Category Archives: Christmas

Pawprints & Purrs: Season’s Greetings!

Unwrap the Joy for You and Your Furry Crew!

Huge thanks to our incredible customers this Christmas. Your support makes our tails wag!

Here’s to a Christmas filled with happy barks and cheery purrs.

And Happy New Year to you all!

Stay Pawsitive!

Remembering our beautiful Tilly

Woof-Tastic Dog Treats!​

Who doesn’t enjoy a homebake? Your furry friends will go barking mad for these Christmas treat recipes!

 

Christmas is Unleashed!

From our Paws and Claws to Yours!

Merry Christmas

Thanking all of our wonderful customers and sending you puppy love this Christmas. We hope you have a paws-itively amazing time and look forward to “clicking” with you next year!

Stay Pawsitive!

Fur Your VIP!

There’s still time to bake these festive Dr Oetker Christmas Pupcakes for the VIP – very important pup – in your life. Remember to only use Xylitol free peanut butter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a Pawsome Christmas!

Tuesday the Cat, who adopted us this year!

From all of us here at Training Lines, we hope you have the very best Christmas possible and roll-on next year!

As it’s the season of giving, we would like to mention five charities that we think are pretty special, thank them for all their hard work and wish them all the best for the coming year.

German Shepherd Rescue Elite (GSRE)

A UK based dog rescue with a team of dedicated volunteers with many years experience of the breed & rescue work.

Just look at how delighted Balto was to open one of the many Christmas boxes donated by supporters.

Finding the Cure for DM Foundation

“Our goal is to increase awareness, educate the public about this dreadful disease, and to help fund continuing research, that looks for additional causes, better treatments and ultimately, to finding a cure. 

Dealing with the heartbreak of DM is both stressful and costly. Helping your companion to cope with the paralysis that comes with the disease, by the use of special equipment can help your companion to have a better quality of life”.

When we were floundering, wondering how best to cope with Daisy’s DM, this charity’s Wheels to Help Me programme, helped us out with the loan of a wheelchair and plenty of advice, until we had found our feet (or wheels!). They have branches in the UK and the USA.

Our Daisy in her wheelchair

Garbo’s GSD Rescue

“Garbo’s GSD Rescue is a non-profit rescue organisation, set up not only to ease the lives of German Shepherds that need to find secure and responsible homes, but to provide education and assistance in getting the most out of every GSD”.

Many years ago Garbo entrusted us with two of her rescue dogs, Blitz and Fin, who were both fabulous dogs. We had many happy years with these two and our other GSD’s – adopt don’t shop!

Blitz and Fin

Dogs 4 Rescue

“We are the UK’s pioneering kennel-free dog rescue, saving dogs in desperate need from the UK & around the world. Our rescue is powered by love”.

This is the most amazing charity where the dogs live together and help each other and if you need cheering up, take a look at their videos and keep a special eye out for Lollipop – he will be sure to bring a smile to your face on the gloomiest day!

Starting Over Sanctuary

“We are a non-profit animal sanctuary located in Israel, we rescue and rehabilitate donkeys and horses which undergo cruelty and abuse in Arab and Bedouin villages and cities in Israel and the Palestinian Areas. We also save farm animals.

This charity is based in Israel and we were contacted by them earlier this year as they had a lamb, Malbi, suffering from a neurological injury. We shipped them a Walkin’ Wheels Wheelchair and just look how happy Malbi is now!

A word of caution – there are often some very upsetting images on their Facebook page.

Malbi the Lamb

And finally…

Unleash the festive cheer this Christmas!

Seasons Greetings from Training Lines

The year we would all rather forget

It’s been one hell of a year! Who could have imagined this time last year when we were sending out our Christmas greetings, what was in store for us all?

So many people have worked so hard during this awful pandemic to keep us all going and none more so than our outstanding National Health Service. We hope that everyone involved will have some time to chill-out over the festive period and maybe reconnect with loved ones, even if it is at a distance.

Thanking our NHS

And for us, it’s quite poignant as it was just days after Christmas that we lost our beloved Daisy. She has left a massive hole in our lives.

Daisy dog in wheelchair

Remembering our beautiful Daisy dog 2009-2019

Let the old year-end and the New Year begin

But we can only look forward, so out with the old, in with the new – make way for 2021! Wishing you and your fur family a peaceful, safe and healthy Christmas, and much happiness, and prosperity in the New Year!

We wish you a Wheely Good Christmas

A huge thank you to all our valued customers

As the year draws to a close, we wanted to let you know how much we appreciate your valued custom and hope that in the coming year we will continue to be of service to you and your very special pets.

As dog owner ourselves, we are always striving to find new and innovative products and appreciate the importance of mental exercise with mind-engaging activities such as enrichment puzzles, treat toys, and also learning new skills and tricks.

From all of us to all of you, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

And now some pawsitive thoughts from our highly skilled Testing Team

Daisy

Daisy: These wheels are made for rolling!

Archie

Archie: It’s hard being so handsome, but someone has to do it!

Jack

Jack: I might be outnumbered but I can outrun them. Border Collie’s Rule, OK!

Toby

Toby: I’ve been Naughty and Nice!

Tilly

Tilly: Whereas I’ve just been Naughty!

It’s Christmas!

Proper snow…

It’s the first proper snowfall we’ve had for a few years, and the dogs absolutely loved it!

Although it can be a bit of a pain, one advantage of snow is that the dogs come back spotlessly clean from their walks. No need for a watering can wash twice a day!

It’s unlikely to be with us on Christmas day, regardless of how many times Bing sings about it, but wherever you are, whatever weather you have, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Training Lines Team


 

Merry Christmas from the Team

Celebrations and chaos

 

Toby

We collected our new boy, Toby, at the beginning of December.  We were worried about his long journey home in the car, but thanks to some very good advice, we all arrived home unscathed.

He travelled on the back seat in a small crate in which we had put a very comfy bed with high sides so that he felt supported but could move around.  The door was open but we fitted a barrier so that we could put hands in to comfort him but he couldn’t get out.

After some initial fidgeting, he slept most of the way and wasn’t sick at all, which was our biggest concern.

He has settled in well, in fact you would think he’d always lived here!

Archie loves him, Daisy tolerates him but Jack is not very keen.

Whilst we’re waiting for him to have his second vaccination, we haven’t taken him into the big field to run with the others so socialisation hasn’t been easy in cramped conditions.  We are working hard to try to get them all to feel happy and relaxed together but the nippy little pup is proving to be a challenge.

We have, of course, started clicker training and he’s taken to it like a duck to water.  It’s truly amazing how quickly he picks things up.

Speaking of picking things up, he does seem to be rather obsessed with stones!  We’ll have to train him out of that before he starts swallowing them!

It’s going to be a busy Christmas here, with not much time for relaxing in front of the TV thanks to our new arrival.

Best wishes to everyone and we hope you have a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas with your four legged friends!

Red sky in the morning

Sunrise over the croft

The weather has been very odd for this time of year.  November began very warm, we were walking around outside in short sleeved t-shirts.  Then there was a cold spell, with a spot of snow, but now it’s warm once again.  So warm in fact that we have roses in bloom!

It’s been a busy month.  The sheep were shipped off to the mart, including the bullying tup and it’s a relief to be able to walk in the fields again without fear of being butted!  We got a decent amount for them, despite dire warnings of low prices.

Two of the goats have visited a billy and appear to be in kid, due next April.

The chickens too, can walk about without worrying about attack, as the cat was humanely captured in a fiendishly clever trap and taken in by a local animal sanctuary for rehoming.

Our Chistmas preparations are nearing completion.  With the installation of the new Rayburn, it was necessary to redecorate the whole kitchen which has been a nightmare of a job.  The last time any work was done in there, was the 1970’s!  It’s just about ready, in time for our family to arrive for the festive season.  At least the house will be warm this year and we won’t have to wear woolly hats and scarves indoors.

The tree has been cut, which was rather nervewracking as it was 40ft tall and we only wanted the last 8ft!

We plan a quiet day with plenty of good food and board games, topped off with the Downton Christmas special!

Here’s hoping that you all have a wonderful stress free Noel and best wishes for the New Year.

Merry Christmas from the Croft

We welcome the snow

We’ve had a busy month, packing parcels day and night to ensure they arrive before the big day.  We are looking forward to taking it easy and putting our feet up.

The dogs aren’t interested in lounging around, not when there’s snow outside.  We’ve had a light sprinkling, enough the freeze the mud, thank goodness.

We brought all the lambs indoors for their beauty treatments, ear piercing and feeding up, and then they were off to the mart.  Sorry to see them go as they were a cheeky bunch but a relief to have less mouths to feed over the winter months.

Wishing all our customers and their pets, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all at the Croft.