Chewed Slippers

Petspertise : Advice, news and reviews for doggie people, by doggie people (and one special doggie)

Welcome to the Petspertise Blog

Posted by ali on the 15th July 2009

Ali & The Chunkster

Well it certainly took its time, but the Petspertise blog is finally here (after having launched the site all the way back in April!).

So why are we bothering with a blog at all? Good question.

Chewed Slippers is the brainchild of one Ali Ghobadi (me). I wanted to cut through the swathes of samey products currently on offer in the market, to bring people carefully selected stuff with tangible benefits that were luxurious but affordable. (To find out more about the rather personal story of how Chewed Slippers came about, just click here to navigate to the About Us page). This is why it took over 6 months of researching the market to put together the product range. And of course, I couldn’t have done that all by myself. As passionate as I am about dogs, I wanted proven expertise behind our products, so that people feel totally confident that what they’re buying is the best in the market. This is why I enlisted the help some of the brightest stars in the industry, the pet experts – or Petsperts®.

However, we couldn’t put all the info about the products onto our normal website because that would just look messy and it wouldn’t give you an opportunity to give us your opinions. That’s another hugely important part of Chewed Slippers – interactivity. We’re pretty confident we have most of what Fido could ever dream of, but we definitely think we can do better with your help.

And so our blog, Petspertise® was born. The blog is going to cover all things doggy from how we came to choose our products, to tips on looking after your pet to entertaining stories from Chunky, our canine blogger. And we would LOVE to hear from you. We want to know what you want us to provide (even if it doesn’t exist yet), how you want to be able to buy it (is the website working as well as it could?) and how you’d like it delivered. And anything else on your mind! We want to know your thoughts so that we can make Chewed Slippers the best purveyor of premium pooch products in the UK!

Before I leave you, a few quick introductions to our Petsperts®:
Chunky is the star credited with choosing our name (see the video) and soon-to-be prolific blogger of inane canine musings.
Dr. Roger Mugford is an internationally renowned animal psychologist and the pioneer of animal behavioural therapy in the UK, founding The Animal Behaviour Centre in 1979.
Bethan New is a devoted mum to dog and cat team, Bailey and Misty, and a registered veterinary nurse of 8 years’ experience.
David Jackson is one of the very few people in the UK with specialist animal nutrition training and is passionate about the link between an animal’s diet, its health and its behaviour.
Dr. Tony Sarma is our resident vet. He holds the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon’s Certificate in Small Animal Surgery and is a man of strong opinions … you have been warned!
And of course, me – Ali Ghobadi. Animal lover and firm believer that work should be fun!

Enjoy the rest of the Petspertise® blog.

Ali
Founder & Petspert

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So, why “Chewed Slippers”?

Posted by nick on the 15th July 2009

To be honest, we were torn between 3 shortlisted names and just couldn’t decide. What to do, eh? Well, luckily, we knew just the guy to help us out…

So we reached for the Doggyphone and called our good friend Chunky – who was more than happy to assist.

Here’s how Chunky helped us out…

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Roger Mugford’s Introduction to the Social Side of Dogs

Posted by Roger Mugford - The Mindspert on the 14th July 2009

Roger with PC

Rather than go on about me, I thought I’d tell you more about what I know and love – dogs and what makes them tick!

We all know that dogs are pack animals, meaning that they live for the group or the proverbial “one for all, all for one”.  That very sociability has made it easier for the wolf’s early domesticators to transfer inherent loyalty between wolves to a loyalty towards man.  We adore the outcome of that long ago domestication with a passion given to no other domesticated species of animal.

I have been in practice as an animal psychologist for 30 years and the great majority of the 55,000 cases I have treated over this period were of misdirected or inadequate social behaviours.  Top of the list amongst pathological social behaviours is aggression towards other dogs.  Then there are dogs that bite people, be they strangers or members of the family.  If we explore the context in which these undesired or inappropriate social behaviours occur, some general principals on problem prevention become apparent.  That is what I will do over the course of my next 2 blog posts.

Socialisation

You may have heard of the experiments by Scott and Fuller in the 1950s.  They developed the concept of critical periods of socialisation, implying that there are distinct developmental phases that puppies go through.  Failure to form optimum social relationships before the age of say, 16 weeks are said to lead to a permanently damaged or socially incompetent adult dog. Missing out on the touchy-feely social exposures by a puppy will predispose it to become socially incompetent.

Fortunately, my pragmatic experience, over many years, points to so many exceptions to this deterministic viewpoint that I have to conclude that maybe Scott and Fuller were wrong!  There are not critical periods of socialisation, rather a continuous learning process that begins at birth (maybe even before birth) and runs into maturity or even old age. Practically speaking, rehabilitation of essentially feral dogs, bought in from the mountains of Afghanistan and where there was little contact with humans still allows these rescued domestic dogs to form trusting bonds with people.  The good news about this view is that dogs that are seemingly shy or antagonistic to people and/or to dogs can, broadly speaking, be rehabilitated.  So how do we go about this at my Animal Behaviour Centre?

You will have to wait until my next blog post for that! Other topics also still to come:

  • Who breeds bad dogs (puppy farms, pedigree breeders and all that)
  • Accessibility; who dreams up dog bans and decides where pets can travel, visit and enjoy
  • Breed specific legislation (myths and mysteries)
  • Dogs that are misunderstood; how changing the shape and colours of dogs affects their social responses.

Roger Mugford BSc PhD

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Posted in Dog behaviour | 1 Comment »

Tony the Vet

Posted by Tony Sarma - The Vetspert on the 28th May 2009

Tony Sarma

I graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2001. After spending several years at a large veterinary Hospital in the North East of England, I subsequently began locum work, working all over the country and taking my faithful doggies (about whom more later) with me. While I have spent most of my time in Small Animal general practice, I am now a consultant in dog and cat surgery, holding the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons postgraduate Certificate in Small Animal Surgery.

Since October 2008, I have been working as a Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School. My project, funded by The Wellcome Trust, is on cruciate ligament disease, one of the commonest reasons for orthopaedic surgery in both animals and humans.

A committee member of the Association of Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgeons, I am also a member of the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association, the American Association of Rehabilitation Veterinarians and the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management.

I am a devoted father to two rescue dogs, Homer and Max, and one cat, Gordon.

Homer

Homer appeared as a poorly stray puppy when I was at vet school in Winter 2000. I took Homer home. Homer ate my carpet, digital camera, car seat, hand-brake and gear-stick. It was love. An extremely poorly puppy, Homer has the distinction of having been through every department of Edinburgh University’s Small Animal Hospital while I was a student there – meaning that I can well appreciate the anxieties of clients with sick animals. (For the record, Homer has had liver problems, bladder problems, vomiting and diarrhoea, skin allergies, hip dysplasia, eyelid problems, behavioural problems, neurological problems, a snapped Achilles tendon and several lumps… and there is more!) Sadly, I spoiled little Homer rotten and consequently I now own the world’s most demanding “Labraperson”. Homer shares many personality traits with Hyacinth Bucket and his star sign is Aries.

Max

Max, being half Rottweiler and half Labrador, is commonly referred to as the Nottweiler. Max turned up at my workplace in 2003, needing a home. Despite weighing in at 45kg, Max is completely convinced that he is about the size of a Yorkshire Terrier, and likes climbing on top of his dad in the middle of the night. He is also clever enough to have worked out how to use the bedroom door, so there’s no escape. Max allows himself to be bullied by everyone – including Homer, cats and his friend Jess the Rabbit. Max has been a blood donor on several occasions and in this way has helped dad save several other doggies’ lives. In his spare time, Max has recently mastered use of the kitchen pedal-bin. If he was human, Max would be Frank Spencer.

Gordon

Gordon the cat turned up last year when a member of the public found him in the back garden. Gordon is ancient and extremely thin, but is also the happiest cat in the world. Sadly, he has FIV (Cat “AIDS”) so he can’t live in contact with other cats – but he seems to quite enjoy bossing the dogs about and is more interested in eating and sleeping than going outdoors these days. We’re not sure about Gordon’s past life and misdemeanours, but if he could talk it’d be a long story…

Tony (Vet-Rocker Extraordinaire)

I’m also a keen guitarist and have spent more of my life trying to be a rock star than my dear mum can really cope with!

Right, now that you know a little more about me, let the gory details about cruciate ligament disease and such like commence!

‘til the next blog post,

Tx

Tony Sarma BVM&S CertSAS MRCVS

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David the Nutritionist

Posted by David Jackson - The Foodspert on the 28th May 2009

David Jackson

Having had 10 years’ experience in the field, I’m proud to say I am the resident Nutritionist here at Chewed Slippers.

I’ve always had a passion for animal welfare. Both my parents worked for the RSPCA before taking up farming in South Wales. Growing up surrounded by animals I always saw myself becoming a vet or following my parents into the RSPCA.

I studied Zoology at the University of Wales and became fascinated by the link between an animal’s diet, its health and its behaviour. In my thesis I was able to look in some depth into this relationship and by the time I graduated it was clear that diet and animal welfare are absolutely inseparable.

As a graduate I went about increasing my understanding of animal nutrition and began training as a pet nutritionist. I spent several years working with various pet food companies up and down the country and quickly noticed not only how beneficial a suitable diet can be for our pets, but also how much damage an inappropriate food can cause. I have seen literally hundreds of cases where sick or unruly dogs improved dramatically following a simple change to natural or home-made food.

I am now working with The Natural Dog Food Company in Lincolnshire. The company was formed six years ago when a group of holistic nutritionists and vets joined forces to create the country’s first 100% natural complete dog food. They certainly share my passion when it comes to animal welfare and nutrition, and together we’re striving to raise awareness of the importance of diet in our pets’ health. Chewed Slippers certainly recognises this importance, and that’s why they are the only online retailer we’re working with.

I hope you enjoy future posts from me here on the blog. Do drop me a line with any questions.

Thanks

David

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Bethan the Nurse

Posted by Bethan New - The Nursespert on the 28th May 2009

Bethan New

Hello … I’m Bethan New, your resident veterinary nurse at Chewed Slippers.  Along with my fellow Petsperts, I will hopefully help you to understand certain veterinarian topics through articles on this blog or just by answering a few questions you may have.

So, who am I and why should you read my articles?  This is my brief introduction…

I am a fully qualified, registered veterinary nurse.  I gained my qualifications in 2007 but have been working as a veterinary nurse for the past 8 years and am still practising.  My jobs and responsibilities on a daily basis range from monitoring anaesthetics and assisting the surgeons with surgery, to general patient care, cleaning kennels, blood sampling, and radiography work.  I am involved with ‘puppy parties’, which are a fun way to inform people about diet, flea & worming advice, the importance of socialisation, microchipping/identichipping and the pros and cons of neutering.

I was asked to become involved with this site by a work colleague and was impressed with Ali’s ideas and plans.  I thought it was a great opportunity to offer credible information to you, the visitor.

Misty

As a small child, I kept guinea pigs, fish and frogs, but I have grown older (and more mainstreamed) so currently have a long-haired, very temperamental 13 year old Persian X Silver Tabby cat called Misty, to whom I owe much credit for my grooming (and self-defence!) knowledge, after years of practice on this defiant animal!  She “enjoys” a trip to my workplace every 6 months to be sedated and receive a glorified ‘short-back and sides’.  Due to her, frankly, schizophrenic mood swings, I am unable, even with multiple family members in tow, to brush this animal. I’d say she’s very much like the cat from Cinderella, Lucifer … although comparisons with the Devil himself have been made too!

Bailey

My other, much more manageable, bundle of joy is my big, handsome, 8 year old boxer dog called Bailey.  He is a gem! Being an older dog, he needs medical and supplementary treatments for joint problems caused by an injury sustained when he was younger. This involved a badly judged jump from a groyne at our local beach, which can only be described as a sky dive minus the all important parachute! This injury required extensive cruciate surgery and many weeks of ‘lead walks’. It was only then that I learned just how difficult it is to ‘gently and calmly’ (?!) lead walk a 40 kilo restless and, by then, seemingly well animal, who is set on dragging you down the steps to the beach!   Despite all I’ve said, he is still worth the backache, the raw lead-holding fingers and the daily tableting struggles!  Bizarre what we will do for our animals isn’t it!

Having worked in practice for many years, I’ve come across so many ill informed clients, who have got their facts from various websites that do not necessarily have the qualifications or the background knowledge to be putting out such information in the public domain.  This is why we take care lots of care on Chewed Slippers to collect information from reputable, proven sources and draw on our own extensive specialist knowledge to put you totally at ease with what you’re reading.

So have a browse, familiarise yourselves with the site, and I’ll help to keep you updated on the ever expanding information in the veterinary world in the coming weeks and months…

Bethan :) x x

Bethan New RVN

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