Our Favourite Rope Leads!

Hand dyed rope leads have quickly become an essential in any dog's wardrobe! Here our are favourites from our three favourite stores!

Luna's Loft

I found out about Luna's Loft through Emily of Adventures of Doodles,  Hannah who runs Luna's Loft makes a whole variety of gorgeous items; rope leads, collars, bandanas and bow ties.

I currently own three leads from Luna's Loft, my two current go to's are my Navy Ombre and Red Wine Ombre leads. The two I have are 6mm and 4 foot long - Luna's Loft is the first UK store i've found that sells leads in 6mm, this size is perfect for Dachshunds and small dogs as it's not heavy or bulky.

Hannah also kindly sent me another lead, slightly shorter but 6mm in width, I love the natural rope with the colourful wicking - perfect for Summer! 

Jolly Hound

This is my newest discovery of the three shops i've mentioned - I'd followed Jolly Hound on instagram & etsy for ages and when Chaan shared pictures of her new Galaxy leads I knew I just had to place an order! 

These are slightly chunkier at 8mm wide but oh my are they soft! I ordered two leads, the Rainbow Rope Lead and the Galaxy Rope Lead the colour combo I chose for my galaxy lead was Deep Purple, Hot Pink and Turquoise with "party" coloured wicking. The colours on the Rainbow Lead are so vibrant and colourful. I love that all the Jolly Hound leads have an O ring in the handle - so handy! 

And lastly we have Bramble and Friends, this is my favourite place to buy tweed bow ties and their leads are so lovely i've ordered two sets! The first order I placed with Bramble and Friends was for a Pink Ombre lead and a Turquoise Ombre lead, these have been used so much since I got them and actually could do with a wash! 

Because I loved those so much I ordered two custom dyed leads, a 6mm Plum and Raspberry ombre lead with brass hardware and a 6mm lavender and pastel pink ombre lead - i'd seen pictures of these on instagram and fell in love, the colours are so rich and gorgeous whilst staying soft and nice to use! Because there was a slight delay with my order Tamsyn kindly included a matching Raspberry and Plum tassel, which is also gorgeous and now I think I need more of those too! Definitely recommend Tamysn if you want a custom rope lead, I honestly think these two are my new favourites!  

Have you ordered your dog a rope lead? If so what is your favourite colour combo?

Thank you for reading, 

Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

Keeping your pet safe this summer!

As the weather gets warmer we spend more time outdoors with our pets, here are my top three tips for helping to keep your pet safe and happy this summer!

1. Is your dog chipped and tagged?
As of last year it became the law for your dog to be microchipped and to be up to date with all you correct information, if your dog is chipped it's also worth checking every so often that it hasn't moved (your vet can do this!) and that all the contact information is correct.
It's also law for your dog to be tagged, both Lily and Sev wear an ID tag on both their collar and lead (possible slight overkill on my part but better safe than sorry!) which has my full address and two phone numbers incase they get separated from me. My favourite shops to buy tags from are We Love To Create and Simply Handmade Tags.

Ombre rope lead by Luna's Loft 

Rope Collar by Devil Dood Designs

2. Keeping cool and hydrated!
Wherever I go I always carry a collapsable water bowl and water for the dogs, I'm always a bit wary about letting them drink from bowls that are outside shops/cafes because you never know how long it's been there (more on that later!), ours is super old and i'm not sure where I bought it from but Beco do a really nice one that comes in a variety of colours.
I'm also a big fan of cooling mats and cool coats, these are brilliant for keeping your dog cool in the heat, Sev practically lived in his cool coat last summer, you simply soak them in water, wring them out and off you go! Ours is by Aquamat, it's expensive but definitely worth the investment - ours is about three years old now and is still good as new!
We also have a cool mat from Ancol which is really handy for on the go as it needs no soaking/water, ours contains gel that draws the heat away and keeps the dog cool for hours!

3. Act against parasites! 

Protecting your pet against pests and parasites is incredibly important all year round, it's important to keep up to date with your flea/tick/worm treatment  so speak to your vet! A recent survey by Pet Parasite Action *found that lungworm worries dog owners most with 74% saying they are concerned about this parasite. While 82% of dog owners are able to correctly identify that lungworm could be fatal to their pets, 43% said they think dog lungworm is the parasite that poses the greatest risk to human health, when actually it’s harmless to people! 

But it's not just worms that are causing problems, it's also ticks! Ticks are most common during the warmer weather and I always check the dogs after they're walked in case they are carrying any unwanted guests! Another essential is definitely a tick twister - these allow you to safely remove the tick (head and all!!) from your pets! Over a third of the people asked in the survey say they are worried about ticks but just 48% realise that ticks can cause fatalities in dogs because of the diseases they transmit and only 28% recognise that ticks can carry Lyme Disease which can also affect people! 

The least worried about parasite according to the survey is probably one of the most concerning. Just 15% say they were worried about roundworms and only 7% correctly say they think roundworms could threaten human health. Yet if accidentally eaten, eggs from the roundworm Toxocara can cause blindness or neurological disease, especially in children.

One in four people don’t realise their pet could have parasites but they might not be visible, and more worryingly around 1 in 6 say that it’s been about a year since they last treated their pet for ticks, lungworm or roundworm and despite concern about its effects, 23% say that they don’t know when their pet was last treated for lungworm. If you're concerned about treating your pets please give your vet a call and they'll be able to ensure they're protected from parasites inside and out. Also check out the Pet Parasite Action website for helpful, easy to understand information :-)

Hopefully this is helpful to you all,
Thank you for reading!
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo


*1056 dog owners responded to the survey which was carried out in February 2017
This post is sponsored by Merial, all thoughts are my own

DogFest South!

I'm super excited to be able to share that we will be at DogFest South (Knebworth) on Saturday 24th June!

We attended last year and despite the bad weather, really enjoyed ourselves! So this year we'll be back (thanks, Dad!).
I haven't decided 100% on who I will have with me, but it'll probably be Sevy as he's an absolute pro at events and takes it all in his stride! We will only be there on the Saturday because Sev is competing the following day at a Breed Show - busy boy is Sev!

Here our are top 5 stalls that we're most excited to visit:

Broughton & Co are one of those brands i've always lusted over but couldn't ever decide what to order, really looking forward to being able to look at all of their collars in person before choosing! 

Currently swinging towards the blue ombre glitter collar!

We love Edgard Cooper! So will definitely be popping by to stock up on our favourite grain free dry - perfect for when we travel and can't take our raw! The team are all super lovely too!

Pancho's Wardrobe was one of our favourite discoveries from last year, this time i've got my eye on their fabulous Hawaiian shirts - these will be great fun for summer photoshoots! 

We'll be heading straight to Huxley Hound to stock up on their "Better Than Raw" treats and catch up with Zena and the rest of the Huxley Team! 

We will also be popping to WiffWaff Designs, they had so many gorgeous collar and leads sets at Crufts, I just didn't have time to look properly so will this time! 

Who are you looking forward to seeing? we can't wait!

Thank you for reading! 

Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

May Favourites

It's been a whiles since we've done one of these but we've got so many fab products we've tried this month that we absolutely love that we thought we'd bring it back!

Firstly we've been loving the new Summer range from Boots and Bones, as always Ellie has all the best prints and collars our favourites from the new range are the Navy Star design and the Tie Dye design (links to follow!)

Our favourite treats this month are from Neoh & Nobo! Our favourites are the Pumpkin x Papaya treats! Sev thinks these are super yummy, and are also packed with healthy ingredients and are designed to aid the skin and coat! Use code LILYSEV20 for 20% off! 

Our next favourite (or favourites!) are the new step in harnesses by WagyTail we were very kindly sent these and I love them! They are so well made yet so affordable and now come in a variety of colours, I chose the Black/Navy Plaid harness, the Brown/Grey Plaid harness and the Blue harness, (all the the Step In style and in size Medium). 

And finally we have some bows from Mabel & Mu, always my go to place to buy bows, especially when I saw they had 35% off! I added three more to our collection.

The bows I ordered were; Vintage Rose, Blossom and Hex Blue - a bargain at £3.50 each! 

What are your favourites this month?

Thank you for reading, 

Jaime, Lily & Sev 

The benefits of Benyfit.

Lily, Sev and Isla have been on Benyfit raw for just over a month now and are loving it!

Until Lily's incident with a duck wing a few months ago I'd been DIY raw feeding as much as possible, but after Lily swallowed the duck wing whole (to then throw the wing up in one piece the following day!!) I became a lot more cautious of feeding the dachshunds wings/necks which led me back to the hunt to find the perfect raw complete. I'd heard a lot about Benyfit raw so decided to give  it a go; they offer a 5kg starter box which is perfect for trialling the food, mine aren't at all fussy with what they eat so I was intrigued to see the effects on them.

Benyfit is a relatively new brand started in 2014 out of founder Ben's kitchen after he's failed in finding a food that was right for his Labradors. All of Benyfit's ingredients are British and ethically sourced, all of their meals are 100% complete and balanced which is exactly what I was looking for! As well as containing muscle, offal and bone they also contain a variety of vegetables such as kelp and broccoli as well as various other natural supplements nettles, psyllium husks etc.

Another thing that drew me to Benyfit was the variety of flavours, the favourite in our house is then chicken and tripe! They come in clear plastic tubs which means no eating whilst they are defrosting and come in three different sizes, 1kg, 500 and 200 grams. I've been buying the 500g tuns which feeds our three perfectly.
The dogs coats have stayed lovely and shiny and we've had no tummy upsets either! I do add extra vegetables to the dogs meals to both bulk up the meals and to slow them down whilst eating (trust me, it does work!) but we've had clean bowls everyday!

 Above the Turkey flavour and below Chicken & Tripe (with added veg! and Verm-x bone for natural worming properties)

I did also pick up a tub of the Benyfit Bites which the gang go mad for!

Do you feed raw?
Thank you for reading,
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo