Our 3 favourite summery harnesses

Summer is fast approaching and so is DogFest so I decided that this was a good another excuse to add some new Puppia harnesses to our ever growing collection!
I picked up 3, one from the Pet London sale and two from a website that i've recently come across, As Snug As A Pug.

The Atticus Harness in style A
I've been eyeing this harness up for a while and when I saw it was on sale at £12.50 I knew we just had to have it!
The material has a more textured feel that the usual harnesses by Puppia which I really like, the anchor embroidery is a really summery touch and and is trimmed with gingham, it's girly but not in your face like some i've seen.

 

 

Puppia Spring Garden Harness in style A

 This harness was an impulse buy but turned out to be my favourite out of the 3! The colours are so vibrant and gorgeous. The bright floral print makes it perfect for summer and is definitely our choice for DogFest! It retails for £20 and comes in Pink, Orange and Blue.

Puppia Hawthorn Harness in style A

The last of my harness selection is this gorgeous ditsy floral print in blue. The harness is made of the standard soft padded fabric and is trimmed with a periwinkle blue and decorated with tiny flowers. This is one of Puppia's new SS16 range and comes with their new QR tag which lets you register your dog online - i'm yet to test this feature out but will report back once I have!

This harness comes in either blue or pink and cost £23.

Thank you for reading, 

Jaime & the dachshunds xo

Appreciating the little things.

On Sunday I met up with some friends from Twitter - Emma, Jules and their mini wire, Lottie. We arranged to meet at Puckpool park which is on the coast, I haven't been there for years and forgot how gorgeous it was! The weather was utterly perfect and it was so nice to just walk and chat. 

In a world so obsessed with the internet it was really nice just to get away for a couple of hours :) 

thank you for reading,

Jaime & the dachshunds xo

We're going to...

We're so, so excited to be going to DogFest with Guru Pet Food on June 25th! 

I've never been to an event like this before so I'm super excited! The plan is to bring Lily as Sev is competing the following day so will need to rest! I'm quite interested to see how Lily does, she can be a right snob at times (apparently she takes after me!) 

We will be blogging our experience and in the run up I'm planning a few travel related posts :-)

This is such a huge deal for us; I took Lily on as a nervous, unsocialised terrified little thing aged 18 months, I was her 3rd home. I've worked so, so hard to get her to the happy little girl she is today, no matter what happens Lily takes it all and never grumbles; two serious operations later and we're still going. Lily's far more than a dog. She's my absolute world. 

Thank you, all of you for supporting us over the last few years <3 

Jaime & Lily xo

WellyBix Love

Another dog treat related post from us - but this is our personal favourite!
We received a box full of yumminess from the lovely Alison & Welly the JRT from Wellybix last week and these are definitely and in-house favourite from all 5 dogs!
Wellybix is a company based in County Durham; Alison hand makes and bakes all the treats which are all independently tested by a Veterinary Laboratory and are completely wholesome and natural and only full of good stuff including Alison's own homegrown herbs!

We where very kindly sent 3 different flavours to try; Chicken Flavour, Lamb Flavour and Beef Flavour. The packaging of these treats is lovely, they each come in a traditional brown paper back with a realisable top which is super handy, the biscuits are large bone shapes which I was able to break in half for my two and they absolutely loved them! No fussing just two very happy dogs that most definitely wanted another treat! These are treats that I will definitely be re-buying once the gang have eaten them all!

Wellybix also sells various other products from soap to embroidered blankets, but my favourite item on their site are their "Bake-a-Bone" range. Each kit comes with everything you need to bake your own treats, such a fab doggy gift idea which I love! 

Thank you for reading,
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

Olive's Larder Artisan Dog Treats

I was recently contacted by the lovely people behind Olive's Larder asking if we'd like to try some of their Artisan dog treats.

I must admit i'd not heard of the brand before hand but was really pleased to see that they are a local family run business; they're just on the other side of the water to us!

Olive's Larder that focusses on natural, organic and unprocessed products which include dog treats, dog toys and a range of collars and leads. What appealed to me is that they have something for everyone on their site, I won't give my dogs anything unnatural or full of artificial rubbish! Olive's Larder are as organic and natural as possible which is exactly what I look for!

I received a 150g pack of their Duck and Sweet Potato treats from the gang to try. The packaging on these products is very sleek and classy, the sort of thing you'd expect to find at an upmarket store! The treats are split into two sealed pouches which stops them from drying out - this is fab for us as having little people a big pack lasts a long time! These particular treats retail at £3.99.

The treats themselves are quite big which put Lily off as she's incredibly fussy and Sev decided that he'd try and eat both - at once!! Apart from Lily being a treat snob the rest of the pack really enjoyed them! They'd make the perfect gift for anyone with dogs as they just look so luxurious!

Thank you for reading,

Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

My Top 5 Grooming Products!

I've been asking various times what shampoos I use so I decided to write this!
Being the owner of 2 show dogs, one with a long full coat i'm constantly on the look out for high quality grooming products that will keep my two looking their best; so here are my five favourites!
It was especially convenient because today was bath day for Sevy! (he get's bathed the day before a show! Lily doesn't but there is a product at the end of this post that I use on her!)
Firstly I should explain that this is specifically for a show day and that for normal mud/beach/fox poo incidents I only shampoo Sev once.
The first shampoo I use on him is the John Paul Pets "Awapoochi Shampoo" this stuff is incredible and smells divine! I'm constantly on the look out for new shampoos but this is the only one i've been loyal too for over a year! It makes Sev's coat super shiny and feel lovely! I also use this on Lily and it makes her ridiculously shiny and soft too, its a fab product that i'd 100% recommend.

The second shampoo is one that is specifically for Sev, after he's been deep cleaned with the previous product I use the Biogance Long Coat shampoo. This one is one of my newer acquisitions but is really lovely, the smell is lovely but not too feminine or floral which is nice. I apple this to Sev's feathers, tail and down his back then let it sit for a minute before rinsing off. This is slightly harder to get hold of being a French brand, but totally worth it if you can find it! 

The final shampoo type product is one that was recommended to me by a friend who has top winning show Cocker Spaniels, Mane n' Tail conditioner! Originally designed for horses, then coveted by the fashion pack and now my go to dog conditioner! It promises healthier, thicker hair and it definitely does that! I apply it to Sev's feathers, chest and tail, not only does his coat feel fab but is so easy to groom, after using this he never has tangles and always looks his best! It does have a strange formula, which reminded mum of thick custard which is a bit odd the first time you use it, worth it though! We bought ours from Liberty London. 

Next up is the first of two non-bath products; this is another show dog recommendation that i've been using for quite a long time, the Artero "Flash" spray, this is a product that leaves the coat with a high shine without being sticky or leaving any nasty residue, I use this on Lily if her coat is lacking its usual sparkle, it last ages too which is a bonus! I've found it suitable for all of our gangs coat types, from long and silky to smooth. 

And finally one of my newer buys, which I actually found in TkMaxx of all places! It is a detangling spray by the brand Biosilk the Detangling and Shine Spray - I never knew they did a pet range until I saw this (I use the human equivalent on my own hair!) This spray smells divine and leaves the coat feeling soft and tangle free. Sev is groomed daily so doesn't get tangles, but Daisy our Cocker Spaniel (who actually comes to Swampy due to her always being wet and gross!) is prone to them and this stuff once sprayed onto the coat and left for a couple of minutes makes removing knots easy peasy! I honestly don't know how I coped before I found this! 

I hope that you find this interesting and helpful, if you've got any other questions either comment below or tweet me on @Fachshund

Thank you for reading,

Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

Mable&Mu we heart You!

I stumbled across the Mabel&Mu online shop whilst scrolling through Twitter the other evening, the thing that first caught my eye is they really cater for all sizes including various different widths meaning I could order something for Lily (the collars we bought are 15mm which is slightly larger than what we usually buy but they aren't bulky so are perfect!)
I bought a few different bits and pieces from their range as I'd never bought from them before but I was really impressed, all the items where lovely and came well packaged and arrived extremely fast!All orders from Mabel&Mu come with free delivery too :)

I orded multiple pieces from the "Foxglove" and "Pinkie" ranges; a collar, bandana and bow.
 I ordered collars in size 1 which would be a perfect fit for either of mine (The collars are for Lily but Sev is sightly bigger!)one of my favourite touches is that each of the collars has a little metal dog charm which is an adorable touch! The collars in this size where £8.40 each.

I also ordered the coordinating bandanas, these are brilliant for little people as they are much smaller and the point doesn't hit the front of the daxi's legs which is brilliant! I ordered size 1 and they fit perfectly, I will definitely be ordering more! The bandanas I bought where £1.95 each.

Foxglove

Pinkie

And finally I bought some bows these where only £2.25! The intention was to buy one for Sev to wear to our top secret event in the summer but as you'll see, I only bought them for Lily - oops!
The bows attach via a strip of elastic which means they can be worn on a variety of widths of collar and are incredibly well made! The bows aren't flat like a lot I've seen which makes them really stand out! The three I ordered where "Pinkie" "Foxglove" and "Summer" but the team at Mabel&Mu kindly included a firth bow; from the "Springtime" range which is a gorgeous pastel green and is my favourite out of the four!

Pinkie

Summer

Foxglove

Springtime

Overall i'm super pleased with my order, everything is great value for money and the quality is brilliant, I will 100% be ordering more in the future!

Thank you for reading;
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo