A Dog's Life with Anna Webb

Latest Episodes:

Dog Advocacy Ireland May 14, 2023

Show notes

This week we’re joined by animal lover and animal advocate, John O’Callaghan, who has launched Dog Advocacy Ireland, a not for profit organisation aiming to make change! Known as the puppy farm capital of Europe, hundreds of puppy farms are permitted to operate without fear of detection or prosecution, to ‘breed for greed’ in an illegal industry which yields at least €200 million annually.He discusses why change is needed where a Government misappropriates tax-payers money in funding hare coursing and Greyhound Racing, despite public opposition, and must be held accountable for condoning dog/animal mistreatment. John explains why Ireland has a poor reputation when it comes to animal welfare despite legislation including The Animal Welfare Act and the Control of Dogs Act, Parliament is divided. "Dog Advocacy Ireland is openly inviting ALL right-minded dog/animal lovers to join our non-profit organisation in forging meaningful change of mindset and policy on dog/animal welfare protection in our country. We want Government to uphold current legislation, under the Animal welfare Act 2013 which includes the duty of care under the Five Freedoms. Similarly, Dog Advocacy Ireland wants to ensure that local authorities work proactively in line with the ‘Control of Dogs Act’ to encourage and support responsible dog ownership. Bringing dog welfare centre stage in public consciousness, together with cooperative engagement with the political system, is paramount in effecting meaningful change. John discusses why government’s abdication of statutory responsibilities on dog/animal welfare protection legislation has reached intolerable levels. Subscribe to Dog Advocacy Ireland to help bring positive change.

Twitter: @AdvocacyDog

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Hercule May 07, 2023

Show notes

Phil Heckels, AKA Hercule Van Wolfwinkle, is a pet portrait artist with a self-proclaimed ‘ultra-realistic style’ that has gained him worldwide fame and an ever-increasing gaggle of disgruntled customers trying to get their hands on him! But all of that changed one late summer afternoon in 2020 when, whilst trying to coerce his young son into making some thank you cards, he doodled a picture of their family dog. The picture was rubbish, so naturally he stuck it on Facebook.
Little did he know that post would go viral and his work would soon be in high demand with requests for portraits flooding into his inbox in their tens of thousands from all over the globe.
Hercule’s self-proclaimed ‘ultra-realistic’ style is akin to that of a small child who has never seen an animal before and is only just learning how to hold a pencil properly, but people like it. A large social media following and worldwide media coverage catapulted Hercule into the limelight and he has used this exposure to raise money for his chosen charities, Turning Tides Ending Local Homelessness and StreetVet. Hercule does not take paid commission requests. All of the portraits are free and are just uploaded to his social media pages in return for a discretionary donation to the charity (more information can be found on the Facebook page). To date he has raised over £260,000 and counting and this fundraising has seen Hercule receive a Points of Light Award from the Prime Minister, recognised by The Big Issue as one of their 100 Change Makers for 2021, and named as the ‘Creative Fundraiser of The Year’ at the 2022 Just Giving Awards.

Visit the website or follow on Instagram

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Beverley Byrne Apr 30, 2023

Show notes

This week we’re joined by Author and Journalist, Beverley Byrne, who talks about how she’s recently exchanged facts for fiction in her published book of short stories entitled The Dog Gets It! Inspired by her own Labradors, Lily and Dora, all proceeds are donated to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Beverley talks about why she’s chosen Guide Dogs and how the Charity inspired the short story called 'The Dog Gets It!' Beverley's love for Labradors shines through and we chat about why the remain in pole position as Britain’s most popular breed. We talk about Field Trials and the difference between a ‘working’ strain Labrador. We also discuss diet and how Dora’s on going digestion issues have benefitted from the new Collar-gen from Pawable.

Contact Beverley on beverleybyrne@hotmail.com

Follow Beverley on Instagram and Facebook

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Estelle Lovatt Apr 23, 2023

Show notes

This week Art Critic, Estelle Lovatt, comes back to chat about the landmark art collection in The Wallace Museum - Portraits of Dogs: the faithful and the fearless. We chat about why this collection spanning 300 years truly captures the essence of living with dogs and their role as man’s best friend. Estelle discusses the importance of art, before the camera as being our source of history and why the works selected resonate. From Lucien Freud, Gainsborough, Stubbs, to Hockney, De Vinci, and Sir Edwin Landseer - the collection reflects the way dogs capture our hearts. From symbols of loyalty, faithfulness, fearlessness, to just being our stead fast companions.

For more information go to The Wallace Collection

More about Estelle Lovatt or follow on Instagram

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Hannah Molloy Apr 16, 2023

Show notes

This week Anna is joined by Trainer and Behaviour consultant, Hannah Molloy. With a BSc in Animal Behaviour, she has written “What’s Your Dog Thinking?’, starred on Channel 4’s Puppy School and most recently organised sessions at APDAWG on ‘Dog Bites’. We discuss how Hannah decided make dogs her main focus rather than working with horses or cats. She started her career working in the Birmingham area and over seven years trained over 10,000 dogs in group sessions and one to ones.
We chat about why dog bite incidents are on the rise and whether it's directly related to the the pandemic, and the sudden surge in dog ownership, or whether it's a problem that’s been brewing for sometime. Hannah believes since about 2003. Her aim is to guide people towards dogs that suit our modern lifestyles, ones that can adapt to apartment living, bred for temperament and health. She champions that greater responsibility needs to be taken, and an awareness of our Duty of Care as defined in the Animal Welfare Act, and refined as the Five Domains. We discuss over exaggerated features in breeds, which arguably has spear headed certain breeds huge popularity leading to dogs being sold online, which continues to boom, despite campaigning to stop puppy shopping on the internet.

Follow on Instagram and Twitter

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

The Natural Dog Expo Apr 09, 2023

Show notes

This week we’re joined by Holistic guru, Caroline Griffiths, who talks about the first Natural Dog Expo coming soon on May 7th . Packed with leading lights and globally recognised experts highlighting natural health for dogs - from raw feeding, the microbiome, to homeopathy and more! We chat about how an awareness of natural options is becoming more ‘mainstream’, particularly where nutrition is concerned as humans’ greater awareness is increasingly transferred to their dogs. We also chat about Caroline’s famous Canine Flow retreats, where she focuses on channeling energy into balance drawing on inspiration from traditional Chinese theories on Qi and the Vital Force from Homeopathy.

Click here for tickets and information and here for Canineflow

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Dr Andrew Prentis Apr 02, 2023

Show notes

Vet and Environmental campaigner, Andrew Prentis is also a ‘fellow’ at Imperial College. He is amongst the team of scientists that have advised pet owners to be more sparing in their use of toxic flea and tic treatments, warning that they are entering watercourses and damage aquatic ecosystems. Reviewing 160 scientific papers on the impact on aquatic ecosystems of imidacloprid, a pesticide used in 138 pet treatments sold in the UK. They found that “one monthly flea treatment for a large dog contains enough imidacloprid to kill 25 million bees". In the decade up to 2019, the sale of the pesticide for veterinary use in the UK increased 152 per cent. In that year, 2,500kg of the substance were sold for veterinary use, not much less than the 4,000kg used in 2014 for combined agricultural and veterinary use. We discuss how we can change our approach to parasite control in our pets by adopting a Test Before You Treat approach that’s used in Scandinavia where Vets only prescribe treatments if an animal actually has fleas. Certainly where wormers are also concerned (similarly penetrating waterways and the landscape), there’s an easy alternative simply by testing your pet’s poop. If no worms are found, why give your dog a wormer? One of the sticking points of the discussion is that the market for parasite control in the vet industry is valued at £170 million. We chat about how practices could recoup this revenue in other proactive ways.

Instagram: @the_environmental_worrier

Website: vetsustain.org

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Esther Logue of Paleo Ridge Mar 26, 2023

Show notes

This week Anna is joined by Esther Logue from Paleoridge. As the leading raw food firms’ Content & Communications’ Manager, we chat about the success of this year’s Crufts, and how the company brought feeding raw to life at the biggest dog show in the world. We talk about why Crufts is such an educational platform and so needed in an age where dog ownership has boomed almost making it unrecognisable compared to back in circa 2002. Featuring a meat grinder and ’diner’ on their stand the team offered tastings on their stand, along with expert nutrition talks to an audience eager to learn more. Their dogs meanwhile had a great time too enjoying free samples of Paleoridge’s new meaty treats. We also talk in detail about studying Naturopathic Nutrition and why it literally explains why and how: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

For more information go to Paleo Ridge or follow on Instagram @paleoridge and Twitter @PaleoRidge

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Sarah Jones and Yellow Dog Day II Mar 19, 2023

Show notes

This week Anna is joined by Sarah Jones who rescued Bella nine years ago. After Bella experienced a couple of dog attacks, and soft tissue damage, she became very nervous when dogs invaded her space. She also associated her emotional and physical pain with strangers approaching, and could appear quite aggressive. Sarah found walking Bella increasingly stressful, and decided to launch an initiative to help other owners coping with fear reactively. Realising that many ‘pandemic’ generation dogs display some sort of anxiety, many of whom have no recall, there’s lots of dogs unaware of how to socialise with unknown doggies, Sarah devised a range of yellow leads, collars, bandanas, and jackets, which is the colour recognised to highlight that your dog needs some space. Understanding that thousands of dogs suffer with being reticent about being approached, Sarah launched #DogsInYellow last year. As a dedicated day to celebrate nervous dogs, and respect their differences, rather than be misunderstood, causing some stressful situations for both the dogs and their guardians. A recent survey of 1,000 dog owners revealed that 78% of owners felt more confident going out to public spaces with the signatory yellow leads and harnesses. So the range of yellow accessories continues to expand offering poop bag holders, bandanas and more. It’s the Yellow Army.

Find out more at bellascollars.co.uk

Follow on Instagram @myanxiousdog and Twitter @Myanxiousdog

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com

Oscars for Dogs! Mar 12, 2023

Show notes

This week we’re joined by Cinema Journalist, Toby Rose, talking about the annual film awards for dogs - the FIDOS : For Incredible Dogs On Screen. Talking about his awards as the Oscars are announced for people, and appropriately on Best In Show day at Crufts, the FIDOS offers a chance for the loyal canine co-stars to receive worthy accolades. From best ‘Mutt Moment’, to best ‘Historical Hound’, and best ‘Rom-com Rover’, get the latest on the nominees for this year! And the gossip for the upcoming prestigious Palm Dog upcoming which is of course staged in Cannes at the iconic Film Festival.

Instagram: @thepalmdog

Website

If you love A Dog's Life and would like to help support the show why not become a Patreon backer where you can also have access to some exclusive content.

If you want to move your dog to a raw diet or even switch brands we wholly recommend Paleo Ridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: info@theloniouspunkproductions.com