Heidi's Pet Friends

24/06/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/uZpZMFE6GPFiALmv/

Heat stroke is just one of the topics we cover on our Canine First Aid courses.

15/06/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/mKETpakuVQsi6Cz6/

Let's talk about this photo. It's cute, except it's not. I see a dog who cannot get up without telling the child to get off. How do you think a dog is going to do that?

The 7 Golden Toddler Dog Rules:
#1: If a dog walks away from you, you DO NOT FOLLOW.
#2: Always leave room for the dog to walk away from you.
---that right there is 90+% of dog bites eliminated---
#3: We do not climb on the dog.
#4: We do not grab or pull on the dog.
#5: We do not hit or throw anything at the dog.
#6: We do not touch the dog's food.
#7: We do not go into the dog's kennel.

I promise these are not overly difficult concepts for littles, nor will they rob a kid of their bond with the family dog. It will deepen that bond, while keeping everyone safe.

"Oh, it looks like Moose is walking away from you. She is saying she wants a break. Let's play with this instead!"

"It's Moose's dinner time! Let's give her space to enjoy her yummies."

"That is Moose's room(kennel) and only she is allowed to go in there."

"If Moose wanted a break, could she walk away from you right now? No she really couldn't. Let's move away from the play house. You can keep playing but now she can leave when she wants a break."

In conclusion, ***parent your child or your dog will do it for you, and you will not like how they do it.***

11/06/2024

It's the time of foxtail danger again.

3 on Ember today, one in her paw fur as you can see, one washed out when I bathed her after our muddy walk, third I found on the floor, not sure where it was stuck initially!

Please check your dogs regularly, especially paws. Particularly if they are nibbling/licking or there are any red patches.
They are unfortunately impossible to avoid on walks across tracks and fields, even alongside paths on road walks where they've not been cut.

Keeping fluffy paws trimmed helps a lot for avoiding them being picked up so much and for ease of seeing them if they are picked up and removing them early.

More information can be found here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtail_(diaspore)

06/06/2024

Loading and unloading manners are massively important and it's something I teach every newcomer to walks with me as soon as possible. It's important for their safety , my safety and the safety of the other dogs.
This is the group showing the lovely etiquette in taking turns getting in the van.
Rusty bless him sometimes loads in the middle crates, sometimes at the back (depending on who is on the walk) but he did so well in realising it wasn't actually his name (which is tricky as they are very similar!) and continuing to wait 🥰

11/04/2024

For National Pet Day, here's a video of some lovely playtime on our group walk, these two are such good friends 🥰

Please feel free to post pictures of your pets (all of them!) in the comments ❤️

28/03/2024

This was a brilliant webinar that has given me a lot of insight in to what to look for and how to manage dogs with joint disease 🥰

20/03/2024

01/03/2024

While I'm a single dog household person, these are great points for multi dog households I think. It came across my news feed today (most of my feed is dog related 😅) so thought I would share :)

29/02/2024

12 years of Heidi's Pet Friends as of yesterday 🥰

I've loved so many pets, walked so many dogs and chatted with so many fantastic owners over this time and I'm so grateful to every single person that has helped me be able to run my little business for all these years 🥰

20/02/2024

It's Love Your Pet Day today 😁
You all know Ember, she needs no introduction I'm sure 👀🐕‍🦺
I also have Diana the guinea pig. The last of a large group I once had. She's very old, she's blind with cataracts and the vet believes she has diabetes but she's still bumbling about quite happily and she loves begging for veggies, asking for something different if the thing she's offered isn't good enough 😆

Share your pets in the comments below, dogs, cats, small animals, horses, exotics, anything you share your life with :)
Share the love of pets 😍

16/02/2024

I'm guilty as charged, how about you? 👀

09/02/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/eeySL9aUjfXhgH64/

They also hire you a servant for when they are unable to do these things themselves briefly. Definitely hairy little gods!

22/12/2023

Today we've done our last walk of 2023!

Rusty and Watson along with Ember - trudging through the mud. Couldn't help but sing a dog version of Jingle Bells, which of course led to adding antlers to this picture.

Thankyou to everyone for your support in 2023. I absolutely love spending time with all your amazing animals and I am looking forward to spending more with them in 2024 🥰

29/11/2023

🎄CHRISTMAS BREAK DATES🎄

Last day of work 2023 for myself and Ember will be Friday 22nd December. We'll be back with you all on Tuesday 2nd January 2024.

20/09/2023

A couple of minutes of added together videos of our group walks 😀

20/09/2023

A bunch of photos of cat feeds and dog sits 🥰 the even more cuddly & fuss filled part of the job 🐈🐕‍🦺

20/09/2023

100 photos of dog adventures.
Some hot, some soggy, lots somewhere in-between but all a lot of fun :)

06/09/2023

For those who may use it x

26/08/2023

Happy International Dog Day Everyone
Here's a few pictures I've taken of dogs I've had the pleasure to look after recently 😍
Please post your dogs in the comments, the more the better ❤️😍

07/08/2023

If anyone is thinking of adding a feline family member 🥰

05/07/2023

05/07/2023

We definitely agree in this house, life's too short to not enjoy the things they love 😍
is Embers motto x

10/06/2023

19/05/2023

Bit of fun on this Friday morning 😁

13/05/2023

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/22340543/pets-could-choke-lilys-kitchen/

Just in case any one feeds this.

DOG owners have been warned their beloved pets could choke on a popular pet food as plastic is found in multi-pack cans. Dog food brand Lily’s Kitchen has recalled cans of Fishy Fish Pie and …

06/05/2023

Duchess Ember Sniffington

What's your dogs Royal Names? :)

25/04/2023

We say this a lot...

Ball . throwers . are . not . good . for . your . dog!

They might be having a great time, but the wear and tear on their joints is no joke.

What is it doing to your dog's joints?
- Repeated micro-trauma to muscles and cartilage is a cause of long-term damage.
- Chasing or even carrying items like a ball can shift your dogs weight distribution to their front legs, putting excessive weight through the joints of the front legs.
- Joints weakened by arthritis will be especially prone to further damage.
- High speeds can double the forces generated in the muscles.
- Braking is thought to be the most dangerous part of ball chasing and often responsible for shoulder injuries.

What can you do instead?
- Make sure to have a short warm up period before more intense exercise.
- Only ever throw the ball a short distance, on surfaces that avoid slipping and sliding.
- Throw below waist height so as to avoid jumping and don't do it repetitively
- Consider alternatives like scent work, varying location of the walk to keep things exciting, or playing hide and seek with the ball rather than playing fetch.

18/04/2023

Bloat:

I've spoken to a few dog owners who aren't aware of what bloat is, so I want to make a post on it so everyone is aware. I also encourage you to do more research into this.

Bloat is a condition where the stomach fills with gas, food, water. The stomach can easily twist which causes a lot of pain & is life threatening. Bloat can kill your dog within a couple of hours.

Signs of bloat are:
• Swollen, hard belly.
• The dog is retching, but nothing is coming up.
• Drooling.
• Pain in stomach.
• Stress signs such as panting, pacing etc.

If your dog has signs of bloat, you need to get them to a vet ASAP. Like I said above, this can kill your dog within a couple of hours.

How to prevent bloat:
• Slow feeders.
• Rest for at least an hour after meals. (I pop the boys into bed after they've had food from a bowl for a couple of hours).
• Portion meals through out the day, instead of giving one big meal once. (Riots hand fed, which helps prevent bloat as its little & often. Spots meal is split to 2 bowls a day, instead of one big meal).
• "Anti splash" water bowl is good for limiting dogs that usually down a lot of water at once.
• Limit your dogs water intake when out & about. Or if your dog has had a big drink after running around, either lay them down to rest or pop back on lead for calm walking.

Bloat absolutely terrifies me, which is why I always take extra caution with my dogs & client dogs.
If they've just had a bowl of food, or drank a lot of water - their either sent to bed or back on lead (if outside) to avoid running around.

I advise you to do more research into bloat, to prevent this ever happening with your dog.

18/04/2023

Update time :)
(Part 1)
Business as usual, lots of plodding, lots of playing, lots of towelling off from puddles and ditches 🤭

18/04/2023

Update (Part 2)