It is possible to protect your garden and keep it in order while having dogs at the same time? Gardens can be very enjoyable and stimulating places for dogs. But on the flip side, if not managed properly it could contain several hazards, and if your plants or herb gardens aren’t sufficiently protected, you may find that they could get dug up, or peed on, oh dear. But fear not! As we will give some top tips on how to create a dog-friendly garden so you can keep furbabies happy and all live in harmony together.

Create dog-friendly sections

You can encourage your dog to stay away from certain areas of the garden by creating more dog-friendly parts, creating different routes around the garden in the form of clearly defined paths or providing designated areas using sand or bark for playing and digging will help keep your dog entertained. Make equipment for the to climb hide and weave through this also helps to stimulate their brain.

Putting plants such as Salix and ornamental grasses that sway in the wind can be stimulating for them. If you have a water feature in your garden, make sure it is robust and there are no parts of it that could fall and injure your dog, as it may be hard to keep them away from this, you need to make it as safe as possible, and has no plastic chew parts.

Plant dog-friendly plants 

Some plants can be toxic to dogs so it is important to avoid planting any that could be harmful. You will also want to keep them away from slugs and snails which could also make them ill if ingested. Planting more robust plants and shrubs such as viburnum, lavender, geranium or roses are a good idea, particularly if your dog is on the more boisterous side. Check out this list from the SPCA of some of New Zealand’s poisonous plants here including Karaka berries.

Protect your plants and lawn

Training your dog not to wee on the lawn is a good start but a big challenge. Have them toilet in the same spot can help you keep most of the lawn looking good. Picking up after the poo is important and using a form of dog composting system to remove the poo and have it decompose helps keeps things neat and tidy along with being sustainable, just remember to use the composed poo only on ornamental plants or trees due to the cross-contamination of bacteria. Urine can dry out the lawn or leave yellow patches. If your dog does a wee on the lawn at any point, you’ll want to hose down the area afterwards. You can also try adding apple cider vinegar to his water bowl start with 1 drop and steadily increase to a teaspoon over time, so they will get use to the taste.

To help prevent your smaller furbaby or less mobile ones from trampling over your borders you could create raised beds which will also help your plants grow and thrive, or you could put a low-growing box hedge around them, anything which will mark out a clearly defined boundary around them. However, our giant guys just use them as a raised bed and dig holes given the chance and they have pushed through the box hedges.

If you are growing any herbs or vegetables, then you could use strong wire garden netting to keep them protected, not only from your dog but from a range of common garden pests, including the birds who love strawberries.

Secure any hazards

Make sure your garden is secure by putting fences that are at least 2 meters high around the parameters, and check out this fencing that could help with keeping your cats at home as our four-legged friends can jump surprisingly high! You should also make sure that any gates to and from the garden are secure at all times.

If you have a garden shed containing any sharp tools or harmful chemicals this will need to be kept secure and closed at all times for both pets and children to be safe.

You should definitely avoid using any potentially harmful chemicals such as slug pellets or adding additives to water features or ponds in case your dog tries to swim in them or drink from them. You can use eco-friendly organic products like crushed shells to help you deal with garden pests while keeping Fido safe at the same time.

Happy furbaby-friendly gardening!

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As you all may know I am not a great artist so thought this may help me a little to improve on my stick figure Pak’n Save man.

Sketch your furbaby like a pro

It doesn’t take a skilled artist to draw a picture of your dog. Drawing a dog is not difficult and it’s a fun and satisfying activity and way to spend your time at home. Once armed with a little know-how and some good quality pencils, a rubber and a sketch pad, you’re ready to go.

Learning the basics of dog sketching will give you the confidence and ability to draw any breed of dog whether it be a Newfoundland, Clumber Spaniel, Pug, Labrador, Bulldog or Rescue. It can be an enjoyable and creative way to create a loving and lasting memory of your beloved pet.

Draw in the shapes

Sketching in the basic shapes is the starting point for most drawings. This means using circles and ovals to create an outline of all the different shapes found in the dogs face and body, once you have drawn on the basic shapes, the next step is to refine and smoothen out the shapes until you have a clear and rounded outline of your dog, complete with ears, feet and snout and representative of the dogs shape, size and form.

Add detail and start shading

Once you have a complete outline of your dog’s body, start adding in the details such as the dogs’ facial features. Once this is done before you move on to shading you need to carefully erase any of the guideline shapes that you drew initially as a template to help you draw the more detailed outline of your dog. Once you have erased this template and you are left with just a clean outline, you can start shading in the dogs’ fur and features. You should use a darker pencil for the blacker parts of the dog such as the eyes or nose.

Add in coat texture

This step involves sketching in your dogs’ fur, so it will depend on the look of your dog. Whether the fur is short, matted or long, you will want to use directional strokes when shading, and not get caught up in trying to draw every individual hair. This is not only impossible, but it will overwork the drawing and you are likely to end up with an undefined block of colour.

Applying more pressure to the pencil will help you layer the tone and pick up on details in the fur. You can use a darker coloured pencil to help add in more detail, texture and to highlight any contours.

Add in the finishing touches

Once you have finished the coat and are happy with the shading and texture of it, start adding in your final details. Gently stroking over different areas of the shaded fur with a kneaded eraser can help the coat look much more life-like as it helps add in finer details by removing some of the graphite, you will want to use a kneaded eraser to gently stroke over the areas you wish to add more texture too. Getting the fur right can take a long time and require a lot of patience, so you will need to keep working on it and refining it until you are happy with the finished result.

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Timothy’s lodge is a lovely little communal cattery nestled in the heart of Pukekawa. It overlooks a lifestyle orchard and has a quiet, settled feel to it. It is named after Fiona’s first cat Timothy she had as a teenager prior to attending vet school. It was originally a dumping shed for outdoor things you find in sheds on farms like wire, motor mowers, pipes rubbish etc attached to the side was a greenhouse especially built for Fiona by her husband but never utilised to its full potential and so the decision was made to revamp the building before it fell down out of neglect. The work started and has taken 2 years to get to the stage it is currently at with still more work to finish the idea to completion. It is a fully insulated single garage room with sky panels for light and lightly painted walls and floor with a similar-sized space outside. It has been trialled by client’s cats and is now open for bookings.

The cattery is made of two areas an indoor and an outdoor area, both communal, and both can be got to by the cats “escaping through a window”. Outdoors there are many things to climb and scratch from the stumps to enable movement from inside to out, to the cushioned chairs and automatic water bowl. Inside there are hiding holes, chairs and beds along with steps and a high

Frodo

shelf for the cats to peruse and look at all the toys scattered around. There is also a water pump bowl inside. During winter there is a heat pump to keep cats warm and if required electric pet blankets can be supplied. For entry, there are two sets of two doors, one for each area, so the possible escape route is restricted. Feeding is done in conjunction with the owner’s requests along with any medical needs for the boarding furbabies.

Watch a video tour here

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These stats have been released and looking at almost 1000 people who have experienced partner abuse.

I want to support the shelter 

I want to check out the website to learn more about this

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Twenty-eight percent of New Zealand families have at least one dog in their household, according to the New Zealand Herald, and the numbers keep growing.  There is a lot of preparation that goes into welcoming the first dog into the home, from purchasing the essentials to choosing a trusted veterinarian.  But with all the buying and dog proofing, many prospective pet parents may forget about one of the most important parts of a new pet: how to train them. So we are here to give you some easy dog training tips and tricks.  Armed with a few tried and true tools and methods, however, your puppy can be trained in no time.
Dog Manners for Harmonious Living
Some of the rules and tricks you choose to teach your dog may vary depending on lifestyle and preferences.  Some families may wish their dog to keep off the furniture, others may enjoy the option to cuddle their pet in comfort.  But for the most part, dog owners will want to teach their dog basic manners such as coming when called, refraining from jumping on people, walking on a leash and minimal barking.  Teaching a simple command such as “sit,” a great place to start your dog’s training. When they can sit on command, it helps to curb excited urges and allows you to continue on to something more difficult.
The Best Commands for a Well Behaved Dog and How to Implement Them
As mentioned before, some of the specifics about how you train your dog may depend on your lifestyle, but all dogs should learn some basic skills to allow for dog and human to live in harmony.  Again, begin with teaching your dog to sit on command, then move on to “come,” “stay,” and not jumping on family members and visitors alike. Consistency is key when training a dog. Installing dog cams in your home, as well as automated treat dispensers can help you continue training reinforcement even when you are away. What is more, smart technology can reduce stress in pets while the owner is away, as it keeps them occupied, fed, even entertained.
Getting Started
Fortunately, dogs are eager to learn and eager to please, so they should be excited to begin training.  But before you start, take some time to get to know your pet a little bit.  Positive reinforcement is key when it comes to dog training, but every dog will be different when it comes to what kind of reinforcement they prefer.  While some pups may be motivated by a few pieces of dry dog food, others may require a fancier treat, such as a piece of cheese or jerky. The attention span of your dog will be short, especially at first, so stick to working on just one trick or command at a time, and keep sessions short and sweet, no more than ten minutes. Training your dog will take lots of time, effort, patience and praise, so don’t give up when it doesn’t happen right away.  
Welcoming a furry friend into your family is an exciting time, but a lack of proper training can make tensions run high.  Start training with your pup right away to create the happiest of homes for both you and your pet.

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Down our driveway, there was a hole that needed fixing. We have about three lots of pipes laid underneath the gravel I started to notice a hole down the driveway I went to investigate it was where two of these pipes had not been completely sealed at the connection. So I need to fix the hole in the driveway. As you can see by the photo below it wasn’t particularly huge and it was in the middle of the driveway. The suggestion was to take up the driveway reconnect the pipes and do it properly however the money was not in the bucket so I decided that I would look into seeing if I could fix it myself. I like to upcycle leftovers wherever possible and we had several leftover tile pieces and some river rock with mud in them. These have been dug out when we did the cattery outside area and covered the area in concrete, and left a spare pile on the other side of our driveway. So I wandered down the driveway with the bucket of river rocks and soil along with hammers and tile pieces getting heavier and heavier with every step I stopped and put it down and went looking for the hole, I found the hole a few metres ahead and went back and got the bucket.

I had also taken down a hammer or two to give me some help with breaking up the upcycled pieces of tile I was going to use. We had some tile that had been leftover from a job we did about 2 years ago. (We laid tiles on our wall to help with keeping it clean from the dog slobber and its made a huge difference to the walls and cleaning.) They were just strips and pieces and we were unsure how to get rid of them as we don’t have an on an inorganic rubbish collection. On further inspection I found that the pipes were also at different heights so I had to break the tiles up and place them as if they were a ramp from one pipe to the other I tried to pack them in as tight as I could and I still had a hole to the left that needed fixing in the so I pushed a tile down in the opposite direction over the top hoping that  would allow water to run through but not soil and therefore the pipe would not be blocked.

I needed the pipe to stay as clear as possible as it took off all the water that ran onto our paddocks during winter and as we live on a river bed there is a large amount of water at times that needs to be removed rather rapidly. As a side note, I also know that the wildlife and my cat’s use those tunnels as a getaway hideaway or an escape route between properties and for safety so I wanted to make sure that they were still able to use these.

Once I had placed the tiles and I then poured in the soil combine mix with River Rock and pushed it down hard with my hammer I put in another layer in another name to find you I was at the top and I stood on it and I stamped on it well to make sure that it wouldn’t move I then put what little rope River Rock was used in another puddle on our driveway in the hopes to help build it up a wee bit. So if you ever find yourself with little bits of tile and some river rock and a hole in your driveway I hope you are also able to give this upcycle of fixing a hole in the driveway a try.

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We’re all big dog and animal lovers here on this site. And if there is anything I know about people who love their dogs and who give them the best to be the healthiest doggo a dog can be, is that you are super proud of your pooch and if you don’t have an Instagram for your dog, you’re probably thinking about it 😉

Newflands helps you keep your dog in tip-top condition. I want to help you show off your healthy, happy furbaby. I’m going to help you take amazing photographs of your dog, so you can flood the internet with quality photos of your pooch who’ll be instafamous in next to no time.

I am photographer YELLOW LAB dog photography (@yellowlabpetphoto on insta)  and today I’m sharing my top tips on how to take better photos so you can up your insta-game and your doggy become the influencer he deserves to be.

TIP 1

Clean lens.

This happens to me all the time. With my big DSLR camera AND my iPhone. I am snapping away and can just not figure out why the photograph looks out of focus. Use a microfibre cloth or clean it with your shirt.

TIP 2

Focus.

Camera apps let you decide where you want the focus to be. Choose your focal point by tapping on the part of the screen you want in focus.

TIP 3

Shoot from your dog’s eye level.

You bond most when you are nose to nose with your pup and your photos will shine.

TIP 4

Get their attention.

This stops scrolling on feeds. Get your dog’s attention with their favourite toy or treats. Hold it close to the phone’s camera. Sometimes it’s difficult to do it all on your own, get help. Try to make funny sounds (dog crying sound, meowing or even barking!). Different sounds get other expressions and head tilts! These have been a few best phone photo tips, I have many more tips I’d love to share so you can show off your dog’s amazing personality to the world. Download your free guide here and let me know if you found my tips helpful. Tag me on Instagram @yellowlabpetphoto – I would love to see your photographs!

Yellow Lab Pet Photography’s top tips
15 Photographer’s Secrets To Photograph Your Dog With Your Phone

Download my free guide here

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Moving Furbabys to any place can be stressful but to go as far as New Zealand can be an extremely stressful and expensive but a very exciting at the same time. Once you have chosen to bring your pets to New Zealand there are a number of regulations that you need to follow. Dogs and cats arriving from most countries need to do a period of time in quarantine.
Check the regulations out here Some pets are not even allowed to enter New Zealand e.g. snakes, so please check carefully as to whether or not your pets are able to come and what quarantine requirements are necessary.

You’re next concern should be getting that required testing for your pet this must be arranged through your vet and your pet exporter in the country you are leaving from prior to leaving.

You need to check the food that your pet is on and make sure that it is available in New Zealand including any supplements or treats that your pet may desire. New Zealand has top quality pet foods available under their own brands that they also export which can be easily purchased in some countries and if you are able to put your pet onto these brands that may make moving your pet easier with less digestive issues likely.

New Zealand is very protective of its native wildlife and because of this there are strict regulations on having dogs on a lead at all times in public, and there are also strict regulations around taking dogs to beaches during summer especially around Auckland, along with where you can and can not walk dogs including national parks. There are some great blogs out there that can help you find amazing places to visit with your furbaby. You will find New Zealand not as open to receiving pets in shopping places or other public places which you may expect to quite happily take your pets to in your own country. New Zealand is also looking at tightening up the laws around cat ownership and what you may or may not do with them.

So here are my 5 top tips for when you are moving your pets to New Zealand:
1) Make sure you have a well-researched pet travel agent check with expats around their experiences and who they have found to be the best
2) Make sure you understand the community in which you will be living in and what the regulations are around your pets- local councils all differ with their requirements.
3) Make sure your pet is as comfortable as possible on the journey over but remember whatever you put in the crate may be destroyed upon arrival due to biosecurity regulations
4) Help your pet to adjust to a change of diet including supplements if required by researching a New Zealand brand or one available in New Zealand and changing onto this prior to arrival it will make things less stressful for your pets and you.
5) Don’t expect New Zealand to be the same as the country you have come from and don’t be afraid to ask other New Zealand pet owners what is expected and how to make the most of New Zealand with your pets, they love to talk pet and help where ever they can. Join a few New Zealand based pet groups online beforehand to get a feel for how it may be.

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We are keeping our promise to be guardians of our  oceans.

Thanks to  smarter technology we know how many fish there are and just as importantly how many to leave.

Our quota management system guarantees our fisheries stay sustainable it’s something we live by everyday we head out to sea and that is a promise!

If you could click on the link  you will see the full video of our promise this was  made possible by seafood New Zealand and is supported by the seafood industry of New Zealand. All our products are Hoki from sustainably sourced stock.

As part of the seafood industry of New Zealand we have the responsibility to look after our oceans so that we can return a sustainable income from them in the future. New Zealand was one of the  first countries in the world to implement a quota management system. Quota management is where you take only a portion of something over a period of time. In New Zealand fishing’s case the industry has  gone out and done population studies to determined a small portion of the population of each fish species that we can take in order to enable a sustainable yield for future generations. Our New Zealand Hoki is one of the first species in the world to receive Marine Stewardship Council certification. This process was huge it started by full population survey of all hoki around New Zealand it then went on to have independent auditors look at the way in which the fisheries were conducting the catch and the quantity of the catch along with the quota and how this was being managed. We can proudly say that this is a significant achievement in New Zealand’s history today when it comes to the  Kaitiaki (caring for and guardianship) of our seas.

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You have many fun-filled loving years ahead of you. However, first things first, the must-have checklist that every new dog owner needs, it’s almost like having a baby (except furry). There is a list of things that are essential to have in your home to keep your new fur baby loved, safe, and healthy. So, let’s get to it!

• Food

  (Of course!), be sure to check with your vet, pet nutritionist or breeder the best food to give your fur baby, e.g. dry, wet food etc. And the quantity of food that needs to be given.

• Food and water bowls

  So, your fur baby knows what’s theirs and where to eat and drink from.

• Toys!

  Get a range of toys for your fur baby to play with around the house. Indoor and outdoor toys are key, even a special ‘teddy’ to bring comfort. Being in a new place for the first time isn’t easy for your furry friend. Top tip: sleep with the ‘special teddy’ for a few nights before your new fur baby arrives, and if possible give to your new fur baby before it comes home, that way your scent will become a source of comfort for them.

• Dog Bed

  We all need somewhere to sleep! And if you don’t appreciate your fur baby sleeping on your bed then it’ll need its own.

• Crate
  

  Crate training is a great way to restrict your new fur baby’s access to the house until it learns the rules. As well as this, crates can provide your puppy with a familiar space that is theirs in the event they become overwhelmed and need a bit of a break and as an added bonus crate training also helps with toilet training.

• Collar and leash
  

  There are many cute collars and leashes out there, and these days they are essential to have! Not only to help keep your dog safe, but if your fur baby does happen to run away then the collar allows them to be easily identified (be sure to attach the ID tag with name and contact details to the collar).

• Treats
  

  These are essential! You want to get training and teaching your dog new tricks asap! And having yummy healthy treats like our Hoki Bites is that perfect bit of bribery to get them doing what you want!

• Care Essentials

  Such as shampoo, conditioner, nail clippers, hair brushes, and dog toothbrush and paste etc. are key to have around the home for those pamper days when your fur baby looks like it needs a little TLC.

• Odour neutralizer
  

  For when those accidents happen…and they will happen.

• Poop bags
  

  Very important for when you want to take your dog for a walk. Don’t be that person that just leaves it on the ground waiting for someone to stand on. If you’re environmentally conscious and worried about the people of the future thinking we’re a little crazy for lovingly gift-wrapping our dog poop for all time in plastic bags – check out our Composting Poo Kits, which are a great way of doing your bit for the environment.

• House training pee pads

  These are essential for apartment living or for example if your dog doesn’t always have easy access outside. They’re also a great way to protect your carpets in the very early days of toilet training.

• Vet check
  

  Make sure your fur baby has had a full health check by your vet and that they are up to date on their vaccinations. If you feel like something is wrong with your dog then do not hesitate to call your local vet.

 So, there you have it – some of the ‘must haves’ for every new dog owner. I am sure there are some more but the essentials are covered. If you are ever unsure, run down to your local pet store and the team there will be happy to help you with the things you need. Happy fur baby parenting!

Check out our great range of pet supplements and treats to stock up before your new fur baby arrives.

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