There always has been an obvious hole in my outdoor wear. A waterproof jacket. It may seem obvious considering how much time I spend outdoors but I've never really found one I want to wear. Luckily, the temperate climate in Norfolk means that we don't get all that much rain. I have plenty of wool style coats for looking smart in town, a warm puffa jacket for keeping me toasty and another pretty much suitable for the Arctic. None of them cope for long in anything more than light shower.

I present to you, hey presto, my new waterproof jacket from Mountain Warehouse. I'm wearing a size 10 which is plenty roomy enough for a thick warm jumper underneath for cooler days. The hood is really comfortable and a good fit; not too loose and not too tight (these things are important, right?)

Wait for it, I haven't got to the best bit. This jacket is a collaboration with the Dogs Trust and so 10% of each sale goes towards this worthy cause. My heart is absolutely stolen with regards rescue centres; both Comet (RIP) and Lincoln are both rescue dogs and I am a firm believer in supporting centres that rehome animals. There are so many sad, lonely forgotten little hearts just waiting for a loving family that need support. Our decision to choose Lincoln was met with with a significant amount of criticism to be honest, but three years on and everyone who knows me knows just how much I adore our little lad.

The inside of the neck has gorgeous soft fleece to it in the Dog's Trust yellow as well as branding to the inside lower half. It's a great design. The jacket retails at £69.99 with no delivery charge. It's fab quality waterproof jacket which will keep me dry on rainy days. Normally, Lincoln tries to avoid walking in the drizzle and downright refuses to leave the house in heavy rain. We've had a chat and compromised over walkies in wet weather; heavy downpours are off the menu and a gentle precipitate is fine. We shook on it.

I love that so many dogs are going to benefit from this.

Sophie

Thanks to Mountain Warehouse for sending me this jacket to review. All content and opinions my own

I'd like to talk about Lincoln a bit more today, he's gate-crashed a few posts over the last couple of years but I want to give him a full one all to himself for a change.
Lincoln is our Staffordshire bull terrier boy, he's about 5 years old and we got him from a rescue centre over two years ago. When we lost our first dog (also a rescue dog), I was so upset I wondered whether I would ever want another dog at all, even though we've always had a family dog from day 1. It felt a bit like we were looking to replace our original, which sat uncomfortably with me for quite a while but after a couple of visits to local rescue centres it gave me that little lift I needed, making me see that each and every dog is different and can only ever add to your life, not fill a carbon copy printout of a previous experience.
I had a look at this particular rescue centre's website and found three dogs that looked of interest; we had our heart set on a staffie for many reasons. Old Comet was part staffie, he was a good dog with a heart of gold. We took my initial choice out for a walk up the road. As we walked by all the cages of dogs with a dog which looked more like a rhino than a staffie (but was as placid as could be) most of the other dogs were going crazy for attention; barking and jumping around like wild things, with the exception of one little boy, who sat at the bars with ears pricked; just watching quietly. That little lad was called Lincoln. We took him for a walk next and found him to be a rather happy lad. The third dog we walked was a younger staffie who although walked most politely on the lead, was just so affectionate that it was a little overwhelming. We took a day to talk over what we should do, knowing that we were only having one dog yet kind of falling for both. We chose Lincoln, a quiet little lad who had been found straying and nobody had claimed; such a sad story. Imagine losing your dog and not trying to find it.
We don't really know what happened to Lincoln before he was found straying. Somebody had obviously taken the time to train him the basics of sit, down and give paw, he was already very obedient on those things when we first got him. Somewhere down the line things went wrong, why did nobody try to find him?
The RSPCA alone receives calls about 33 abandoned animals a day.
There are sadly many, many unwanted Staffordshire bull terriers ending up in rescue centres every year because they are bought as cute puppies, brought up badly or naively (not realising how much food/attention/space they will need), or worse still just getting bored of them and getting rid of them. From what I have seen, I would say they are the breed most often turning up at rescue centres. Staffies get a bad press and I for one find it disgusting and disgraceful. The media will merrily attach the term staffie to any unconfirmed butch breed or mix breed dog, seems to hunt down any incident to report on and fails to report on many other dog incidents with the same depth.
I wrote about staffie love before and once again, I would urge you to think very carefully before taking on any dog. Puppies are no picnic and there are many rescue centre dogs who deserve your care who have so much love to give. My advice is to go to dog training classes even if your dog is obedient and well behaved. By working together you will strengthen your bond and get to understand your dog as well as learning how to be a better dog owner.

As I've been writing this, Lincoln has been sleeping by my side sharing his warmth and snoring gently. I can feel my eyes pricking with tears with love for this little guy.

Sophie
This post was written as part of the #RehomingAngel campaign with the RSPCA which includes a featured link. All content and opinions are my own, as always.

Christmas wishlists are everywhere at the moment and while I'm not so fussed about myself, Lincoln has been pondering what he's asking Santa for this year.

Last year we got Linky a doggy chocolate advent calendar so that we all had something to open each morning, it was really sweet actually and I hope we can get him another for this December.

What would Lincoln like to find in his stocking on Christmas morning?

He says he wants TREATS! There are plenty of tasty morsels that he takes a fancy to but it's specific dog treats that suit him best as they're safe to eat and especially tasty. While the chocolate bar for dogs is making him happy, the Wagg Tasty Bones have really got his attention. I'll be honest, I don't really understand why people would want to feed their dog faux-chocolate (real chocolate is poisonous for dogs, they should not ever eat it) when surely something meaty flavoured would be more desired? Who knows.

Something that I always overlook about Lincoln is that he's never understood how to play with toys. We got him from a rescue centre aged 3, 18 months ago and he' always been the same; never knowing how to play games. While he'd clearly been taught obedience basics, the concept of fetch and playing with toys is lost on him. This squeaky sweet shop sweetie bottle certainly made him stop and stare, bark at and sniff but he's not actually picked it up let alone chewed (which is just as well or I suspect he's get carried away pretty quick). This lobber space hopper toy equally got his attention but he hasn't picked it up yet

The main thing Linky wants is a new bed and while this quilted mattress is soft and comfy, it is a little bit small for his main bed, he likes to cosy up with it on his own armchair (it keeps him off the sofa sometimes).

Of course what a pet will value most at Christmastime, especially in the cold weather, is a roof over their head, a place in a warm and loving home. There are no more deserving candidates for getting their wish come true than dogs in rescue centres. If you're considering a pet as a present – please be responsible and wait until after Christmas and make a well researched choice, not just bringing home a cute puppy.

Thanks to Feedem Pet Supplies and Pet Supermarket for sending Lincoln some early Christmas presents, he was genuinely really excited about his goodies! I've had a good browse on the site and the prices are REALLY good, his usual food is cheaper than we've found it anywhere else – he eats Skinner's Field and Trial Maintenance and there is free delivery if you spend over £39 or £4.99 delivery if under which still works out well if you're buying a few bits as the prices are so keen. I'm really impressed.

What is your pet asking Santa for this year? And have you tried Feedem? (I would).

Sophie

These photographs have somehow remained elusive over the last few weeks even after setting them aside to be kept safe (a little too safe, clearly). They're from one of the gorgeous, glorious evenings we spent walking along the beach at Wells-Next-The-Sea when I bathed in the late evening glow of the golden hour and beyond.

There were precious few people around which was a great delight to have such a beautiful landscape to ourselves but the ones I did see rather tickled me and if there had been just a couple more I had in my head a post entitled 'strange behaviour at sunset'. It was mostly people taking pictures of the sunset, which was beautiful although difficult to capture in a way which showed just how it looked to stand there taking it in.

The man and woman sitting down with their dog in-between was so sweet, along with the parent and child holding hands in the distance. It's one of my favourite photographs in a while and definitely represents how I feel about families; if there are two or more of you it's a family. Chris, Lincoln and I are a family; I loathe it when people say “start a family” honestly, we've been a family for years and reproducing has nothing to do with a status.

The woman trying to get her dogs to pay attention while her partner took a picture of them really made me laugh, it was so comical to watch, thankfully they weren't close enough to hear me. I don't know what the group of people bending over were looking at but I sorely wanted to sneak up at have a peep too, to satisfy my nosiness.

Sadly, the light in the evenings doesn't last long enough for us to make it to the coast any more but I have all the sights locked away in my memory to lighten up the long winter nights.

Sophie

This is a random post but I hope you can see my mini vlog from this morning with added woodpecker.
Oh and I don't think I swear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-A5Q1M7AQg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sophie

 

It’s been far too long since I featured little Lincoln over here and believe me we've been busy. As you know Lincoln started some anxiety related lead and shoe grabbing back in summer, so we started seeing a dog behaviourist to work on smoothing things out. We've been getting to grips with working together. The first thing I learned about 'dog training' is that the name is that the name is distinctly misleading; you can teach a dog in no time at all that by doing what you ask it gets rewarded. It is in fact the owner that gets the training by an instructor; the commands, your reactions whether it be quick to reward or prompt to correct and most importantly the need to be consistent and patient. We've not been working on tricks as such, but more a general emphasis on good behaviour, getting Lincoln to pay more attention to us and take direction from us instead of making his own plan. Importantly, we've been working on mitigating bad behaviour, how to avoid obvious triggers and what to do to get things back on track. We know that by nature staffies are easily excitable so we try to keep Lincoln nice and calm, he doesn't need us egging him on into a fizz. Lincoln is a really chilled out dog 90% of the time and that's what I think people don't expect about staffies: they react to your behaviour! If you're chilled out then they're chilled out. If you get them wound up then guess what? Excitement!

As part of our training, we have been muzzle training our little lad. This is so that if he starts redirecting excitement or anxiety to the lead (or my shoes) then at least we wont have a stand off as he can't get hold of anything. To start with I really thought the muzzle would be something that would cause more problems than it would solve. As a greedy little boy, Lincoln is always up for treats so getting familiar with Mr Muzzly (aka Muzzolini, 'Mr Muzzle-loves-the-dogs-you-hate) wasn't too difficult, but at first we couldn't get him to take a single step wearing it. He would stand completely rooted to the spot, almost like he was made of stone even with the lure of more cheese (we use soft cheese in a tube, which is gross but he really loves the stuff) just a couple of inches away wasn't enough to persuade him to take the smallest step. One biff of his paw would get the darned thing off before we could stop him too. I really thought we were wasting our time.

Nevertheless, we persevered despite the s.l.o.w start and now several months later Lincoln is happily wearing his muzzle for the duration of his dog training. I thought that he would find it too much of a distraction and would get into a right tizz trying to get it off his head, but conversely, he's found it very calming and he's not once had a burst of excitement with it on. After a couple of months of individual sessions we've finally made it into a group class, yay! Linky was so well behaved, I was so proud of him. To be honest, if Lincoln wasn't a staffie people would say he's a bloody good dog. It makes me sad that some people can't get passed the prejudice against the breed. I just hope that our little chap can help spread a bit of positivity around. We'll be checking back in here with news of what we've been getting up to so keep your eyes peeled. For now I'll leave you with some pictures I took of his little face. Cuteness!

Sophie