A doggy post....

There are a couple of people who have given doggy help without even being asked.

The first person is Gabriela Lerner from Collarways. Gabriela has really taken Patch under her wing. She has provided her with Bow Wow Butterbalm, a Wacky Walker lead, toys, Flea Repellant Coat Spray, a fantastic new Lupine collar, and some Joint Aid. All this without being asked at all - what an absolute star!

I have to say the products are fantastic. The Vibram toy is the only toy I've found that Patch hasn't destroyed - and she's had a good go at it, and the Lupine collar is great - it's guaranteed even if chewed, which is very good news to me - Patch got one of my mothers geese last year when her collar broke.

The real gem we've found is the Bow Wow Butterbalm...I've never used anything on Patch's pads before - I thought it was a bit, well, wussy! But I have to say, it's amazing stuff. The breakthrough came when I had a cold - my nose was so sore I was using my Body Shop cocoa butter lip balm on my nose in desperation! I then tried the butterbalm and it was amazing - it soothed my nose straight away, and within 24hrs the redness had decreased enormously. I realised how good it is for soothing any irritation on Patch's feet that I may not be aware of. It's made from Natural Ingredients and is lovely quality - it smells wonderful! I'm now going to always make sure I have some of this handy as it's wonderful for so many uses!

I'm going to get some of this for my mother as I think it will really help her dermatitis type irritated skin. The pot lasts ages as you only use a small bit - I've put some in a smaller pot from Icklebockle to take on our walk, and John will bring the main pot along for me to restock from when we meet up! I may find some more uses for it myself along the way!

The other person I'm grateful to is Penny (ebay ID: angelica1963) who knits wonderful baby clothes and sells them on ebay. I contacted Penny to see if she could knit some made to measure wooly liners for Patch's boots to provide extra protection against rubs. Penny was fantastic - she searched the web for suitable patterns and spent a lot of time and effort making sure the liners were right - sending me "prototypes" to try before making the final set in pure wool for me. Penny made us two perfect sets that have extra padding everywhere except the foot - I wanted the extra protection against rubs, but I hoped under the foot could be kept simple to give Patch stability underfoot.

The wooly boot liners seem perfect inside her Ruffwear Grip Trex boots - we completed a 5 mile walk with no rubs or irritation which is great news. After going to so much effort for us Penny wouldn't take payment.

How often do you come across such wonderful people?! I'm so grateful for their help to make sure Patch is comfortable and healthy.