Photo by Andrii Podilnyk on Unsplash

It’s a well-known fact that walking with a dog will prolong your life. If however, like us you don’t own a furry friend, then there are multiple ways to get the benefits vicariously. Try Barking mad dog care to have someone else’s pets to stay with you in your own home as we did for over 10 years. We’ve found that this to be a great way to learn all about different breeds of dogs. However, some owners, don’t like this particular service as they don’t ever get to meet the dog carer, but it’s safe to say that everyone who embarks on Barkingmad.uk.com doggy daycare is a dog lover. They back you up all the way too, so if you don’t know everything there is to know about pets this is a great way to get hands-on learning.

Or you can offer to walk your neighbor’s dog, especially if they are elderly or infirm and would greatly appreciate the extra help. If your neighbors don’t have an available pet, try borrowmydoggy.com which connects dog owners with trusted local people who would love to look after their dog, a win, win all around. And if you’re free to travel around the country then Trustedhousesitters.com, Nomador.com, Trustmypetsitter.com and a multitude of other sites offer a list of homes where the owners are looking for someone to stay in their home and care for their pets whilst they are on holiday.  The majority of these options will not pay you, so if you’re looking for a paid career change then this is not it! But it’s a great way to see the world and look after animals at the same time, we have found this to be a greatly enjoyable way to see parts of the UK, and are planning to go further afield in the future, so why don’t you give it a go? 

Photo by Marek Szturc on Unsplash

Many times I’ll see a dog owner pulling their dog away from a place with a really great scent! I wonder would you like it if someone pulled you away from the scent of freshly made coffee, a loaf of newly baked bread, or a bouquet of roses? Dogs possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to a humans 6 million. Part of a dog’s brain is specifically devoted to analysing scents, and proportionally speaking is 40 times greater than humans.

Dogs can detect odors in parts per trillion, Alexandra Horowitz, a dog-cognition researcher at Barnard College, in her book ‘Inside of a Dog’, writes; “While we might notice if our coffee has had a teaspoon of sugar added to it, a dog could detect a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic-sized pool! “. Try listening to Alexandra’s very interesting Ted talk on how do dogs ‘see’ with their noses? Landmarks on lamp-posts, trees, stones, and pavements are an absolute story to your dog. When trained our dogs can tell you all sorts of things, they can help us find bombs, drugs, cancer, and many other things, so please just let them smell that scent on your walk!

Mark Scott from dog caring daycare; dog-stroll.co.uk actively encourages the dogs in his care to smell with the Sensory Garden he has created after attending a study on how dogs can self medicate. His sensory garden is a great example to us all of what we should and could do to keep our dogs interested and entertained with edible plants, tunnels, a straw pit, bamboo forest, and a willow dome. So if your dog is wanting to stop and ‘smell the roses’ then let them, you never know it may save your life one day!

Tamara Bellis

The British are animal lovers and in the past few years dog ownership seems to be ‘on trend’. And with this trend comes caring for your pet with the best food, beds, and attire. A few clever British companies have linked to this trend and are making accessories for dogs.

One such company is Ruby Rufus makers of cashmere for dogs! I’ve always wanted cashmere myself as I know it’s super warm and comfortable too. Businesswoman Ruby Rufus Isaacs started designing a collection of cashmere jumpers chihuahua’s to keep them cosy. Her friends liked them and wanted some too and when Pets pajamas online pet boutique saw them they wanted to stock them. Now stocked in Elphicks and many other luxury stores Ruby Rufus cashmere has been seen on many notable dogs including Kylie Jenner’s greyhound Bambi from Italy and Marc Jacobs dog Neville a staffy. Instagram-famous dog Tuna with over 2 m followers, loves this brand and with his tiny body and short coat he’s definitely in need of something to keep him warm. You can see him wearing Ruby’s designs at tunameltsmyheart.com. Ruby’s sweaters have become the very thing you want your little treasure to be seen in, for warmth and comfort.

Some people buy loads of jumpers so they can dress their pet differently each day, others just buy one practical cable knit. Her designs work for small and bigger dogs too.
Like us, Ruby borrows dogs as she also travels a great deal. We’ll certainly be on the lookout for stylishly dressed dogs. If you want your dog to be stylish and the ‘top-dog’ then check out

instagram.com/rubyrufus.

ipet photo