The Experiences of Harley and Raffles
A reversible alternative to surgical castration
Considering getting your male dog neutered is a difficult decision. Maybe you're not sure you want him to undergo a general anaesthetic, or you can't decide if you want to breed from him, yet you want to get rid of unwanted social and sexual behaviours.
Did you know there is a reversible alternative to surgical castration which offers the same benefits without surgery? Virbac are a company dedicated to animal health and have an implant licensed for use in entire male dogs to provide temporary castration.
It is a reversible way to try castration and make sure you are happy with the effect. It gives the health and lifestyle benefits without having to have a permanent surgical procedure.
Take at look at this video for more information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC8kVcnAB7k
Harringtons 'Walkies on the Wild Side' Campaign
We were very excited to be asked by Harringtons, a family run pet food business based in North Yorkshire, if we would like to take part in their 'Walkies on the Wild Side' campaign in association with Ben Fogle. Obviously, we jumped at the chance to be involved.
The campaign aims to breathe new life into dog walking and inspire pet owners to break their own cycle of dog walks and embark on new 'Dogventures', encouraging people to get outdoors, whatever the dog and whatever the weather.
Our brief was to create a Dogventure called Making a Splash: A Dogventure in Water. Great, we thought! We love water! What could be more perfect, walkies and water combined!
We planned our location which was to be Heaton Park in Manchester and the date and packed our bag with toys and treats ready for our big Dogventure. Finally, the day dawned, a cold, wet and miserable one! but it didn't deter us and off we went to have some fun.
Heaton Park is the largest park in Manchester and the largest municipal park in Europe. It is situated in North Manchester and covers 600 acres. There are plenty of areas to explore, including picturesque ornamental gardens, woodland and a boating lake. The site is also home to the Grade II listed Heaton Hall as well as other architectural gems, including an ornamental temple, papal monument and colonnade. There's a children's playground, boating lake, cafes and plenty of areas to explore. So, something to interest the whole family, including of course, us dogs!
We planned a route, which is approximately 2 miles and takes about 1 hour, but this is dependent on your pace, the amount of time you stop to explore the sights and play and swim.
We started our walk from the St Margarets entrance to the park and were allowed off lead straight away. While the humans had a leisurely walk down the path, we had a good run on the fields either side, letting off a bit of steam and playing with some other dogs.
Before we get carried away, telling you about the rest of the walk, we just wanted to let you know about some points of interest you should look out for; the architectural buildings, the tramway, the highland cattle, grey squirrels and the HaHa. What's the HaHa we hear you ask? Well we're not going to tell you, you'll have to do the walk yourself to find out! (he he!)
So, to get back to the route. We can hear your humans asking, is this walk going to be very muddy / uphill / across fields? Well, you'll be pleased to know humans, that most of the walk is on paved paths, except for the areas in the woodland which is a track and there are no fields to cross so you won't end up to your knees in mud or cow dung. It's suitable for all ages and abilities as it's fairly flat. It's also a route that can be walked in the early morning or late evening in the summer months.
Now, we've told you all the important stuff, we'll get back to our walk. We followed the path down to the Hall, all the while running on the grassy areas, clocking up far more steps than the humans. We stopped to have our photo taken with the lions guarding the south entrance to Heaton Hall, not real we might add, but silver statues and then continued on towards the boating lake.
If you love a paddle or a swim like us, then you'll have a great time here! There are areas around the lake where the path slopes down into the water, so if you're not into diving you can have a gentle stroll into the water and only go in as deep as you like. So it's perfect for paddlers and swimmers too. Right, time to get the toys out mum! A game of fetch with our ball and rubber toys in the water is just what we need to tire us out and we may even chase (sorry we meant swim) with the ducks too!
After endless games of fetch and splashing in the water we continued on our route past the Town Hall Colonnade. This is the front of Manchesters first town hall which stood on King Street in the city centre, it was moved to the park in 1902 when the building was demolished and of course, we had to pose for a photo - we put our serious faces on for this one.
We carried on up towards The Dell, where there's an area with picnic tables, a lovely place to stop and eat your packed lunch or if you're like us, see if you can pinch a sandwich or two! We especially like the mini picnic table and chairs, just the right height for us and great for kids too.
As this is the start of the woodland area, the path turns into a track. We said hello to the horses in the field and then had a great run around up and down the banks and in the streams. We even got mum to come in the stream with us and have a splash about, it was so much fun!
Look out for the sculpture trail in the woods where there are some amazing tree carvings by a Manchester artist. Of course, we had to have another photo, so up we clambered onto the log with the carving called 'fly by'.
After we'd decided we were muddy enough, having run through woods, we had a final dip in the stream and continued through the tunnel entrance to the Western Pleasure Grounds. Note to humans; the track turns back to a path at this point. The tunnel is the entrance to the ornamental gardens and is faced with large stones to give it the appearance of a natural cave. We love to climb the stones and of course, the humans think if they can capture a photo of us here, it will make a great one for the album! good luck humans, you have to be quick!
So, we're almost at the end of the route, but we do pass the Stables cafe, which serves lovely food and drink. There's seating areas inside and outside and water bowls are provided, so its a chance for us to get a well earned drink after all that thirsty work.
We may be wet and dirty, but we've had an amazing time and we would definitely recommend you try it out!
Just a few tips for the humans to ensure they enjoy the walk as much as us; wear suitable clothing, especially footwear, as it can be muddy and wet on parts of the walk. Don't forget to take your dogs favourite toy, such as a ball or frisbee as playing games is a way to keep your walk fun and your dog interested. There are two cafes on route, dogs are welcome at both in the outside seating areas, where bowls of water are provided, so everyone can have a drink and snack.
If you would like to read more about our walk, see a map of the route and learn more about the 'Walkies on the Wild Side campaign with Ben Fogle, take a look here http://www.harringtonspetfood.com/dogventures
Day out at Heaton Park, Manchester
We enjoyed a lovely day out at Heaton Park, Manchester with our good friends Maddie and Flossie. Heaton Park is a municipal park covering an area of over 600 acres. The park includes the grounds of a Grade I listed neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall. It contains an 18-hole golf course, a boating lake, an animal farm, woodlands and ornamental gardens. There's plenty of space for us to run around and lots to explore. We're allowed off lead in all areas except for the animal farm. There are also two cafes in the park, one by the lakeside and one by the stables where water bowls are provided for us and our humans enjoyed a snack and a hot chocolate. This photo is taken with one of the lion statues that stand either side of the door to the Hall. Click here to see more photos.
