Crufts 2018!

Earlier I asked on instagram if people would be interested in seeing a Crufts haul and the response was a massive yes! I thought i'd include our Crufts summary in this post too; totally failed on the photography front as it was sooooo busy on both the Friday and the Sunday!

Firstly, please excuse the questionable lighting/background on my photos, we've just moved and i've not quite got my set up sorted yet! Eeek!

 Two gorgeous Standard Longhaired Dachshunds!

 Making himself at home at Cosy Chic Pet Boutique 

Visiting our favourites at Edgard Cooper!

 We had all three show dogs entered again this year, Ava the St. Bernard on Thursday (she won a 4th place in a large class) Sev on Friday who sadly was unplaced (through no fault of his own!) and lastly Isla, the German Shorthaired Pointer on Sunday (who also took a 4th place in a very big class!). I like to think i've got Crufts down to a fine art after doing it for so many years; I do the bulk of my shopping on the day that I don't have a dog with me as juggling a dachshund, carrying shopping and navigating a crowd is rather hard work (especially when they all want to touch Sev without asking - my biggest pet peeve!!).

Photo taken by Adorable Cockers

This isn't everything that I bought over the weekend, I always stock up on everyday essentials (trading treats, raw food, replacement equafleeces etc) and some things will feature in a separate blog post. This year I was on a budget due to moving out and having a house to furnish and decorate but i'm pleased with what I bought! :)

Food & Treats
We visited our favourites over at Edgard Cooper to stock up on dry food, buying 3kg of S&L's favourite recipe; Fresh Lamb w/ Apple and Carrot we were also kindly given a bag of the Organic Fresh Turkey & Chicken to try which they've not had before but i'm sure they'll love it! 

Our next stop was Benyfit Raw to take advantage of their show deals (£39.95 for 10kg of raw? Yes please!) and to pick up some of our favourite training treats; Black Pudding and Turkey.

We also popped to Nineteen 87; this is a new brand to us so we took advantage of their £5 show offer which bought us 1.5kg of their Grain Free Welsh Lamb kibble and a packet of their Duck Bites treats (which Sev loves!)

Some of the other assorted treats and food we picked up were a sample pouch from Rockster, and some packets of dental chews from Woolf.

Wearables
Not pictured are Sev's new Equafleece (identical to his existing two, just one of their new longer sizes!) 2 new drying coats from Ruff & Tumble and DogRobes (we also picked up a snood from their bargain bin which i'm excited to try!).
On Sunday I headed to DogSnug to buy two of their dog jumpers, I only went with the intention of looking but couldn't resist and ended up buying two!

As always I headed to Mabel&Mu to pick up some pieces from their new ranges, as the majority of these launched at Crufts there is no direct link to them, but the red tartan bow tie is online and is from the Mountain Walks collection.

I picked up two collars that i'd ordered in advance, the metallic Paracord rope style collar is from DevilDoodDesigns and the rainbow ombre rope slip collar is from Luna's Loft (use Fachshund10 for 10% off!)

Other Stuff
I headed straight to Dorwest on Friday to stock up on our favourites! With every purchase they were giving away a free tennis ball, which Sev is obsessed with! I grabbed another bottle of Omega Star oil, which is our ultimate go to product. We also picked up a Limited Edition tin w/ Keepers Mix biscuits - okay so I didn't need this but tins are always super handy to store dog treats in! And a bottle of their newly released Turmeric Tablets (not pictured as I sent them home with mum!) Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory which is brilliant for dogs with back problems like Lily!

Our garden is very grassy and sometimes Sev comes in from the garden and is quite muddy, I've been on the look out for a product that will clean his fur without needing to bath and dry him, I walked past the Hownd stand and spotted their Miracle Natural Dry Foam Wash which after talking to the lady on the stand is exactly what I want! You simply rub the foam into the coat and it removes all the dirt; perfect for on the go too! I took advantage of their offers and also picked up some of their other grooming products too, which i'm looking forward to testing out.
We also visited Chuck It! the guys on the stand kindly gave us two of their new Strato balls; Sev absolutely loves his Chuck It! balls and has quite the collection, i'm sure he'll love these as they're extra bouncy!

And lastly is something I picked up for my other half who likes to knit/crochet - I was on my way back to the benches on Sunday when a stand filled with crocheted dogs caught my eye, Kerry Lord is the lady behind Edward's Menagerie:Dogs by TOFT and had just launched a book with 50 different patterns of breeds of dogs (which are all totally adorable!)

So, did you go to Crufts? If so what did you buy?
Thank you for reading!
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

February Favourites

Can't believe it's March already! February has been sooo busy, and our favourites this month are rather varied! Hoping to be back into the swing of blogging soon, once we're settled after the move etc :-)

Our first favourite this month is this gorgeous collar from Bramble & Friends; Lily has been wearing hers everyday since December and it still looks brand new! Sev's been wearing his on and off this month and looks so smart wearing it!

Next up is this Grey & Neon cable knit jumper from PurpleBone London (which is currently on sale!) this is so smart and well made, it fits Sev really well too which is a bonus! The neon stripes make it super eye catching too which I love!

This month's favourite bowtie is this gorgeous Baby Blue & Houndstooth Tweed bowtie from Bramble & Friends, B&F are one of my favourite places to buy bowties from and we have quite the collection now! We didn't actually need this newest one (or the other 3 I bought!) but at half price I couldn't say no!

Holly over at Teddy Maximus kindly sent Lily and Sev a personalised heart toy each, and Sev is obsessed! It's definitely his new favourite toy - he loves it!

And for this month's favourites are the personalised tags from Wag-A-Tude tags on etsy, due to the impending house move i've had to re-buy all of Sev's ID tags, Kimberly even custom made Sev a tag with the logo of the school that me an the otherhalf work at which is so cool!  (Pictured is his Slytherin tag!)

So, what have you been loving this month?
Thank you for reading,
Jaime, Lily & Sev xoxo

Crufts 2018!

The highlight of my year is just around the corner - Crufts!

We are competing with all three of our show team (Ava on Thursday, Sev on Friday & Isla on Sunday). Friday is my showing day and Sunday is for shopping and exploring! 

Collar by DevilDoodDesigns

I absolutely love Crufts and cannot wait to the back on the famous green carpets and then to catch up with all our favourite brands and bloggers! Due to my imminent move i'm on more of a budget than usual (eek!) and am trying to stick to sensible/essential purchases but here is some of whats on our shopping list!

Bone Shaped Wall Storage - Cosy Chic Pet Boutique

I've had my eye on these for a while, they are the perfect solution to organising Sev's everyday essentials (tempted to pick up a couple actually!)

Omega Star Oil - Dorwest 
I always stock up on this at shows, it's the best oil i've used on the dogs and wouldn't ever buy anything else! This is my must have supplement and I recommend it to everyone!

Salmon & Trout Kibble - Edgard Cooper
Sev loved the EC food and his favourite flavours are the Salmon and Trout and the Fresh Lamb kibbles, we've almost ran out so I will be stocking up at Crufts! Sev is also looking forward to cuddles from his favourite EC team members! :-)

Beco Pets
I recently dropped Sev's green Beco Bowl and broke it so will be picking up a replacement and i'll also be stocking up on our favourite poop bags.

There are also lots of other bits and bobs on my list that we need for the new house so hopefully i'll be able to pick them up! Also looking forward to meeting some new brands like Butternut Box and hanging out with old favourites like Dapper, Poppy's Picnic and Mabel & Mu. 

Big Decisions and Life Changes.

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the lack of blog posts, but this time I have an actual excuse for my absence!

The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind here at Fachshund HQ, i've never been one for spontaneity but when an exciting opportunity was offered to me last Friday I grabbed it with both hands.
For those of you that don't know, I still live at home on the Isle of Wight with Sev & Lily and the three other family dogs and I work for the family business, recently I've been spending a lot of time in Southampton visiting my other half who moved over a little while ago to start a new job. I went over on Thursday as we where headed up to Stoke for a friends engagement party, on Friday I was handed a job application and encouraged to go for it, I was interviewed on Monday and accepted the job on Tuesday.

This means that I will be moving out, which leads me onto the question I know you will all want answering, "are you taking the dogs?!".
This decision was harder to make than moving away from my family and leaving the tiny island i've grown up on; Lily is very much a part of the family and despite being mine on paper is most definitely a family dog. She adores my parents and spends her time curled up with Isla and Daisy. Lily has always suffered with her health and anxiety issues; it just wouldn't be fair on Lily to separate her from the family and a life that she loves after everything she's been through.
Sev is a completely different dog to Lily, and is very independent, he loves playing, going on long walks, being in the car and going to events - Lily however does not; she's always hated the car and never enjoys going for walks, more so after her second back operation.
As much as it breaks my heart not to take Lily with us, I have to do what is best for her. And what is best is her staying at home with Daisy, Isla and Ava in a home she loves, with her normal routine and my family who all love her to bits.

I am so excited for the future, and am especially excited for all the opportunities it brings both for us and for the blog.

Thank you for reading,
Jaime Lily & Sev xo

Our 2017 Favourites

I decided that in this months' favourites post that i'd share a summary of our favourite brands/products/blogs etc from 2017. I touched upon a few of our faves in my 2017 summary post but wanted to properly talk about a few of them today!

First up is Boots & Bones! We've been lucky enough to work with Ellie and the team right from the beginning and are still loving it! Boots & Bones came out with some gorgeous new prints last year and our favourite release has got to be the leather x stars/velvet collars. The leather is lovely and soft and as usual with Ellie's collars beautifully made!

Second is a constant favourite of ours, Teddy Maximus! I love being part of #TeamTeddy and being part of such a fabulous British brand, Holly is constantly coming out with gorgeous designs and one of our favourite launches last year was definitely her gorgeous Saddle Bags, I adore mine!

Our favourite blog to read has got to be Alfie Bear, I just love seeing what Emma, Alfie and Snuffles get up to! (especially Snuffles, i'd love a Hog but the other half says no - boo!)

Another favourite blogger is Archie's Great Adventures and on her Youtube, Chloe's Thoughts; I love seeing what Chloe, Archie & Winnie get up to, one of our weekly highlights is sitting down with a cuppa and watching her weekly vlogs!

And finally we have DevilDoodDesigns gorgeous new Soft Rope range! Emily launched these earlier in the year and i'm obsessed! They are by far the softest rope leads we've used, they come in a huge range of ombre colours and Emily's just launched a custom dye option! We've got 4 of the leads so far with another on the way - I just can't stop myself from ordering every time she releases something new!

So, what were your favourites from last year?
Thank you for reading!
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

2017 A Year In Review & Looking To The Future

2017 has most definitely had it's ups and downs, thankfully the positive has outweighed the negative!

We've been fortunate to be able to work with some of our favourite brands; we became a member of #TeamTeddy for Teddy Maximus,

 became part of the #NeohSquad for Neoh&Nobo,

brand reps for Boots & Bones.

We were lucky enough to blog for DogFest for the second year in a row.

We were Blogger Of the Month for Monster Pet Products

Sev competed in his first Crufts came second in a very big class and has qualified for Crufts 2018 every time he's been shown since!

 We've met up with lots of our blogger friends, Archie & Winnie, Adventures of Doodles, Spaniel Life, Silly Tilly Poodle & Alfie Bear. 

Lily's health had a bit of a wobble which saw her be struck by IVDD for the third time, but after lots of rest and acupuncture she made a complete recovery! 

And towards the end of the year Alex joined us on our adventures and has become very much a part of our world (Sev absolutely adores him!)

2017 has been brilliant, but 2018 is going to be so much better! We're planning a lot of exciting changes for this year including a possible new addition and a house move! I'm super excited to be able to share these adventures with you all! :) 

And to finish, here are a few of our favourite shots from the last year! 

Thank you for reading, 

Jaime, Lily & Sev xo