19th Feb 2009

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This week’s Independent on Sunday carried a story lamenting the fall of Blue Peter which used to have 8 million viewers but is now down to 100,000. There was a photograph from 1966 of the editor Biddy Baxter and Petra the dog. This reminded me of the time in 1975 when I was working in a veterinary practice in Surrey and Shep (Down, Shep!) came in for an operation.

I would like to say that as part of my CV I treated Shep from Blue Peter but I can’t; nobody was allowed near him except the boss of the practice.

Incidentally it has been pointed out to me by our nutrition team that the current dogs on Blue Peter are overweight. Their food bowls contain a mix of the most horrendous colours. A poor advert for the dog world.

The Burns Pet Nutrition chickens have now been in residence for 2 weeks. We have 150 birds in each of two sheds. When they arrived it was bitterly cold so I didn’t put any ventilation gaps in the building. Now the weather has become mild and I noticed the air in the buildings was stuffy in the morning.

I awoke at 3 this morning and remembered I hadn’t sorted the ventilation. I got up and in wellies and pyjamas drove up to the field. By torchlight and all the while watching for passing policemen, I opened the outer doors and tied the inner mesh doors in place using the laces of my trainers to get some fresh air into each shed. It was just like being a vet on call again.

Walking on Cefn Sidan (Kev’n Sheedan) beach on Sunday in glorious sunshine we saw lots of dog walkers. It was noticeable how many dogs were on the lead and one very friendly greyhound was also wearing a muzzle. It’s remarkable how many people can’t trust their dogs to come back when called. We saw a flock of birds in a great dark swarm weaving just above the water’s edge. As they moved down the beach all the promenaders stopped to gaze in wonder. They were moving so fast we couldn’t make out what type they were.

I have been invited to write a few words on nutrition for a CaniX /Kennel Club leaflet called “Keep Fit with Fido”. This raised the vexing question of exercise for young dogs. Many people advocate that young dogs should only be exercised on a lead. One “expert” giving advice in a magazine even recommend that young dogs should be lifted in and out of cars and shouldn’t walk down steep steps. I really wish this would go away! The more this sort of nonsense appears in print, the more people come to believe it.

I’ve discussed this with a university orthopaedics specialist who said that restricting exercise at best postpones the appearance of a developmental defect. Exercise promotes strong muscle and bone development, encourages the bond between dog and owner and aids socialising among dogs. To avoid developmental skeletal defects we need to look at breeding and feeding. A good start is the Burns Puppy Guide.

info@burnspet.co.uk

17th Feb 2009