Archive for the Covid-19 Category

Networking Neighs with Caroline Lovett

On September 25, 2020 / Covid-19, Equine, Horse Photography, Horse related, Networking, Socially Distanced Networking / 2 Comments

Networking Neighs with Caroline Lovett

It has been a long time since I attended a face to face networking event due to Covid-19 and I have to say I was a teensy bit anxious. I needn’t have worried. Becci was a great host as always!

Networking around horses

networking neighs, networking with horses

Upon arrival we all washed our hands and were shown were additional hand sanitisers were located. After being instructed on the health and safety aspect of being around horses and a quick 1 minute who is who, we went outside to network in the field with the horses. All very socially distanced in very lovely sunny conditions. The horses enjoyed themselves and were seeking out interesting conversations oblivious to the fact that attendees had to converse around them, …..

Becci Godfrey of HorseSense UK says:

Never in the 7 year history of Networking Neighs have we had to postpone meetings like we did in 2020. So you can imagine the delight in being able to run our September meeting, and what wonderful weather for it we got too.

Both participants and horses revelled in the connection and attention, with some newbies on both sides and some familiar faces providing a wonderful balance.

Our newest recruit Jim made his presence felt when he completely blocked out the view of our guest speaker Psychosexual Relationship Counsellor Caroline Lovett.

A seasoned horsewoman herself, she didn’t skip a beat and continued to enlighten us on female anatomy and relevance of her work.

I have also never seen a pony move so fast to the rattle of a cellophane wrap, though the bag contained underwear and not sweets as I am sure he was hoping. He seemed very much to enjoy himself. No doubt he will amuse us with his antics for many years to come.

To catch up on the sessions missed this year, we’re putting in an extra meeting before the end of the year. Join us on 13th November for our last Networking Neighs of 2020. www.networkingneighs.eventbrite.co.uk

Becci Godfrey
Personal and Professional Development Coach

Here are some pictures from the day, as you can see it was very relaxed and enjoyable:

Government guidance on pets and COVID-19 self-isolation

On August 19, 2020 / Blog, Cat related, Covid-19, Dog related, Horse related / Leave a comment

Are you up to date with what to do with your pets when you have to self-isolate?

The UK government has set out clear guidelines, for an up-to-date version here is the link to their website.

It is holiday season and with more and more countries being added to the 14 day quarantine list, you may well find yourself in self-isolation.

Here are their current guidelines (*correct as of date of blog post)

If your animal needs vet treatment

If your animal needs treatment, phone the vet to arrange the best way to meet their needs.

Dogs

You must follow the rules on self isolation if you:

have symptoms of COVID-19, however mild
test positive for coronavirus
have been abroad and told to quarantine on your return

If your dog cannot exercise at home, you should ask someone outside of your household or support bubble to walk your dog for you.

If you’re walking dogs on behalf of someone not able to

You may walk a dog for someone who is unable to leave their house because they are self-isolating.

You should wash your hands before and after handling the dog and keep 2 metres away from other people and animals, including when handing over the dog to the owner.

Cats

You should:

wash your hands before and after any contact with your cat, its food and bedding
avoid close contact such as kissing or cuddling if you are self-isolating
not share food with your pet

Horses, livestock and other animals

You must follow the rules on self isolation if you:

have symptoms of COVID-19, however mild
test positive for coronavirus
have been abroad and told to quarantine on your return

If you have a horse that you don’t keep at home (for example, you keep it in livery, a stables or on private land), you should not visit it whilst you are self-isolating. You should contact your yard manager or vet to make suitable animal welfare arrangements.

If you have livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, or any other types of livestock or kept animals such as alpacas, you should arrange for someone else who is not self-isolating to care for your animals.

Where this is not possible, you should ensure the basic needs of your animals are met.

You should wash your hands before and after handling your animals and stay 2 metres away from other people.

If you’re too unwell to care for your animals and there is no one to help, you should call your local authority.

If your horse needs attention from a farrier

If your horse requires attention from a farrier, you should phone the farrier for advice to best meet your horse’s needs.

Latest Equine Photo Shoot – Sneak Peek

On August 12, 2020 / Blog, Covid-19, Equine, Horse Photography, Kent, Sneak Peek, Socially Distanced Photo Shoot / Leave a comment

Equine Photo Shoot – with social distancing rules

It has been a while – and now I am back photographing! Oh, I have missed being able to spend some quality time with my clients pets!

Initially it felt really weird but we soon all got into the swing of keeping our distance. I used to turn up at the yard or at my clients home and we had a chat over a cup of tea or coffee before taking a quick recce to earmark locations. We skipped the tea drinking and handshaking on arrival, maybe we will return to these niceties at some point.

I have been pouring over this latest set of client images and I not sure but somewhere along the line I have forgotten how to make quick decisions on which image to show my client and which one to cull. It seemed to take forever and after spending 2 1/2 hours on the actual photo shoot I have 50 beautiful and very individual images to show.

Due to Covid-19 the viewing will now take place via screen share. Before the pandemic I used to drive to my clients house and we would watch the slide show together. Just as well we are all so adaptable!

As mentioned in the subject line, this is a

Sneak Peek

of my latest socially distanced photo shoot. It can be done and I looking forward to many more, … The image I chose is in fact a classic door step photo.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to make memories with your beloved pet.

Four Positive Paws – Talking about Anxiety and survival during the pandemic and lock down

On June 26, 2020 / Blog, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Dog related, West Sussex / Leave a comment

Anxiety and survival during the pandemic and lock down

Lock down is thankfully easing and more and more dogs are feeling the difference. As a pet owner I am sure you can relate when I say that dogs feed off your own emotions. Recently I connected with Dawn. Her business Four Positive Paws is based in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Her clients have all noticed changes in their dogs’ behaviour including separation anxiety as many people are preparing to go back to the office.

Here is what Dawn said:

Many of us are struggling and looking for solutions. Exploring and considering what may be going on for us and our dogs can be helpful.

We can find ourselves in an almost constant state of fight or flight for everyday tasks. You might experience any of the following yourself:

Fatigue

Overwhelm

Frustration and increased demands

Giving more time and thought to basic tasks

Concerns about our basic needs like safety

Cognitive difficulties with memory

Mixed messages and conflicting information about what we should and should not be doing provide us with the opportunity to consider the parallels with experiences and perspectives with our own dog/s.

What can we do for our dogs and ourselves?

Walks with our dogs seem to be more challenging with more people around. What used to be our usual quiet, calm or happy walks may become stressful for us and our dogs.

Rest, recover and rejuvenate our own and our dog’s bodies and minds need good quality sleep and rest to process the events of the day. We can underestimate how much our dogs have to cope with in a day or a week.

Decompress To survive and thrive we can discover ways to decompress. If we are continuously in flight or fight and we are constantly in a state of anxiety we deplete our coping resources and our resilience can also be affected.

Who needs who?

Our dogs look to us for stability and predictability yet we have been living in uncertain and unpredictable times. Dogs take their cues from our body language and our verbal communications and they can even pick up on our hormones.

If our dogs are anxious or nervous and they look to us and we are behaving oddly, unpredictably or in a stressed and anxious state they will pick up on it. Often, we look to our dogs for comfort but our dogs look to us for their safe space. Some dogs may not cope with the demands expected of them.

We can observe how fraught and sensitive people are at the moment, on a short fuse, reactive where they may previously have been responsive. There is plenty of tension around.

How do we behave when we are woken up again at 2 or 3 am to let our dog or puppy outside?

How do we react when they have another toileting accident?

Depending on how we behave will affect our dogs but it can be more challenging to keep cool, calm and collected when we have more demands put on us than we may be able to cope with.

As a fully accredited member of The Association of INTODogs and ICAN I am able to display this symbol. Please check out the Charter website to see what assurances this symbol brings at www.ukdogcharter.org”

If you need help with your dog/s, Dawn is passionate about supporting owners to teach their dogs to gain more confidence and improve their social skills.

Dawn offers 1:1 sessions, courses and workshops for nervous, anxious dogs, good socialisation, reliable recall, lead skills for both ends of the lead and sensory enrichment for building confidence.

To find out more about Dawn, here are her contact details:

Website www.fourpositivepaws.co.uk
Email dawn.allen@fourpositivepaws.co.uk
Facebook @fourpositivepaws

Watch out for the next blog with Dawn when she will give you some tips how you can help yourself and your anxious dog/s!

*Disclaimer: Due to the current Coronavirus outbreak all images from this blog have been kindly submitted by Dawn.

#stay connected #helpindependentbusinesses #anxiousdog #anxietyindogs #behaviourchangeindogs #helpyourdogthroughcovid

Lucie’s Lambs, Sevenoaks, Kent

On June 10, 2020 / B2C, Blog, Covid-19, Equestrian, Horse related, Kent, Spring / Leave a comment

Lucie’s Lambs

In my effort to promote local businesses during lock down, I recently connected with Lucy. Her business is based in Sevenoaks, Kent. It was very interesting to hear how lock down has affected her business and what she has been up to. This is what she said:

Lucie’s Border Collie

Living with my parents in the Kent countryside, I am lucky to have plenty of space for pet animals. Over the years, we have collected various cats and a rescue donkey in addition to my old pony and horse and the family dogs. But my pride and joy is the Border Collie (Scout) I bought while working in Ireland to help me care for my flock of pedigree Romney sheep.

Lucie’s Little Lamb

They are a bit like pets, too, especially this little fellow, who was too greedy for his mother and had to be bottle-fed. I take very good care of them – feeding them nothing but fresh grass and hay from our fields according to the principles of what is now known as regenerative agriculture but is really good old-fashioned husbandry. By doing this I am making a small contribution to improving the environment and so slowing down climate change. But it is no sacrifice because in their short happy lives the lambs produce meat that tastes so much better than what you can buy in the supermarket.

My customers are queuing up for more this autumn and you can join them here – www.lucieslambs.co.uk. You can call me on 07712690318 or follow me on my Instagram @lucietrapp or on Facebook @Lucie’s Lambs

At Lucie’s Lamb Farm every year* they tend to have a surplus of hay, which local equestrians are able to pick up in a socially distanced way straight from the field.

*Update: This year’s harvest did not create a huge surplus and has already been collected. I will keep you updated on next year’s situation.

*Disclaimer: Due to the current Coronavirus outbreak all images from this blog have been kindly submitted by Lucie.

#stay connected #helpindependentbusinesses #regenerativeagriculture #improvingtheenvironment #slowingdownclimatechange

Pets Fayre and how they can help you through COVID-19

On April 17, 2020 / Coronavirus, Covid-19, Dog related, Kent / Leave a comment

Pets Fayre and how they can help you through COVID-19

The Coronavirus has taken us all by surprise and will irrevocably change the world and how we go about our every day live. Many businesses are feeling the pressure and are adapting to the “New Normal”.

Big corporations, small businesses, self-employed are all reinventing themselves.

As mentioned in my last blog I am actively promoting local pet related businesses (especially the independent businesses and self-employed) who are out there doing their best to serve their customers and their pets.

One such business is Pets Fayre in Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Before COVID-19 hit they were not only a pet shop, they also offered:

pet boarding
pet sitting
dog walking
and pet grooming services

Their services and shop premises are all closed until further notice to safeguard their staff and customers but they are doing local deliveries.

Pets Fayre Background:

Sarah took over the shop in 2016 and wanted to create a pet shop that genuinely cares about animal welfare.
They stopped the sale of all animals and now work closely with local rescue centres to promote adoption – Sarah lost some custom but she slept much better at night knowing that she is supporting overcrowded rescue centres instead of breeders.
They refurbished the shop and the pet boarding facilities and introduced their hugely popular dog walking, pet sitting and pet grooming services.

COVID-19 Delivery Service:

Pets Fayre understands that your pets are part of the family so they are here to help and support you through this difficult time. They are offering a free delivery service in and around Tunbridge Wells for all of your pet essentials. Their delivery service is completely contact free so that you can stay in the safety of your own home.

Please visit www.petsfayre.co.uk or call 01892 533992 to enquire or place an order.

*disclaimer: the images have been provided by Pets Fayre

#stayconnected #helpindependentbusinesses #deliveryservice #supporteachother #supportsmallbusiness

COVID-19 business update

On March 24, 2020 / Coronavirus, Covid-19, Uncategorized / Leave a comment

Who would have thought that a virus like COVID-19 (Coronavirus) can bring the world to a standstill? What strange times we live in, ….

As per Government guidance I will not be able to photograph my clients pets for the foreseeable future.

Many businesses have managed to switch their core business structure to online, which obviously will not work for the majority of my work.

That said, I am actively seeking local companies/pet related businesses that are still able to help pet owners. I would love to promote their business/es via my blogs.

Please spread the word and contact me for further information.

Together we will get through this global crisis!

Stay well and remain positive!

Best wishes
Barbara

Archive for the Covid-19 Category

Latest Equine Photo Shoot – Sneak Peek

Equine Photo Shoot – with social distancing rules

Sneak Peek

COVID-19 business update

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