Surgery with Noel

Up bright and early today to visit Noel Fitzpatrick at Fitzpatrick referrals near Guildford in Surrey. Fitzpatrick Referrals are committed to providing the best compassionate care, surgical excellence and rehabilitation – the gold standard of care.  They offer all the options available in neuro-orthopaedic surgery today.  Achieving the best possible quality of life for pets, Fitzpatrick Referrals strives to make the impossible possible.

Noel explained in detail elbow problems, hip dysplasia, a spinal problem and cruciate ligament problems. He even let us video a couple of operations - one took just over half an hour and the other lasted just 4 minutes!

We hope to bring you these fascinating videos very soon.

Alarms and Raw feeding

Today we met Victoria from Animalarm - the digital thermometer that can actually text you when it is getting too hot or cold for your dog in your car / kennel / conservatory / boat etc! She showed us how the fantastic product works and even left us with one to test out with our own dogs. That will be very useful for checking that the temperature isn't getting too cold for our office dog Lady who has just had her 15th birthday!

We also met Catherine from Albion meat products. Catherine started selling raw meat dog food from the back of her car and now has a company with a fleet of drivers delivering around the country.

We look forward to bringing these videos to you soon.

Discovering Dogs

We spent today at Discover Dogs in Earls Court, London - a very good but very tiring day.

We filmed some great articles though - Tony Nevett and Caroline Kisko told us about Bark and Read, the Kennel Club's scheme to support organisations which take dogs into schools to help children to improve their reading. The calm, non judgmental nature of the dogs means that children improve in confidence and ability very quickly. Danny the lovely greyhound even gave us a demo with some young visitors to the event.

We also met Carolyn Menteith who explained about the benefits of the Companion Dog Club and then Bill Lambert to learn about the Assured Breeders Scheme.

November 2012 videos

Our November issue is live and this month sees the first of a series of great videos on the work of Pets as Therapy dogs, Introduction to P.A.T. dogs, and the invaluable work they do. Pets as Therapy dogs and their dedicated volunteers can be found working together to promote health and wellbeing in a variety of settings, from hospitals and care homes to schools for children with learning difficulties. It’s amazing how beneficial a visit from a dog can be both to the physical and mental health of a wide variety of people.

We learn how we can improve our chances of Buying a Healthy Puppy from Margaret Carter at Cavalier Matters. Cavaliers have more than their fair share of health problems and Margaret has learned, as have so many others, the problems that can beset you if you take on a dog with health problems.

As well as those, there are videos on: training - Teaching Agility Jumps; health – how to take a Dog’s Temperature; alternative therapy – TTouch Observations; practical matters – Making the Most of Pet Insurance; and animal behaviour – Reinforcement and Punishment.

We really do look at a wide variety of topics at Naturally Happy Dogs. Sled Dog Harnesses anyone? With winter just around the corner, who knows what we might be needing...