The Power of Fireworks...

Almost 8 pm on Thursday 5th November 2015, and no doubt there are countless millions of people gathered around bonfires watching fireworks explode into the (very damp) night sky. Here, the sky
is alive with colourful stars. All very pretty......until they explode into ever louder bombs. Our Greyhounds are hiding away in corners, under pillows, under covers, terrified and confused by it all. Yes, it happens every year at this time, and we should get used to it, but the hounds do not.

Years ago, I spoke to a man from Trading Standards in Birmingham about the dilemma of fireworks' noise
and the effect on animals. His reply was that fireworks do not HAVE to have noise, they are created that way for maximum effect, and it seems, they are created ever more so every year. It is like a war zone here, and sadly it won't be for just one night Bonfire Night, as it used to be, it will no doubt continue well into the week end and beyond. So animals everywhere, indoors and out will just have to like it or lump it, and so too their equally suffering owners who do their best to pacify and calm their animals by any means possible, from thunder shirts, rescue remedy, calming pills and potions galore, along with comforting words....and so on and on and on. As this is being typed, we have YouTube on in the background with Ludovico Einaudi piano music - which seems to be soothing them just a little. Blissful stuff. It is not only stressful for domestic pets, it is equally, if not more stressful for wildlife outdoors, sheep, horses, cows, roosting birds in the trees, never mind hibernating animals everywhere. How selfish is humanity, we could so easily make these monsters into quiet monsters......for the animals. How I wish we could.

 

Are Ear Mufflers the answer?

Lovely sunny day to be going to Perry Barr RGT's Annual Fun Day at Solihull Riding School. Glorious day and so many wonderful hounds wandering serenely around looking just beautiful as they always do.
The atmosphere at any greyhound event is always a pleasing one. Very rarely are there any spats growls or grumbles, just a peaceful acceptance of their kindred breed (greyhounds love greyhounds mostly).
However there is one thing my two dislike intensely at these sort of do's - and that is THE TANNOY - it is quite loud for a good reason - so people can hear and be informed of the next class in the show ring, but so many dogs stand there trembling and shaking. It IS pretty loud to be fair, so I can sympathise.

May be someone should come up with some ear mufflers to protect those Oh so sensitive ears

((looks like someone already has)!

Lou Lou Shower Mac NEW

A couple of days ago, we posted about a newer, heavier-weight version of our popular Shower Mac with Hood. We've done a prototype using the heavier fabric, and Louis is shown here modelling it (with great reluctance)! It is the same design as the standard light-weight version, but with a heavier fabric. It is lined (in this case) with royal blue and white spot cotton fabric. We're calling it the Lou Lou Shower Mac. Currently there are 3 colours available, Royal, Red and Black with any choice of cotton lining shown on our swatch page.

There a few edits we are planning which will be completed by the beginning of next week (week beginning 24th August). It will be available for Greyhounds, sizes 24-32, and Whippets sizes 18-24. For further information, please contact us at lilypeeps@gmail.com

Lou Lou Shower Mac with Hood - NEW

They say you can't please all the people all of the time; and if you are in business and you merrily go along thinking you can; then you're wrong. We have sold an awful lot of our Greyhound (& Whippet) Shower Macs with Hood; They are simply a portable shower mac, rather like the sort you would scrunch up and put in a bag to take with you on a day out, if there's a chance of rain. They are not designed for monsoons or deluges; that is more the job our our Greyhound or Whippet Raincoats, which we guarantee to be 'all-day-waterproof'.

We had a customer recently who bought two Shower Macs, but was unhappy with the quality of the fabric.There is always a positive side to everything. Oddly, we do happen to have another waterproof fabric in our stock room which has been sitting there doing nothing for many months, and could fit the bill for this customer, so we have sent samples for her to look at. Again it isn't quite the quality of our Classic or Chi Chi Raincoats fabrics, but it is certainly of good quality & weight, and it is rain proof.

On thinking about this, we decided to introduce an alternative to the Shower Mac using this fabric. It will be the same design as the Shower Mac, with hood, no chest piece, but will be lined with cotton fabric of choice (see swatch page). We have made a few to test them out and they look smart, heavier and we hope, will appeal to customers who would like the alternative.

Here is a picture of our original Standard Shower Mac with Hood, the new one will look likewise, but heavier - and lined. Price we anticipate to be around £30 plus postage.

Any and all comments - are welcome

Huff and puff......& relax!

After what seems like weeks and weeks of organising, packing, preparing and general faffing....we finally moved, and are (sort of) settling in. Loads of work to be done here to get us straight and in some sort of order, but the outlook is positive and there IS light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn't the oncoming train! (Well not this time, thankfully)! The hounds were not at all happy with any of it, Ellie would have nothing to do with the house and sat in garden, intermittently digging a hole in the lawn with great gusto and enthusiasm.

The hole - we decided - would make a very nice 'feature' so we filled it with compost and planted it up with plants from the umpteen pots and planters we brought with us. Thanks Ellie, you did us a favour, it looks lovely in front of the bird bath.

Anyway, both hounds are settled at last, and I can safely say, they have adopted their new abode as home. Relief all round.

Here's Louis demonstrating his 'acceptance' of life in the new pad!

Turmeric - for Greyhounds?

I've always believed that natural medicine is better than the sledgehammer approach of the big pharmaceutical companies. After all, Hippocrates did say ' let food be your medicine, let medicine be your food'. Not only that, but I also believe that nature provides all the answers to our health, and in a much gentler way, that goes for man or animal.

Over the past few weeks my girl Ellie has been off her food, disinterested in just about everything put in front of her. We cook for our hounds so the food they have is always fresh, healthy and nutritious. She has never been a voracious eater, she nibbles gently at her food and rarely gobbles it down (like Louis), but she always eats in her own time, so this was a  worry.

We tried everything to entice her, including, sardines, tuna, cheese, ham, sausages, fresh chicken, the list went on, but nothing interested her. It was Saturday of course, so vets are closed and Sunday lay ahead.

I posted about Ellie on our Facebook page lilypeepsgreyhoundsandco, and luckily for us a certain follower saw the post and commented. He said he was now a regular user of Turmeric for his hounds and that they thrived on it. I was directed to a page on Facebook called TUG (Turmeric Users Group). I went to take a look, and was staggered to see a following of 88,000 active members, so I joined, membership pending

In the meantime, I made a paste for Ellie with the basic info I had been given by Roger from the page post. I mixed turmeric, virgin coconut oil and cracked black pepper together into a paste and gave Ellie a teaspoonful. Several hours later, and after a good long walk, it was dinner time for hounds. Amazingly, Ellie was hungry and actually looking for food. I put the food down for them and she wolfed hers down with gusto. Coincidence? I don't know, but it was an amazing transition from the past two weeks. So let's say I am hooked.

The TUG group was started by a Vet in Queensland Australia, you can read all about it on their website Turmeric Life Australia the page here: Turmeric Users Group - I think you will be amazed and excited by this amazing herb. It has extraordinary properties that beat cancer, arthritis, skin conditions and many many more. There is testament to these claims from users on the group with photographic evidence.

It is not only effective, but simple, and inexpensive to make. All it takes is half a teaspoon twice per day in the food or wrapped in something they will eat. You can make the paste and put it in a jar, it keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks. We know our dogs are worth it.

PS it is important to use organic turmeric and coconut oil, as the active elements are removed from shop bought versions. See more on the website.

Resources: 
Turmeric Wikipedia Info
Turmeric Life Australia
Turmeric Users Group (TUG)