Happy Pets

At this stage in your puppy’s training he should be around the age of five to six months. Remember, the more you can teach him before he reaches the age of six months, the easier and pleasanter your life will be together. You should still be taking puppy out on a soft leather collar and I advise for your comfort, a long, soft leather lead. A chain lead will cut into your hands. Rope and nylon tend to burn. I see so many owners of young puppies with chain leads because their puppy has chewed the soft leather ones. Puppies usually turn to chew their leather lead for two reasons: either they are bored, or they wish to distract their owner. (more…)

Many people prefer mongrels to pedigrees. I have no preference. The fact that I own Labradors is because of Emma. But I would be just as eager to own crossbreds if we had more room and money. I did own a mongrel for a week and I would have loved to have kept her, but at the time we had Heidi, and Heidi definitely did not like our little mongrel. I came upon Solo purely by chance. My local pet shop does not stock live animals, so I feel quite safe in shopping there. But one day, as luck would have it, I went shopping with a friend who owned a car, so we decided to be a little more adventurous and go further afield. Just like a dog, when it comes to passing pet shops, I can’t do it—I have go to in. (more…)

Wherever you go to find a kitten, you obviously want to choose a healthy one, so look out for any tell-tale signs of illness or infestation — not only in your selected kitten, but in any other cats in the cattery or pet store.

If you are allowed to handle a kitten — and you should be, provided you have not been in contact with other cats from which you might pass on disease — you should not feel any hard or scabby patches of skin under the fur. The fur itself should be free of any powdery deposit, which might suggest a skin condition, and of the black specks that could be the droppings of fleas. The eyes should be bright and follow everything with interest. Neither they nor the nose should have any runny discharge, and the ears should be clean and free from gummy fluid or brown specks that result from ear mites. (more…)