A new year

Lets hope we have better weather as it has been a challenge trying to keep dogs in our care well exercised and clean what with all this rain.

Thankfully most of our 16 large runs slope and we have part stoned them but some areas are quite boggy so we have used wood bark

It is tricky as I don't want concrete everywhere and most dogs love to run on soft ground but also we do like dogs to leave us fairly clean so thank goodness for our large stack of towels to dry/clean them off a little.

Even though we are very close to the water table and lots around us flooded our kennels are fine

We are looking forward to a busy year with many bookings already made as happy customers book well in advance as at certain times of the year we will be turning people away so if you are considering using us please feel free to call in any day at either 9ish OR 5 ish as it will be nice to meet you :)

Lhasa Apso and kittens available

We have a very lovely 8 year old Lhasa Apso to find a caring home for. 

Sadly her owner can no longer care for her as having to go into a home. 

We have known her for years and she really is a lovely little dog.

Any interest please call me directly on 05525 941 421

I'm sure she will be snapped up so make that call :)

Missy, our junior pest control officer has adorable kittens looking for a home too

They are very well handled so very confident of course

Weening now and wormed

Any interest please call Jamie directly on 07496 797910

You really won't be disappointed, they are gorgeous

Rain, rain and more rain

The dogs in the kennels love to come out into one of the big runs, rain or shine which is fine by us as we put our waterproofs on and out we go but we are a little fed up of getting drenched. Lets hope for a cold spell to freeze and dry everything up a little.

The poor farmers are struggling to harvest the remainder of their crops so a dry spell would help them too

Never for ever

A very sad day yesterday as we said goodbye to Bae, our much loved Labradoodle.

She was 16 years old and has been great fun
We kept her as at 6 weeks of age she could jump the barrier and at almost 16 years of age she could jump (without touching ) the 5 bar gate

She was our matriarch and until recently kept the youngsters in order.

She has been in my boys lives all of those years too of course

She will be missed but at least she hasn't suffered

Winter on it's way

I have recently spent some time and money changing the shutters in the kennels for lighter weight ones so easier to open and close. This is important as when we do last checking and shut down at 10pm ish it needs to be quick and easy. If it is cold we also flick their under floor heating on at that point too. 

With winter on it's way and being rural we can have some serious minus degrees. I do consider our insulation but having the heating in every dog unit does help keep the water pipes freezing.

Our next project is to establish some more dog runs. We do already have 15 but as we have a stict policy as to who can go out with who and we don't take risks, you can never have too many also by having lots we can have a lot of dogs out, at the same time but safely separated which is important to us at Dogs Paws Stenson

We do have quite a few bookings for 2019 already as people clearly don't want to risk not getting either a dog or cat unit, enabling us to care for their pets whilst they are away on holiday

That is not our car Danni :)

Our senior pest control officer - Danni - is so cheeky as she jumped into someone else's car. 

She thinks she rules the roost and she probably does. She is phased by nothing and no one, not even the largest of dogs which may bark at her, she just smacks them.

She does a great job at keeping the "pests" under control but she and her assistant Missy do insist on bringing us all the dead bodies 

Keeping cool

I am so very pleased we have built the kennels as we have with a cool granite floor and roof from front to back as with the weather the way it is dogs can easily die from heat exhaustion but we are COOL

The self filling water dispensers are "worth their weight in gold" too as I need never worry about dehydration as the dogs always have water and cannot knock the bowls over

Some of our runs have trees for shade and we have erected a wooden fence to create additional shade but at afternoon let out we are very careful how long the dogs are our in the sunshine for, especially the black/chocolate.

We do sometimes put the hose on them and they love it, those who don't stand back but those who do jump, bite and play in the water. We have a couple of trays of water in the play pens too for them to splash and cool off in.

We have had many lovely dogs boarding with us and I thank their owners for continuing to support us.
I have met some very "tricky" dogs with quite tricky owners but I'm afraid they aren't welcome at Dogs Paws