coldwetnose

Can anyone please help?

2012-01-25T14:36:00.004Z

Mandy was the victim of domestic violence. She lost her home, her family, her job. She became very depressed and had a breakdown. The only thing she has left are her pets. Sadly, the council temporary emergency housing she has been offered is not pet friendly. Via an earlier appeal on facebook she was offered, very generously, some temporary accommodation where Mandy, her elderly rescue GSD, her young Dobe and her cat could all stay together but even though it would have been cheaper than the BandB the council refused and further told Mandy she would be making herself "intentionally homeless" if she moved and she would go to the back of the queue for housing. The pets are currently in a short-term temporary foster home, but that runs out very shortly and we need to find a plan B. Mandy can't drive, and needs to be close to the hospital and her counsellors in St Austell, Cornwall for support and medication.

STOP PRESS:
We have received a very generous offer of a kennel and cattery space for the pets. But it has come to light that all the pets boosters have gone out of date in all the upheaval. Tailwaggers Club Trust has agreed to fund this immediately and the cost of fostering until they are all good to go into kennels. Mandy is delighted - but if anyone is able to donate to the Just Giving fund it would be a huge help and if we raise more than this case needs we can use the funds to help other emergency cases that arise as it does seem like people like Mandy can find they have no where else to turn. See below for more details.

Tailwaggers Club Trust has set up this fund so that we can help Mandy keep her family together. If you could foster the dogs and cat or help in any other way please contact beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk. The RSPCA and Dogs Trust have all been informed and are unable to assist. Any donated funds not needed for Mandy's case will be used on other Tailwaggers emergency cases.
http://www.justgiving.com/MandyHomelesswithPets

Post-show blues

2012-01-25T09:26:00.001Z

Last night's BBC1 Documentary was a depressing affair.

Did it tell anyone anything they didn't already know? Did it move anything further on? What were your feelings after watching the show?

I was disappointed they didn't uncover some more of the facts about the dog that killed the little boy 'looked after' by his Granny. Took me a few seconds on Google to discover that Pit Bulls were being bred in that house, that two of his three dogs had fought - one to the death. One of the two left was heavily pregnant with 11 pups and their owner had just left to join the army leaving Gran in charge of his pack.

Not aware of the DDA? Come on.

Not aware that these dogs could turn - after one had killed it's companion? I think that puts this 'surprise' unforeseeable attack into a completely different context and puts their proposed muzzle-every-dog all-the-time solution into the crazy deluded bin.

We saw a lovely dog dying, people crying about the child they had lost, people and dogs living in terrible conditions, people not coping with life generally and having their innocent dogs taken away to be killed. All in all a very depressing film with not much conclusion apart from society is in a mess. If we were to revisit the same houses and look at every other aspects of those lives we could probably further depress ourselves.

Reminded me of the Big Fat Gypsy Wedding school of documentary - where we take a sneaky look in and see how different some people's lives are. But we're looking in this case at miserable lives made all the more upsetting when the only creature that loves them unconditionally is ripped from their midst by a bunch of storm troopers because a neighbour has told the police it's a Pit Bull not because it's being bad, or is being neglected.

The only dog that had actually bitten anyone was released to the owner with seemingly no behaviour advice - someone who didn't much seem to want it back.

What a wonderful nation we have, what a great legal system and who would do the job of snatching these usually innocent dogs off the streets just to kill them because the tape measure says they're dangerous?

And are the dogs better off dead than returned to homes that neglect their needs? All seems like madness.

You need to stop folk breeding these dog - have the neighbours phone in litters rather than pit bulls - and ban casual breeding. That Great Dane cross that was obviously unwell... and giving away Am Bulldog Great Dane crosses... gulp. Why are people doing it?

Can we stop this at source and stop casual breeding?

Where's my muzzle?

2012-01-24T10:12:00.005Z

Clarissa Baldwin was very good this morning on BBC1 Breakfast. So full of tact and reason. So difficult when the woman sitting next to you has lost her son in a dog incident.
Society is very respectful towards folk who have lost their children.
Apologies if what I am going to say offends anyone. But I need to get this off my chest.
The McCann's are always on our TV screens.
I am sure I can't be the only one at home thinking the same terrible thing.
How can they live with themselves?
Intelligent people, leaving their children alone while they go out to eat in a restaurant.
Who on earth does that?
I'd rather go hungry than leave my kids.
But how few interviewers ever make that point?
No one wants to rub it in. Their pain is so obviously so great in any case.
Everyone makes mistakes, but the consequences of this one were just so huge.
If you make a mistake you admit it and then sympathy follows.
I don't think you'd ever forgive yourself.
I'd feel such terrible shame.
The same is true with this woman on our screens this morning.
A young life ended is a tragedy that few mothers can ever recover from.
Is it a displacement activity to move the blame away from the only family you have left?
Is it logical or just part of grief to blame all dogs, rather than the humans in whom you put your trust?
When I entrusted the care of my son to my Mum she would never have put my son at risk.
She knew that babies and dogs do not mix.
And our dogs were Beardies, not Pit Bulls.
If she wasn't capable of making rational decisions like that one what other risks might my son be confronted by?
Might she not realise that boiling kettles should not have a trailing flex or that the bleach needs to be out of reach. But kids who die from other Granny-related bad judgement calls don't make the news and certainly don't result in campaigns to ban kettles.
How many of these incidents does there have to be before people work it out not to take unnecessary risks with their kids. That you don't leave your kids with Granny and your brother's Pit Bull unless you have an agreement that two are not to meet. And that it's not needed to be stated that you don't leave the child to sleep on the sofa with someone else's dog and then introduce food into the equation.
And as if it need saying - you also don't keep unsocialised Rotties locked outside in the yard all the time if you have little kids the other side who can open the door.
And you don't let your half insane tormented guard dogs kept chained on the roof of a pub anywhere near your newborn baby.
And if you do, you accept that you and/or your family have let your son down and you grieve.
True this dog had not killed a child before, but you know other children have already died in very similar scenarios.
Do you blame all the dogs in the world and or is it time for some quiet introspection?
It makes gripping TV, because no one dares to say what they really think.
Tonight's BBC1 documentary at 10.35pm looks to be 60 minutes of edge of your seat tension wondering how much worse they are going to make life for the Staffies especially.
Especially as dog law maestro Trevor Cooper's balancing footage has already been consigned to the editing room floor.
The press blurb comes with a dramatic photo of a dog who is probably barking but still looks scary. It seems people do like doing these easy to make documentaries that press people's buttons.
Remember 10 million dogs and 99.99% of these behaving themselves. But let's just freak everyone out and get some more knee jerk legislation that does NOTHING to make children any safer.
Slippers and balloons* kill more people than dogs and horses put more people in A&E - but let's not let the facts get in the way of a documentary.
Has anyone asked how many kids die while being looked after by grannies?
I think you'll find that dogs are not the biggest risk when grandparents get left to cope.
But are we ever likely to see a Death Row Grannies documentary? or A Dangerous Grannie Act?
I am a mother.
I am a dog lover.
My son is now 11 but I would never, ever have put my son in that situation when he was less than eight - and I certainly wouldn't entrust him to someone who didn't agree with me. And it wouldn't matter how nice the dog or how well brought up. Stairgates are great at keeping dogs and kids apart.
I do feel very sorry for their loss, but surely it is time to grieve and contemplate how this could have been avoided rather than mount an ill-thought out knee jerk reaction campaign.
Would they put a parent on the sofa at BBC Breakfast whose son had wandered out of the front door and been run over? Would they let that mother say that all cars must be made of sponge so this never happens again? Or would they think perhaps granny should have kept her son from danger when she asked her to babysit and that mum really needed to accept that painful fact and allow herself to grieve.
And would the muzzle-every-dog-all-the-time campaign have resulted in a sofa position today if it wasn't to plug a BBC documentary showing later today?
Using a mother's loss to boost ratings.
It's a cynical old world.
And to have a woman calling for more dog legislation who claimed to have not even known about the already existing Dangerous Dogs Act. If the DDA didn't work why did she imagine her brother would have complied with a muzzling order?

Here's the press blurb...

Death Row Dogs looks at the growing problem of illegal fighting dogs and “status dogs” on the streets of Britain. Despite being banned in the early 90s, pit bulls have become the dog of choice for criminals and irresponsible owners; sentences are lower than for carrying a knife or a gun but the results can be just as severe. However the problem isn’t just confined to pit bulls, injuries caused by dogs are at record levels and rising. Sadly fatalities are not uncommon.

Pitbulls were one of the named breeds banned by the 1991 Dangerous Dogs act – but the numbers being bred and crossed with other, legal breeds like Staffies and English Bull terriers is on the rise – making the job of tracking them down, even harder…

This film gains access to the work of the West Midlands Police Dangerous Dog Unit led by PC Keith Evans, as they try to tackle the growing problem. These officers have the unenviable task of rounding up the area’s dangerous dogs and taking them quite literally to dog death row, closely guarded kennels where the animals await destruction. We see raids on high profile gang members, crack dealers, a suspected fighting dog ring and a mother who keeps a pit bull for protection. Under current law the police sometimes have to destroy a friendly sociable dog, as they are prevented from rehoming and let the potentially violent ones go free.

We also follow the tragic story of one family whose toddler son was killed by an out of control dog. How did it happen? Could it have been prevented? And how have the family dealt with the shocking trauma of such a brutal death?

The film explores why dangerous dogs like the fearsome pit bulls are such an issue and what is being done to stop the problem getting worse...and the film illustrates that the current legislation is left wanting…

Executive Producer: Paul Hamann

Filmed, Produced and Directed by: Jon Alwen

* Someone here thought I was joking about slippers and balloons killing more people than dogs. Here's the book if you'd like to read it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogs-Bite-Balloons-Dangerous-ebook/dp/B005G5V85K

Dogs are dangerous. And they are more dangerous to children than to adults. Not as dangerous of course, as kitchen utensils, drapery cords, five-gallon water buckets, horses, or cows. Not nearly as dangerous as playground equipment, swimming pools, skateboards, or bikes. And not remotely as dangerous as family, friends, guns, or cars.
Here’s the reality. Dogs almost never kill people. A child is more likely to die choking on a marble or a balloon, and an adult is more likely to die in a bedroom slipper related accident. Your chances of being killed by a dog are roughly one in 18 million. You are five times more likely to be killed by a bolt of lightning.
The supposed epidemic numbers of dog bites splashed across the media are absurdly inflated by dubious research and by counting bites that don’t actually hurt anyone. Even when dogs do injure people, the vast majority of injuries are at the Band-Aid level.
Dogs enhance the lives of millions more people than even the most inflated estimates of dog-bite victims. Infants who live with dogs have fewer allergies. People with dogs have less cardiovascular disease, better heart attack survival, and fewer backaches, headaches, and flu symptoms. Petting your dog lowers stress and people who live with dogs just plain feel better than people who don’t.
Yet lawmakers, litigators and insurers press for less dog ownership. This must stop. We must maintain perspective. Yes, dogs bite. But even party balloons and bedroom slippers are more dangerous.

If acting goes to the dogs...

2012-01-23T14:42:00.000Z

I was struggling to find some new doggie puns for an article I was writing and I asked our friends on facebook and Twitter to come up with their best ones and said I'd provide a prize. But I am struggling to pick the best! Here's our office favourites so far - and this is the short list from an enormous list. More than one person may have supplied the same suggestion, so if picked we will pick the one that came in first.

Angelina Collie

Annette Crossbreed

Arnie Schnauzenegger

Ashton Lurcher

Ben German Shepherd

Benedict Clumberbatch

Billy Great Zane

Brad Pit Bull

Bridget Dogue De Bordeaux.

Burt Lancaster Healer

Catherine Akita Bones

Clint Eastwoof

Colin Feral

Colin Furth

Cybill German Shepherd

Dandie Dinmont Nicholls

Dawn French Bulldog

Denise Welch Corgi

Edward Fox Terrier

Elizabeth Tailor

Eric (Great) Dane

George C Scottie

Gerard Dogue de Bordeaux

Glen of Imaal Close

Gwyneth PAL-trow

Hugh Grrrrant

Hugh Jackalman

Jack Black Labrador

Jack Russell Brand

Jack Russell Crowe

Jack Russell Nicholson

Jamie Foxx Terrier

Jennifer Grey-hound

Joan Collie

Jude Paw

Kim Basenji

King Charles Bronson

LabraDora Brian

Lassie Mannelli

Leonberger Dicaprio

Linda Greyhound

Lindsay Lowchen

Marilyn Mongrel

Megan Fox Terrier

Michael Canine

Michael Dog-less

Michael J Fox Terrier

Mini Schnauzer Driver

Mutt Damon

Pawl Newman

Reece Whippet Spoon

Rockweiler Hudson

Saint Bernard Breslaw

Samoyed Neal

Samuel L Jackapoo

Sandra Bulldog

Sarah Lancashire Heeler.

Sidney Pointer

Sigourney Woofter

Simon Pug

Spaniel Craig

Spaniel Day Lewis

Spaniel Radcliffe

Spinone Weaver

Staffonie Powers

Terrier Hatcher

Terrier Thomas

Timothy Westie

Tom Baker’s complete

Uma Furman

Vanessa Red Setter

Vinnie Bones

Waltervuren Matthau

Weimaraner Ryder

Whippety Hedren

Woofy Goldberg

And some sent us people who weren't actors, but they were still good!

The Music business:

Akita Harris

Britney

Collie Murs

David Greyhound

Elkhound Brooks

Gracie Field spaniel

Husky Springfield

Kanye Westie

Lady Galga (female Spanish greyhound)

Lady Grrr Grrr

Maremma Carey

Mariah Corgi

Shirley Basset

Sports

Bark Cavendish

Eddie The Beagle

John Terryier

Lewis Hamilstonstovare

Kenny Dogleash

Mark Finnish Spitz

Paul Bleu de Gascoigne

Famous people generally:

Airedale O'Hanlon

Cavalier Prince Charles

Cindy Pawford

Collie Willoughby

Dalmatian Hurst

David Barkham

Great Dane Bowers

J K Growling

Jack Russell Grant

Jeremy Beagle

Jerry Springer Doodle

Kerry (Blue) Katona

Larry King Charles Cavalier

Michael Flatcoat

Vicpawia Stillwell

Victoria Barkham

Virginia Wolfhound

People who don’t to change their name at all:

Clare Danes

Goldie Hawn

Robert Wag-ner

Sam Shepherd

Which are your favourites? Who should win the prize as the funniest dog pun? You tell me!

Small miracle needed - in Cornwall ideally

2012-01-18T18:17:00.002Z

Domestic violence meant that this lady has lost her job, her home, her family. She's had a breakdown and took an overdose and needs to be close to the hospital and the domestic violence support team. She can't drive so she gets the bus. She's on a very limited budget. The council have put her in a b&b until her name comes up for somewhere to live where she can be reunited with her pets.

Her pets are all she has left. Her pets are in foster care and the funding for that ends on Friday and then she's into the unknown. Her 8 year old GSD was a rescue and he's not coping well with being apart. And that is further stressing her, obviously. She's afraid that if he was assessed now he'd fail as he's been so stressed out of late and she's scared he'll get PTS. Her other young dog is a Dobermann and she has a male cat she hand reared.

She has to be in St Austell and she'd prefer to be with her pets as she's worried about them and they're all she's got - quite literally.

RSPCA have a pet retreat in Cornwall but as the dogs are what they called, "traditionally dangerous breeds" they'd be unlikely to be able to help. And she's worried that they'd be separated if they could and that the GSD would end up getting so stressed he'd be put down.

Dogs Trust Freedom and Hope projects couldn't help.

So, we're looking for a miracle!

Anyone got a holiday cottage she can borrow? She will get granted somewhere to live eventually, but people fleeing domestic violence with kids take priority.

She'd even accept somewhere to pitch a tent, but I'd worry about her freezing to death - but that's how desperate she is to stay together with her family.

I've forwarded her the phone number for the tourist board so she can approach holiday lets.

If you can think of a solution please email me: beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

Pets really do mean such a lot and I'm thinking this woman could really do with a bit of good fortune so she can start putting her life back together. Just knowing we all care is a start.

New home for the new year?

2012-01-12T12:48:00.000Z

We still need more dogs who are looking for new homes - 25 slots still left to fill in the March edition out early February.

There are three very simple steps. 1. We need a good photograph (about a 1MB when attached, in focus ideally!)/ 2. The answers to these really simple questions. 3. A 100 word statement from the dog that makes people look twice.

Here are the questions:

Name of dog:

Type of dog and size if not obvious:

Approx age: (in years)

Sex:

Neutered?

Housetrained?

With other dogs?

With cats?

Good with young children?

Good with older children?

Location (County):

Contact details:

Foster or forever home?

Email all three of these elements to me: beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk (retype this as copy and paste for some reason often will not work!) and put 'Adopt me' in the subject.
Here's what a typical page of the the Adopt me feature looks like.

And here are some excellent 100 word statements to give you inspiration!

Hey I’m Shady! Will you throw my ball for me?
I’ve been in Rescue for over a year now which my carers say they are very surprised about. I love the company of people and get quite stressed if left on my own for long periods of time.
I’d love an owner with a lot of time on their hands; I’ll thank you with my devotion and wagging tail!
My new year’s resolution is to find a loving new home where I can play lots of games of fetch – could you help me make it come true?

I am the busiest dog in the world! I like to train, and play games, and love my obedience classes here in Leeds. I have lived with children with severe learning difficulties in a very busy house, and with another dog. I am much prettier than my photo, but I won’t keep still long enough for anyone to take one – I’m too busy seeing if the photographer has treats! I would love to live with an active family who like to get out and about as much as I do. You can watch videos of me training at the Iron Mountain website.

I’ve been at Battersea over a year – the Home never puts on a limit on how long it takes to rehome a cat or dog – and I’m a real favourite in the offices where I spend a day or two a week chilling out, being good-natured and friendly, well-mannered and very affectionate. For someone who looks like they ate all the pies, I’m actually a delicate and discerning eater – I once said no to a Bonio! Like my namesake Cleopatra, I am very beautiful, with carefully applied eyeliner, and would like to be building my own little homely kingdom soon.

And please spread this message far and wide!

It's competition time again!

2012-01-05T11:55:00.001Z

Can you guess which breeds the beautiful Spirit's parents are? Email your best guesses to comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk asap. I would give you a clue but at the moment I have no idea who Mum and Dad are either! I'm hoping someone else has! First correct entry will win a breed or general dog book of your choice from Interpet Publishing.

And also - make us laugh with a caption for this photo and win luscious Pet Head goodies from Company of Animals. Either enter on our Dogs Today facebook page or send your entry in by email to comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk. We'll be judging the caption competition on Monday.

Hurry - still time to enter!

2012-01-04T17:38:00.000Z

Would you like to win a free trip through the Eurotunnel?

We have a short-break ticket plus free travel for up to two dogs to give away to a lucky reader! Here's what you have to do and it couldn't be more simple. One person will be chosen at random to win.

Email your name and address to info.marketing@eurotunnel.com and put "Dogs Today" in the subject heading.

Entries close 12 January 2012.

Or you can post your details to: Dogs Today competition, The Channel Tunnel Group Ltd, UK Terminal, Ashford Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT18 8XX.

What do you hope will be in Pedigree Dogs Exposed 2?

2011-12-30T16:34:00.001Z

We're writing an article looking back at the original documentary - Pedigree Dogs Exposed (PDE) and asking what we'd all like to see in PDE 2 - which will be shown in the New Year by the BBC.
Jemima Harrison's documentary sent shock waves around the dog world. It was undeniably a pivotal emperor's new clothes moment.
Many of us had long voiced concerns about the future welfare of pedigree dogs, but much of the content of the documentary had even the most pessimistic commentator shocked. Things would never be the same again.
Unfortunately the better breeders felt they were tarnished by the documentary, that the general public would think all breeders were just as bad as those on the documentary. They felt equal air time should have been given to the good as well as the bad - but that's not how TV works.
When Panorama looked at MP's expenses it would have been a very dull show if they'd told us about everyone who had made reasonable claims!
It was after all called Pedigree Dogs Exposed - not Pedigree Dog Breeders Appraised.
When you make a big splash there is going to be unexpected ripples, but some in the dog world became polarised into extreme positions and became stubbornly anti-reform and hated the documentary and the maker rather than reacting to the content.
A small group of these denialists formed a facebook group that has attempted to sabotage the making of Pedigree Dogs Exposed 2.
We'd like to know what people from lots of different parts of the dog world would like Pedigree Dogs Exposed 2 to achieve.
I personally would like to see some harmony - where everyone who loves dogs agrees to work together to try to solve the problems that we all know lie ahead.
But how do we get there?
Email claire@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk with what you'd to see covered by PDE2.
We're not encouraging anonymous contributions, there's already been far too much mud slinging by people made brave by anonymity.
But we would love to hear what you think should be in it and why. What has been the effect of PDE 1 in your opinion? We would also like to hear from people who have perhaps changed their mind about PDE over the years since it was made.
Do please share your opinions.

Three steps to a heavenly new home!

2011-12-21T12:37:00.000Z

Our adoption special is fast becoming a regular feature of the magazine and we'd like to make it as easy as possible for as many rescues as possible to take us up on this free service.

We have discovered some small rescues seem to struggle to take good photos of the dogs or indeed find the time to deal with emails, so if you have a decent camera and are looking for an excuse to spend some time looking at some of the gorgeous dogs in your local rescue organisation can you offer to help them take up this free offer? You may need to tell them about it, too - as many people running rescue don't have time to read magazines either!

There are just three things we need in order to feature a dog looking for a new home.

1. A good photo.

One that will reproduce in print without looking pixelated. What works for the web isn't high enough res for print. When you attach the photo it should show as neing at least 500kb or ideally 1MB or more. And you need to send the pic as an attachment - not embedded in a document as we can't extract them. Obviously being in focus shot is a massive help, too!

2 We need the answers to these very simple questions - ideally don't repeat the questions and keep it in order, just give us the answers! :

Name of dog:
Type of dog and size if not obvious:
Approx age: (in years)
Sex:
Neutered?
Housetrained?
With other dogs?
With cats?
Good with young children?
Good with older children?
Location (County):
Contact details: (Web and phone)
Foster or forever home?

3 A 100 word statement as if written by the dog. This doesn't have to duplicate any of the info given in the questions - so please feel free to use your imagination. The best ones really do make people stop and think. Here's a couple of our favourites to give you the idea.

My name is Megan and I found myself in rescue after my elderly owner moved into sheltered accommodation. I'd spent most of my life outside, where I was cold and lonely. I was also suffering with a flea allergy, which caused me to lose most of my fur on my back, but the kind people here say that I am still very pretty and, over time, with love and proper care, my fur will grow back.I am a sweet girl who loves cuddles and attention. Could I be the one for you?

Hello, my name is George and I am looking for a lovely person to make my last few months happy, as I do not want to spend them in kennels. If you think you could give me a warm fireside this winter, please do get in touch. I am a bit wobbly on my pins, but I still enjoy a bit of a run around on days when the weather is good. Most of all, I enjoy being with people, as I love everyone and the more cuddles I can fit into one day, the better!

Send all these THREE elements to beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk with 'Adopt 3' in the subject.

The first complete entries received are the ones we will use. So please hurry and make sure you have all three elements.

Have you dogified your home? Want to be on TV and get paid?

2011-12-20T17:46:00.001Z

Want to be on TV and get paid? Have you changed your home in any way to make it more doggie? Anybody got doggie wallpaper, unusual adaptions like dog flaps? Little steps up to the sofa or the bed? They are prepared to pay! Please do pass it on to anyone who you think fits the brief.

Here's the message I've been asked to pass on...

.Looking for unusual home decor -(including for pets!) and their owners to be filmed for a TV ad job....'Charmingly eccentric' rooms/ interior design/or features for pets and their owners ...anything interior/exterior considered...an elaborate dog or cat flap, animal-inspired decor, a themed pet room, a internal mural or on an end terrace etc...If you know of anyone please pass on or message samantha.carty@pulsefilms.co.uk with contact details and a photo of your creation. We are looking to find and short-list people in the next few days.

The filming is for 'idents' which will run throughout the year on The Home Channel which is part of UK TV. Participants would be paid for taking part in half a day's filming (likely during 3rd-8th January 2012). There is a fee offered to anyone who takes part.

Our campaign to stop breeding Staffies...

2011-12-13T12:56:00.000Z

made it into the Sun yesterday...
Only a very small piece, but it's a step in the right direction!

Need a holiday yet?

2011-12-09T12:25:00.000Z

Would you like to win a free trip through the Eurotunnel?

We have a short-break ticket plus free travel for up to two dogs to give away to a lucky reader! Here's what you have to do and it couldn't be more simple. One person will be chosen at random to win.

Email your name and address to info.marketing@eurotunnel.com and put "Dogs Today" in the subject heading.

Entries close 12 January 2012.

Or you can post your details to: Dogs Today competition, The Channel Tunnel Group Ltd, UK Terminal, Ashford Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT18 8XX.

Searching 10 more dogs looking for a home

2011-12-07T17:56:00.000Z

I admit it, I'm a pushover. We had one extra dog come in the day after we filled the last slot in our February adoption special and I couldn't stand the thought of this lovely dog not getting a chance.

So I've created two more pages for the feature - which means we've got space for 10 more dogs! Please pass it on and spread the word.

We need 100 words as if written by the dog and the answers to some simple questions and a good photo that is big enough to be printed - ie 300 dpi and at least 1MB when you email us - certainly no less than 500kb.

Email me, beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk with "Adopt me 2" in the subject line. Check out the way the pages look in the current issue to get the hang of how to do the best write up. Write as if you are the dog looking for a home, make your dog an individual and not just a statistic.

The questions are:
1. Name of dog:
2. Type of dog and size if not obvious:
3. Approx age: (in years)
4. Sex:
5. Neutered?
6. Housetrained?
7. With other dogs?
8. With cats?
9. Good with young children?
10. Good with older children?
11. Location (County):
12. Contact details: (Web and phone)
13. Foster or forever home?

Hurry! Please spread this far and wide. And yes - this is completely free.

Another Red card for Man United

2011-12-06T09:54:00.001Z

Footballers Dogs would make a great TV documentary if anyone out there researching such things is reading.
Mr Anderson is out of the Man U squad at the moment nursing a knee injury - whether it was at the hands of a paramilitary branch of the puppy farm campaign group is still unclear at this stage.
Mr Anderson apparently bought two Bernese Mountain Dogs from a certain massive pet superstore in Salford, the one where Wayne and Coleen hang out and other footballing royalty and intelligentsia.
Unfortunately he forgot about sex.
An unusual statement to make about a professional footballer, I know.
But Mr Anderson obviously knew his beloved dogs intimately - for according to the papers he never noticed he had a boy dog and a girl dog until the 10 pups arrived.
Did no one suggest neutering or birth control to Mr Anderson?
Do we really want such an idiot reproducing - never mind his dogs?
And this is most likely to be a brother sister mating isn't it?
Nice.
Incest in the premier division.
Unless the pet shop had several litters of Bernese Mountain Dogs on offer when he bought a matching pair?
Maybe he thought you buy dogs like you buy shoes?
(That's why they have Hush Puppies after all.)
So just in time for Christmas, Mr Anderson is limping around the parks of Salford trying to offload his 10 pups that are eating him out of tasteful house and home.
If there are no takers in this wonderfully caring way of selecting new homes he is contemplating moving to a castle.
Here's a link to the story if you were hoping I was making all this up... Click here and take blood pressure medication.
Have asked Dogs Trust this morning if they can have a word and take over finding homes for these unplanned pups. Let's hope he does accept the help.
And please step forward a caring, intelligent footballer to show people this really is no way to behave.
I would be keen to start a new annual award.
Forget Rear of the Year, let's have an award for Celebrity Arse of the Year in a welfare context...
Suggestions please as to what the trophy should look like?
I'm thinking a very realistic dog turd...

It's competition time!

2011-12-05T14:57:00.001Z

Can you think of a funny caption for this photo featuring Kodi and Kaya, Northern Inuits. Best caption wins a Dog Traning Kit for Dummies courtesy of the Company of Animals and five runners up will win a Marrow Ring.

Email your captions to comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or go to our Dogs Today facebook page and share the fun and read others ideas for inspiration!
We'll be judging tomorrow at 1pm! So hurry.

Adopt me again!

2011-12-05T14:29:00.000Z

Only seven slots left in next issue's Adopt Me section - so please hurry if you have a hard to home dog you want included and haven't yet applied! We need 100 words as if written by the dog and the answers to some simple questions and a good photo that is big enough to be printed - ie 300 dpi and at least 1MB when you email us - certainly no less than 500kb.

Email me, beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk with "Adopt me 2" in the subject line. Check out the way the pages look in the current issue to get the hang of how to do the best write up. Write as if you are the dog looking for a home, make your dog an individual and not just a statistic.

The questions are:
1. Name of dog:
2. Type of dog and size if not obvious:
3. Approx age: (in years)
4. Sex:
5. Neutered?
6. Housetrained?
7. With other dogs?
8. With cats?
9. Good with young children?
10. Good with older children?
11. Location (County):
12. Contact details: (Web and phone)
13. Foster or forever home?

Hurry! Not many places left, but we can put you on the waiting list as some lucky dogs are homed before we go to press. And yes - this is completely free.

Another episode of Footballers Dogs...

2011-12-02T19:27:00.001Z

A few years ago the Daily Mail asked me to write a page on David and Victoria Beckham's disappointing decision to buy a Shar Pei pup from a pet shop in Milan.
It was pretty much a whole page of head shaking and saying what an atrocious example they had set. How they had let everyone down.
The couple so many people wanted to emulate had impulse-purchased a dog from a pet shop!
It was an outrage.
They'd fueled the depressing battery farm business that consigns poor dogs to a life of reproduction slavery and misery and pumps out pups into the hands of dodgy dealers.
Fast forward a few years...
Today I was sent a link to the Manchester Evening News and an article that seemed to celebrate that pretty much all the Manchester United squad have bought one or more dogs from an enormous pet superstore called Dogs 4 Us in Salford.
Regular Dogs Today readers will remember that this place used to be called Mayfield Kennels.
If you're trying to imagine it - it's a bit like an pseudo Harrods pet department set in the North. But with many more dogs.
I haven't visited for a while, but this place looked really slick, more like a car showroom than how you'd perceive a traditional sawdust floored pet shop selling pups. There was a massive range of breeds when I visited and the website does still say it's a growing part of their business.
When I was there you could pay by card and you could have your dog delivered if you'd prefer. And it was far from cheap - which is probably why the footballing set like it so much. It's reassuringly expensive.
The newspaper article reveals that one Man U player bought a Chow and came back for a Lab.
Wayne Rooney got a Dogue de Bordeaux and Coleen a Bichon.
(Perhaps it was a 'buy one get one free'? )
And there's long opening hours, too.
It's not like trying to prise a pup away from a caring breeder who will make you put your name down on a waiting list, will grill you like you were trying to marry their children and expect you to travel the length of the country probably several times.
And you can buy all your accessories in the same store at the same time when you shop at Dogs 4 You.
I guess the Man U squad knew their friends had shopped there - so they did, too.
And all their fans see articles in the press about the store and they come to see a pet shop dog as being somehow really aspirational.
This week we also had ITV pumping out on prime time TV that a pet shop is the responsible place to buy a pup if you want to avoid puppy farmers.
Deep sigh.
Surely there's a footballer out there that has some involvement in animal welfare that could make acquiring a Staffie from a dogs home fashionable? Now that's a trend I'd love to see.
Or do we all give up and concede that pups are nothing special, they're just a commodity with a profit margin and a shelf life like any other thing?
That we just can't get outraged any more.
People like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney have now made pet shop pups chavy chic and the mainstream media seem now to know no better, either?
When Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, KC, Wood Green and BVA all complain and don't even get the dignity of an answer... well it must not matter as much as we all think. Perhaps we're all out of step?
Deep sigh.
Wish I was still writing my column in the Mail.
And I wish someone on these mainstream TV lite entertainment shows would start sticking up for dogs a bit better and start opening the eyes of the next generation. But it seems our experts just get all star struck and tongue-tied, forgetting why they're actually there.
Is it just me that hears the clock ticking for the surplus dogs waiting to see who is next to be chosen for the needle? Senses the unborn pups growing in their mother's wombs - created just to meet the latest trend or fad.
Senses that all these poor dogs have no choice and that we do and someone could stop dogs being hurt by consumerism and greed.
Someone needs to start connecting with the nation and getting them to care about dogs the way dogs care about us.
Before our best friend slips further into being just another disposable commodity.
We need to explain to people how very special and wonderful dogs are - how we shouldn't treat them like things - like watches, fridges or cars.
You'd not have a baby adoption shop where you can buy a child - so why do we sell dogs like this?
They love us unconditionally, we need to protect them from our ugly side.
We need to remove dogs from impulse purchase situations.
Dogs are just so unbearably cute that we need a really long cooling down time and certainly not any extra encouragement to buy.
But we already have many more dogs than we ever had before.
Perhaps dogs will become like sofas.
Furniture used to last our parents a lifetime, now we all seem to buy a new sofa every couple of years. Maybe we'll be changing our dogs like we change our winter coat in the decades to come....
Do I sound as jaded as a feel?
There are 90 good dogs looking for a home in our January edition.
Many have spent years waiting patiently in rescue for an owner.
They are full of unrequited love.
Yet we keep pumping out more and more and more pups.
In the next four or five days 90 perfectly good dogs will die at the end of a needle because we no longer want them, they are last year's must-have dog.
Give me Wayne Rooney or David Beckham for a day and a film crew.
Let me turn them.
Let me take them to the killing fields of Britain's rejected fashion statement dogs.
Let's have them look unflinchingly into those kind trusting eyes as the injection goes in and the body goes limp and all hope of finding love slips away forever.
Footballers, with all your money and all your influence, can you please make rescuing a dog the next trend?
Can you please make it cool to care?
Can you save British people from becoming serial dog killers?

Super Tiny Morals - a storm in a teacup?

2011-12-01T07:13:00.006Z

We got a big fat no answer from ITV to our concerned email about this show (link here).

Seems we are not alone.... just in from Dogs Trust:

"It was disappointing that the producers of Super Tiny Animals did not respond to our email in advance about the welfare messaging. Dogs Trust would have expected the inappropriateness of some of the behaviour, such as the constant handling of the dogs and the dressing up shown in the programme to be discussed.

"With the programme airing in the run up to Christmas we do have concerns that many people will watch and request a teacup pet as a gift. Although many of the owners shown represent extreme case studies, not all viewers will be aware of the unsuitability of these animals to be domestic pets or the specialist care they require and simply be blinded by the cute factor. Dogs Trust did point out to the producers that we have just run a campaign highlighting the increase in abandoned ‘handbag dogs’, many of whom are overweight and under-socialised as a result of being carried rather than walked. It would have been more responsible for this type of messaging to be included in the programme."

Also in Wood Green's reaction to the programme:

Following the airing of ITV’s Super Tiny Animals last night Wood Green, The Animals Charity would like to state that as a charity we cannot condone the breeding of ‘teacup’ or ‘miniature’ animals of any kind. The subsequent fragility of these breeds combined with on-going medical issues and majorly reduced life expectancy in no way complies with any animal welfare standards that we support. To add an exorbitant price tag to these poor creatures just adds insult to injury. If mother nature intended them to be that small she would have created them herself, minus the medical issues. Wood Green would also like to urge people to think carefully before considering rehoming a new pet this Christmas. It is important to remember that any animal, whether it be a dog, cat, ferret, rabbit, sheep, chicken or goat, will require care, love and attention throughout its' lifetime and not just over the festive period.

Did ITV acknowledge the KC or Blue Cross? They all told us they were all also contacting ITV with big worries about the programme?

The BVA - the British Veterinary Association - told me yesterday they still hadn't heard anything from ITV.

Not a word.

But the Teacup pages on facebook are alive with on the one hand 'iccle dog 'must have' frenzy and lively debate from welfare crusaders who keep getting banned!

And on Twitter I saw that TV vet Marc Abraham did half a day filming trying to balance out the negatives and the puppy farming concerns - but his contribution was ended up on the cutting room floor! Why?

Another concerned dog lover on Twitter has been very lucky and has received a reply from ITV... but I think it's a standard one as it does not address any of her very valid points.

She wrote:

To: ITV Viewer Services
Subject: DISGUSTED

Super Tiny Animals.
What were you thinking??
Not only did your programme involve poor journalism but you also managed to glorify genetic conditions (when you could of gone down a factual and informative route) and you have also commodified animals in a disgusting level of consumerism.
Do you have any idea how hard animals welfare charities and groups work? And you have quite easily undone there good work RIGHT BEFORE XMAS. This was either very stupid of you or it was a clearly planned PR stunt.
You have been wholly irresponsible with this programme and I will be writing to Ofcom immediately.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Miss Samantha Edwards.

Dear Samantha
Thank you for your email regarding Super Tiny Animals.
Super Tiny Animals is a documentary about the well-established and well-documented trend for micro-pets both in the US and the UK over recent years. There are stories about the experiences of individuals breeding, owning and petting micro-pets, which encompass their reasons for their involvement with the animals, the pleasure they derive, as well as the drawbacks and responsibilities inherent in dealing with them. Within the framework of its focus on the trend there are clear references throughout that informed viewers of the need to deal with responsible breeders, and of the presence within the market of irresponsible ones, make them aware of the health problems some species can encounter, the size that the animals can be expected to reach, the level of care they require and their requirement for owners who are committed to their long-term care
May I take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to contact us here at ITV as we always welcome viewers’ feedback, and your comments have been registered here at Viewer Services.
If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards
Julia
ITV VIEWER SERVICES

Hmm, so that's okay then Julia! Let's chew over that claim...

"there are clear references throughout that informed viewers of the need to deal with responsible breeders..."

So why was the only person you interviewed about buying a teacup dog a pet shop owner who actually retails teacup dogs?

And what nuggets of 'informed' advice did she provide about tracking down responsible breeders?

She cheerfully told the viewers that if you buy carefully, ie from a pet shop, your teacup handbag dog might only have a dash of water on the brain - but you need to buy from someone like her - a pet shop - and not a nasty puppy farm cashing in on a craze fueled by idiots like ITV.

Ah yes. Very good.

Is ITV stupid or just incredibly ignorant?

Who do they think supplies pet shops with teacup dogs?

Responsible, caring breeders or... people cashing in on a trend and breeding small dogs for big profits most probably in a puppy farm - even if it is only an 'iccle one?

Would they ask a drug dealer about the best way to avoid getting addicted to heroin?

A pet shop that claimed "only 70%" of their customers are suitable to buy one of their dogs.

How discerning!

I'm guessing the other 30% can't afford them.

Did ITV listen to ANY animal welfare organisations before they compiled this prime-time Puppy Farm commercial?

Have they even heard of the "A Dog is for Life not just for Christmas" campaign?

Who in their right mind planned a programme that profiled a series of totally unsuitable mutant and endangered animals in such a sugar-coated unquestioning early evening format three weeks before Christmas?

For god's sake, I'm told the poor monkey featured is actually on the on the CITES list!!!

And why did they edit out the 'balancing' section by vet Marc Abraham?

I think we can all predict what's going to be the Xmas number one requested toy this year and it's not going to Barbie.

Ironically Dogs Trust launch today their Ho No No campaign ... I quote...

"By the end of this week most children would have written their Christmas wish lists so today Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, is launching its “Ho No No” Campaign to take puppies off the Christmas wish list. Research from the charity reveals that over a third of children have asked for a puppy as a present and worryingly 16% of parents would buy one if their child put it on their list.

"Dogs Trust believes that part of the reason puppies are considered suitable “gifts” is the fact they are sold so easily though pet shops and websites. Despite repeated pleas not to get a puppy from a pet shop over one third of parents would still look for “that doggy in the window”; 18% get a dog online and 9% would search newspaper ads.

As part of the “Ho, No, No” campaign, Dogs Trust is encouraging people to send a FREE Christmas card to their local pet shop or more high profile outlets such as Harrods to “Stop selling puppies at Christmas time”. This mirrors Dogs Trust’s own policy of stopping rehoming dogs in the run up to Christmas and New Year. Anyone wanting to get involved should visit http://www.adogisforlife.com "

Was ITV out of their Super Tiny Minds?

The hashtag #supertinyanimals was a car crash of people lusting after micropigs, microdonkeys and microhorses and, of course, teacup handbag pups.

What next, are we to get ITV appointing Rosemary West their expert on keeping your children safe and patio design?

Here's a link to what you get in your teacup that you may not want should you still want one.

Please pass that link on to Santa's 'iccle helpers and try to dissuade a super tiny disaster in rescue this year.

Be interested to hear what others thought - especially the welfare world who appear to have had the small matter of their very big concerns ignored.

Here's the link to Ofcom and ITV complaints...
(email viewerservices@itv.com)
who may be a tiny bit super busy this morning.

Next issue January's Dogs Today (out December 8th) has removed the Perfect Pup section of the magazine and is instead profiles 90 good dogs that have been waiting in rescue for a very, very long time. Our rescue system is already full to bursting with at least 20 healthy but unwanted dogs being put to sleep every day.

If only ITV had instead featured this welfare disaster and urged viewers not to buy a puppy for Christmas - big or small.

First ever steps on grass

2011-11-29T18:03:00.001Z

This movie made me cry. These Beagles have only ever known life in a research lab. Yet look how trusting they are, how much they want to be someone's pet.
Dogs forgive so much.

Do you have a hard to place dog?

2011-11-29T14:47:00.000Z

We've just decided to put some more dogs for adoption in the February edition, we've not got quite so much room this time, so hurry!

Here's what the pages look like in the soon to be published January edition....

Here's how to apply - and yes - this is completely free!

All you need to do is send me a hi-res image of any dog you want to feature and 100 words written as if by the dog themselves and the answers to the following questions...

1. Name of dog:
2. Type of dog and size if not obvious:
3. Approx age: (in years)
4. Sex:
5. Neutered?
6. Housetrained?
7. With other dogs?
8. With cats?
9. Good with young children?
10. Good with older children?
11. Location (County):
12. Contact details: (Web and phone)
13. Foster or forever home?

Email me (beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk) and put "Adopt me 2" in the subject please.

An historic day for Hounds for Heroes!

2011-11-28T19:55:00.000Z

Page Three of the Daily Mail this morning and national ITV News this lunchtime and evening, what a momentous day for Hounds for Heroes.
Now that is what I call a launch...!

Cost - zero.

Impact - meteoric.

Ever eloquant, Allen Parton did a great job and so did Carol Court... but the stars of the piece clever EJ and the beautiful, clever puppies on parade.
Well done to the breeders and puppy parents and everyone who raised money, gave time and thought and sweat and tears.
Your great work created today - millions more people have heard of the charity tonight than knew this morning.
If by any chance you alight here via ITV News, please do buy some Hounds for Heroes Christmas cards - £2 a pack to the charity - not just a tiny percentage - see the link at the end.
And everyone you send a card to sees the name on the back and lovely little Juno in his jacket.
We are so very proud that we have Juno on our current cover and January (due out on December 8th) has the first five pups and our Fantastic Tim Rose photo that the Daily Mail loved so much they put on page 3... which made the rest of the media sit up and take notice!
Tim had the patience of a saint that day to get that shot - but it was worth every Nurofen he and I consumed. Little pups need you to do the work while they have fun - but we got there with a lot of help from photoshop and numerous cups of tea from the very understanding puppy walkers and trainers who let us do our thing! It was worth it, wasn't it!
A picture is worth a thousand words and page 3 of the Mail is gold dust.
February Dogs Today will have even more news of the charity and we'll be telling you how to get involved a a puppy walker or a fundraiser. This is such a wonderful charity and I know you all want to get behind it as it reminds the public how totally wonderful dogs can be, how a wagging tail can lift the spirit so much better than even the best chosen words. An d of course Allen writes for us every month as regular readers know! They've watched the charity be born.
I'm sure all Dogs Today readers will have watched the news tonight and have cheered Allen on.
Has there ever been a charity started by someone who was once a recipient of charity? Who has got their life back together to such a degree that they can pass the baton on to give other folk like him the sort of chance of a lifetime he had.
It's the stuff that dreams and Oscar winning feature films are made of....!
Kennel Cough vaccines mean the pups are resting up this week and can't do media - the ITV news was showing library footage shot a couple of weeks ago for local TV news. But the world has definitely awoken and is hungry for more.
Allen said to me today while exercising EJ, "It feels like it did when Endal was dog of the Millennium, there's that same media buzz."
I was so honoured and thrilled to be there in 1999 when the media madness started but I couldn't be more proud of Allen than I am today as this is quite a journey he's been on and there's still so much more to come!
Really is history in the making today.
Here's the link for the Xmas cards. Apologies for the advert, but it's for a VERY good cause!
http://www.dogstodaymagazine.co.uk/houndsforheroes/
Please do pass it on!

How does your dog's dinner smell?

2011-11-28T14:25:00.000Z

Just starting to research a feature on how what your dog smells is different to what we smell. Is anyone aware of any research on this subject that sheds some light on what smells a dog finds attractive and why?
What's your dog's favourite smell and why?
Do some dogs have a better sense of smell than others? How about flat nosed dogs - can they smell at all? (My dogs got no nose...etc)
And how does smell and taste relate? I know they are very linked in humans - if we lose our sense of smell we often lose interest in food. What smells are the strongest?
What's your dogs favourite food and what does it smell like?
Anyone got a dog with a very sensitive nose? Our Oscar for example is incredibly fussy and will literally turn his nose up at anything out of the ordinary.
Tess almost has radar for any food left in a bin - even the tiniest smear on a piece of kitchen towel.
Does dog food that smells good to us smell good to dogs?

Fenton....

2011-11-28T10:50:00.003Z

We may have some news on the real Fenton... watch this space.... but for now what we think is the best Fenton tribute movie so far...

Hounds for Heroes

2011-11-28T10:35:00.001Z

Have you seen page three of the Daily Mail today? There's a fantastic article on Hounds for Heroes featuring this lovely photo (above)....

Tim Rose and I spent a very enjoyable morning working with these pups to get this shot, you have to work very fast with pups but I have to say they all look like proper little angels don't they! I had a cuddle with all of them and they are bright as buttons and full of character and potential. It's a hard life!
Can you spot which one is Juno - this month's cover dog? He's grown a bit, but he's still absolutely gorgeous.
If you'd like to support this new charity why not buy these special Hound for Heroes Christmas cards - £2 from each £5 pack of 10 goes to the charity - which is substantially more than most charity Christmas cards.

You can order online via this link or phone the office Monday to Friday 9-5.30 on 01276 858880.
These large A5 Cards feature January's cover fantastic stars Bonnie and Boris. And the photo was again the best dog photographer in the world Tim Rose with a little bit of help from Kevin Brockbank. What a team!
Would you like to stock these cards in your shop or sell them at your event? Email me for more details beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

Not so Super Tiny Animals?

2011-11-25T11:13:00.005Z

Here is a copy of the email I have just sent to the ITV press office:

I have already heard lots of people in the welfare world showing grave concern about the upcoming ITV programme about Super Tiny Animals (to be shown Wednesday, 30 November 2011 ITV, 7:30PM - 8:30PM) causing an upsurge in interest in handbag and very small dogs - especially as Christmas is coming. The early evening slot will mean lots of children will be watching the show.

Can I have a quote as to whether the subject will be handled responsibly - will there any reference made to the acquisition of 'handbag dogs' as being a really, really bad idea - or will it be shown as aspirational?

Dogs are an extremely inappropriate fashion accessory as unlike this season's shoes or scarf they can't be pushed to the back of the wardrobe when your idol changes their look. Dogs are sentient beings and should never be bought on impulse as they can easily live 15 years or more and have normal doggie needs and demands no matter how big or small.

The Handbag dog craze has put quite a burden on an already over-stretched rescue system. Britain now has 10.5 million dogs almost double the population of 40 years ago.

Dogs Trust recently went into partnership with Nintendo to make the point that the only dog in your handbag should be a Computer game and that dog ownership is a huge commitment - a message endorsed by the Saturdays. Last year a teenage boy bought a Pomeranian to go with his Christmas outfit and by the New Year his mother had brought the poor little thing into the Dogs Trust for rehoming. Rescue is already full to bursting before Christmas and the last thing we need is a load more people pestering for a handbag dog for Xmas.

Please can I have a statement from the programme makers to assure the animal welfare world that this documentary will not glorify 'handbag' dogs or encourage people to breed extremely small dogs - which in itself has serious health implications.

A copy of this email is on my blog and I would be grateful for a swift response as the rescue world is already beleaguered.

Yours sincerely

Beverley Cuddy
Editor & Publisher

Blue Cross have just issued this statement:

We have seen the number of 'handbag' dogs coming into the charity triple in the past five years so it is definitely something which seems to be a growing concern.

Julie Bedford, head of behaviour at The Blue Cross, said: “We hope that anyone watching the programme will realise you should never get an animal to follow a trend, or for the way it looks. Anyone considering taking on a pet should fully research the breed and its needs to make sure they can give it the happy and fulfilled life it deserves.

“We have seen first-hand the danger of fashion trends with the huge increase in unwanted 'handbag dogs' coming into The Blue Cross. Dogs like chihuahuas and pomeranians are great pets but they need to be given the stimulation and exercise they need to keep them happy and healthy. These are little dogs with big personalities and like any pet they must be taken on for the right reasons, not just as a fashion accessory."

Dogs Trust have also been in touch with ITV and the kennel Club.

As yet we have received no reponse from ITV.

The BVA have just sent this email, too... people are getting more and more concerned about this programme...

We are concerned that the forthcoming programme ‘Super Tiny Animals’ to be broadcast on Wednesday 30 November 7.30pm-8.30pm, which comes in the run-up to Christmas, might possibly have the potential to encourage people to buy pets such as ‘handbag’ dogs, micro-pigs or exotic species such as mini marmosets, without their giving full consideration to the huge responsibility and lifetime commitment that comes with pet ownership.

We note in the publicity for the programme that it seeks to find out whether the mini-pet industry is ‘a lucrative business or a cruel genetic mutation’. Given that the programme is also billed as ‘probing and insightful’ we very much hope that sufficient emphasis will be given not only to the demands and difficulties of owning these mini-pets but to the serious welfare needs of these animals.

Sadly there is growing trend for people to buy animals as fashion accessories or status symbols and indeed it is all too easy to take on a pet without realising the responsibilities for the care and welfare of that animal. Pets are not disposable commodities. People must understand their obligations under the Animal Welfare Act and, with so many of our animal rescue and re-homing charities stretched to the limit of their resources, we share a responsibility to draw attention to the enormous responsibility and long-term commitment that comes with pet ownership.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Helena

Helena Cotton
Media & International Affairs Officer
British Veterinary Association

Have you seen Fenton? Or Benton? We're looking for him!

2011-11-24T14:02:00.001Z

If you have not yet seen these films, sit down, turn up the volume and have a jolly good chuckle. But do keep reading as we do have a serious point to make.

And this now legendary clip inspired:

Who'd have thought that naughty dogs could travel this far....

And of course Walt Disney has to have a version:

Adding music works:

And some more background:

Are there any more? Do let me know!

But where is Fenton? Did he ever come back and were the deer okay?
We would love to find him and his owner as we have a very generous offer on the table. We'd like to offer them both a deer awareness course.
In the next issue we will have an article that should help anyone else out there with a dog like Fenton.

But if you do know Fenton, please tell him we're looking for him!

Let's put the world to rights...

2011-11-18T15:26:00.002Z

I'm just starting writing an article and I'd welcome a lively debate on the subject to get me thinking outside the box!
It's my perception that there has never been more good dogs put to sleep.
But is my feeling correct?
Are you on the coal face of rescue?
Are you stretched to breaking point?
Why do you think that is?
I have my theories, but I want to hear yours.
I'd like to hear your thoughts as to the real size of the problem, is it even bigger than the statistics suggest? Dogs Trust say 20 dogs a day being PTS at the moment. Are there any other stats?
Why are we in this mess and crucially what you think would get us out of it?
A breeding amnesty has been suggested, would this help?
How about a breeding tax that put money back into rescue and dog wardens?
Or something else that makes breeding have a consequence like the Puppy Contract?
Is the UK dog population at its highest ever?
Why?
And is it just some breeds that have had a population explosion?
Has dog ownership of other breeds other than so called 'status' dogs really declined?
Tell me who you are - pet owner, breeder, rescue person and what you think.
Would really like to hear some alternative theories of how we tackle to the dog problem before I write my happy (!) new year article.
Do either email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or post here or join us on Dogs Today facebook page.

A quick reaction to the first few posts.
If the explosion of Designer Dogs is the cause of the problem why isn't Battersea bursting at the seams with oodles of Doodles?

A further thought...
Many have commented about our throwaway buy-it-now society. But what do we think about people already on the breadline who take on a dog and then discover they cannot afford even the most basic vet bill? Is dog ownership a right or a luxury? Do you feel differently about people who have a change of circumstance after getting the dog?

Remember remember dogs lost on 5th of November

2011-11-17T11:04:00.001Z

I've been asked to give this a push.

It is always dreadful when dogs go missing, but especially old dogs when it's cold and there's lots of nasty bangs. But this story has people all over the world willing Ruaridh (pronounced Rory) home... can you help, too?

Here's Rory's link on doglost.
Very distressed owner, Aileen is all alone as her partner is visiting his elderly parents in Australia while both her sons are serving in the army. Her sons dearly want to help - but their postings mean they can't get home. They can obviously do without this worry.
People from all over the world are lending a helping hand - maybe they can't just get up to Scotland and search, but they have and are helping with moral support and good ideas - please do join in. The more eyes looking and the more people talking about Rory the better his chances of coming home.
Rory went missing in Boath Park area of Nairn in the Highlands of Scotland on firework night.
He's an 11-year-old neutered male black Labrador cross with an elderly/silver face.
He has a big fatty lump on his right side but no ID as he slipped his collar with the tags on it.
He has a silver tummy due to going grey.
His name is Ruaridh (Rory) and is very friendly-especially with children and would come if called.
Ruaridh (Rory) isn’t chipped due to getting really stressed out at the Vets.
Aileen happened to mention Rory on MSE forum (money saving expert) and lots of people tried to rally round and help. Soon the word was spread far and wide including a Facebook group. With all these people helping we thought it wouldn’t be long before this old timer was found.
The local radio MFR (Moray Firth Radio) was bombarded with emails and after a while they did put an alert out. The local papers ran the story but still nothing.
There were a few possible sightings and these were checked out but by the time someone got there he had gone further a field.
Poor, poor Aileen. Poor Rory.
If you are in the Highlands please keep an eye out for him, or if you are on any forums - doggie or not - can you spread the word and offer moral support?
Rory's facebook page
MSC Forum

Have you been inspired by Allen and Endal?

2011-11-04T11:00:00.000Z

I'm on the hunt for lovely Dogs Today readers who have been inspired by the Allen and Endal story - who have gone on to raise funds for Hounds for Heroes?
Has this story touched you?
What did you do to raise money?
Or what do you plan to do?
Can you tell me what was it was that particularly inspired you to help? When did you first hear about Allen and Endal?
I can't tell you too much about what this is all in aid of, but it's very, very exciting!
Can you email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk and put Hounds for Heroes in the subject.
It's not the amount of money raised that is particularly significant, it's your story as to how the story has inspired you and mobilized you into wanting to get involved.

A spot of brainstorming

2011-11-02T19:03:00.000Z

I have been collating all the gorgeous dogs' stories that are looking for someone to love them via our special January adoption special and I was wondering would any companies like to get involved?
For example, I'd really like to reward people who choose to take on these dogs.
To somehow mark their generosity of spirit in welcoming a lost soul into their family rather than buying a pup.
Give them a pat on the back.
Or maybe give the rescue a pressie, too to help the next dog that takes the empty place?
What do you think?
Just thinking out loud.
How about some free training advice if it's a dog from a small rescue that doesn't have a behaviour hotline?
Maybe an offer to encourage more fostering? Fostering has been known to turn into a forever home as so many people will tell you!
Anyway, if you're feeling kind and you want to offer the first dog to be re-homed via the adoption special a present, or every dog - or a random dog that you can choose in advance... get in touch with me (beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk) or Fred Cope (fred@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk) for imaginative ways to encourage people to consider adopting one of those very patient and hopeful dogs waiting for someone to love them.

Friday is the deadline for your rescue dogs please, we're putting as many in as possible but first come and first served... here's what you need to do.

If you know of a dog that needs a new home here's what you need to send to me:

A good photo (ideally 300dpi and remember a picture is worth a thousand words, so take one that is in focus! And send as an attachment - not embedded in a document)
Name of dog:
Type of dog and size if not obvious:
Approx age: (in years)
Sex:
Neutered?
Housetrained?
With other dogs?
With cats?
Good with young children?
Good with older children?
Location (County):
Contact details: (Web and phone)
Foster or forever home?

Plus 100 words written in first person (ie as if the dog is looking for a new owner) - something that makes people think of this dog as an individual. Don't over sell - just make the dog seem real.

Please include a web and phone contact as not all of our readers are Internet savy.

Email your words and pictues to beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
and put ADOPT ME in the subject line so I don't lose them.

We will include as many dogs looking for homes as possible, those coming with the correct word count and good photos will be chosen first above those with incomplete information, so please try to follow the instructions!

And yes - this is FREE!

Please do spread this opportunity far and wide. This Friday (morning) is the latest possible for entries and it is first come, first served.

Is your dog psychic? Want to be on TV?

2011-11-02T12:54:00.001Z

Do you have stories or evidence that your dog may have psychic abilities – or some sort of sixth sense?

Any dogs that know when their owners are coming home – or have predicted any events – or anything quirky or unusual that might suggest a dogs has unusual powers?

This is for a series on National Geographic called Wild Case Files.
It investigates strange events in the animal world.

If you have a story... here is the chap...

samhodgson@tigressproductions.co.uk

Help stop the slow death of Japan's abandoned animals

2011-11-02T12:20:00.001Z

Depressing news from Japan, this is taken from the Mayhew International website:

The situation in Japan is still in such turmoil and for the animals it just
keeps getting worse. The news does the situation no justice, they air
stories of rescues and only the occasional true glimpse into the hell that
the animals in the disaster area are going through.

In the 20km no-go zone around the nuclear reactors people were told they
could not take their animals with them but they would only be gone a couple
of days. It has been over a month, the animals were left inside houses,
tethered in yards and in the case of livestock left in small pens with only
a couple of days worth of food and water and no way to get more. Even with
ARK and a couple of other groups going around the barracades to reach these
animals tens if not hundreds of thousands of animals have died a slow death
of starvation and dehydration. This horrible scene is about to repeat.

With the threat of the evacuation zone being extended to 30km, at least one
other town is scheduled to be evacuated within a month and the authorities
have already told people they will not be able to take their pets with them.
We can not allow them to force people to leave their animals behind again.

We need the voices of everyone in the world concerned with animal welfare to
speak up and let the Japanese government know that this is unacceptable.

Please join us in pressuring the Japanese government to set aside housing
for pets to stay with their people. The Mayhew have prepared a petition, for people
and organisations to sign and send to the three people listed below. If you
could use your organisation's stamp or official letter paper to add to the
authenticity, it would have more effect. Please add comments if you like
too. Please could you post by express mail.

Mr. Ryu Matsumoto, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 1-6-1 Nagata-cho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8914

Mr. Yorihisa Matsuno, The Democratic Party of Japan, #240 House of
Representatives, 2-1-2 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8982

Mr. Kouriki Jojima, The Democratic Party of Japan, 2-27 Miyamoto-cho,
Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 210-0004

We are also working on getting property closer to the disaster area to house
animals and to use as a base of operation as our Osaka shelter is not only
too far away but also quite full with the animals we have already taken in.
We would like for this facility to become a place for all organisations
around the world that would like to help in this effort to work together to
rescue as many animals from this disaster as possible. If you would like to
join in this group please let us know.

Thank you in advance for your support, Elizabeth Oliver ARK, Animal Refuge Kansai - ARK

Here is the petition wording - please copy and print out:

P E T I T I O N date: ___ / ___/ ___

To: Mr. Ryu Matsumoto, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan 1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8914
Mr. Yorihisa Matsuno, Chairman, Democratic Party of Japan #240 House of Representatives, 2-1-2 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8982!
Mr. Koriki Jojima, Democratic Party of Japan2-27 Miyamoto-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 210-0004

From:
Address:
Purpose of Petition

To request that, when housing is provided to victims of the earthquake and tsunami that
struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011, measures be taken to allow cohabitation with their
companion animals (dogs, cats and other pets, henceforward referred to as PETS).
Reasons for Petition
1 Housing provided to earthquake victims by the national or local governments generally falls
into the following categories:
a) Evacuation centers;
b) Existing public housing, such as municipal and prefectural housing, or housing built for national public servants;
c) Temporary housing
d) Newly constructed public housing.
2 Meanwhile, it is stated in Article 4 of “Basic Principles of the Environment Ministry in its
Response to the Tohoku-Pacific Region Earthquake” published on March 16, 2011, that
“adequate support will be provided to ensure that pets in the
disaster area receive appropriate care so that people and their pets
can maintain good relations while living within the disaster area.”
For pets to be banned from evacuation centers, public housing and temporary housing,
forcing earthquake victims and their pets to live separately, would therefore be in direct violation of
this stated aim of the Environment Ministry.

signed _______________________________

Would your dog like to go to a premier?

2011-10-18T14:08:00.000+01:00

Calling all dog owners! London will witness one of first ever fine dining and cocktail drinking experiences exclusively for dogs as new research is set to reveal British dogs are becoming more human as the level of extravagance and pampering the capital’s dog owners bestow on their pets rises.

To celebrate the DVD release of Family Guy Season 11 – and one of the show’s main characters, Brian the refined, human-like and jazz-loving dog – Islington pub The Mucky Pub will be taken over for one evening where dogs will be treated just like people.

They’ll be served sophisticated gourmet food and specially concocted dog-friendly cocktails whilst being waited on hand and paw by butlers and waitresses. A special band will be playing smooth jazz sounds, alongside other entertainment, for dogs and their owners to lounge to.

Some selected menu inclusions:

Cocktails
Bone-tinis
Hair of the Dog
Dog Island Ice Tea
Salty Dog
Satan’s Whiskers

Appetiser / Entrée
Bow Wow Wow Chicken Liver Parfait
Barking for Beef-Roast Beef. Curls served on a silver platter
Rovers Risotto (rice, meatballs and a baked cheesy crust)
Paw Licking Chicken

Dessert
Pawtisserie-Bonewhichs and Yorkie Tarts

To register for this event please email familyguy@premierpr.com

And if you go please can you email me photos!

New Year? New Home? Great opportunity

2011-10-17T15:07:00.002+01:00

Our January edition (out in December) will be an adoption special. For the first time in our history we'll be opening up many of our pages to free adverts for dogs looking for homes. Here's an example of the sort of thing we'll be including...

Milly

I’ve been waiting for 18 months, but I've never given up hope. People keep picking the dogs on either side of me here, but you'll come for me soon - I know you will. I’m very lucky to be safe, but I’ve so much love to give - seems such a waste to be stuck in the waiting room of life. I was sleeping in a car - I didn’t know any better and I had 10 pups. I lost my ‘home’ the next time I came into season. I loved my people and lived with children and cats - I even slept on my master’s bed when I got the chance. I’d prefer to be the only dog, although I used to live with many others.

Name of dog: Milly

Type of dog and size if not obvious: Staffie

Approx age: (in years) 4

Sex: Female

Neutered? Yes

Housetrained: Yes

With other dogs? Probably prefer to be the only dog

With cats? Was brought up around them

Good with young children: Possibly

Good with older children: Yes

Location (County): Surrey

Contact details: http://rescueremedies.myfastforum.org/ftopic3035-0-asc-165.php

Or phone: 020 8274 0471

Foster or forever home? Either

If you know of a dog that needs a new home here's what you need to send to me:

A good photo (ideally 300dpi and remember a picture is worth a thousand words, so take one that is in focus! And send as an attachment - not embedded in a document)
Name of dog:
Type of dog and size if not obvious:
Approx age: (in years)
Sex:
Neutered?
Housetrained?
With other dogs?
With cats?
Good with young children?
Good with older children?
Location (County):
Contact details: (Web and phone)
Foster or forever home?

Plus 100 words written in first person (ie as if the dog is looking for a new owner) - something that makes people think of this dog as an individual. Don't over sell - just make the dog seem real.

Please include a web and phone contact as not all of our readers are Internet savy.

Email your words and pictues to beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
and put ADOPT ME in the subject line so I don't lose them.

We will include as many dogs looking for homes as possible, those coming with the correct word count and good photos will be chosen first above those with incomplete information, so please try to follow the instructions!

And yes - this is FREE!

Please do spread this opportunity far and wide. If you volunteer in a rescue kennels and you know a dog that you think deserves this opportunity please do offer to complete this on behalf of the kennels, that's how we heard about Milly and how this idea came about!

Wilberforce lords it at Westminster Dog of the Year

2011-10-13T14:28:00.000+01:00

Back for the 19th year, Westminster Dog of the Year has once again caught the competitive spirit of MPs across the country. In the face of strong competition from a Conservative group of entrants, Neil Parish and his Labrador Wilberforce were announced the proud winners of the hotly anticipated title.

Says Neil Parish MP:

“I’m delighted that Wilberforce has won and shown what a brilliant dog he is. I’m sure his constituents in Tiverton and Honiton will be as delighted as I am that their local dog has won such an accolade. Events such as this highlight the importance of responsible dog ownership and hopefully more and more people will make the right decisions when choosing a dog and more importantly ensure they take on board what it means to be a good owner.”

Organised jointly by Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club, the award saw a host of MPs, nearly a clean sweep of Conservatives, and their dogs canvassing in the judging ring to be crowned the top dog. Whether describing their dog’s most heroic or good deed to comparing their four-legged companion to an A-list star, the judging was nail-biting stuff. The judging panel - Clarissa Baldwin, CEO of Dogs Trust, Vanessa McAlpine, Discover Dogs and Crufts Events Manager and 2010 Westminster Dog of the Year winner Helen Grant MP were faced with 17 dogs, ranging in size from Elvis the Chihuahua (Simon Kirby MP, Cons – Brighton Kemptown) to Sophie the German Shepherd (Karl McCartney MP, Cons – Lincoln).

Summing up the reason for Wilberforce’s victory, Clarissa Baldwin of Dogs Trust says,

“Our Westminster Dog of the Year competition is all about celebrating the unique bond between person and dog, and Wilberforce is this year’s victor because the judges could clearly see the mutual love and respect between him and Neil.”

Vanessa McAlpine of the Kennel Club says:

“Each and every year we hold the event as a way to get to meet some of the new four-legged additions to Parliament and we are pleased to see many new faces this year, along with some familiar ones. The variety of dogs that came down to today’s Westminster Dog of the Year shows how dogs of all shapes and sizes can fit into anyone’s lives and today’s event demonstrates how committed these MPs are to responsible dog ownership.”

Last year’s winner was Charlie, a Border Terrier belonging to Helen Grant MP.

The 2011 final three are:

1. Neil Parish & Wilberforce
(Conservative – Tiverton & Honiton)
Labrador – 4 years

2. Jake Berry & Lola
(Conservative – Rossendale and Darwen)
Standard Poodle – 2 years

3. Matthew Offord & Max
(Conservative – Hendon)
Jack Russell – 10 months

PEDIGREE® ADOPTION DRIVE™ 2011 EXTENDS GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINE

2011-10-13T13:56:00.000+01:00

I have been asked to give this a plug....

The Pedigree Adoption Drive, which is back for the fourth year running, has extended this year’s grant application deadline for an additional week and is calling on all members of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) to apply for grants before 7th November.

Launching on the 17th October, the annual campaign seeks to raise funds and awareness for the thousands of abandoned and strayed dogs across the UK. So far the campaign has raised over £1million for rescue homes - which has helped to fund the vital refurbishment of dilapidated kennel blocks, supply desperately needed veterinary facilities and provide essential surgical equipment.

Steve Leonard - TV presenter, vet and face of this year’s Pedigree Adoption Drive said:

“With the number of dogs abandoned at an 11 year high*, we need to work together to raise awareness of this issue, offer support to the rescue homes caring for the abandoned dogs and educate the nation as a whole about the importance of responsible dog ownership.”

Grant applications can be made in writing or by downloading a form from www.pedigreeadoptiondrive.com<http://www.pedigreeadoptiondrive.com/> and posting it to The Petplan Charitable Trust.

Those who are not yet members of the ADCH can apply now for consideration, giving them enough time to get their applications in by Monday 7th November 2011.

To find out further information about this year’s campaign and to learn how you can help, visit www.pedigreeadoptiondrive.com

The Jordan Shelley story takes an unexpected turn

2011-10-13T09:52:00.001+01:00

Over the last few weeks I have spoken increasingly regularly to Jordan Shelley (he of the One Show training debacle).
I know, it's a very odd twist in the story.
I was after all his most vocal critic.
But I have to say you've got to admire this young guy's spirit even if we didn't like what he did on TV.
I've found out all about his dogs and his past and I find increasingly I have wanted to help him.
He obviously loves dogs.
Jordan has three dogs, a Yorkie with brain damage he rescued from Spain, an ex bait dog called Jaffa Cake and a Staffie who previously lived with two agoraphobics.
He fosters lots of dogs, too.
He didn't finish school, has been largely instinctual in how he's trained so far and yes, he has watched Cesar Millan's TV shows. But that makes him a reflection of millions of other people who have watched without question.
Jordan wants to be around dogs all his life, he's not just a media creation.
We have all been young and blissfully unaware of what we didn't know at the time.
Most of us get to learn our life lessons in private.
But Jordan's had his moment in front of millions.
I'm amazed he didn't just want to curl up and hide.
But he's a tough cookie.
Against all advice he phoned me up.
He confronted one of his critics and asked for their help.
Brave.
I'd stopped writing about his journey as initially it seemed the best way, for him to quietly learn without the media following his every step. He'd tee'd up a week shadowing a really great positive trainer who had renounced dominance methods after learning betters ones, had signed up for what has been called the Harvard of dog training courses.
Then I emailed my own personal training guru's Ian and Kelly Dunbar in California to ask would they mentor Jordan as I'm no dog training expert.
What would they do if they were 21 again and just starting out?
And that's where it went a bit crazy, good crazy.
They had followed the One Show story with interest as had many American dog behaviour folk.
That's the fantastic thing about people who really believe in positive training - they don't just teach it, they live it.
They encouraged Jordan to go to the APBT conference in San Diego and went further and welcomed young Jordan into their own home.
He bought his own ticket, paid his way before you all say that it's just so unfair.
Anyone can go to these conferences. I went to one in the 1990s in Florida and I have to say it was mind-blowingly brilliant.
Ian and Kelly are quite simply the most fantastic influences any young trainer could hope for - not just technique and science-wise, but the altruism side of life, too.
I am sure Jordan will come back realising how much he still has to learn, I am sure.
But it's a great step in the right direction and quite an unexpected result.
The Fix the Dog segment was dreadful and it is fantastic how everyone pulled together to sort it out. But we should also celebrate a further victory of potentially having a high profile defector to the positive side!
Let's click and treat him for getting on that plane with a moment's notice and mixing with people who had only weeks before called him a 'clown' and much worse.
A Dalmatian can't change its spots, but I for one hope that a young impressionable dog trainer can change their gurus!
Good luck to Jordan and well done to anyone who now gives him the benefit of the doubt.

A three year ban for cooking your dogs

2011-10-12T18:31:00.003+01:00

I don't pretend to be an expert on the law, but if it's not an ass it's a donkey.
Today in Bromley Magistrates Court former PC Ian Craven was banned from owning dogs for three years after he left his two dogs to bake alive in his car on the hottest day of the summer.
An RSPCA statement said the dogs would have experienced substantial suffering and Craven had been sentenced "accordingly".
I'm sorry, but the sentence doesn't seem in any way appropriate to me.
A lifetime ban, yes.
Community service handing out Don't Cook Your Dog Leaflets, why not!
Six months working in a rescue centre saving as many dogs as he can.
I quote from the BBC report.

On 26 June he left the four-year-old Belgian Malinois called Chay and a six-month-old German Shepherd called Tilly in his vehicle on one of the hottest days of the year.
Prosecutor Andrew Wiles said temperatures that day went from 16.1C (61F) at 7am to 22.2C (72F) by 11am, in the shade.
Craven arrived at about 7am with the dogs in a black plastic cage in the back and parked in front of the main building, in an area with no shade. The court was told he had intended to kennel the dogs while spending the day at the Olympic Village in east London. However, Craven forgot and when he realised several hours later he rang the centre to alert them.

Mr Wiles said: "He was pursued by his colleague, who said he appeared to be in a panic, he was pacing up and down, and heard to say 'I've killed my dogs'."
The court also heard in a previous incident in 2004, Craven had left a spaniel in a hot car at Keston that also died.

Mr Wiles said Craven underwent an internal investigation and pleaded guilty to offences detailed in the code of conduct for police officers and was reprimanded.
RSPCA chief inspector Dermot Murphy said: "Ian Craven, for the second time, left dogs in his vehicle on a hot day and forgot about them.
"This is an unacceptable action and one that is aggravated by the fact that he was a professional dog handler and trainer at the time."

Sentencing him at Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Daphne Wickham said: "I accept it has brought your illustrious career as a sergeant to an end, it may have damaged your wife's career and your reputation with all those around you, and that in itself is a punishment."

In three year's time will he have learned not to forget that dogs die in hot cars? Will his memory have improved?
How many years did it take him to unlearn the previous tragic lesson supposedly learned when he killed his spaniel?
What message does this send to the British public?
That a dog's life is very, very cheap.
That imposing a horrible painful death on your best friend will attract even less punishment than littering.
I know, he tried to kill himself, he's lost his job. He is probably more hated than that woman who put the cat in the bin, but I think he would have expected to be appropriately punished by the court. Going soft on him does him no real favours. The public need to see the crime appropriately punished if they are to move on.
He should not be allowed to have any more dogs, minimum.
He has shown he has not learned anything from the first death.
Why assume that two more deaths will change anything?
District Judge Daphne Wickham, deep sigh, let's hope you don't also let serial killers out again after three years presuming they've learned their lesson. But you didn't even lock this guy up, didn't even fine him - you just stopped him owning any new dogs for three years.
It's nothing.

Chay and Tilly were still alive when they were rescued from that car.
Their brains were bleeding and their internal organs had shut down, but they were still conscious and suffering.
It is a TERRIBLE way to die and Daphne should have been given a lesson on just how horrible before she did her sentencing.
Please support Don't Cook Your Dog, the campaign inspired by this case, and let's try to make sure Chay and Tilly's deaths aren't completely unmarked. Together we can save other dogs from a similar fate. We can look over the shoulder of people who continue to 'forget' they've left their dog in the car. Sadly, it looks like we can't rely on the legal system to take the lead here.

Ready for a change of scenery?

2011-10-07T19:12:00.001+01:00

I've just got off the phone talking to a true character. One of life's true eccentrics.
I have always thought he looks a little like Dumbledore crossed with Merlin. A man with such an interesting and long life.
A published poet. A magician. A glittering career in advertising, a man who has run orchestras, had a brush with the Beatles... I could go on and on. I have had so many long lunches where I've been entertained and fascinated by the life this man had already lived before he arrived in the dog world.
He lives in a beautiful part of Wales in a pretty cottage.
If 10 cars drive along his road it is a busy day.
It is 3/4 of a mile to the village - but there are no longer any shops.
It's a further three and a half miles to the nearest shop and 11 miles to the coast and the university town of Lampeter.
He has a car, but sadly he can no longer drive as he is having problems with his eyesight.
There is a Dachshund and a feisty Jack Russell for company but their conversation is limited.
Sadly this gentleman has recently lost his devoted wife.
She looked after him so very well that now he is feeling completely lost.
I feel sure there is someone out there who would make a fantastic au pair/companion for this fascinating man. Someone perhaps who would enjoy driving him to the occasional dog show to see old friends. That may help him proof read his weekly column or the two books he's is writing.
That could rustle him up something for dinner that didn't come out of the microwave.
If you are interested in this position can you email and tell me about yourself and why this opportunity appeals?
Both dogs are male - so a female dog may be best if everyone is to get along - if you have a dog. There are kennels outside - but they haven't been used for a very long time. If you had a horse, that's a possible, too.
You might be a student. You might be a dog person keen to learn more - this man is a legend in the terrier world. You might just be someone who would like to move to the country and have a fresh start.
I am sure the perfect person is out there for whom this would be mutually beneficial.
There is good Internet access so this could suit someone wanting to be somewhere they could work remotely.
Email me at beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk if you'd like to know more.
You'd need to be able to drive although you'd not need a car as the gentleman has one, to be preferably computer literate, be able to cook and operate a dishwasher and washing machine as there are no instructions and the gentleman in question is still trying to puzzle them out!

Competition time!

2011-10-07T14:10:00.001+01:00

Can you guess who Cesar's mum and dad are? The two breeds are rather well known so this should be quite easy! First correct answer gets a Interpet book of your choice.

Congratulations to Dawn 'Dawny' Hart who was first to email! The answer was Staffie and Bullmastiff - so now you know! Still time to enter the caption competition...

Best caption wins a Vivid collar from Company of Animals - a super bright LED collar with a reflective and glow in the dark strip, perfect for these increasingly dark nights and mornings. Runners up win a tub of Coachies.

Come on - give this your best shot and get us laughing. We'll be judging this on Friday next week so you've got a bit of time to think about it. You can enter by email (comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk) or on Dogs Today's facebook page - click the link at the side to take you there.

This is Sausage, a Great Dane and the pic was sent in by Steffi Smith.

We ask News Shopper to change its campaign

2011-10-06T11:30:00.003+01:00

Several readers have drawn my attention to the free newspaper News Shopper - available in London and North Kent. They have started a "Shop-A-Dog" campaign.
Now in its second week it publishes grotesque photos of people who have suffered dog bites and a snarling blood-spattered manipulated image of a dog.
They are calling for every Staffie to be muzzled, asking for ownership of a dog who looks like a Pit Bull to carry the same sentence as someone wielding a knife. They are asking readers to shop their neighbours if they have dogs that look like a banned breed. They want the law changed so dogs of a Pit Bull type can be put to sleep immediately.
They are asking their readers to take photos of 'banned' dogs in their area and they will forward them to the police. To reward these informants they will send these people a News Shopper mug.
They claim all this is to reduce 'horrific maulings in your area'.

I have just sent the authors of the campaign the following email, let's see what they say. If you are in their catchment area please indicate your support for a change in emphasis!:

Dear Dan and Kelly
Numerous of our readers have drawn attention to your campaign and I have to say it is causing huge upset as you will have probably realised.
If you really do want to unify and enthuse your readership and actually make things better for the community can I suggest a twist? That you campaign to stop people breeding Staffie puppies - that you join us in calling for a breeding amnesty?
Were you to expose the number of good-natured dogs being killed every day in your catchment I am sure your readership would be horrified - dogs that shouldn't have been bred because there simply aren't enough good owners.
Battersea is bursting with these poor dogs.
Here's some terrible stats from All Dogs Rescue...
Three out of every 10 Staffie pups won't live to see its first birthday.

45% of the rest won't reach their third birthday.

In the UK one dog every minute is put to sleep and over 90% are Staffies or Staffie cross puppies.

If you breed Staffies still knowing this, you have blood on your hands.

We simply now have many more dogs in Britain than ever before - 10.5 million dogs according to the University of Bristol.
80% of the population actively like dogs compared to 45% liking cats.
One in four households now have a dog.
We love dogs, but we now breed too many.
Please consider changing your campaign to the above and we will help you and get behind you.
By being ANTI dog rather than anti the issues that cause dog problems you alienate a huge chunk of your readers.
Please do get in touch and let me know what you think.
We'd love you to encourage neutering and free training advice and other positive things to make dogs and owners live harmoniously in your catchment area.
Please do let me know what you think and if possible give me a comment we can use in our coverage of your campaign.

Best wishes
Beverley Cuddy
Editor and Publisher

Here's a link to a facebook page that has been started by a local Staffie owner. It's called Stop News Shopper's Witch Hunt. Do stop by and like the page and show your support.

Please do get behind this, News Shopper is owned by Newsquest and we would hate this campaign to spread to other papers. A third installment is planned and we have sadly not had any response to our email so far.

Battersea Dogs and Cats home and Dogs Trust have already complained, I would like to include other statements from charities too if there are any. I've heard Foal Farm have also complained.
:

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is very disappointed to read of the launch of the News Shopper’s Shop A Dog campaign.

Whilst our heartfelt sympathies go to every person who is a victim of a dog attack and we share your concerns about vicious and aggressive dogs, we wholeheartedly disagree that this is due to the breed of dog. We believe this is down to how the dog has been trained and socialised by an owner. Any dog can be aggressive when they are in the wrong hands but, in the right environment and with the right owner, dogs such as Staffordshire Bull Terriers can make wonderful, loyal and loving pets.

Battersea, and other animal charities, face the huge problem of being left to deal with the consequences of those who take on bull breed dogs such as Staffies for the wrong reasons and then dump them or neglect them. Last year, Battersea took in 2,472 Staffordshire Bull Terriers, many of which have fallen into the hands of unscrupulous owners who train them to be aggressive or to fight. These dogs are often left injured, neglected and unsocialised through no fault of their own and we have to work extremely hard to help them to trust people again and to become the fantastic family pets they would have been had their owners cared for them properly.

Battersea has long been lobbying the Government to amend the flawed Dangerous Dog Act to place the onus on the owner rather than the dog itself. Breed specific legislation has not addressed the real cause of ‘status’ dogs. We believe that existing dog laws should be modernised to maintain relevance and effectiveness for changing dog control needs. We want the Government to announce new legislation that will support and promote responsible ownership, safeguard public safety and protection of canine welfare.

However, as pointed out in your article, we do agree that legislation should be extended to cover all places, including private property, to afford the same protection to people such as police officers and postmen as those in public places, should an attack happen.

By encouraging Staffordshire Bull Terriers to be seen as dangerous, your campaign is fuelling the abuse and abandonment of a much-maligned breed which does not deserve its negative reputation.

To find out more about how Staffordshire bull terriers can make rewarding and happy pets please visit www.battersea.org.uk

Dee McIntosh
Director of Communications
Battersea Dogs and; Cats Home

Dogs Trust has been alerted to News Shopper’s latest campaign – Shop A Dog by worried supporters. Having looked at the campaign details the charity is extremely concerned by the anti-dog messaging and some of the ill-advised solutions suggested to reduce the number of dog attacks.
In contrast, we are in complete agreement with the newspaper that the existing Dangerous Dogs Act needs urgent revising and the Government must act now to prevent further people and dogs from being injured. Dogs Trust also supports the suggestion that the law is extended to include dog attacks on private land; this is something Dogs Trust has been lobbying successive Governments for. However Dogs Trust is totally opposed to breed specific legislation which has shown to be entirely ineffective. The ‘Shop a Dog’ proposal to force all Staffordshire Bull Terriers owners’ to muzzle their dogs in public will unfairly penalise the majority of good natured family pets and will further damage the breed’s unjust reputation as a dangerous dog.
Dogs Trust accepts that some individual dogs may need to be muzzled and neutered but believes most of the underlying cause of aggression lies with the manner in which the owners train their dogs and that better education of owners would substantially reduce aggression. Ultimately the solution to deliberately aggressive dogs lies in resolving the underlying social issues, not just in amending dog law.
Dogs Trust believes that the current trend of having a bull breed as a status symbol or as a weapon has led to the increase in the number of Staffies crossbreeds being abandoned. We also know of cases where Staffie Crosses are being illegally bred for fighting. Because of these reasons the breed has unfairly gained the reputation of being aggressive and dangerous. In reality they can be excellent family pets as they have a wonderful temperament and are great with people. Irresponsible dog owners are buying bull breeds for the wrong reasons and don’t take the time to properly socialise them. Like all breeds of dog – in the wrong hands and without the right socialisation and training, there can be problems. Because Staffie Crosses are powerful, muscular dogs they can be potentially dangerous if not cared for properly. A tiny dog can be just as aggressive if poorly trained but is built differently so may not have the capacity to hurt to such a degree.
Dogs Trust is very concerned that this type of dog is being abandoned at such a young age. Our rehoming figures show that the majority of Staffies Crosses in our Rehoming Centres are under one year old. This means people are treating them as disposable items that can be ‘upgraded’ after just a few months – some young people will have owned their mobile phone for longer than their dog. The newspaper campaign should look at including educative solutions rather than attempting to criminalize a particular breed of dog.
We would like to invite the journalists working on the Shop A Dog campaign to either visit one of Dogs Trust’s Rehoming Centres to meet some of our Staffie Cross residents to better understand the breed, or to attend one of our City Dog workshops which give advice and practical support to dog owners in deprived urban locations, encouraging them to train their dogs in a reward based way

Don't Cook Your Dog is up for Campaign of the Year!

2011-10-05T19:00:00.000+01:00

Standing on the touchline watching my son play rugby, I saw an email from the British Society of Magazine Editor's pop up on my phone. They had finally announced their shortlists for their annual awards.
I clicked the link and it must have taken 15 minutes to download.
Talk about excruciating!
Eventually the page loaded - but the text was too small to read.
I fiddled with it and finally I could see the Best Campaign shortlist.
The other mums must have wondered why I was squealing.
Don't Cook Your Dog has been short-listed for Campaign of the Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors - the only magazine awards organised by magazine editors for magazine editors. The industry Oscars. A really posh do at the Hilton.
My first call was to Judith Broug - MissyRedBoots herself - campaign designer and joint organiser.
Now there were two people squealing incomprehensibly!
Here's a link to the short-list so you can see what we're up against, some really big names and slick campaigns.
How fantastic that our little pop-up campaign has been recognised by journalists - its success is due to so many people's passion.
After we stopped making noises only dogs could hear we spotted how much the awards do tickets are! It was free to put in the entry, but if we want to attend to hear who wins - gasp - it's just a fortune!
I guess if you're from a massive publisher its petty cash, but it's a huge ticket item for us.
I keep looking at how many stickers we could buy with that money and telling myself that being short-listed is the good bit and we don't really need the party and posh frocks.
Pretty much every influential magazine editor in the land will get to hear about the campaign on the night when the shortlist will be read out - so in many ways we've achieved that objective already.
This campaign has always made every penny count and it's not got a budget or a business plan. It's just been a case of someone having to do it and good people stepping up to the mark and making it happen.
It is a campaign which has unified dog lovers as never before and had organisations, charities, individuals and even rival publications all standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
Nearly 250,000 stickers have already been distributed and the next 150,000 are about to be ordered so we're ready for next year.
The Police are really getting behind the campaign and are ordering supplies and dog wardens are poised ready to distribute stickers, too.
The Indian summer made us realise that there's still so much to do. People were still taking risks.
The high-profile police dog case that inspired this campaign is about to go to court. When it does we hope the press will remind people about the Don't Cook Your Dog and that being short-listed will raise the campaign's profile again.
Don't Cook Your Dog harnesses all the pointless negative energy and turns it into something positive. We'll never bring those poor dogs back that have died in cars, but together we can stop other dogs dying.
The list of people to thank for making Don't Cook your Dog happen is epic.
Judith Broug of course for the brilliant design and the dynamic website and generally nudging me to get on with stuff. All my amazing staff for stuffing envelopes and humping boxes and just coping with the extra workload with good humour and enthusiasm.
Exceptional and timely support from Dogs Trust, RSPCA, Kennel Club, BVA, PetPlan, Wood Green, National Animal Welfare Trust, Mutley and Mog, Dougal's Den, Border Collie Trust GB, Boredom Busters, Springer Loaded, Stephen Fry, Jilly Cooper...and more, sorry if I missed you out!
And then there's everyone who has put up posters, stuck their stickers up, called it in when they've found a dog in distress.
The Association of Chief Police Officers, all the constabularies that have requested materials, the vet nurses, the vets, the pet shop owners, the dog wardens, Defra, Tesco, the PR company who worked for free, folks who RTweeted, who made a TV commercial.... Dog World, Pet Care Trust.... I could go on and on and on...people really have been just wonderful.
IF they did allow speeches, and IF we won and IF we were lucky enough to scrape together the money for a ticket - we'd be up there for several hours saying thank you and probably crying!
Here's the website again, do order your stickers and posters - the lifesaver packs are really great if you want to make a difference in your area.
And if you are a business or a charity and want to help fund some of the 2012 stickers please get in touch as hopefully all these magazine editors will help spread the word even further. Email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
And if anyone wants to give us a free ticket to go to the awards bash we'd be really grateful! (printers, distributors, lottery winners... I don't mind begging and signing lifetime deals!!)
I'm sure they can post it to us if we win!

Do you breed? Willing to take part in some research?

2011-10-04T09:15:00.000+01:00

I've been asked to find 125 breeders who register their dogs with the KC and 125 who don't for a serious policy research project.
Nothing too difficult or time consuming, you just need to answer the researcher's questions.
Just need a name and an email address to take part.

If you are interested can you email me with:
'KC reg' or 'NOT KC reg' in the subject line.
My email address is beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

I'm sure they'll tell you more about the project if you email in. Sorry to be mysterious, but it's a good cause and for the good of dogs.

Let's make sure the Indian summer doesn't result in carnage

2011-10-02T19:59:00.000+01:00

The tragic case - which inspired the Don't Cook Your Dog campaign - involving the policeman who left his two dogs in a hot car is being heard on October 12th.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/10/01/dog-deaths-police-officer-charged-115875-23457753/

With the hottest October imaginable the Don't Cook Your Dog campaign has never been more important. Please go to the website for how to order your lifesaver packs and stickers.

Let's hope those two poor dogs terrible deaths will be the last at the hands of policemen and that together we can all protect dogs everywhere.Even with the coldest summer for two decades the RSPCA still had thousands of cases of dogs in distress in hot cars THIS year.

We are delighted that our campaign has been supported by the police force at the highest level.

Click here to get involved.

A message from Jordan Shelley

2011-09-28T23:01:00.001+01:00

I wanted to say a very big thank you to all the lovely people who have made me such fantastic offers. I am kindly declining all the offers of free places on courses and to seminars as I am sure there are many more deserving people out there and I urge you all to pass these offers on to them, that being said I still hope to see you at many of these different events. I will be taking up as many of the offers to observe and talk to all the wonderful trainers that have got in touch, I am looking forward to meeting you all.

I am delving into the world of positive reinforcement with an open mind and I hope you can help me improve the way I train.

Thanks once again,

Jordan Shelley

I added this post late last night in haste with just a copy and paste. I spoke to Jordan earlier in the day, too. I think some people are misinterpreting his words. He is not saying that he won't go on the free courses offered, but that those he goes on he will pay his way - as there are others more deserving of a free place than him.

His first look-see is on Monday and I think it is a great idea for him to have a look how others work with difficult cases. Be really interested to hear how he gets on.

Can I also add a big thank you to everyone who has offered Jordan help via this blog. I do hope he gets stuck in and puts this episode behind him.

I do think the clumsy BBC complaints letter has opened up old wounds, but remember Jordan didn't write that!

Today is world rabies day

2011-09-28T10:35:00.000+01:00

When you say rabies I don't automatically think of Leona Lewis, but bless her, she has volunteered to be the face of the WSPA campaign. Here's more from WSPA...

Annually, more than 55,000 people around the world die from rabies and up to 20 million dogs are needlessly and cruelly killed, often in misguided attempts to control the disease.

WSPA is calling on governments worldwide to tackle rabies through the only humane and effective solution: mass vaccination of dogs. WSPA is launching its Red Collar campaign with a project in Bangladesh, supporting the national government to implement a large scale vaccination campaign in Cox’s Bazar, which will save thousands of dogs in its first year alone and pave the way for a nation-wide vaccination campaign.

Ray Mitchell, International Campaigns Director, WSPA said: "Rabies poses a serious threat to both human and animal populations. When confronted with the problem of this fast-spreading disease, national governments sometimes turn to what they believe is the only way to wipe out rabies: wipe out the dog population. But with successful rabies control projects in countries across Asia and Latin America, WSPA has proven that a world without rabies is not a world without dogs.”

WSPA supporter Leona Lewis added: “I think it’s absolutely horrific that 20 million dogs are killed every year because of the fear of rabies when there is an alternative solution. I really want to help WSPA to spread the word worldwide and end the cruelty that is happening at the moment. By educating people and getting vaccinations out there, we’re not only helping dogs, but entire communities.”

Prof. Be-Nazir Ahmed, Director of Disease Control, Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said: “We look forward to working with WSPA. We will proceed in a united way to eliminate rabies without the need to cull dogs.”

WSPA’s solution involves teams of trained animal handlers to locate, catch and inoculate dogs against rabies, before giving them a red collar to show they have been vaccinated. These red-collared dogs become a visible symbol of the proactive measures being taken to protect communities from rabies without resorting to cruel methods of killing dogs.

Tourist hot spot Bali is a prime example of the success of WSPA’s cruelty free approach to rabies control. Last year, WSPA funded Bali’s first island-wide mass vaccination programme, which saw approximately 210,000 dogs vaccinated. In the first six months, the project saw a decrease of over 45% in cases of canine rabies, and a reduction of 48% in rabies related human deaths in comparison to the same period in the previous year. WSPA is now working with several governments across the world to implement similar models.

Ray said: “With our work in Bali, we offered proof that a humane alternative for rabies control was both practical and effective. Other governments are beginning to recognise this success, and we are now working in several countries to design similar models for rabies control. With the increasing support we are receiving from governments, international agencies and inter-governmental bodies, WSPA is confident of creating a world where we see collars, not cruelty, winning the fight against rabies.”

Find out more about the Red Collar campaign at www.wspa.org.uk

Could you show Jordan Shelley another way?

2011-09-26T19:12:00.001+01:00

When I heard that Jordan Shelley wanted to speak to me I admit my heart sank. His world must have turned upside down in the last week. Would he blame me for helping to burst the balloon?
But he wasn't ringing up to complain, far from it.
He'd read my latest blog and he wanted to take me up on the offer of being shown other ways training. I say all credit to him for picking himself up and using this unfortunate experience as a positive opportunity to learn and make some new friends.
"Because it is all about the dogs," he explained.
So good behaviour folk, where to start?
I had thought that the media storm would have passed now, but it seems photographers are still hiding in Jordan's bushes and reporters still knocking on his door.
One way or another Jordan's name has become famous and he seemed remarkably philosophiocal about the experience. He regrets not getting more control of the edit and not having it badged 'don't try this at home'. A lot of the shots were out of sequence. Roxy is fine he wanted me to know.
But I don't think there are many 21 year old's who would be so positive after the week he's had, he honestly sounds really excited about meeting new people and widening his knowledge.
Come on dog world, prove me right that you are lovely people and don't just give lip-service to positive and reward based training - click and treat Jordan for asking for your help.
Email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk and I'll pass them on.

The end of an unforunate era

2011-09-23T16:39:00.001+01:00

I've just had the email from the BBC press office in reply to my questions...

Short and very sweet...

"The One Show has thanked viewers for all their comments and criticisms which were taken very seriously. Last night the show featured various differing opinions plus advice from The One Show's vet on the subject of dog training and care.

"There are currently no plans for this feature to return."

We have two open questions currently running on Think Tank inspired by this One Show episode and we'd be very grateful for your input as it's obvious that these are questions people (and the BBC!) need help on:

What to ask to make sure your trainer knows what that are doing: Click here

What you really should do if your dog is resource guarding: Click here

What was impressive was how dog world reacted and it was remarkable and inspiring how everyone from every field worked together.

Let's hope Jordan takes all this on the chin, listens to the criticisms and takes them all on board. I've heard lots of offers from good people who'd like to take him under their wing, doggie folk are a big-hearted lot and I'm sure he could be a great dog trainer if he studies hard and keeps learning.

Polite note:

And world, if you're planning a doggie-related crisis in the future would you mind avoiding our deadline week next time?

Plus, a statement that I missed including in the rush:

“The CAPBT was very disappointed with the BBC’s decision to have dogs with behaviour and training issues treated as a form of entertainment. Especially as in the past they have exposed bad practises in the dog breeding and showing world. The methods used on The One Show were decades out of date. Science has proved these methods no longer work. There is no such thing as ‘being cruel to be kind’ only ‘being cruel to be cruel’. CAPBT works on the emotions of the dogs and members only use kind and positive methods. Examples of our cases can be read each month in Dogs Today.”

Another set of questions for the press office...

2011-09-23T12:23:00.003+01:00

Having watched last night's show it was obvious that the One Show has recognised there have been errors made and that there is now some distancing from the initial warm welcome where Jordan was billed as a new member of the One Show family. Something that had given him great credibility and authority and trusted status to your viewers.

The Dogs Trust content was good and strong and fact-packed - although they are still not the foremost authority on dog training which may confuse the viewers into thinking they in some way regulate or collate information on this subject or indeed Dogs Trust could be a training method - Jordan seemed confused on that too! Their opinion is highly significant and Joe your vet made some good points but it all stopped short of total condemnation of having an inexperienced, unqualified person encouraging people into risky behaviour. Although the change in tone is much appreciated.

You were still lacking the voice of any qualified behaviourist. You promised debate but what we got was two pre-recorded interviews spliced together that didn't interact. Jordan seemed unaware of the very strong points the Dogs Trust were making - he didn't address any of them. Alex commented back in the studio that Jordan had learned from the criticism, but the viewer didn't see any evidence of regret or acceptance that the comments from Dogs Trust were valid.

And seeing on film what Jordan's sanctuary actually amounts to didn't instill the critical onlooker with any more confidence - which I think you hoped it would. It showed Jordan's family have a wonderful garden and that Jordan has invested in a tread mill. We didn't see any actual training. Just the owner saying how pleased she was.

It is all so insulting to all those people who have studied for degrees in behaviour - or who have worked for many years in dog training acquiring and honing their skills. To have someone randomly elevated to instant expert status by the BBC - someone who admitted on camera he has a lot to learn and doesn't yet understand why he does some of the things he does.

Chirag Patel is a case study to show that Jordan may have a future as a media dog trainer. If Chirag had been put on TV when he was starting out it would have been equally disastrous. When he was starting out he admits he used some terrible methods - then he started reading widely, going on lots of courses - spent some time working closely with his many idols around the world and learning why dogs and all animals do what they do and how to change it. He is now accepted to be a brilliant trainer and still young, vibrant and charismatic. But had you put him on TV a few years ago it would have been car crash TV. He's tooled up now - he has done every course imaginable and trained thousands of dogs - and you can't make up for all that hard graft with instinct and likability.

The burning question is will that now be an end of the "Fix the Dog" segment? You have obviously identified a tremendous need for people to gain some help with training their dogs - is it possible for you to return to this subject but with an experienced and qualified trainer?

Has Victoria Stilwell's offer to retrain Roxy using recognised and accepted methods been accepted? It would really help to put things right if you showed Victoria or indeed any experienced and respected dog trainer showing what you should do to deal with a dog who is guarding his food?

Today the Dogs Trust and the PDSA have issued new statements and the facebook pages seem to not be sufficiently relieved by what they saw on last nights show to stand down.

Can we be told if Fix the Dog will appear tonight and next week - or has it finally been dropped?

Best wishes
Beverley Cuddy
Editor, Dogs Today

We ask the press office some difficult questions and they answer (some)...

2011-09-22T10:26:00.012+01:00

... what they said was going to be in last night's show and what actually ran.... and some new statements from charities...

I emailed the press officer who gave us the last comment some further questions. I am holding over our editorial deadline as this is a breaking story and I can't let my editorial go to press with this issue still unresolved. Here's what I asked...

We obviously saw the instruction on last night's show to consult an experienced dog trainer before trying Jordan's methods at home. But it begs the question, why are you using an inexperienced trainer on your show when you advise others to be more careful?
There are so many qualified and experienced trainers you could have chosen.
It has also been pointed out that Wobbly Dog Productions lists two directors at Company House. Brian Klein (famously the director of BBC Top Gear) and a 21 year old called Jordan Shelley.
Can you confirm that this is the same Jordan Shelley? Extensive research has revealed only the briefest of sightings of Jordan in a dog context. We are told (unconfirmed) that he has done some fostering of dogs but had to hand two dogs back because he could not cope with them. How carefully was his experience checked before putting on air and exposing the British public to his methods. And how did he come to the attention of the BBC?
Also, has the programme considered the very generous offer of Victoria Stilwell (presenter of It's Me or the Dog) to fly over from New York at her own expense to properly train Roxy as she is now very, very afraid for the family's safety.
Plus, with a now on-going investigation by the RSPCA into last week's show are you still sticking by the thread you have pre-filmed with Jordan Shelly?
We have catalogued forceful complaints from every major dog welfare charity and organisation (For eg The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, Wood Green, RSPCA and the Kennel Club.)
Also we have collected complaints from every high-profile dog trainer - many involved in other TV shows - It's me of the Dog, Dog Borstal, The Underdogs etc. Dog trainers from every aspect of dog training - not just one technique - the dog world is united on this.
We are still awaiting comment from Cesar Millan who is being advised about his name being associated with this very dangerous piece of television.
The two facebook pages calling for Jordan to be removed now have more than 2,000 likes in only a couple of days and your own facebook page is quite obviously under siege.
We know of a dog being put into rescue after the owner tried Jordan's method at home and another where a child was bitten and the dog put to sleep.
The 'don't try this at home' message obviously came too late for both these dogs.

So in short, considering all the above - is the BBC still continuing to stand by their unqualified and inexperienced 21 year old self-taught dog 'expert'. And is he in any way related (business wise or otherwise) to a key BBC employee?

Many thanks
Beverley Cuddy
Editor - Dogs Today

I've had a email back to say they are working on their reply. In the meantime the following has appeared on the One Show Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their opinion on Friday's 'Fix My Dog' feature. We have been looking at all your posts and very much value your comments. We're hoping to debate this further on the show. More news on this topic when we have it!

I don't think a debate will sort it. I can't see anyone defending what Jordan did apart from the BBC press office!

And here's the reply to my questions - well some of the questions....!

Many thanks for your email, below is our response to your questions. We
do also urge you to watch the show tonight.

OntheBox a production company owned by Brian Klein who regularly works
with the BBC was contracted for the item by The One Show. The One Show
had not entered into any agreements with Wobbly Dog Productions - which
we understand has only been set up for the past four months and has
never made any transmitted programmes.

Jordan Shelley is largely self-taught and has gained years of experience
in the welfare and care of dogs in the UK and abroad. Jordan works with
fostered dogs that might otherwise have been put down at his privately
run dog sanctuary, based at his home in north London. We will be
documenting that tonight and will clarify that he works with the dogs
brought to him.

We will be featuring other independent advice and opinions on dog
training in the programme tonight.

We have been in communication with the RSPCA and are engaging fully with
any enquiries. It has been made clear on the show that viewers shouldn't
try any techniques from the programme without seeking the advice of a
specialist.

Kind regards
The BBC Press Office

We've heard that vet Joe Inglis (@Joethevet on Twitter) will be on the couch tonight and there will be a short film of Catherine Gillie from Dogs Trust. But a debate is not what is needed here. What is needed is for the One Show to do their research before they appoint an expert to tell the British public how to train dogs.
This should so obviously be a qualified and experienced person to show people how to train their dogs safely of whom there are hundreds probably thousands more appropriate to choose from!
How can someone at 21 have 'years' of experience. And I asked further questions and 'the sanctuary' isn't licensed or run as a business. The dogs are fostered - in that, they explained, he takes them in to his home and then gives them back to the families.
And this segment was offered by Brian Klein's production company with Jordan already in place? I asked how Jordan came to Brian's attention as seemingly no one in the dog world had ever heard of him before and was told through Jordan's fostering work. Which he does from his home in North London.
No wonder the BBC are in no hurry to drop this item! It would seem the appointment of an unqualified, inexperienced unknown dog trainer is becoming more understandable by the minute!
Let's recap - an unqualified, inexperienced dog 'expert' being investigated by the RSPCA, complained about by every credible organisation and charity - a man that encouraged the general public to approach snarling dogs with their feet gets the full support and protection of the BBC press office
I asked the direct question - is Jordan Shelley's slot continuing?
I was told - he's on the show tonight.
The implication being that they'll decide after tonight's show airs.
I asked about Victoria Stilwell's offer and was told it wasn't in my question... I read it back to them and they thought she was offering the family not the programme... how confusing? Either way had they passed it on, seems not.
I reiterated Victoria would like her very kind offer considered.
So who have the BBC considered to be the independent behaviour experts who will be debating Jordan's ability tonight? The APBC? A lecturer perhaps, from a university that offers 'qualifications'?
No one I can identify so far, perhaps it's a secret.
Dogs Trust are on a pre-record. @Joethevet says he's on the sofa but the press office didn't think he was but they sounded slightly despairing that there were lots of things they didn't have answers for. But they couldn't tell me any of the other names either as it was all still being edited. Turns out there was no one else - just the ones we knew about already.
The press office said we'd talk again tomorrow (now today).
I don't think anyone is going to be happy unless the BBC drop this segment. Let's encourage undeniably charismatic Jordan to actually take some qualifications and go on a few courses and in a few years, who knows, he may make a really great dog trainer.
But at the moment he's in been put in the spotlight too soon and it's not just his trousers that are fashionably at half mast... at the moment he's hideously exposed for not having the skills or the training or indeed the judgment to tell Britain what to do with their dogs.
Thank you to poster who left this as a comment:
"According to the record at Companies House, both Jordan Shelley and Brian Klein became Directors at Wobbly Dog on 5 November 2010 (perhaps a prophetic date, given the ensuing fireworks!). Perhaps the BBC researchers need training in basic web skills, as well as dog behaviour studies, as this information is readily available through Google: http://bizzy.co.uk/uk/07431473/wobbly-dog-productions I cannot see that the fact that the item comes from sister company On The Box makes any difference at all - the bottom line is that the BBC has accepted and presented this young man as an expert, without undertaking any due diligence to establish his qualifications for the title."

Latest:

Here's a link to last night's one show - 10 mins in....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tcw7

And just added at the bottom new post-show Dogs Trust statement....

Commentary on last night's One Show:
Catherine Gillie from Dogs Trust making perfect sense but edited around some very glamorous shots of Jordan at home in his 'sanctuary' in his back garden. It all made little sense to be honest. They tries to edit back a case history about a dog that Jordan fostered - but it was all so brief you saw a dog arrive, be put in a run with some other dogs and put on a treadmill as a cure for something or other... yes, more muscles, great idea. And Catherine saying in effect no, never do what was done on film under any circumstances.
Jordan seemingly thinking the VT wasn't saying anything personally about what he did the week before but was saying reward is better than dominance says he likes the Dogs Trust and that he respects them, and rates their 'methods' like he likes cheese sometimes but most days he prefers steak.
But we all saw Dogs Trust saying what Jordan did was dangerous and ineffective.
Perhaps nobody had the heart to tell him - but we got no reaction.
No moment of realisation that it was he who did the thing everyone is upset about and that he might be just a little out of his depth.
Matt claimed Jordan had learned from the criticisms but I couldn't read that in his body language.
And in the VT after five weeks a very grateful owner picks up her dog and says how fantastic Jordan is. And later leaves the dog with Jordan again when she goes on holiday, so he must be a really great trainer.
We don't see the before or the after or how he achieves whatever it was he was doing - but we are told it is achieved using reward-based training so that obviously makes everything okay.
But that stuff he was doing in show one, that wasn't another flavour of dog training. That was just bad.
Back in the studio things felt tense. Matt Baker genuinely seemed mortified. Joe Inglis the One Show vet had an uncharacteristic tremour in his voice.
Jordan was publicly cast out of the One Show family. No longer the One Show's dog trainer - now just someone they were following - but why? Joe says very accurately that, sadly anyone can call themselves a dog trainer.
Well precisely.
Will that be the end of saga?
Jordan achieved something in his short media career - he united every faction in the dog world. It's an accolade of sorts.
We await further news.

Dogs Trust have just issued a new statement:
Dogs Trust statement on the training methods of Jordan Shelley as featured on The One Show- 22 September 2011

Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity appreciated the right-to-reply opportunity provided by the BBC after the training methods of Jordan Shelley were featured on The One Show on Friday 16th and 22nd September.

However, we remain deeply concerned by the training methods used by Jordan Shelley. The main issues we have are:

A dog with such aggression and fear issues should never, ever have had food taken away by members of the family. There was no regard for the safety of the family - using methods like this will only cause the dog to suppress the behaviour and there is a strong possibility that, when the opportunity arises, he will revert to the aggression.
There was no consideration for the dog's emotional state and the motivation behind the behaviour - until these are redressed then you can never consider the behaviour to be resolved.
Any other pet dog owner attempting these methods could put themselves and their families at risk of serious dog bites.

We continue to recommend that dog owners do not replicate the techniques used by Jordan Shelley at home and are pleased that The One Show warned viewers against this also; doing so could endanger both them and their dog. Instead they should seek a dog trainer who uses positive, reward-based techniques.

We would urge the BBC to seriously consider seeking and researching alternative advice on dog training for their viewers going forward.

Hannah Baker
Dogs Trust Press Office

PDSA statement on Jordan Shelley training techniques featured on The One Show

PDSA Senior Vet, Sean Wensley, says: “Whilst highlighting the issues surrounding problem behaviour in dogs should be viewed as a positive step, in this particular case, it was a shame that the techniques used were not the most effective or humane, and could potentially endanger human safety.
“Problem behaviour in dogs is an issue that, without question, needs addressing for the safety and wellbeing of dogs and people. The groundbreaking PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report, published earlier this year, reveals that 165,000 dogs show aggression to people on a weekly basis. This level is unacceptable, and is linked to the abandonment and euthanasia of thousands of dogs each year through no fault of their own.
“In order to improve such behaviour, PDSA only recommends the use of reward-based training techniques carried out by fully qualified and accredited pet behaviourists. By using the correct techniques, most problem behaviour can be overcome.
“Identifying the underlying reason for problem behaviour should always be the first consideration. The primary reason is often a lack of socialisation and training during puppyhood, but other issues such as separation anxiety, boredom or inappropriate training techniques can all contribute to behavioural issues. The PAW Report has shown that 4.1 million dogs never went to training classes within their first six months of life and 25% of owners who had their dog as a puppy did not adequately socialise them.
“As a leader in promoting pet health and welfare, PDSA is urging owners who may have concerns about their pets’ behaviour to seek professional advice before the problem gets out of hand. In most cases, this should start with a trip to their local veterinary practice to rule out any possible underlying medical causes. For anyone with a young dog, they should, without exception, make a commitment to socialising their pet and training them properly. It’s up to owners to make sure that they provide the correct support for their dogs to prevent them from feeling anxious, scared or being aggressive towards others.”

"I would like to express my concern about what I saw on The One Show last Friday.
"I am the National Post Home Support Officer, Greyhound Rescue West of England - and qualified in behaviour work with dogs.
"Jordan Shelley is unqualified. He intimidated the small terrier into co-operating but he taught it nothing. If he had done that with alarger dog like a rottweiller it could have hurt him badly, people who copy him may get dangerously hurt. The BBC should be more responsible. Both Jordan and Caesar Milan are not properly qualified, they have not studied research into dog behaviour and are watchable rather than accurate. I am disappointed in the BBC's response to criticism from charities like Dogs Trust. Your response is to say people like it and are booking their dogs in with him. This doesn't mean he is good. You could show someone offering under age sex on the show and there would be plenty of punters but it wouldn't be morally right. Showing Jordan Shelly intimidating a dog with his foot isn't morally right."

Carol Baby
National Post Homing Support Officer
Greyhound Rescue West of England (GRWE)

The One Show - foot in mouth?

2011-09-17T17:05:00.024+01:00

Hairy problem

2011-09-17T16:24:00.000+01:00

Is Dogs Today the only magazine that answers the phone on a Saturday? It's meant to be for emergencies, but that is always open to interpretation. Perhaps some one had watched Friday's One Show and following the extraordinary advice of the dog expert now had a very large dog clamped to their foot?
The lady on the phone did sound a little distressed.
"I've been saving up my Bichon's hair for over a year and I can't find where to send it! I'm sure it was your magazine that carried an article or an advert about saving your dog's hair and that someone would use it to stuff a teddy bear. I am desperate to find this address as I want to give the Teddy bear to my dog as a present."
How could I say no?
Sadly I don't remember this if it was in our magazine, and I'm sure I would have remembered!
Does anyone know of someone able to provide this service? If so can you email me or leave a message on here - don't phone - it's not that much of an emergency!
beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

Are you the one in four?

2011-09-12T18:47:00.002+01:00

...the one in four that bought their dog from a puppy farm? The KC (Kennel Club) has commissioned a survey which also reveals that three out of five people don't get to see the mum of their pup. Click here to read the release.

It really is shocking. As are the others stats we have at our fingertips. One unwanted dog put to sleep every hour. A record breaking 10.5 millions dogs in the UK. More dogs than ever for sale in pet shops or over the Internet in unregulated sites. Larger and larger puppy farms being planned and licensed. Battersea bursting with Staffie and Staffie crosses yet people still breeding them in huge numbers.

I was invited to take part in BBC Radio Leeds programme about this subject. I include a link to BBC iplayer below. Do listen all the way to the end of the item. Right at the end Our Dogs latest allegedly 'controversial' columnist Elaine Everest, Old English Sheepdog breeder from Kent, rings up BBC Leeds and tries to blame the whole issue of puppy farms and over production on the 2008 ground-breaking documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed (while at the same time trying unsuccessfully to plug her latest book!). I am still shaking my head in disbelief as to who Elaine thought she was helping here? The KC? I don't think they'd see it that way! Crazy logic.

Here's the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00k0x5n 44 minutes in

Pet safety in cars

2011-09-10T10:05:00.002+01:00

Did you see Friday's BBC One Show about dogs being unrestrained in cars? I'll upload a clip as soon as I can, but people are asking about where to find the petition to make it against the law to have dogs unrestrained, so here is a link to the existing petition. Does anyone know if this petition, if successful would trigger a parliamentary debate - don't you have to set up a petition on the Number 10 system for that to work? I've applied for a joint one for car restraints and dogs left in hot cars. Will take a while, but pretty certain other petitions will not work.

http://www.lovepets.co.uk/petitionSign/

Please note it's already been pointed out that the website hosting this petition sells electric collars, choke chains etc which is very disappointing as you know our stance on aversive training methods. But the petition is still a good idea. Let's hope they evolve and change their ways.

Here's a link for crash-tested car harnesses. Will add more links for other products as people tell me about them.

Click here for Xtra Dog.

And of course, the fantastic http://www.safedog.co.uk/cratesizes.htm who do crash tested crates and harnesses.

Hello to anyone who heard the item on Talk Radio Europe this morning - sorry it took me a bit longer to get the links online. Husband had made me breakfast so had to delay going online!

Forty years at the sharp end

2011-09-08T19:11:00.000+01:00

I have always been in awe of Joanna Mason, but talking to her earlier today made me remember why she's a complete hero. Someone who should be treasured, rewarded, decorated.
Joanna has been rescuing Staffordshire Bull Terriers for the last 40 years. It's been an uphill struggle and one that has broken her heart so many times.
In 40 years she's taken in turned around countless dogs that were unlucky, let down, badly damaged, extremely poorly or just badly abused. How many times do you think she's been bitten?
Never.
That statistic reveals so much about the breed she has devoted so much of her life to.
Joanna sounds just as perky as the first time I spoke to her.
The dogs keep her young she says.
Her energy puts me to shame.
Joanna is 87.
Wouldn't it be lovely if she could look back at the last 40 years and be able to relax, but never has the breed been in more need.
Joanna has some revolutionary ideas to sort things out.
A breeding holiday of five years to give rescue a chance to catch up.
It used to be old dogs she mainly helps, these days dogs are only weeks old when they need her help.
And Joanna would like some control over breeding and crossing these dogs, someone taking charge and slowing things down and incentivising neutering.
Wise words from someone who loves her breed with all her heart.
Let's hope Joanna sees some of her dreams come true so she can retire without fear for the future.

Come on, make us laugh!

2011-09-08T10:38:00.002+01:00

Can you think of a funny caption to go with this photo? We'll be judging at 2pm so do get your thinking caps on! Lovely prizes from Pet Head this month plus we're giving an additional online prize for the best entry of the bag that everyone wants... forget DKNY, the smart folk are carrying DCYD (Don't Cook Your Dog). This model will be the two-sided version featuring the iconic logo and a print of Kevin Brockbank's the Howl. You can order these by clicking here if you're not lucky enough to win one. I have one and I keep being stopped by people asking where I bought it! Click here

Email your entries to comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk asap or add your caption to the thread on our Dogs Today facebook page! God luck bagging the prize!

(my God/Good literal above turned out to be spookily predictive of the winning caption!)

And the winners are:
If you recognise your entry email your name and address to rachael@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk)
Congrats to the winners!

September Caption Competition Winner
The Lurcher on the Mount. Blessed are those who bleat, as they shall inherit the straw bales.
Mina Ward

September Caption Competition Runners-up
Here’s looking at you kid
Claire Hudson, via Facebook

Oh deer, hound, has super-nanny sent you to the naughty spot again?
Julia Philp

Everyone say, erm, “goats cheese”?
Pat Robinson, via Facebook

High on a hill is a lonely goatherd lady oda lady oda lay woof woof
Judith Sennet

Waiter, waiter, there’s a dog in our hay!
Ruth Shaw, via Facebook

Tailwaggers wants a new team member - could it be you?

2011-09-06T13:35:00.001+01:00

Do you have some spare time and admin/bookkeeping skills?

Do you love pets and want to help pet owners in crisis?

Have you heard of Tailwaggers Club Trust? This small and ancient charity needs someone to step into the shoes of the legendary Sid Nye who should have retired last March but is still working as hard today as ever! We recognise we are unlikely to find anyone person capable of taking over the whole of his job and are just so incredibly grateful that for more than 20 years he gave his time to the charity free of charge.
We have split the role in two and we now seek someone special to do the admin side.

Are you good with figures - able to do simple book keeping?

Would be able to attend and co-ordinate four trustees meetings a year
(we meet at the BVA headquarters in London)?

Have you got a computer with email access?

Tailwaggers Club Trust is a small, ancient charity that helps pet owners in crisis and we are looking for applications for the role of Secretary.

Here is a brief job description, please email me if you have any questions.

Tailwaggers is not a wealthy charity by any means, but there is a possibility of a small honorarium with this position for the right candidate as we recognise we would probably have to wait another 20 years for another saint like Sid to come along!

Please email Beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk if you are interested or want to know more.

TAILWAGGERS CLUB TRUST

Secretary's job description

ACCOUNTING

Maintain record of all payments and receipts analysed by category

Maintain a Statement of Activity and Balance Sheet.

(Currently this is achieved by a spreadsheet where a single entry for each transaction

updates all the required fields)

Appeals. Keep a separate record of each appeal showing the donations made, cheques issued and balance in hand.

Prepare budget for current year.

Reconcile book balances with bank statements every month.

Transfer money between accounts as required.

Bank cheques received and acknowledge donations.

Write the Annual Report

Prepare accounts for audit at year end 31st March, ensuring supporting documentation is complete

MEETINGS

Fix dates for meetings based on Trustees availability.

Prepare and circulate agenda in advance of the meeting

Prepare such financial reports as required by Trustees for presentation/discussion at meetings.

CHARITY COMMISSION

Complete Annual Return (Can now be done on-line)

Send them a certified copy of any resolution agreed by trustees changing any administrative aspect of our Governing Document.

GENERAL

Check Email daily and deal with messages as necessary.

Forward email applications to another trustee.

For more details or to apply for the position email the Chairman, beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or post c/o Tailwaggers Club Trust Secretary, Dogs Today, 4 Bonseys Lane, Chobham, Surrey. GU24 8JJ

Registered Charity No. 265069

Me and my shadow...

2011-08-05T08:10:00.004+01:00

I wrote a Tweet late last night and couldn't expand on it until I'd slept on it.

I had received two emails, both with disturbing contents.

They appear unconnected, but I can see a pattern.

One alerted me to the story in the Daily Mail about the Airedale Terrier breeders who had intended transporting 12 of their dogs - in the back of an ordinary removal lorry - along with their furniture from London to Doncaster on one of the hottest days of the year.

The other one, I don't really want to talk about, because it's not very nice. That if I pretend it isn't happening it might go away. But the fact is, it doesn't go away. That I've tried that.

It's someone saying horrible things about me.

Not that it's someone I've ever met, or even someone that knows me even slightly.

I can take not being liked. What is the slight problem is this is a lot more than a whispering campaign.

It is this person's avowed intention to destroy me and everything I do.

I know this is hard to believe, but one of the things he wants to do is wreck the Don't Cook Your Dog campaign.

What did I do to this man to make him like this, I hear you ask?

It's usually only matters of the heart that generates this much heat, but this is someone I have never even met - although (somewhat alarmingly) he claims we have.

What is it that caused him to waste so much of his time plotting my downfall?

I uttered five small words, "Pedigree dogs are falling apart," in a certain documentary that aired in 2008.

It's a moot point that I was right, obviously.

That we've had no end of reforms ever since.

That it was a heartfelt statement - that I was genuinely worried and that I had been saying much the same thing for the past 25 years of my life.

But my nemesis wants me punished for uttering that phrase which apparently - his reasoning - is why people now buy crossbreeds and why we have so many puppy farms.

(If we go with his logic, I'm probably also the reason why the whole world is having economic problems, I'm probably responsible for all the increased seismic activity too - and Andy Murray not winning Wimbledon.)

Several major scientific reviews that followed did happen to agree with me, but lucky Professor Bateman isn't being stalked by a man trying to ruin him... just me.

I feel like I have my own personal Professor Moriarty.

But unlike the BBC Sherlock Holmes remake there are already far too many episodes in this drama.

Do I really hate pedigree dogs as this man continually insists?

Well what do you think? Would I have spent 20 years editing a magazine about dogs - most of them pedigree - if I hated them?

I've spent most of my life trying to protect them. I share my life with a Beardie and a Springer.

I couldn't love pedigree dogs more if I tried and I care enough to say what needs saying and I have sometimes put my head above the parapet - although I have to say what is going on at the moment is unreasonable. We're straying into areas that Amnesty International would have a view on! This guy is not just getting personal, he's getting creepy weird.

I digress, these two stories are linked, I'll get back to the point.

It's about bravery and clarity. About choosing to make a diffence or just hoping the problem goes away on its own.

When the neighbours saw those Airedales being loaded into that lorry many of of them must have thought to themselves, "that's not right!"

But it took one of them to actually intervene. One of them to stop being merely an observer of a disaster.

One deciding to become part of the solution.

It would have taken a modicum of backbone to intervene.

Everyday in car parks, wonderful people who support the Don't Cook Your Dog campaign swallow hard and engage with people about to leave their dogs in hot cars.

They don't usually get much thanks, but they can sleep at nights knowing they did the right thing.

Everyone in the world has a perfect right to an opinion and I have no problem at all with people not agreeing with me.

Where it goes wrong is when someone becomes so obsessed with a tiny detail that they lose the plot.

We're running a really significant campaign here to save the lives of dogs - a cause that has united every little bit of the dog world apart from this little group on facebook.

This guy is still stuck in 2008 and he isn't moving on. It's as if I said something on that day that only he heard.

I am now the personification of all evil and that no blow is too low to fell me.

When someone stops being rational or constructive those around them have some choices. They can either step away and pretend it isn't happening or they can intervene and try to show that person that perhaps they're going too far.

That perhaps plotting to destroy someone for saying five little words you didn't agree with is not an entirely reasonable plan.

Those neighbours of the Airedale breeders obviously had that moment of ephinay and decided to have an intervention.

There must be some reasonable people around my Moriaty, surely. From the evidence I have been sent there are instead some people telling him he is right. Wanting him to throw more and bigger stones at me.

That's not nice.

There are many more people watching silently who surely are squirming and feeling guilty. Some of them do actually know me and I am incredibly disappointed in them.

I know it's hard to be the first to stand up and say when something isn't right.

It is always so much easier to draw the curtains or cross the road.

I know that not everyone has what it takes to stand up to bullies.

I admit, I'd love not to have this layer of irritation in my life.

But I'm hoping for a glimmer, that just like the good people in our campaign who every day put themselves out to moderate dangerous behaviour, or those neighbours who stopped those Airedales from a hellish journey - that if this guy seriously attempts to harm me or my business or this campaign that some decent person will attempt to stop him.

Could your dream be our dream?

2011-08-02T21:58:00.000+01:00

We want someone to be part of a small team (two people) selling the advertising and sponsorship for our magazine Dogs Today. Could it be you? Could it be someone you know?

You’d be talking to existing advertisers, following up new leads and researching your own, too. You need to be persistent, organised and likeable as these are the same advertisers we’ve had for 20 years – so you need to build on and maintain relationships! You need to be reflective of the magazine when you talk to people and be passionate about dogs and what we do – so please do check us out before you apply to make sure you have empathy with the title.

To be good at this job you also need to be a good listener as you need to get to know the advertisers so you can advise them how best to interact with the title.

Some of the people you deal with will be one-man bands following their dream, too and starting their own doggie businesses.

Some will be agents for some of the biggest multi-national businesses in the world. No two days will be the same, but you’ll need to be calling someone up and making the calls and not just waiting for the phone to ring.

Advertising and editorial are in the same small building and everyone is hands on, we all answer the phone, make the tea etc (well that’s a lie as I don’t answer the phone hardly ever and I drink more tea than anyone... But apart from me, everyone is very good at putting the kettle on... Well some better than others, but no one is ever asked to make the tea if they don’t want to!).

It is a small company with very big ideas – check out our current campaign about dogs dying in hot cars, we’ve been doing stuff like this for the last 20 years.

We are ethical and caring but we need to be profitable in order to exist – and that means we need a brilliant ad sales team as well as a fantastic editorial dept. We have recently launched on iPad (one of the first dog mags in the world on that format) and our latest campaign is global, so there’s a world of opportunities opening up too with lots of new people discovering a mag that reflects their passion.

Our office is in very leafy Surrey – we’re on the edge of a common and the outskirts of Chobham village – so you need to drive and have a car to get here. This is an office-based position and the hours are 9am to 5.30pm. We want you to be part of the team and to work closely with editorial. Some of our staff work remotely, but we need our ad personnel on site.

Bringing a dog to work is a privilege but dogs have to fit in with the existing office dogs and the office routine, so it is not an automatic right - but it is certainly much more likely than on a cat mag!

We are saying goodbye to a senior ad sales person and we need someone who already knows not only how to sell but how to organise their time and motivate themselves as they will be set targets but will not be micro-managed.

We work on Macs.

Is there anything else you need to know? Email me!

I hope this give you some idea of the job and that it is interesting enough for your to want to apply. Please tell me why this is your dream job and what you’ll bring to it. This is my dream job and I’d love to find someone for whom this vacancy will be their’s too – I’ve been the Publisher and Editor of this magazine for 20 years and time has flown by, but if you’ve done your research you already know that!
Best wishes
Beverley Cuddy, Publisher And Editor

Please email beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

We want to see those stickers and posters!

2011-07-28T13:14:00.000+01:00

Does your dog support the Don't Cook Your Dog campaign? Do send us your photos! And click here for how to get involved....

The world famous Chandi lends her support!

And Just in from behaviour guru Sarah Whitehead:

We want to see your photos of stickers and posters being used! Please email beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

Great news!

2011-07-28T09:17:00.001+01:00

If you want news of Don't Cook Your Dog it now has it's own website... Click here. But please do read on while you're here, really heartwarming news!

Regular readers will know that at various point over the last couple of months we have tried to help OAP Dee stay together with her two dogs Rosie and Milo. She had ended up homeless and had been placed in a council emergency halfway house shelter in London, but it didn't allow her to have her dogs with her. Hence she had taken to sleeping in her car with her dogs.
This obviously couldn't continue and somehow we got to hear about it via a kindly vet and dog walker.
Via Twitter and facebook and blogs we launched an appeal to find a foster home for both dogs. There were many twists and turns as Rosie turned out not to much like being around other dogs and poor Milo needed to be near to the PDSA vets to get to his appointments as he had a fast growing lump on his leg.
But somehow, just in the nick of time, solutions were found and Rosie and Milo settled into loving foster homes with incredible people (Lorna had Rosie for most of the time, Kia and Tim had Milo and Bernice had Rosie for a week and Caroline and Mercedes were the ones who discovered Rosie was better alone!). Via ancient charity Tailwaggers Club Trust (of which I am Chairman by the way!) we launched an appeal for an emergency fund to pay for dog sitters or kennels etc to make sure dogs and owner didn't have to face a night in the car again. You were all very generous and we did need it a few times.
Last night I got the great news from Lorna that Dee is being housed on Friday and Milo and Rosie can rejoin her.
These dogs are Dee's life and it is just fantastic that her life is now back on track and her doggie family is being restored to her. When she had asked for help alone she was told to sign them over to a rescue for rehoming - something we all knew she'd never do.
I know that Rosie and Milo will be very much missed by their foster homes, but what they did for those dogs is the greatest act of love imaginable. And what they did for Dee... I've spoken to her several times over the last few months and being homeless at her age is very upsetting, but knowing that total strangers will offer to help you is life changing.
This whole episode encouraged us to write an article on fostering which will be in the September issue. That and @missyredboots Judith Broug gentle nagging us to do something on fostering! (Judith designed the Don't Cook Your Dog stickers and website... so lots of good ideas!).
So watch out for the September edition - out August 11th.

Competitions - some light relief!

2011-07-11T10:55:00.001+01:00

If you are here for news of the "Don't Cook Your Dog Campaign" click here ... but, please read on before you go as we do have a very quick couple of competitions to enter before you move on to more serious matters... Can you guess which two breeds came together to produce this first cross?

First correct answer wins a breed book or a general dog book from Interpet. Email comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
I will be giving clues if no one gets it - in fact I'll give you one to get you going... may have made this a tad too easy. We'll see...

Part of one parent's name is made up of a suggestion you might make to a bowler in cricket. The other is also a gundog that is defined by a hairstyle popularly adopted by comedians wanting to depict scousers!

It's been won - the correct answer was an Italian Spinone crossed with a Curly Coated Retriever! But there's still time to enter the caption comp.

Caption competition:

Can you think of a good caption for this pic of the lovely Woodstock? Best one wins a Nina Ottosson Pyramid and five runners up win Coachies treats.

Email comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or post your best efforts on our Dogs Today facebook page thread. We'll judge it tomorrow at lunchtime, so hurry up and enter!

URGENT!!!! Rosie needs a place to stay from Tuesday...

2011-07-05T11:57:00.006+01:00

URGENT If you are here for news of the "Don't Cook Your Dog Campaign" click here ... but, please read on before you click as we do so much more than this campaign and regular readers will know all about the two dogs in London we have been helping. Their OAP owner ended up homeless and sleeping in a car, Tailwaggers Club Trust stepped in to help find both dogs foster homes so their owner could get back on her feet!

HELP!!!!

Rosie now needs a place to stay again from Tuesday afternoon or even before that if you can manage it to make sure she settles.

We need someone to take her from Tuesday afternoon or earlier and keep her until Dee gets rehoused - have asked for an ETA for that, but it can't be much longer as the halfway house costs the council a small fortune. The foster home doesn't have to be in central London, but they do need to ideally not have any dogs or cats.

Rosie is 11 years old and very sweet with people.

We have some funds as yet unallocated from the appeal but we have already eaten into much of the money already donated for dog sitting cover on other days when Rosie needed a sitter.THe possible bill for an animal aunt to cover the period current foster mum is working is just too enormous to contemplate and we just don't have the money donated to anywhere near cover it.

Hence we are now officially desperate! To add to to equation - I am so busy with the Don"t Cook Your Dog Campaign and school holidays having broken up plus being about to go away myself, I really can't spend as much time trying to make this happen as I would normally and have already for this case - so I am begging you to please help me find somewhere for Rosie to stay!

Click here for their JustGiving link - we are really in need of topping this up now as we've lost all margin of error. Tailwaggers is a tiny little charity and we really do need your help!

My email address is beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk if you can help in any way at all!!!

Rosie's owner Dee is an OAP with mobility problems. Due to misfortune she's ended up homeless in London and the council halfway house wasn't dog friendly so rather than give up her two dogs - which are the most important things in her life - she chose to sleep in the car with them instead. As soon as we heard about this we tried to find foster home for Rosie and Milo - and Tailwaggers Club Trust set up a Just Giving page to mean we could pay for dog sitters etc to keep the dogs safe. We've already used some of that money for cover days when Rosie's foster mums had to go out to work and leave Rosie.

Milo is happily settled, but Rosie needs someone who has no other dogs or cats as Rosie is not greatly socialised. She can be left for a couple of hours but gets distressed if any longer. She is a very affectionate and loving dog and all her foster mums have adored her.

Hopefully Dee will soon reach to the top of the emergency housing list and will get her own place and she can have her best friends back. But until then, we need a plan B. If you think you could offer Rosie a temporary foster home can you email me beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk with more details. Many thanks!

Here's Dee's other dog Milo in his Foster home.

I've just received this email about Dee's other dog Milo's who is with foster mum Kia.

Dear Beverley

We have just found out from Dee that Milo has cancer in his lump on his leg. Fortunately it won't spread to his organs but the worse case scenario might be losing the leg.
I will let you know what is happening after we have seen the vet next Tuesday. I will be giving him LOADS of healing in the mean time.

Anyway ... A lovely lady called Lisa Gozling sent Milo of a box of cookies from Daisy's Dog Deli. Please see the link underneath as I have filmed him eating them and out its on Youtube so hopefully you can add it to your next blog.

I have also enclosed some more pics. The third one is of Dee holding Milo outside the vet... she said she doesn't mind you putting it in your magazine or internet if you write another blog.

Milo has officially become one of my closest and best friends. Tim is very busy with Cleo so Milo has adopted me as his temporary Mum and he follows me everywhere. He causes me to laugh out loud at least five times a day as he such a strong character. I love him sitting next to me on the sofa and his special Zebra-print, fluffy basket that I bought him is right next to my bed at night.
He seems to love eating lettuce, broad beans and all sorts of vegetables etc that he constantly begs from my plate. He can be a grumpy growler at times but I think that's because his little leg hurts him where a Rottweiller sat on him recently.
In short I love him profoundly and it will break my heart into a hundred pieces to let him go back to Dee. But I will never forget the happiness he has given me and how healing his company is on so many levels.

Kind prayers for his healing would be very much appreciated if your wonderful readers could possibly spare the time.
My love and gratitude
Kia xxx

My email is beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk
The Tailwaggers emergency Just Giving appeal is www.justgiving.com/Rosie andMilo/

Competition time

2011-07-04T12:33:00.002+01:00

If you have landed here because you're interested in the Don't Cook Your Dog Campaign click here to be transported to everything you need to know!

Have you ever wished you had more hands? Does your small to medium dog do a disappearing act when you get the brush out, try to clip nails etc!

Former dog groomer and inventor Nuala Bowes has designed The Dog’s Apron allowing you to ‘pamper without the scamper’. The easy-to-use apron takes the stress out of brushing, drying, administering medicine or clipping nails. Adjustable straps allows small to medium sized dogs to be gently secured to their owners’ laps so they can get on with fuss-free grooming or training puppies. For some reason this lady hasn't managed to work out how to put the apron on herself... but I think you get the idea!

We have four to give away!

Email comps@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk or post your entry on our Dogs Today facebook page. We're asking you to share your most amusing dog grooming anecdote. For example dog groomer Anita Bax once found a squashed frog while grooming Oscar. What has your dog rolled in or picked up in the park that you'd like to forget? Do share! Or as it's called the dog's apron, any other things from the kitchen that the dog has taken and is now their own? Or if you can't think of anything and want one, just say that! There are four after all!!!