Dog Information

It’s National Puppy Awareness Week this week (8^th – 15^th September 2012). Too many puppies end up abandoned and homeless after their owners buy them for the wrong reasons and from the wrong places before realising that they cannot cope. The Kennel Club’s National Puppy Awareness Week tries to make sure that a dog stays with its owner for the rest of its life.

Find The Right Breed

Finding the right breed of dog to suit your lifestyle is important. There are over 210 pedigree breeds of dog and many crossbreeds as well. Pedigree dogs are the best breeds to get when you want a dog with specific characteristics and personality as they are bred to behave a certain way. Crossbreeds are more unpredictable.

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1. America has the highest dog population in the World

2. Dogs are mentioned in the bible 14 times

3. 70% of people also sign their pets name when sending friends and families greeting cards

4. At the end of  “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles, Paul McCartney recorded a high-pitched dog whistle for his sheepdog

5. Dogs do not have a sense of time

6. Dogs are not in fact colour blind, their sight is just the equivalent of ours at dusk.

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According to research, the breed of dog that you choose says something about you and reflects your personality. We tend to go for dogs that are a bit like us and that fit into our lifestyle. If you are an outgoing and loud person, you are unlikely to want a small quiet dog and if you are a quiet person it may drive you mad to have a loud bouncy dog to look after every day.

From a Pug to a Newfoundland, dogs come in all shapes and sizes with a range of personalities and temperaments.

Here are a few matches for you to compare your dogs against:

Labradors and Golden Retrievers

These breeds are very friendly and good-natured and make the ideal family pet. Those who choose these breeds tend to be family orientated and laid back. A love for the outdoors is common and Labradors and golden retrievers love bounding around in the countryside making friends and being sociable. Their owners also tend to be honest, friendly people.

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Dogs are very loving animals, of all the pets they have been labelled "man's best friend" because they are loyal and affectionate. Dogs make it fairly obvious when they love you but there are also some common signs of affection they display:

Following you

Like with humans, when you love someone, they are the person you want to be around. This behaviour is typical of dogs. Dogs follow you around in order to stay with you and be by your side. It can also be seen as a sign of protection by staying with you.

Licking

When puppies want to be fed they lick their mothers. When they are older they will lick other dogs as a sign of respect. This acknowledges the status of an older dog within their pack. Dogs can also lick you when they are anxious or stressed, but the most likely case is in a relaxed form when they are just licking you as a sign or affection and respect.

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A stray dog has completed a 1,100 mile trek across China with a group of cyclists. The dog ran with the group for over 20 days climbing over 12 mountains on their journey along the Sichuan-Tibet highway through all manners of weather.

The brave little dog who has been named "Xiaosa" or "Little Sa" met the cyclists near the beginning of their journey. All it took was for one of them to feed her a little snack for her to dedicate herself to the rest of their journey running alongside their bikes. The litte dog soon became a national hero in China known as a mascot to the cyclists.

One of the cyclists created a blog about his journey where he documented the dogs adventures - by the end of this race the blog had received over 40,000 fans! Little Sa's breed and age are unknown but this once hungry and lonely dog has now been adopted by one of the cyclists after receiving a clean bill of health from a vet.

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It was a nail biting final on Saturday night when approximately 11.4 million viewers saw Ashleigh Butler and her dog Pudsey claim the title of Britain's Got Talent winners!

Pudsey is a six year old border collie, bichon frise and Chinese crested cross. As part of his prize he will now perform at the Royal Variety Performance for the Queen - a known dog lover with her collection of Corgis.

Ashleigh and Pudsey managed to pull of 3 flawless and unique performances throughout the competition and are now the proud owners of £500,000. Ashleigh says that one of the first things she will be buying him is a new lead after he lost one of his in the semi-finals.

Simon Cowell, who is the head Judge on the ITV talent show claims that Ashleigh and Pudsey were one of his favourite acts ever. He told them:

"I adore both of you. You have got better and better as the competition has progressed and to do what you did in such a short time is a miracle"

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It’s the start of the May Bank Holiday Weekend tomorrow and I hope you are as excited as we are! Long weekends are a great time to make the most of the country side and letting your dog stretch their legs and have a great walk. It can be hard finding a good dog walk sometimes that combines all the required elements such as terrain, space, views and variety. So we have written a list of the top 10 dog walks around the country for you to try out this weekend:

1. Glennifer Braes, Paisley – This walk has plenty of variety along it including open grassland and woodland. The terrain varies from flat to uphill terrain and there are many historical sites along the way as well as spectacular views. There is even a waterfall!

2. Cavehill, Belfast – This walk is more challenging with wild, unsurfaced paths leading you past caves and across moorland and meadows. There is a lot to be explored for both walker and dog and there are views to keep you going for miles around.

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Millions seem to think so!

Boo the dog has taken the web by storm. He is a Pomeranian and was born on March 16th 2006 looking like a very cute miniature bear. His owner, camera poised has captured the hearts of people around the world with snaps of this lovable, fluffy, energetic dog.
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We all know that there are considerable differences between cats and dogs. Here are just a few:

• Cats have a better sense of hearing than dogs
• Dogs have a better sense of smell than cats
• Cats are carnivores and dogs are omnivores
• The intelligence of a dog can depend on its breed where as all breeds of cat have the same intelligence levels

However, here at Dog Beds, we believe there is one very significant difference between dogs and cats and this sums it up perfectly:

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What Guide Dogs Do

Guide dogs (can also be called seeing-eye dogs) are dogs trained specifically to guide the visually impaired and blind around obstacles through life. Although these dogs are taught to navigate a variety of objects and obstacles, they are however colour blind and therefore cannot distinguish the colours red or green, making them unable to interpret street signs.
In most countries guide dogs are allowed anywhere in public to allow them to help their owners go to any place they might want to be. Guide dogs need to learn selective disobedience – one of the most impressive things they ever learn. With selective disobedience a guide dog must be trained to disobey any command given to them that may put their owner in danger. This is an incredible feat for them to be able to balance their own obedience while assessing a situation.

Where Guide Dogs Come From

Guide dogs have to attend a guide dog school to complete their training before they can be passed on to a handler. Most guide dog schools use Golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers or German shepherd puppies to train up as these breeds are characterised by their friendliness, obedience and intelligence among other traits.
Not all puppies are suited to the role of a guide dog however, and puppies are usually screened by trainers for their guiding aptitude. Around 20% of puppies will be released by the school and instead are seen to be more suitable for other dog services such as the police or to help those that are wheelchair bound. The other 80% go into a gruelling training scheme where they work really hard to help change someone’s life later on.
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