If you are anything like me, affinity with our canine friends is in the blood. When I was a child I was desperate for a dog – a request my parents repeatedly turned down. They claimed (very unreasonably and unfairly in my opinion) that they would ‘end up looking after it’. As a result, I adopted every other dog in the vicinity, beginning with Shane, the next-door neighbour’s mongrel. Much to my delight he tagged around after me and joined in all my Lassie-inspired games. Then there was Guess, a springer spaniel who was thought to be vicious until the day he escaped from his back garden. All the local children ran screaming, but it turned out he was just desperate for affection not chunks of our young flesh. After his ‘Great Escape’ he wasn’t confined to barracks anymore and became a favourite with everyone. Pepi the poodle was owned by an elderly couple across the street. He had a bald patch on his back where a red hot coal had landed – sparking out of the fire while he lay sleeping on the hearthrug. His owners used to conceal the burnt black skin with chalk, but I was never really convinced that anyone would mistake this powdery residue for his curly white coat. Plus I liked it that he had some war wounds. Scars have a lot of street cred when you’re ten. Now? Not so much. These days, I do all I can to minimise emotional or physical trauma in my four-legged friends. I’ve learned a lot along the way and I want to share what I know about top dog care with you. Prevention is better than cure, right?

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a dog to raise an adult, because I’ve certainly learned a lot about myself through all the years of being a dog owner. My parents were probably right; they would have ended up looking after my wannabe childhood dog, because learning to be a really good dog owner takes practice. And the best dog care products available. Practice makes perfect. I’m a better dog owner now than I was when I was twenty. I'm a better dog owner now because I’ve been privileged enough to share my life with myriad doggy friends. And when I say friends, I really mean it. I’m a better dog owner now because I’ve learned through trial and error the dos and don’ts of dog care and the best dog products on the market, from nail trimming to flea and tick control, by way of the most comfortable dog bedding around.

I hope, therefore, you’ll find this blog both entertaining and informative – a mixture of my journey towards dog owning enlightenment and the most up-to-date canine research. If you want to hear about the best dog products around, this is the place to look. If you want to be the best dog owner you can be, and clearly you do, because you’re reading this, welcome to the pack.