October is National Pet Wellness Month, which makes it a good time to think about dog wellness and what we actually mean when we say a dog is “well It is easy to think of wellness purely in physical terms. Is your dog eating normally? Are they a healthy weight? Are their vaccinations and parasite…
Updated September 2026 Is your dog’s food causing itching, ear problems, or an upset stomach? Possibly. But food is only one of several possible causes. Dogs can develop genuine food allergies and food intolerances, and the signs can include itchy skin, recurrent ear problems, vomiting, diarrhoea and excessive wind. Those same signs can also be…
Updated September 2026 [Yes, dogs can eat some foods that we eat. But that does not mean everything on your plate is suitable for your dog. Some plain human foods can be used as an occasional treat. Others are too rich, fatty, salty or heavily seasoned. A smaller group can be genuinely toxic. The simplest…
Updated September 2026 Knowing your dog’s weight is useful. Knowing what their body actually feels and looks like is even more useful. Two dogs can weigh exactly the same and have very different body conditions. Breed, build, muscle, age and individual shape all matter. That is why veterinary professionals use body condition scoring alongside the…
Changing your dog’s food sounds simple. Finish one bag and open another. For some dogs, that causes no obvious problem. For others, a sudden change can lead to loose stools, diarrhoea, wind, vomiting or simply refusing the unfamiliar food. Unless your vet has advised you to change immediately, I would normally introduce a new diet…
Updated September 2026 You pick up a packet of dog food, and somewhere among the ingredients, feeding instructions and marketing claims are two surprisingly important words: Complete. Or complementary. They may not be the most exciting words on the packet, but they tell you something much more useful than whether the food is described as…
Updated September 2026 Dog food labels can look as though they were written for nutritionists rather than ordinary dog owners. Percentages, ingredients, analytical constituents, additives, feeding tables, and marketing claims compete for your attention. You do not need to understand every number before you can make a sensible choice. I would start with a few…
Updated September 2026 Feeding a puppy should be fairly straightforward. In reality, new owners are quickly faced with questions about brands, portion sizes, wet food, dry food, raw feeding, supplements, treats and how many meals a puppy actually needs. The important starting point is much simpler. Your puppy needs a nutritionally complete food designed for…
