Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Your Dog

Our lives are busy, and it’s easy, once our dogs do more or less what we want, to let standards slip. Does this actually matter much? Whether it does depends on individual lifestyles and, of course, how our dogs respond to everyday challenges. I am not talking here about dogs that compete in various formal disciplines because there are human-made rules to these activities that we have to maintain. Instead, we can think about those skills that we want from our pet dogs which make life easier for both dog and owner. Return to recall Situations change, and behaviours that were once important to us might become less so as we discover, for instance, that the world doesn’t fall in if our dog walks a few paces in front or behind…

Ingredients: ● 1 ripe banana● 112g peanut butter (unsweetened and xylitol-free)● 190g wholemeal flour (or gluten-free flour if preferred)● 35g cup rolled oats ● 1 egg● 1 tsp honey (optional, for extra sweetness) ● ½ tsp cinnamon (optional) Instructions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. 2. Mash the banana in a bowl until smooth, then add the peanut butter, egg, honey, and cinnamon (if using). Mix well until combined. 3. Add the flour and oats to the mixture and stir until a dough forms. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour until it’s manageable. 4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to create heart shapes…

We’re pleased to bring you the Your Dog Tourist Guide, a trip across both the UK and the world to find our favourite dog-associated tourist hotspots. From well-known attractions to hidden gems, we’re giving you great places to visit that have a canine connection. This month, we’re at the home of the governing body for canine activities in this country… Home of The Kennel Club Founded in 1873, The Kennel Club, led by S E Shirley and 12 other gentlemen, set out a consistent set of rules for the increasingly popular activity of dog showing and field trials. Today, their efforts have resulted in The Kennel Club becoming one of the largest organisations in the world dedicated to dog health, welfare, and training. The organisation now consists of a club…

Every week when I read the veterinary magazines over a cup of tea, it seems that vets are being asked to do more and more to prevent antimicrobial resistance, behaviour problems, animal abandonment, and to now reduce parasite control use. We are increasingly asked to consider not only the patient in front of us, but a human-animal ‘one medicine’ approach, and the impact of keeping pets on the health of the planet. Should we continue to recommend a blanket treatment approach, or should we treat in a more targeted way? What are the risks and benefits to our pets, people, and the wider environment? The two big worries with parasite treatments are resistance to the drugs we use, and contamination of the environment. Resistance Resistance to worming products is a…

CROSSWORD Across 1 Train departure warning: All____ (6) 5 Land on the Red Sea (5) 9 A collection of countries over the Channel (8,5) 10 Country with Star-Spangled Banner (3) 11 Spiny lobster (9) 13 Bathed in rays (6) 14 Overwhelm with noise (6) 16 Music with banjos and mandolins (9) 17 Away (3) 19 A number of people drawn together sharing a common activity or opinion (8,5) 21 The magic number in the De La Soul song (5) 22 Ringed planet (6) Down 2 Yellow sticker enthusiast (7,6) 3 Shocking (9) 4 Pulls the plug on (6) 5 “___ rang?” (3) 6 Chief assistants to a bride (5,2,6) 7 A yellowish cotton cloth (7) 8 Andean land (4) 12 Lapse (9) 13 Get by (7) 15 Crème de ___…

Just north of Pickering, the Levisham Estate stretches across 1,400 hectares of the North York Moors, offering easy dog-friendly tracks across moorland, woodland, and grassland. Between 1975 and 1988, the estate was acquired by the North York Moors National Park Authority to maintain habitats for the diverse range of wildlife occupying the area. While strolling the open tracks, and taking in the neverending views, dog walkers can expect to see a broad range of wildlife including: badgers, foxes, stoats, weasels, wood mice and shrews. Fortunate early risers and late-night walkers also increase their chances of seeing both roe, and fallow deer, too. Dog walkers are welcome and encouraged across the North York Moors all year round with off-lead walking recommended at the owner’s discretion due to the wildlife. Alternate dog-friendly routes…

Q You and Jack have become inseparable since you first met in 2018 while filming Baby Chimp Rescue in Liberia. What are your memories of that first encounter? Ben: “It literally was like a Hollywood romance – our eyes just met! At the time, Jack was one of a number of therapy dogs running free at the chimpanzee sanctuary. Many of the orphan chimps were so traumatised that they didn’t want to be around humans, but they benefited from the dogs’ presence. “I first noticed Jack sitting in a corner. Aloof, scrawny, gangly, and hairy, he looked ridiculous and rather out of place, but I thought he was an interesting little dog. Over the next two years, I increasingly looked forward to seeing him when I arrived at the sanctuary.…

Gundogs are any breed or type of dog that originally worked ‘to the gun,’ meaning they help hunters who use guns. These dogs were essential for finding ‘game’ (which could be ‘fur’ or ‘feather’ — small mammals such as rabbits, and birds such as partridges or pheasants), flushing the game, and then retrieving it. Gundogs were working companions and supported humans hunting for food — in many cases, they are still essential in these roles. Typically biddable, friendly, and outgoing, many gundogs make perfect active family members, although often with an inherent desire to carry items around. If you live with spaniels, you might rarely have a matching pair of shoes, given their tendency to carry them around and deposit them in less-than-ideal places!  Gundogs might also have a little more…

Based on archaeological records, dogs and humans have coexisted for more than 40,000 years. During this time, we have both evolved and developed adaptions to our environment. Some of these adaptations relate to nutrition and feeding. Evolution is the gradual accumulation of favourable genetic changes in a population, making it more likely for individuals with those changes to survive, reproduce, and pass on their genetics. For our dogs, this occurred naturally as they started to live beside us, benefiting from our waste and leftover food. When we started selectively breeding some dogs because they looked or behaved in a certain way, we also impacted on their evolution. This series explores what your dog wants you to know about their nutrition and feeding – a critical part of their care and…

* Check before you travel. THE LOST GARDENS OF HELIGAN CORNWALL Well-behaved dogs are welcome all year round at the beautiful Lost Gardens of Heligan. This expansive country estate in east Cornwall was abandoned to nature after WWII, only to be rediscovered in the 1990s and carefully restored into a breathtaking paradise featuring tropical flowers, ancient woodlands, English heathland, and more. The vast, open space of the gardens offers a safe and enjoyable environment for wellbehaved dogs to explore with their owners. Once you’ve finished exploring, stop by the Heligan Kitchen or The Steward’s House for a delicious Cornish cream tea. Don’t forget to bring your dog’s water bowl – they’ll happily fill it up for you! ● heligan.com CULZEAN CASTLE AND COUNTRY PARK SCOTLAND A glorious 260-hectare estate, Culzean…

YDOLO DOG FOOD Your Dog Only Lives Once is the philosophy behind YDOLO – a new quality dog food. The brand aims to revolutionise canine nutrition by offering 100% natural, highly digestible ingredients to help dogs lead long and happy lives. YDOLO’s recipes contain up to 75% fresh meat or fish, accompanied by fruit, vegetables, and selected supplements such as dandelion, ginger, turmeric, cordyceps, and shiitake mushrooms. Each ingredient has been specifically selected to ‘add value’, resulting in a complete food without fillers, artificial flavourings, colourings, or preservatives. The range comes in four flavours: chicken, wild fish, duck and Iberico pork, along with a puppy variety. Each variety includes additional ingredients to provide nutritional balance and serve a specific health purpose, from joint support to digestive health. For example, mushrooms…

In the UK, we are currently facing something of an obesity crisis – in our dogs. The UK Pet Obesity Report 2024 has been published by UK Pet Food, the trade association for pet food manufacturers, and there are some startling stats on the size of our pets. Vets were surveyed about what percentage of pets they saw were overweight and it revealed 50% of dogs are overweight (an increase from 45% in 2014). However, perhaps more worrying was that owners aren’t recognising the danger. A survey of 2,500 owners highlighted that 77% of owners think their pet is the right size and only 4% think their pet needs to lose weight. Feeding your dog the correct food and quantity may sound logical, as it goes a long way towards a…