Calne Pet Supplies

29/08/2024

The Natural Instinct 1kg have landed! 🎉

26/08/2024

Happy International Dog Day!
The unconditional love of a pet can do more than keep you company. Pets may also decrease stress, improve heart health, and even help with emotional and social skills.
Share a picture of the pooch that has captured your heart ❤️

25/08/2024

Introducing your new Calne Pet Supplies Tasting Team; Harvey, Chloe and Jasper 🐶🐶🐱💕

24/08/2024

Look what I’ve found it’s the lesser spotted Turkey & Ham sausage! 🥳

23/08/2024

Happy Hound delivery ✅
Green & Wild’s delivery ✅
Yora delivery ✅
Canagan delivery ✅
Symply delivery ✅
And much more. See you tomorrow 😀

23/08/2024

Don’t forget it’s a Bank Holiday weekend 😀

23/08/2024

A heads up that it is a big delivery day today at the shop. I’ve called in back up in the form of my fabulous husband but we might be in a bit of a pickle 🤪

22/08/2024

The freezers are full to bursting following a delivery today! Adult, Senior, Special Diet and Puppy all in stock. Plus all the frozen goodies, Sprats, Play Bones, Lamb Lites and more.

21/08/2024

Peamutt Butter pyramid?! Whatever next I hear you cry! Well how about a Bargin Box…everything is 50p to clear. So if you’ve thought I wonder if my dog or cat will like those then now is your chance 👍🐶🐱

20/08/2024

Check out the Peamutt Butter pyramid at the till. Only £1.50! Great for a doggy treat, stuffing toys, lick matts or even for baking 🐶

19/08/2024

Normal opening hours are back!

17/08/2024

Well my first full day is complete and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it! It was great to meet so many of you over the past couple of days and I look forward to meeting you all over the next few days and weeks. Finally, thank you for being so welcoming 😊

16/08/2024

It is a fond farewell from her and a big hello from me! We have just completed the business sale - Cheers! 🥂
Whilst we handover the shop is closed but will re-open at 2pm. Who will be my first customer?
Normal hours are back!!

15/08/2024

🐾 It was straight to my solicitor when I closed the shop today.
Paperwork all signed off and the countdown is now on for tomorrow.
Sharing a few more canine customer cuties until then ❤️🐾

15/08/2024

🐾 ❤️😊 2019 was a pivotal year for me in the shop.

Following a collapse in 2004 when I was a Deputy Headteacher, I was left with various lifelong chronic illnesses which I try so very hard to not dominate my life but by 2019, it was becoming clear that I might need to slow down and that the shop might not take me to retirement as planned.

On the hottest day that year, we welcomed puppy Labrador Kermit into our lives and from the moment he arrived home, I was absolutely determined to give him the very best possible life through good nutrition, good healthcare and good training.

Nutrition and health & well-being had filled every waking hour since 2015 and I was confident in all my choices for him. Training was a different matter. I knew the dog training world had been changing and evolving and things were very different to when Molly & Bugsy were pups so I set about researching and pretty soon found myself hooked.

Everything I studied and read just made so much sense. Not only did it work, it also allowed for Kermit to be treated with the respect, empathy and kindness that any living, thinking, emotional being is entitled to.
I started going on courses and was quite surprised by how many trainers / potential trainers openly admitted that puppies and adolescent dogs were not quite their thing, wanting to work much more with rescues and older dogs. I love the puppy landshark and teenage tinker phase! There is so much going on and learning about the whys, hows and when’s etc is just fascinating and something I will never tire of.

The courses soon snowballed and before long, I had qualified and gained accreditations through The Institute of Modern Dog Training as a dog trainer.
I decided to truly specialise in puppies and adolescents, adding new rescues and reactive dogs when we adopted 2 year old English Bulldog Ruby - I had a lot to learn and fast!

I quietly launched The Puppy Adviser in 2020, having realised that not only was my passion for training equal to my passion for the shop but here was something that, if successful, would satisfy my consultants and enable me to keep working for longer.

On 1st August, I signed a lease fulfilling many trainers dreams and enabling me to establish my own exclusive training venue with indoor and outdoor facilities at Lower Farm in Rowde, home to The Rowdey Cow cafe and very delicious ice cream.
I offer a range of small group classes & workshops including Puppy Schools, LifeSkills, Gundog Foundations, Scentwork, Teenage Tinkers, Recall, Loose Lead & Social Adventures alongside bespoke 1:1’s and hosting of guest speakers and guest trainers.
I remain committed to studying and learning, practising and teaching as much as possible in order to offer every client the very best for them and their dog.

I’d love to welcome you to The Puppy Adviser for all your training needs and if you would like to know more, you can like/follow The Puppy Adviser on FB and check out my website, www.thepuppyadviser.co.uk where classes and new training opportunities are added on a regular basis 😊❤️🐾

14/08/2024

❤️🐔😂 I also keep chickens, regularly taking on ex-battery hens, and they loved nothing more than the arrival of the Christmas catalogues. Choosing stock was a serious business but over the years I think they made some eggcellent choices…🤣🐔❤️

14/08/2024

❤️🐾❤️ When I opened Calne Pet Supplies, life was shared with my amazing partner, Matt and two dogs, Molly, a black Lab and Bugsy, a Springer.

Very sadly and unexpectedly, we lost Molly to a liver tumour just a few months after opening.
Absolutely devastated, we couldn’t even contemplate another dog so spent another four years having amazing adventures with Bugsy.

Bugsy absolutely relished his role as chief product tester and ambassador for the shop and appeared in many photos and videos.
He was the absolute sweetest boy, a great worker in his younger days and in his final few months, a steady companion for puppy Kermit.

In the first Covid lockdown, just three weeks before his 15th birthday, Bugsy let us know that he was ready to join his beloved Molly.

He’d been an incredible companion and for me, a big part of Calne Pet Supplies and I’ve kept a photo of him in the shop ever since.

Gone, but never to be forgotten ❤️🐾❤️

13/08/2024

🐾❤️🐾 So many happy memories of puppy visits to the shop…

12/08/2024

❤️🐾🤩 JUST THE BIGGEST THANK YOU…

ON Thursday 12th February 2015, I opened the doors of Calne Pet Supplies.

This was the realisation of a dream that had been with me for many years.
With two dogs of my own (then Labrador Molly and Springer Bugsy, now Labrador Kermit and English Bulldog Ruby), I had become intensely frustrated by the lack of good quality, more natural foods, treats & health products alongside all the other accessories available and had been quietly studying and researching the pet market for some time.

My goals in opening the shop were to source these and make them easily available, to support people in making appropriate choices, to price competitively against the chain stores and online retailers and to offer great customer service.

Nobody, with the exception of my incredible partner, was convinced by my plans.
The banks turned me down and friends felt it was too niche.
I funded everything, having just 30p to my name on the first day of trading.

So, I have each and every single one of you who has ever shopped at Calne Pet Supplies to thank for making it the success that it has become.

Thank you for coming in and browsing.
Thank you for buying and trying products.
Thank you for listening to me.
Thank you for trusting me.
Thank you for making me research more and more.
Thank you for enabling the shop to pass the crucial milestones - 1st year of trading, 2nd year of trading, 5th year of trading.

I will leave on Friday 16th with the most incredible set of memories spanning every possible emotion.
I have cried tears of laughter as well as sadness.
I have been asked every possible question and some I would never have expected.
I have been visited by snakes, chameleons, rabbits, hamsters, parrots, chickens, cats and of course more dogs than I could ever have imagined.
I have shared the ups and downs of births, christenings, weddings and funerals.
I have seen house sales and purchases, moves abroad, moves back home.
I have seen lots of photos and videos.
I even shared an earthquake with a customer - 17th February 2018!

Thank you for talking about the shop to family, friends and complete strangers.
Thank you for recommending me.
Thank you for your loyalty.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to realise a dream.

I have had customers come from everywhere but for the majority of you, the people of Calne and surrounding villages, you have been just incredible.
The banks refused to fund me as they didn’t support my choice to trade in Calne.
How wrong they were!
I couldn’t have wished for a friendlier, more caring and supportive community.

You have been amazing and words cannot express how grateful I am.

Selling the shop has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made but chronic, lifelong health conditions have, over the years, slowly proved more troublesome.
I haven’t quite achieved the 10 year milestone but now is definitely the right time and I hope that the new buyer, Calne lady Kate MaClaughlin, will have as much success and support as you have all so kindly given me.
I will let Kate post her introduction and welcome.
In the meantime, I will be focusing on growing my dog training business The Puppy Adviser and taking just a little time out for me every so often…

I wish each and every one of you and all your gorgeous, amazing pets the very best for the future.

My last day of trading is Friday 16th, most likely to be until 12 noon before handing the keys over to Kate who will then trade until the original closing time of 5pm.

Health and happiness
Julia 🥂❤️🐾

12/08/2024

😯It’s actually happening…after 9 years and 6 months of trading, I am handing over to the new owner this Friday 16th August.
Lots of posts to come over the next few days.
In the meantime, this is the very last week of temporary hours 🥳

09/08/2024

😲🐾 Just one week to go until the sale of the shop and experiencing every emotion possible!

🥵 In the meantime, the remnants of Hurricane Debby in the USA are set to cause a heat spike here on Sunday and Monday with temperatures expected to reach the high 20’s and feel like the low 30’s so why not check out a little bargain box I’ve put together to help your dog cope ❤️

There are a couple of small cooling mats, a water fountain, some fun ice cream shaped lickmats, a large (45cm) cooling vest, a couple of paddling pool toys…and a random Joules duck 🤔😂

Open until 1.30pm today Friday and 9.30am - 4pm tomorrow (when you can meet Kate, the new owner)

05/08/2024

‼️ Friday 16 August is now just two working weeks away and it’s almost beginning to feel real.
Unfortunately, my diary filled very quickly with other commitments when we were working to the previous date of 26 July and therefore the shop is closed today - I apologise sincerely for the lack of notice ‼️

29/07/2024

🐾 Apologies for the late posting of my hours this week.

Please note that the shop will be closed completely this Thursday 1st August 🐾

23/07/2024

🐽🐖 I had a fabulous start to the week when one of my lovely customers, Amanda of offered me the pig that she has decorated to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Calne Music & Arts Festival 🐖🐽

🌟I definitely think that Ham-ione is a winning design and she is already taking centre stage in my main window - thank you very much, Amanda 🤩

21/07/2024

19/07/2024

🐾 Keeping your pet hydrated in hot weather is so important, so to celebrate this mini spell of heat, Furr Boost is currently half price at just £1.99 🤩

Use it as a drink on its own, add to food, make into ice pops, freeze in a Kong - there are so many possibilities…and not only does Furr Boost support hydration, it also supports digestion, immunity and metabolism 😁

3 tasty flavours 😋

Suitable for any age from 8 weeks 🐕‍🦺

Pop in and buy some for now and some to save for when our British Summer surprises us again 😂🥵

17/07/2024

🐾 There’s a new doggy ice cream in town from fabulous ice cream makers Jude’s.
A delicious combination of strawberry, apple and banana fruit purées. 😋
Even better, every purchase supports the incredible work of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home 🤩
Perfect for the sunny weather that’s emerging ☀️

14/07/2024

🐾 Thank goodness it’s all looking a little more normal this week!

😊 The sale is still on track for completing Friday 16 August and the buyer, Kate McLaughlin, had her first Saturday in the shop yesterday.
Kate will now be in the shop every Saturday until she takes over permanently from Saturday 17 August.

🤩 In the meantime, I’m still having fun sourcing new products - look out for some highlights over the next few days…

10/07/2024

‼️ SHOP OPENING FOR JUST ONE HOUR THIS MORNING ‼️

Please note the change to my previous timings published at the beginning of the week as I need to accompany my partner back to Reading Hospital so the shop will close at 10.30am today, Wednesday.

Happy Hound and Natural Instinct are both due to be delivered at some point during Thursday morning.