Crufts 2017 Haul!

I'm always a bit unsure about wether to post hauls on here but they always seem to go down well!
I won't go into huge amounts of detail on everything as lots of the stuff I bought will appear it separate posts - enough waffling from me, so here's the 2017 edition!

I'll start with the edibles! Crufts is always good for trying new food/treats because lots of the stands have samples and offer discounts, we also stocked up on some of our favourites!

Firstly we visited Boxby (sold by Dependable Pets who i've written about before click here to read it) I picked up some more of our absolute favourite "Trainer Mini Bones" (which i'm sure you're all fed up of hearing about but they really are that good!!) I also picked up some of their new grain free treats in the Salmon, Duck and Lamb (no photo of the Lamb treats because the box got crushed in my bag!) I try to feed the gang grain free as much as possible so was super excited to see these!

Next we popped to the Laughing Dog stand, LD offer a huge variety of grain free, wheat free and gentle foods and treats and are brilliant if you've got a fussy dog! I wrote about them last summer, I picked up some samples of their dry completes to try on fussy Ava and a box of their new Bedtime Treats these are full of natural ingredients and are grain free (and smell lovely!)

The next three purchases are completely new to us, I visited the Naturo stand on Friday with Sev, it was so nice to meet the team behind Naturo and Sev loved all the fuss, but what he loved the most were the samples of their treat range! His particular favourite was the Liver Brownies and because he'd been such a good boy I bought him a box!

 Another new discovery for us was Gentle Cold Pressed dog food, they not only do a variety of flavours but also make a specific kibble for small dogs, which is something i've not seen before! I picked up a sample and two of their "Gentle Dental" bones (try saying that fast!) along with one of their nifty toys that are designed to hold the bone - Sev really enjoyed using this! (Theres a video on my Twitter!)

And the last treats that I picked up were from The Dog Treat Company, they've recently rebranded and reformulated their treats which I really like, the new biscuits are easy to snap in half which really helps if you have small dogs like me! And keeping with the bedtime theme these are their calming treats.

And the only food that I picked up was from Edgard Cooper, L&S have been having the samples and really enjoyed them but I will write a full post on that!

Non-food items next!
Firstly are some new bows and lead from Mabel & Mu, a full in depth post to follow on these :-)

More bows and leads! These are from Ditsy Pet and Lily wears these as "everyday" bows as they are much smaller (these were actually on our wish list too!)

One of the best parts of Crufts is being able to find new brands, one of those is Mon Petit Chien, they are a relatively new company who caught my eye one #WoofWoofWednesday, they shared a picture of their Dachshund tote bag and I just knew I had to have one! They also do various other breeds along with necklaces and personalised books! 

 And last but not least, quite possibly my favourite purchase - new thinning scissors (i'm such a nerd! ha!) these are fab and I love them! This pair is from The Scissor Boutique.

Hope that wasn't too photo heavy! Individual posts on my favourites will follow over the next couple of months including some other exciting things that I can't wait to share!

Thank you for reading,

Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

March in Review!

Wow, what a month March is turning out to be!
Rather than bombard you all with numerous shorter posts I thought i'd write one big one to summarise everything that we've been up to!

On the 8th March we headed up to Coventry via train with Sev ready for Hound day at Crufts on the 9th, as mentioned in my previous post it was our first Crufts together so I was super nervous (and excited actually!) Sev as always was an absolute star and placed 2nd out of 9 in a really strong Yearling Dog class under a very well know judge - I was (and still am) ecstatic and so, so proud of my little boy! This has qualified us ready for Crufts 2018! (apologies for the photo quality of some of the photos - a friend took them on her phone for me!)

After we were done in the show ring I took Sev for a wander around and met lots of our favourite brands; Naturo, Mabel & Mu, Dapper Pets, Dependable Pets along with lots of our blogger friends; Alfie Bear (Emma and the dapper Alfie), Spaniel Life (Steph and the gorgeous Sevvy and Lily) and Amelia's World (Eva and her gorgeous cavi, Amelia), as i'd travelled up by train I had a suitcase with me so didn't do much shopping but I was lucky enough to be back at Crufts for Saturday and Sunday!

(the first photo was taken by Emma of Alfie Bear)
I spent Saturday with Emma and Alfie (Alfie Bear) and Emily (Adventures of Doodles) and Laura (SillyTillyPoodle) and the adorable Rhapsody and Colin (who are far cuter in person - if thats even possible!) I did far too much shopping on Saturday but there will be separate blog posts for that! Isla competed on Saturday winning 3rd out of 6 in the Post Graduate.
I spent Sunday chilling out around the St Bernard breed ring watching Ava and her siblings compete which was lovely - sadly no placing for her but it was a very big class.

To top off what was an already brilliant weekend Monster Pet Supplies contacted me earlier in February and asked if i'd be interested in being their featured blogger for March - I said yes straight away! It was so hard to keep it quiet until it went live last week! If you'd like to read the interview I wrote for them please click here :-) Monster is one of my favourite online pet shops they sell everything that you could possibly need!

The various Crufts shopping posts will follow, as needless to say I bought far too much!
Thank you for reading!
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

Our Crufts Adventure!

I've been to Crufts many times both with and without show dogs, what makes 2017 special is that it's mine and Sev's first time on that infamous green carpet!
Severus qualified for Crufts last May at Bath aged 12 months, and every time we've entered a Championship Show since he's managed to do the same! 2016 was a very successful year for Sev in the showring he's consistently done well and i'm so ridiculously excited for Crufts! (and very nervous!!)

The photos above were taken at Bath :-)
The photo below was taken of Sev in August at a show, slightly different to his usual photos!

I asked on twitter if anyone would be interested in a behind the scenes type post about Cruft and lots of people said that they did so here we go!

For us the Crufts prep starts weeks in advance, I'm a big fan of supplements to make sure he's looking the best that he possibly can, our ultimate staple is the Dorwest's  Omega Star, Sev has been on this since May and it really is brilliant, he coat looks shiny and feels so soft! I'm sure it makes his coat easier to maintain whilst he's been having this too!

For a normal show I do most of Sev's grooming myself as he's pretty easy to sort out (the main two areas are making sure his nails are short and that his feet are trimmed neatly) but this year i'm cheating! Sev is booked into our favourite dog groomers to have his feet trimmed, nails cut and teeth descaled - he will be competing against the best so needs to look his best!

As we will be going up the day before so he's booked into the groomers at 11, he will go home and be straight into the bath!
I have a failsafe bathing routine using three of my favourite products; firstly I wash him with a Biogance Long Coat shampoo, this isn't my favourite scent wise but it really does work! I always shampoo Sev twice, the second shampoo I use more for the nice scent which is the John Paul Pet "Awapoochi" Shampoo, this smells incredible and makes Sev smell divine!
And finally I use a conditioner just because it makes drying his coat easier and helps with getting it to sit correctly - no sticky up skirts at Crufts thank you! I use the John Paul Pets Awapoochi conditioner, another favourite!

Sev went to a championship show on Saturday and due to me putting him in the wrong class didn't place but preformed beautifully so fingers crossed he will do well at Crufts as he's in the right class this time!
Myself and Sev will be at Crufts on Thursday (9th) and I will also be there on Saturday with Isla (11th). Super excited to see everyone and hopefully finally get round to meeting some of our blogger friends! If you see us, please feel free to say hello! :-)

Thank you for reading, hopefully see you there!
Jaime & Sev (and Lily who'll be staying at home!) xo

The Crufts 2017 Wishlist!

It's no secret that I have a slight addiction to shopping, and Crufts is the one event that I let myself go a little bit OTT - here are a few of the things on my list!

Ditsy Pet:
I bought the dogs a Ditsy Pet Christmas print lead each and I've really enjoyed using them, they're really soft and lightweight and the perfect length so i've put two on my shopping list
- Hello Sailor dog lead £13.95

- Rose dog lead £13.95

And for no reason other than because I can, some other bits and pieces that I really like!
- Hello Sailor collar £11.95

- Hello Sailor bow £5.00

- Rose bow £5.00

Dog Robes:
Lily, Sev, Daisy & Isla all have towel coats from another brands so I think it's time I bought Ava one! Torn between the grey and the pink!

Dapper Pets:
A few days ago Dapper posted a sneak peak of their Crufts stock including a variety of daisy items, including a new pink daisy print collar and matching daisy ID tag, now clearly our resident Daisy dog needs these!

Benyfit Raw:
L&S have been raw fed for years and have very good stomachs so i'm able to change suppliers/varieties whenever I find something better for them to eat. Our friend Baloo has recently moved onto Benyfit and his mum, Jaycee was really impressed so i'm hoping to find out more! :-)

Mabel & Mu:
Mabel & Mu are a firm favourite of mine and I always pick up a few bows when I see them at shows!
On our list for Crufts are pieces from their new ranges Wildflower Walks and Waterfall Walks (these launch at Crufts so no direct link yet!)

RedHound:
A friend on Twitter shared a photo of their whippets wearing coats from the store which looked gorgeous - I was super excited that they have a range of Wax Coats for Dachshunds! The Navy Blue is on our list!

Groomers:
I've been trying to use up what i've got in my grooming stash but there are a few essentials that i've ran out of! I also need a new pair of thinning scissors, no direct link as i've not chosen a pair yet!
Tropical Cream Conditioner - £6.95
Conditioner is a staple in Sev's grooming routine and really adds shine to his coat, this is a new one for me but i've heard good things about this as our friends use it on their Welsh Springers!

We all know there is no way that i'll stick to this list!! But I've been sensible and have set myself a budget (yeah whatever, Jaime!!)
Would you be interested in seeing a haul post after Crufts? Please let us know!
Thank you for reading,
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo