Back in dear old Blighty!

It is so good to be back home again. The holiday was good in places, but there was too much driving. We rented a motor home (so we could bring the dog with us) and drove over to Gothenburg, Sweden. We have been camping in France, Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden along the way. It took 3 days just to get to Sweden and that was 3 days of almost non stop driving for my partner, Paul. I don't drive, so couldn't help out at all.

The good bits were the nice camping sites by the ocean or by huge woods. Toby much prefers the beaches and sand dunes to the woods, so the beaches were the favourites.



He looks like a puppy when he gets sand under his feet and he just rushes around madly, slinging seaweed up in the air. It is fantastic to watch!

I can highly recommend going on a motor home holiday, but I would suggest you keep the driving down to a minimum. It was lovely to have everything with you, including a kitchen and bathroom (we even had a shower in the van!) and it was very comfortable. We rented the motor home from Just Go in Luton and they've been very good. Took me 4,5 hours to clean out the motor home of all dog hairs though... (otherwise you get fined a couple of hundred pounds!).



We also had a much better experience with the Pet Passport Scheme this year. Last year the vet in France swore to me that he was giving Toby the right treatment (I asked him 3 times, just because it was the first time we travelled abroad with him and I was so worried we wouldn't be able to bring him back into the UK), but at the Pet Check at Calais they said Toby wasn't allowed back into the UK until he had a different tick treatment, so we were stuck in France for an extra 24 hours, having to give Toby a second set of tick and worm treatments.

So even though I would highly recommend Noirmoutier in France as a holiday place, I would strongly advice you against going to the local vet on the peninsula!



But as I said, this time it was all smooth sailing. We had been camping in a place just outside Dulmen in Germany and the closest vet, Nicola Horstig, was a star. Not only could we come straight in without an appointment, she knew what she was doing, was great with Toby (who is a wuss around vets) and we were out of there within 5 minutes. It took even less time at the Pet Check in Calais this time, they just looked at his Passport, had me scan him for his microchip and wished us a safe trip!

My tip for you if you are going to travel abroad with your pet, is to check with Defra which tick treatment you need to be able to bring your pet back with you to the UK. It will save you a lot of stress if you can check with the vet that they are giving your pet the correct treatment.

Dog fighting in Barton Hills

Today's blog is written by someone else. I've had an email from a client about some awful people who set up dog fighting in Barton Hills, so I thought you should all be warned. This is what she wrote:

"While I was taking the dogs to Barton Hills the other day, a lady approched me and warned me about a chap with 2 white dogs that were out of control and had attacked her dog. Having spotted him we changed direction and went headed down to the spring. While we were sitting down having a picnic, we could hear alot of shouting and barking coming from the spring. After hearing this barking a few times, my sister went over to investigate.

The white dogs were being encouraged to fight each other by the owner and several other men. One dog had been particularly savaged, even one of the men commented that it needed the vet. Blood was all over the dogs and the ground. My sister ran back and told me to get our dogs out of there as the dogs werent in control. I took off with both dogs vertically! (straight up the hill) as I knew they would try to leave along the normal footpaths and I had a chance of seeing where they were heading. My sister and several other people that saw what was going on called the police.

Apparently the police did turn up and were questioning the men down by the Church. However, the chap who owned the dogs didnt seem to be questioned. Im not too sure of this, as I was still hiding up the hill at the time (2 hours later) wondering which direction the man and the dogs were heading!

So please be warned. If you see a man with two large white dogs (pitbull type but larger) and two other smaller brown dogs (pitbull type) please do not go near them. They are fighting dogs and the man has little control and is basically scared of them.
Hopefully the police have taken the matter further."

Scary stuff, isn't it?