The DogCast Radio blog

It’s New Year again, when we start making resolutions to be thinner, fitter or smoke-free. What about some resolutions that will make the coming year better for your dog too? Here’s the DogCast Radio top ten.

1 - Feed your dog the best quality food you can

You are what you eat – and so is your dog!

I saw this one the other day. Once you start noticing them, you see them everywhere! It can liven up dog walking, playing I-spy poo signs, try it.

Anyway, not sure if this one is saying you have to bring a mammoth with you to spear the poo with his tusks. Or maybe that you have to clear up after big dogs? Or maybe just big poos? Suggestions on a postcard – or should that be e-card?

We went for a post Christmas walk with the dogs to walk off some of the seasonal eating, drinking and making merry. This sign caught my eye. While it’s all common sense stuff I have a few questions to ask about it.

For one, who holds a filled poop bag up on high like that? When I am carrying one, I do it much more surreptitiously than that. Although I have to admit that if another walker has seen my dog pooing, I make sure they see me bagging it.

I mentioned recently that rescue centres in the UK such as Dogs Trust and Battersea Cats and Dogs home are filling up faster than they can rehome dogs. It seems the same problem is occurring in some US shelters.

Episode 79 of DogCast Radio is now available, and it’s our Christmas episode.

Beverley Cuddy, publisher and editor of magazine Dogs Today, talks about a charity that’s close to her heart, Tailwaggers. (www.tailwaggersclubtrust.com ) Despite being small, this charity is often the only means of help to some dog and cat owners. Tailwaggers offers the personal touch, and can consider every case on its individual merits. The story they often discover behind the issue with the dog can be incredibly touching.

This is a photo of Star at Carols in the Square tonight. We learned a lesson when we attended the switching on of the Christmas lights in the square earlier this month. The lesson was that in a crowd with a small dog, you spend most of your time making sure the little dog doesn’t get trodden on. Or you give in and pick up the little dog, and then you can’t hold both your coffee and your brandy snap. Or your mulled wine and your roast hog, if you’re that way inclined.

This time of year can get stressful for us all, so if you feel your dog needs a Christmas survival guide, then check out this one from Dr Roger Mugford in the Telegraph. I love his suggestion for a dog owner’s New Year resolution. (www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/3902388/Christmas-survival-guide-Pe...)

Do you ever see dogs tied up outside shops and worry about them? I do. Even though I live near a very small town, where dogs are probably fairly safe from theft, I still worry that they are clearly unhappy to be left alone. In their canine rationale of the world, surely they must feel abandoned by their pack.

Okay, I was going to write a blog about how many of the rescue shelters in Britain are reporting that they are filling up with dogs and can’t take in any more. But I wanted to blog about something happier, so I decided to talk about the upcoming movie of John Grogan’s book, Marley and me.

You can find a trailer and information about the film at http://marleyandmemovie.com/ and it looks like it’s a great film. Whether you’ve read the book or not you’ll enjoy the story of probably the naughtiest dog in the world. A Labrador of course!

The other day we returned from a walk in the dark, and I hurriedly let the dogs out of the car and in to the house. Then I was distracted by another task – possibly shutting the ducks in for the night, bringing in something from the car, or most important task of all putting the coffee on! Anyway, it meant that by the time I made it into the lounge both dogs were settled on the couch.