Dog owners across the region have been sharing their thoughts on leaving their pet pooch home alone in a survey commissioned by Lintbells.

Over half of those surveyed in the West Midlands typically leave their dog alone during the working day and almost 70% admit to feeling bad about it. To make up for it, over half of the owners surveyed take their dog for an extra-long walk when they get home.

Owners that do leave their dogs at home during the day often leave the radio or TV on for their pets whilst out. 45% admit to feeling as bad, or worse, about leaving their dog home alone compared to their teenage children.

Alethea Maillard, Marketing Manager at Lintbells, producers of the YuCALM supplement proven to keep furry friends happy at home, said: “People say dogs are man’s best friend, and it seems that really is the case.

“No owner wants to leave their dog alone but sometimes it’s unavoidable.  As a result, it seems many are finding different ways to try and make sure their dog doesn’t end up feeling lonely while they are out. It just goes to show how much we love our pets.”

The national study of 2,000 dog owners found that more than a fifth have allowed their dog to sleep next to them in bed to make up for not being around while more than one in ten have even given them a steak dinner. One in ten have also taken time off work or dodged social events to keep their pooch company.

Dog behavioural expert Dr. Emily Blackwell PhD, CCAB, senior lecturer in Companion Animal Welfare, said: “Leaving dogs alone should be a normal experience for both owners and their pets, and shouldn’t be something to worry about. It is vital to introduce this time alone for your dog from a very young age so that it becomes a normal part of life.

“There is a lot of useful advice out there to help owners. Giving dogs a special treat when they are left alone can be a great way of making time alone fun, however if the dog doesn’t eat the treat, it can be a sign that it is anxious. Leaving nice toys and treats can also help owners feel less worried about leaving their pet.”

A new coffee shop that will work with those affected by drugs and alcohol, mental health issues and homelessness has received a £5,300 funding pledge from Haringey Council.

The team behind the innovative Shine Cafe launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money to set up the spot in Turnpike Lane, and needed a final boost to reach their £28,763 target.

The cafe – run by Shine Enterprise Centre – will help train local people experiencing difficulties with drugs, alcohol, homelessness and mental health issues in the art of coffee-making. This will help them to find employment, build skills and confidence, and provide a social hub for the community.

Kevin Farrell, from Shine, said:

Finding employment and developing new skills while you are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction, homeless or struggling with mental health difficulties is particularly difficult. We want to provide the space and support for people facing difficulties to be trained in working in and eventually running a cafe, as well as contributing to the local economy.

Shine have already found their first trainee and plan to host regular courses for future trainees.

The cafe will be operated as a social enterprise, reinvesting profits back into the business and the community and ensuring a sustainable source of training and employment in Haringey.

A range of people pitched in to raise the cash, which included £9,000 from the Greater London Authority. The public helped to get the coffers up to £23,463, and the council added the final £5,300. As the campaign is all-or-nothing, all the funds raised would have been lost if they did not hit the full £28,763 target.

Cllr Joe Goldberg, Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, said:

Shine Cafe will not only offer a great support for those who need it, but it will also create a brilliant place for residents to enjoy. The skills trainees learn through the project will be invaluable to them and to the borough, and we are delighted to support such a creative idea that will have such a positive impact on Haringey’s communities.

The Shine Enterprise Centre works with people who are recovering from a drug or alcohol problem, supporting them to re-engage with their local community through a range of local initiatives. Its inception was supported by a capital grant from Public Health England. The project is part of HAGA – a local charity that works with and on behalf of people, families and communities affected by alcohol. You can find out more about the Shine Cafe project, to be based at 89-91 Turnpike Ln, London, N8 0DY, here: https://www.spacehive.com/shine-cafe and more about the work of HAGA here: https://www.haga.co.uk/

The Help for Heroes (H4H) Recovery Centre in Colchester recently welcomed a special guest.  Comedian Sean Kelly, star of TV’s Storage Hunters, popped into Chavasse VC House for a tour of the facilities; he even brought his co-stars Green Mile and T-Money.

    Sean, who was in the army himself, is currently on a stand-up tour of the UK. The audience are encouraged to bring in items for auction after the show and all proceeds are being donated to H4H. Sean talked candidly about why he chose to support the charity during his recent visit:

    “I suffered from post-traumatic stress following my service in Iraq during the early nineties but there were no organisations like H4H at the time. My wife helped me as much as she could but I needed so much more help. I felt like I was battling it alone. I would find myself driving along and the next thing I’d be on the side of the road crying my eyes out. I couldn’t remember how I got there. I also had nightmares which tortured me for a long time”.

    Life is very different now though and Sean is determined that nobody else should have to go through that alone. He had some words of encouragement for those who have been wounded, injured or have become sick whilst in service and are struggling:

    “Please just pick up the phone and ask for some help; don’t go it alone. I liken it to combat. You’re not expected to go it alone then. When you’re in a unit everyone has a job and when one goes down others come to their aid. You didn’t go it alone in Iraq or Afghanistan so you shouldn’t be going it alone once home. If you’re feeling down then there are people who will reach out to you. The sooner you do so then the sooner you will recover”.

    Chavasse VC House, inspires, enables and supports those who are wounded, injured or sick while serving our country, encouraging them to lead active, independent and fulfilling lives, while also supporting their loved ones. With an adaptive gym, an award winning reflective garden (Hope on the Horizon), a Support Hub made up of multiple charities and other organisations, psychological well-being suite, en-suite bedrooms, family rooms and a creative studio, the Centre has been specially designed to offer the very best recovery environment.

    Sean said: “The Recovery Centre in Colchester is a fabulous facility. It’s nice to know that for those men and women who come home from combat that there’s a clean, professional and well-staffed facility where they can get the help that they need and deserve. It’s also nice to know that every time we’re on stage entertaining that we’re doing it with a purpose. We’re helping people we may never meet but whom we have a connection to; because we know what they’ve gone though”.

The rest of the tour will take Sean and team to: Crewe, Northampton, Folkestone, Harlow, Leeds, Crawley, Bury-St-Edmunds, Exeter, Yeovil, Truro, Swansea, Brighton, Wolverhampton, Swindon, Aldershot and Birmingham.

A spectacular new Christmas trail at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be transforming the gardens into a magical illuminated wonderland when it opens on 29 November 2017.

The jewel-coloured trail will lead visitors through the Gardens, highlighting the rich Victorian history and heritage trees, all with the magical entertainment of the festive season.

The trail weaves across the landscape, telling little stories and encouraging visitors to interact with the seasonal themes. Installations that visitors will experience include illuminated scenes bringing to life The Twelve Days of Christmas; a tunnel of lights; a mistletoe moment, a scented fire garden and much more.

Visitors will also see an incredible Singing Tree. This magnificent coppice tree has five trunks! Using the latest technology this single coppice will appear to magically sing as visitors wander past. Inspiration will also be drawn from other festive pieces including Silent Night, O Holy Night and The Holly and the Ivy.

Leading the creative, design and implementation is Zoe Bottrell, who is responsible for the creative concepts enjoyed at the popular Christmas at Kew, whose trail has had over one million festive visitors!

The much-loved Botanical Gardens, with four Glasshouses, a Victorian park and bandstand, has provided horticultural inspiration for the Creative Designer.

Zoe plans to have every rib of the beautiful aviary aglow with programmable lights, whilst the entire lawn will be washed with fire-like illumination. This installation alone will feature over 60,000 individual lights. It will take the team over five days to rig the lighting using specialist riggers.

She says: “The Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston, are an enticing canvas to create a Christmas story, featuring a beautiful aviary, to provide inspiration and illumination opportunities.”

Working in a heritage and botanical landscape creates its own challenges. From the vast amount of infrastructure, to getting hundreds of visitors into gardens whilst keeping them pristine in the midst of winter.

The trail has been specially designed for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

85% of vets report that either they or a member of their team have felt intimidated by a client’s language or behaviour, according to statistics revealed by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) to mark National Work Life Week (2 - 6 October).

Veterinary teams are experiencing a high level of intimidation from clients bringing their animals into practices across the UK, according to the survey of more than 1,600 BVA members. While around half of vets have felt threatened by their clients’ actions or language many vets commented that support staff such as receptionists often bear the brunt of threatening behaviour.

Those vets who work with companion animals or in a mixed practice are particularly likely to have experienced difficult clients with 89% reporting some form of intimidating experience. Younger vets and female vets were significantly more likely to have experienced some form of intimidation.

BVA’s survey revealed that animal owners’ intimidating language and behaviour is often related to the cost of treatment, with 98% of vets saying that at some time they feel under pressure from clients to waive fees or to accept the promise of late payment.

President of the British Veterinary Association, John Fishwick, said:

“It’s concerning to see the figures around challenging client behaviour and fees, especially when vets, vet nurses and other members of the veterinary team are just, like any of us, trying to do their job. Owning an animal is an important responsibility and, with no NHS for animals, the reality is that owning a pet will cost tens of thousands of pounds over its lifetime. In order to help understand costs, it’s important to ensure a two-way vet/client discussion about the treatment options available, and the potential costs involved, so clients can make a decision that is right for them and their pet in collaboration with their vet. When you break down the total costs, vet fees offer value for money, covering not only the healthcare and treatment they provide for animals, but the vet team’s time and expertise, the necessary technology and equipment used, and the overheads of running the practice itself.”

President of the British Veterinary Nursing Association, Sam Morgan, said

“We understand there can be a lot of distress when pets are ill and deciding the best course of action for a loved pet or sick animal can be very difficult. However, this is no excuse to be aggressive or intimidating to a member of the veterinary team. Animal welfare is at the heart of our work and we are always working towards getting the very best possible result for the animal’s health. We hope that by building awareness around intimidating behaviour in National Work Life Week we can start to address this issue.”

Vet charity PDSA is urging pet owners to take action now to prevent millions of pets suffering from extreme distress and trauma triggered by fireworks.

Research by PDSA has revealed that the owners of a staggering eight million dogs and cats* report that their pets are afraid of fireworks with more than a thousand pets** being seen at its pet hospitals in the last 12 months for fireworks-related issues such as phobias and injuries.

PDSA Senior Vet, Sean Wensley, explained: “The PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report found that around 40% of UK owners of cats and dogs report that their pet is afraid of fireworks, and anyone who has seen their pet go through this misery knows how serious their anxiety and fear of firework sounds can be. Many shake and tremble, are unable to settle, toilet in the house, destroy furniture, and can even cause themselves physical injury if they panic, try to escape or run away.”

To help pet owners reduce their pets’ fears, the charity is urging people to take action early. Thanks to funding from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, PDSA’s expert vets have produced a step-by-step Fireworks Ready guide for owners to help them prepare their pets. Go to pdsa.org.uk/fireworksready

Sean continued: “For young pets, careful management of their first experience of fireworks can prevent these fears from developing in the first place. For older pets who are already suffering, reward-based behaviour techniques can be very effective. Both of these approaches take time and patience, so it’s important to start early; in puppy or kittenhood for young pets, and well before fireworks season for older ones.”

PDSA’s Fireworks Ready action plan takes owners through the process of preparing pets for fireworks season, use of pheromones and sound CDs, how to build a noise-reducing fireworks den for pets, plus a checklist for the day itself.

PDSA hopes to help pets like Zakk, who ended up with severe but unexplained injuries to his legs and paws after he was spooked by fireworks. His owner had let him out into their garden when a neighbour suddenly set off fireworks – Zakk panicked and jumped over the gate. He was eventually found the next day covered in blood caused by nasty cuts to his paws. He was taken to a PDSA Pet Hospital where his wounds were treated, but it took a month for them to heal.

Sean commented: “We don’t know exactly what caused Zakk’s injuries – he could have been hit by a car, or cut himself on something as he panicked. But his story highlights how important it is to be aware of the significance of firework phobia for pets and to know that help is available from your local veterinary practice.”

PDSA’s advice on preparing pets for fireworks

• If you own a young puppy or kitten who will be having their first experience of fireworks, read up on the process of socialisation. This is when young pets are gradually introduced to various people, objects, sounds and experiences during their first few months, which can significantly reduce the likelihood of fears developing in later life.
• If you have an older pet who already shows signs of fireworks phobia, using a CD for noise-phobic pets to gradually get them used to the sounds of fireworks may help. Build up the volume and duration very gradually over a period of weeks, and ensure you remain calm and relaxed whenever you play the sounds, so your pet learns there is nothing to be afraid of.
• Build a ‘fireworks den’ for your pet, somewhere they feel safe. For dogs, this may be behind the sofa or under a table - cover it with blankets and line it with pillows or cushions to absorb some of the noise. Cats often feel safest when high up, so a safely secured, covered cat bed on top of a wardrobe or shelf may be their preferred option. Build it a few weeks ahead of fireworks season, and give your pet healthy treats or praise when they use it so they build a positive association, but don’t force them to use it.
• Ensure that cats and dogs are microchipped (this is a legal requirement for dogs anyway), so that if they run off in panic, they can be quickly reunited with their owner when found
• Use pheromones – these are available as diffusers, which release scents which are undetectable to humans, but have a calming, reassuring effect on our pets. They are available for dogs and cats, and should be used for several weeks leading up to fireworks season.
• For severe phobias, we recommend speaking to your vet, who will be able to discuss various options including referral to an accredited behaviourist.