October, 2015
K-9 ANGEL VICTORIA EISERMANN THE BEST PET TECH!
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My Pet
This month, we catch up with model, radio presenter and celebrity charity founder Victoria Eisermann. Victoria is CEO and cofounder of dog rescue charity K-9 Angels, which was set up in 2011 and has since rehomed over 700 dogs, spayed 2,500 dogs as well as raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to build a shelter which the charity regularly sends food and medical aid to. Victoria has a a 13 year old Lhaso Apso called Loui.
just eight weeks old.
Does Loui come with you to work? I mainly work from home on my dog rescue charity K-9 Angels and Loui spends most of his time by my side while I'm on my computer. He sleeps with me too.
What difference does Loui make to your life?
What breed is Loui and why did you choose Loui is the love of my life. He is my child and I simply adore him. him? Loui is a Lhasa Apso whose face I fell in love with the moment I saw him. I just thought he was the cutest dog I had ever seen and I still think that everyday.
Do you take take doggie-friendly holidays with Loui?
How long have you had Loui?
Loui is a very well travelled little boy. He’s been to Boston USA, New York, Florida, Aspen Colorado and all over Europe.
I've had Loui for over 13 years now since he was
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Victoria with Loui (right)
I don't take him abroad now as he’s What are Loui’s favourite things in old and it wouldn't be fair for him the world? to travel so far. Loui, like most dogs, loves his food, Loui will be joining me for a week lots of cuddles and he’s a real in St Ives in November though and mummy’s boy, always wanting my I cannot wait. attention. What are the best holidays you’ve taken with Loui?
Does Loui have any tricks or special character traits?
We have taken some incredible holidays together but I think the best would be Florida as he loved running along the beach.
Loui is 13 and a half now and he’s ill with Cushings disease, so no tricks. He’s also partly blind and deaf. However he did win ' Golden Oldie' at Pup Aid in September this year and made me a very proud mummy indeed!
Do you take Loui with you to restaurants and pubs?
Loui and I have been to some Explain what you feel strongly restaurants in France as they are so about regarding pet welfare? dog friendly there. There are many things that I feel strongly about regarding pet welfare. I’m strongly against back
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street breeders, people who breed just for money without caring for the dogs welfare. That's why My charity K-9 Angels fully supports Pup Aid who campaign against puppy farming. When buying a dog you must see the pup interact with its mum. Of course, I would always say rescue rather than buy a dog and save a life. Also I feel some people just don't realise that dogs are a responsibility; they need walking, training, attention etc and can cost a great deal of money too. It makes me very upset when I've seen senior dogs handed in to a shelter just because they are old. Actually that makes me furious. A dog is for life not just for the duration of its cuteness.
The GoPro Fetch action camera
MARIE CARTER gets the lowdown on the latest technology for pets and their people. Innovations in technology are giving us the kind of capabilities that used to be a thing of our imaginations not too long ago. The industry continues to be exciting with the introduction of pet tech: it’s now our pets’ turn to benefit from the latest technology.
trackers also have smart features to help keep your pet healthy too. Motorola Scout 5000 Connected GPS Dog Collar, Currently priced at £199.99 and available from November from
Even better, you can speak back to your pup via the collar, issuing commands or offering a soothing voice for anxious pets. This is great for pets that suffer from all too common separation anxiety and are home alone.
Here, we look at some of the most exciting developments in wearable technology for our pets including GPS collars, trackers and cameras. We never want to lose our dog so if this is something you’re worried about there are a wide range of smart collars and trackers emerging on the wearable market to keep you connected to yours. Some
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communication so you can talk to your pet at all times. With video recording you can even tune in and see what your dog is seeing. The device can stream a 720p live video to your phone, so you see what your pet is up to when you’re not around.
Amazon.co.uk. Alongside GPS tracking and geo fencing, the Motorola Scout 5000 has two-way audio Pets Magazine
If your dog has a tendency to bark, there is a bark detection feature that alerts you to their bad behaviour. You could shout ‘bad dog’ into your smartphone app to quieten your pet!
Pod Pet Tracker Available from Pod Trackers
The Pod GPS pet tracker is The innovative Pod pet tracker believed to be Pod, which is the size of a cork and the smallest, weighs just 29 grams, is lightest and cylindrical and can be strapped fully waterproof onto a pet to track its gadget of its movements. Its genesis started kind in the over a year ago, when Sebastian world. Langton lost his best friend in the world, Rango, ‘possibly the coolest Currently cat on the planet’ and his available in the companion through many U.S, but set to adventures. After going through launch here the pain of losing Rango, Seb was soon, the determined to find a way to StickNFind is prevent other pet owners from a stick on device going through the same pain. that can be used StickNFind comes in packs of two on anything you don’t want to go and works with iPhones, iPads He learned that one in three pets missing, including your pets! and Android phones. For more go missing in their lifetime, which information visit is more than sticknfind.com. ten million pets a year If you want to keep and that it's an eye on your preventable. dog’s actions, The idea for GoPro has launched Pod was born a wearable strap - a vision to called GoPro develop the Fetch for its action best pet camera that can be tracker in the worn around your world. He dog’s chest or on its and his team back. Sleep soundly with the StickNFind built a prototype, The harness is The StickNFind is about the size of kicked off a crowdfunding designed to fit dogs between 7kg a 10p piece and comes with a campaign that raised more than and 54kg and supports GoPro Virtual Leash function that alerts $150,000 and generated massive you if your pet moves away from a Hero cameras, which sold global awareness. Now Seb and set boundary. You can also use the separately. By attaching the his team have come to the UK to camera you can see your dog bone free Radar app to track down any continue to raise awareness for chewing and digging and see their mission to save pets with Pod missing pets. overhead shots of your pooch technology. running and jumping.
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Voyce dog collar
The GoPro Fetch is machine washable and rugged so you don’t have to worry about your dog getting carried away in the puddles. It costs just £59.99 from gopro.com.
to assemble and needs no glue, so it’s safe for your cat to chew or claw. You can even customise the desktop wallpaper by printing a picture and sliding it in, or get
advised that your dog is overweight. Designed to keep you connected to your dog, Voyce is available in different sizes up to a 32-inch neck. The cost of Voyce is around £130 and you can find out
creative with the funky sticker selection.
more at mydogsvoyce.com.
Voyce is a waterproof smart collar that tracks your dog’s activity and monitors it’s respiratory and heart rate, as well as calories burnt and rest patterns. You can also set specific
This device combines ‘EEGsensoring, special BCI software reader and Micro Computing’ to work out what your dog is thinking using the onboard Raspberry PI computer. No More Woof connects to your smartphone so you can be updated on how your dog is feeling with the goal for this product being that eventually the collar will speak the information to you via a selection of voices that you can choose.
Kitty Laptop £19.95 from Prezzybox Kitty Laptop makes your cat as tech savvy as you! If not, it could provide hours of engaging fun for the feline in your life. The flatpack cardboard laptop and goals including extra activity, funny fluffy mouse play toy is easy which is useful if the vet has
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If you want your dog to be able to speak to you then No More Woof could be the product for you.
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With thanks to Wearable.com for product background on Voyce and GoPro.
Sketching Pet Subjects
This month, Pets Magazine meets REBECCA VOSE, a talented artist who specialises in animal and pet drawings.
‘White Persian’ ©Rebecca Vose
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This month, Pets Magazine meets REBECCA VOSE, a talented Northumberland-based artist who specialises in animal and pet drawings in graphite pencil. Rebecca has been drawing from a very early age, but only started to focus professionally over the last few years. She creates artwork of animals and wildlife in the UK and draws portraits of pets from photographs.
‘Labrador’ ©Rebecca Vose
Rebecca excels at capturing the spirit and character of an animal. She explains that it’s particularly important when she is creating the eyes as they can say so much about their character. This is why
‘Springer Spaniel’ ©Rebecca Vose
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she likes to use a few different photos of the same pet so that all details can be included and pieced together to create the perfect portrait. Rebecca has created portraits for most breeds over the years, and recently completed her first Pug portrait, which received much support from social media. She was overwhelmed by the response: “At the end of the day, Pets Magazine
it’s just me with a set of pencils and my trusty Bristol Board doing something I love.” We were delighted to speak to Rebecca about her work. Where do you take your inspiration from? I grew up in the countryside surrounded by farmland and animals. I have been drawing since an early age and I take a lot of my inspiration from the animals that were around me at that time. I have always been fascinated by animals. I have drawn subjects other than animals in the past and do the odd commission that isn’t an animal but I am always naturally drawn back to them as it’s what I love to draw and feel most comfortable doing.
Do you have any pets yourself? I don’t currently have any pets as we simply don’t have the time to devote to one but in the past we have owned pretty much any animal you can think of including, cats, dogs, chickens, rabbits. Is pet portraiture a mainstay of your work? I have been doing pet portraits for years using graphite pencils but recently decided to try using coloured pencils with great response.
‘Bengal close up’ ©Rebecca Vose
I grew up in the countryside where, at the time, I felt I had little else to do but draw and practice my skills. Back then I would draw anything but, always loved drawing animals. As I grew
older I didn't get to draw as much as I used to and I missed it a lot. I would paint now and again but never had the time to really get into it. The majority of my work is pet portraits but I also like to create original works of art which are now featured in a few galleries and gift shops. I also sell greetings cards featuring my artwork as well as prints. I sell these online and in gift shops.
‘Greyhound’ ©Rebecca Vose
How long have you been an artist? I loved drawing as a child and now that I have grown up I still wonder what I will do when I 'grow up'. I feel that drawing and doing what I love so much not only keeps me busy but it keeps me happy. I tried to go to college, then university. I've also had 9-5 jobs and tried to follow the conventional paths that were expected of me but unfortunately I never felt comfortable doing it.
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and family and word spread so I started to do it as a business. Why do you specialise in animals? I just love all animals. It has taken me a long time to perfect my drawing techniques and I find that ‘Pug’ ©Rebecca Vose
I never took life seriously enough. In my early 20's I decided to teach myself to draw again. I taught myself to draw, as by the time I dabbled in several different career choices and gone to college I couldn't afford art lessons. Over the next few years my hobby turned into a business as more and more commissions were requested. This also gave me the opportunity to work from home and spend my time with my family.
the world. Sometimes I find it hard to know what to draw next as there are so many things that I would love to draw. I have a large folder of images that people have sent to me for inspiration which I work my way through. I am always on the look out for more photographs that I can work from. Is the demand for pet portraiture increasing? I think the whole pet industry is growing every year as more people like to showcase their pets more. People often like to commission a portrait of their pets when they have sadly passed away to remember them by. Finally, any brief tips for the amateur pet artist?
‘Terrier’ ©Rebecca Vose
animals suit my style of drawing. Although I have a keen eye for detail there is margin for artistic licence. There are so many different species of animals to draw so I never get bored either.
If drawing is something you enjoy doing then make time for it. It’s important to do something you love and enjoy. Start off small and draw as much as you can to practice your skills and techniques. It’s important not to rush a drawing but also equally important to know when to stop and put the drawing down and say it’s finished.
Rebecca is represented by Commission an Artist, which provides art commissions for all occasions, including pet I have always loved to draw and portraits in a number of styles create from an early age. I have and prices. Examples of been doing pet portraits for about Rebecca’s work can be found at: 12 years but only recently started http:// Now I have started using colour to create original artworks. I commissionanartist.co.uk/ this is even more so because there started off doing them for friends artists/pet-portraits/rebecca-v/
are so many vibrant animals in
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Sophie’s Choices Top product picks by our canine reviewer Sophie, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Poppies For Pets
Here’s a fantastic collar and matching lead, from the Royal British legion, in advance of Remembrance Sunday. Available in two sizes and featuring a modern poppy design, the dog collar and lead can be purchased exclusively from The Poppy Shop. The collar costs £7.99 for the large and £6.99 for the smaller version. The lead is available in two widths (19mm or 25mm) and both cost £7.99. All proceeds from sales of products on the Poppy Shop go directly to The Royal British Legion.
DAVID CLIFF REVIEWS: For the Love of a Cat: A Publisher's Story By David St John Thomas ISBN-10: 192149736X by Exisle publishing. David St John Thomas’s a publisher and writer but also most importantly a cat owner. For The Love of a Cat is a light read but a substantial one nonetheless. Most cat books I have looked at recently for review gone over 150 pages. This one weighs in at 240 plus. This book is impressive in a number of levels. The sheer enthusiasm that David St John Thomas exudes when talking about the subject. Story after story, insight after insight, his energy reflects his passion for the wonderful animals and their relationship they have in our lives. Whilst talking about many cats in his life, the key focus of the book is his relationship with the Siamese Sara. We hear of Sara's progress from being a kitten, right through her time with David and the cherished experiences he gained as he again and again adapted as we all must do us cat owners, to these wonderful, mysterious, enigmatic yet cute playful and affectionate creatures. The killer and the companion all in one. All of these things are encapsulated in this insightful book which makes for a good read on a winter's night or an excellent light holiday read. The book is particularly helpful in that it examines many of the debates cat owners face. A whole range of issues are examined in the book with David's thoughts and useful facts to help owners consider many of the complexities they have to face. His book is a joy and an enlightenment to anyone who truly appreciates or seeks to ‘get’ our feline friends and cement the relationship between the human and the feline in a much more insightful and beneficial way for all.
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3D Pet Sculptures
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