17th October 2011•
VIPs News•
At our Quicks Road day care centre in Wimbledon for a limited time only we are offering a course of 5 doggie daycare sessions for the price of £120 plus a 6th day free of charge.
This offer needs to be booked and paid for before the 30th November but the sessions can be used in any month.
Our doggie daycare centre in Wimbledon provides a safe, clean environment where your dog or puppy will be looked after by professional, qualified dog carers who will supervise his play and take him for walks.
Contact us by Nov 30th to take advantage of this promotion! Or you can read more about our doggie daycare service.
13th October 2011•
Dog Care•
Here are our top 10 tips when getting a new puppy.
- Get started early with socialisation – Take your puppy out and about every day from the day you bring him home. Let him experience the world. The earlier he sees smells and hears the world he will be living in the easier he will find life in general. Make sure you carry him if his vaccinations are not complete to protect him from disease. Also encourage people to visit your home to meet and greet with the puppy.
- Find a good vet – Go and visit your vet early to meet and greet and make sure your puppy has a positive experience. Book in your puppy vaccinations and arrange treatment for fleas and worms. Also ask about neutering at the correct age.
- You are what you eat – Source a good quality puppy food with a quality source of protein and avoid colorings flavorings and preservatives where you can. A poor diet can be reflected in your puppies’ behavior, coat condition and digestive function.
- Ease teething – Your puppy needs to chew and he will find his own chew toys if you do not! Provide plenty of appropriate things for puppy to chew on. Include soft toys, raw hide bone and tough rubber toys too. Keep some in a cupboard and rotate the toys so that every few days they change maintaining their appeal.
- Aid boredom – Put a whole meal inside a kong and feed it, this uses up a portion of the day, with a fun activity and also gives those chewing teeth an outlet and slows down those greedy gulpers aiding digestion.
- Start training early – Training your puppy can start as soon as possible. Using modern kind methods of training means you can get off to a great start with obedience. Enroll on a good puppy training course to learn new things and see other puppies too.
- Proof against theft and loss – Get your puppy identichipped. It is by far the best way to locate your puppy if he becomes lost.
- Get yourself a puppy crate – Crate training is a great way to get quick and reliable results with toilet training. Contrary to many beliefs it’s not cruel to the puppy at all as long as it is used correctly. In fact it provides a safe ‘den’ for your pup to sleep in when he is tired and somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of a busy house. Keep puppy in his crate with something to do when he cannot be supervised and take him out to the toilet immediately after waking, playing or eating and every hour in between. Having a smaller area to rest in encourages bladder control and gives you the chance to catch toileting happening in the right place and reward it!
- Prevent separation anxiety – Make sure your puppy gets used to being left for short periods of time every day. Dogs that are not used to being left alone can suffer terribly with anxiety. Even if you are at home all day get your puppy used to his own company as you never know what the future holds and life may change.
- Reward all the good stuff – Always use positive training methods and reward everything that you like to see your puppy doing. Prevent the naughty things from occurring by supervising your puppy at all time when he is out of his crate. If you can stop it, it never happens!
Have you got any others tips you’d like to share with us? If so, let us know in the comments.
UPDATE: Rosie has now found a new home. Thanks for all your enquiries.
Rosie is a 6 month old, cream cockapoo. Very sweet natured, lively and loving. Rosie has been with us just under 4 months, and we’re looking for a new home for her as our existing 2 year old cockapoo isn’t too impressed with the new arrival and they’re not managing to settle down too well together. With our 4th baby arriving next month we’ve taken the very tough decision that it’s going to be too difficult trying to persist in making this work.
She is microchipped, fully vaccinated, very healthy and happy and very well socialised with other dogs and young children (my three are 5, 7 and 8). We don’t want any payment for her – we would just love to find her a new loving home.
If you may be able to rehome Rosie please contact Very Important Pets.
23rd June 2011•
VIPs News•
As of 24th June we are changing our Friday and Saturday office opening hours.
On Friday we will now be open from 8am to 6pm. Previously we closed at 2pm on Fridays.
And on Saturdays we will now be closed all day.
If you have an emergency over the weekend you can get through to an out of hours number and leave a message. If it is something that can’t wait until Monday we will call you back at our earliest convenience.
Please check the contact page to see our opening times in full.
Here are our 10 top tips for looking after your pet in the heat.
- NEVER leave your pet in a parked car alone even in the shade.
- Always provide fresh cool water to keep them well hydrated and take water with you if you’re on the go.
- On hot days, make sure they don’t over exercise. Early morning or and evenings are the best time to exercise your pet.
- Watch for hot pavements; sensitive paws burn easily. Check your pet’s paws after a walk.
- Swimming in a lake or pond is a great way for your pet to cool off. Just make sure you supervise your dog in the water. (A dog life jacket is a great safety item)
- Wasps and bees are a problem in the summer months. There is no real way for your pets to avoid being stung but antihistamines can help. To neutralise a bee sting use bicarbonate of soda directly on the sting and for wasp stings use vinegar.
- Pets can get sunburnt too. So, don’t forget to apply a pet sunscreen to your pet’s nose and ear tips. (Pets with light coloured noses or fur are more susceptible to sunburn and skin cancer.
- Fleas, ticks and other parasites may infect your pet more easily in hot weather. Your vet will be able to advise you on the best product to use to keep them away.
- Do not over feed your pet in hot weather. Overeating can result in overheating which can be dangerous for your pet.
- Travelling with your pet can be lots of fun, just make sure you spend time preparing for them as well as your family. If you are leaving them behind make sure you have recommended pet sitting service arranged for them. Ask your local vet for a recommendation or an animal loving friend.
