Josie & Edie's Everyday Essentials
Before I got a dog of my own I didn’t realise just how important it is to have really good daily essentials that you can rely on day in and day out. It’s taken a lot of trial and error to find not only what works for Josie and Edie but what works for us too and I think I’ve finally got a good thing going and these are the things that I use every day.
butternut box
I do need to disclose that we work on a paid basis with Butternut Box at the moment but me including this post is not part of my contract with them and before working with them they were a food brand I highly rated. For a good year I’d been feeding Josie and Edie a complete raw diet and they’d both thrived on that but earlier this year Josie became poorly and her stomach wasn’t settling on her raw food for some reason. So we made the switch to Butternut Box as we'd had a good experience with it before and she’s been fine and thriving ever since. Both of their coats are super shiny and tummies are good too which is something we have struggled so much with in the past. If you’re not familiar with the premise of Butternut Box it’s freshly prepared complete dog food that has been precooked and then frozen so all you need to do is to let it defrost and serve it up to your dog, there is never a morsel left in this household. The ingredients are wonderful and you know exactly what you’re feeding your dog too as it’s all listed on the packet. We get a delivery every two weeks and it takes a lot of the faff out of mealtimes as I know we've always got enough for in for them and changing their subscription is ridiculously easy, you can customise so much of your order which is brilliant.
to get 50% off your first box use the code FROMROSES
redhound for dogs jumpers
As we’re in the colder months now it means that the dogs are wearing their jumpers pretty much every day and of course, our go-to is our Redhound for Dogs jumpers and over the past year and a half we’ve acquired quite the collection. The reason why they’re our go-to is that they’re so practical and they’re also the warmest option that we have without going for a traditional coat which I don’t love them running full speed in as that is more easily ripped and damaged than a fleece. These jumpers have been designed to fit a hound shape beautifully and they fall slightly above the tail which is good for Josie as she doesn’t like things that go over her tail and they tuck in perfectly around their small waists. We’ve never any issues with these fleeces rubbing on their arms which is something we’ve encountered in the past with other coats as they're super soft and most importantly, washable. The girls have got these jumpers absolutely filthy with fox poo and mud and they've come up good as new. There are such a beautiful array of colours on offer and we’ve got a few favourites;
Rose or Light Grey for dry cool days.
Olive or Forest for wet days as they barely show any mud
Red, Duck egg and Yellow for walks in the woods as they’re easily spotted in the trees.
the trendy whippet or brindle & whyte collars
Depending on what the weather is like and where we’re going for a walk they’re a couple of different collars we like to switch between. If it’s really wet and miserable outside then we go for our traditional leather hound collars from The Trendy Whippet. They’re a beautiful rustic brown leather with soft suede padding on the inside so perfect for Edie’s sensitive neck as she tends to lose fur quite quickly in that area if the collars aren’t well lined. We also prefer a collar like this if walking in the woods as I worry about their martingale collars getting caught on any long hanging branches even though the probability of that happening is very low it still makes me a little nervous. For general walks when I know they’re not going to be dashing in and out the trees then we use our Brindle & Whyte collars which are a staple in our lives, they’re super soft and washable. They’re a martingale style too which I often prefer as it means that it’s hard for either of the dogs to back out of them if they are ever spooked by something which has been an issue for us in the past.
falconry bells
If you’re a follower of our Instagram stories then you might have seen that Josie wears falconry bells on her collar when we’re walking in the woods. She likes to run in and out of the trees and if she ever does chase something (more than likely a deer) then unless she wears her bells we cannot hear her so don’t know how far she’s gone. It’s so good to have peace of mind of her whereabouts as she often isn’t as far away as we think. Even though Josie isn’t much of a hunter when she has her bells on it warns any wildlife of the dog's presence just incase they are close by. If you own a dog that likes to wander a little bit then I can’t recommend bells on the collar enough for your peace of mind.
a good variation of treats
Treats are a big part of our walks as we’re constantly working on the dog's obedience and recall. We use quite a big variance of treats so that they don’t get too used to one thing and this is what we like to use when the stakes are high;
Sprats
Cheddar Cheese
Gore Protein Bites
Venison Sausage
JR meat only treats
cave bed
The bed that the girls have had the longest is their Paws Home Comforts cave style bed which they both love. The style of the bed is very similar to the Charley Chau snuggle beds but they’re round and the bottom pad is very thick and cushy, even with nearly 2 years of use it’s still really soft and plump. They both like to tuck themselves into the back of it and we can rarely see them once they’re tucked in there. We have the grey velvet bed in large and its held up incredibly well despite them both pawing at it when they want to get in it and it's washable which is so important for any bed in our house as you never know when you might need to wash something.
