal Cruelty surprisingly to most is NOT part of our criminal justice system

Alfie’s Petition is asking for tougher sentences, & for animal cruelty to be part of the criminal justice system so that lifetime bans can be properly monitored & supervised as there appears to be no adequate system in place at present & serious offences can be heard in Crown Court where a Jury can hear cases & much harsher sentences imposed.

The result of this petition being passed would be a more transparent view of animal cruelty & links being made swiftly with other forms of abuse, violence, anti- social behaviour & substance misuse that would improve detection rates.

This link is most useful & explains the justice gap that currently exists in the UK http://t.co/slHNR3ly

If you care about animal welfare in the UK then please sign this petition and do one better ask your friends to as well.  If everyone helps we will be able to make a difference.

Anyway I must go now as I still have stock to relocate as the show season is underway  and I like to check in what they pack and sometimes move things about a bit………………. If I get the chance.

Will be blogging again soon, once I have done all my product testing. Keep your eye on www.kind4k9.co.uk to see what I choose J

Surrey County Show

The Show season kicks off with Surrey County Show

Here at kind4k9 we have been really busy packing up some great products to take to the Surrey County Show on Monday 4^th June at Guildford.

Kind4k9 do a number of shows with their trade stand over the summer and this is our first this year. As chief tester I don’t go to the shows as I stay back with the rest of the team to run the place!

I have had a sneaky look in the stock bags and some of my favourites are going so hope there are some lucky dogs out there! There will be Tuffys dog toys which I love, West paw design toys if you are looking for something more durable and a huge number of other toys, too many for me to mention here. We also have some great brands of leads & collars available including Lupine, Rogz, Red Dingo and Spiffy. We will of course have all those essential summer products like cool coats, water bottles and the wonderful Road Refresher non spill bowl.

Being the jubilee weekend we hope lots of people visit the stand and treat themselves and their dog to something special.

Oh gotta go as they are about to load the cars and I like to try and sneak the odd product out for further testing whilst they not watching the stock bags!

We have several shows planned this year including The New Forest Show in July in Brockenhurst, which will be great fun!

Hope you all have a lovely Jubilee weekend whatever you choose to do.

Product testing for Antos

The nice people at Antos sent me a box of different snacks to test for them. I think the best one is the Antos Antler, now this is just a piece of deer antler, nothing more, nothing less. Wow I had the first chew & it is pretty good and I do like something to chew on.

Anyway the humans said that I had to share with our other tester the Spinone and he absolutely loved it! So I let him keep it.

Whilst he was happy chewing on that I checked out what else is in the box, it was difficult to choose between the Delight Chicken breast or duck, but in the end I had chicken and I gave my friend Poppy the Border Collie the packet of duck…………………… she reported back that it was amazin!

So we were very happy testers and very pleased to have made friends with Antos!

Now all I gotta do is get the humans to order some into the shop…………watch this space, I know how to win them around, and here at Kind4k9 we try and test all our products before we stock them to make sure they are the best for your dog.

Why not check out our shop and see what else we stock.

Belated Dog Blog!

Oopps I am in trouble as I was meant to write a blog over Christmas and I didn't! The humans don't understand how busy I was opening presents and they never appreciated how nice it was to get to play with my toys without being continually asked “what do you think then, is it a good one”. The life of the product tester can be very challenging and they can be very demanding. Recently we have been testing more treats than toys and in my next blog I'll tell you all about that, as I am still deciding which are the best.

Today is my office companion's birthday, he is a Spinone you know, if you have checked out our website at www.kind4k9.co.uk you will see lots of pictures of him too. He loves testing products but has no stamina and soon requires a nap. As it is birthday I got special instructions this morning to be nice to him……………………… but where's the fun in thatJ . When he arrived at the office this morning I did let him come and cuddle the humans without pushing him out the way, so I would call that really nice! I have said I don’t see why he should get special treatment as it’s his birthday cos I don’t have one! Well that the problems with being a rescue dog of unknown origin, no one knows when I was born and I can’t remember either!

We have been busy here unpacking parcels for the last couple of days, as all our new stock arrives. It keeps the humans busy and I was not allowed to help as apparently ‘product relocation’ is not required! Today we are waiting for a delivery of Tuffy dog toys and the humans say there are some special ones in there for us to test.  It was due yesterday but didn't arrive but I'll get to bark at the courier when he arrives today…………… something to look forward toJ

I will keep this blog brief as I have to write another very soon on my treat findings and my new product tastings and typing isn't easy when your dog! 

So quickly I'll tell you what my favourite toy of the moment is, I am fickle and it changes regularly, but today I love my Kong wobbler, I would love it more if humans could take a hint and put some treats in it! And training them is going reasonably well and if I stare at it for long enough they do sometimes get the hint but I have to say this training still requires work. 

Oh and before I go just to say I set up my own Twitter account this week, so if you know anyone who would like to follow me please tell them they can find me at @squiggledog as I am sure I can get more followers than those humans!

Check out the website too as new products will keep appearing and there are some very good ones! www.kind4k9.co.uk do you get it, ……? We are kind 4 k9’s! 

Keep your dogs safe this Christmas

We have been so busy here at Kind4k9 that I've barely had a chance to get to a computer let alone write my blog. So this one's a little overdue but I don't think the management will mind……. as we are approaching the season of goodwill!

As Christmas approaches we have been busy here packing up orders and getting them sent out. There are some very lucky dogs out there getting some fab new dog toys this Christmas.

As chief product tester here at Kind4k9, Christmas is just not the same any more, as I get so many new dog toys to test throughout the year that they really have to do something special for me at Christmas. I was caught in the stock room recently deciding what should be on my doggie Christmas list. 

Christmas is also a time when there are lots of hazards around as I found out the other day. We already have our Christmas tree up here & we had some of those small humans, who are members of the family round to decorate it. They got really excited and disturbed my sleep with all their shrieking. Later in the day when all had gone quiet I started to appreciate the fun they had. Of course being a dog I couldn't hang baubles up but I could take them down and I was busy enjoying myself when I was interrupted by one of the big humans and told that really wasn't a safe thing to do. Apparently some dogs get injured at Christmas by getting hold of things like Christmas decorations, chocolate, Christmas lights, dried fruit and cooked bones and they end up in the vets………… sometimes without a happy ending.

I have now undergone training not to touch the Christmas tree and the humans got some of my toys out and we played with those instead. They have also put the tree in a safe place that us dogs can’t get to when we are unsupervised. 

I have to say we did have a good day yesterday as we got to play in the office with our Kong Wobblers and we had such fun getting all the tasty treats out, I had Rattle and Reward treats in mine, we were so tired afterwards that we had no energy left to be mischievous. I say ‘we’ as I have an office helper he is a Spinone called Boogie. Actually, helper, is the wrong word for him but he also helps test things and in the morning we have fun seeing who can get in the office armchair first for our morning snooze!

The humans say it good for us to have some challenges in life and keep us occupied to allow them to get on with their jobs at this very busy time of year. Later I will get to play with my Dog Brick from the Nina Ottosson range of dog  toys and food puzzles,  and I think I may get a more challenging puzzle toy for Christmas, I have my eye on the new one in stock called a Dog Maze………… I think!  

Keep your dog safe this Christmas especially those puppies that are sure to want to investigate everything!

No snow yet down here in the South which is a shame as we rather like it! I should be able to send you all another blog before Christmas as last posting date is next week and so should be a bit quieter here then. But if I don’t get a chance I will just say MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all from Kind4k9.