New Website

Our old website has served us well. However, it has been in serious need of an update for Mr. Google and Co to perform their magic, and also for the security of users and ourselves.

It's hard to let go of something that has been with us for the last five years, but it really needed some attention. We've had problems with products not loading properly and other irritations for our customers, which we don't want. So, during the week ending 18th September 2016 we will be live.

For those customers who've hobbled around the old site, I think they will find the new one a breeze, It looks nice and clean and fresh. It should be automatically visible when the Lily Peeps domain name is transferred to its new location by the end of this week! Let us know if you like - or not!

Any problems, just email us via the contact page.

Thank you!
From Lily Peeps

Brown Patches on the lawn?

When you have dogs, that sense of pride that many people have for their lawns, disappears, particularly when ugly brown patches appear on your well tended lawn.

Nitrogen waste products are the result of protein breakdown through normal bodily processes, therefore the nitrogen in the urine causes the lawn spots. We all know that Nitrogen is a great fertilizer but not in these doses that is why the outside of the brown spot is quite lush. So what's the answer? Many years ago when visiting Crufts at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, we bought a brown bag with a few rocks inside which were guaranteed to stop the acid marks.

(Dog rocks are mineralised rock which when placed in a dog’s water bowl change the Nitrogen levels of a dog’s urine, thus preventing stained grass. The key element is Zeolite, which neutralizes Nitrogen levels without altering the pH level of the water). They didn't work at all, so it was back to the brown patches. We all know that urine is made up of uric acid, the clue is in the word - acid, so whilst some gardens do have a more acid pH level than others, the uric acid content in urine would be higher and hence cause the grass burn.

What's the Solution?

There are a few things to do to reduce or eliminate the problem. One is simply following your hound outside before the 'event' and then pouring a watering can full of clean water over the affected area, thus diluting the acid and lessening the burned brown effect. This will allow the excess nitrogen to leech or dilute through the lawn and reduce the concentration in one area. It is recommended to treat the areas up to 9 hours after urination and to apply at least three times the amount of water to urine to the area. This could be a tedious operation to faithfully follow day in and day out. 

Another more effective way is to add Apple Cider Vinegar to the drinking water. Start with a teaspoonful, increasing by small amounts over days and weeks, building up to a tablespoonful in the water bowl, to allow your hound to become familiar with the taste gradually. This will negate the Nitrogen imbalance and should solve the problem. The Apple Cider Vinegar can be also be added with the food.

Important Note!

If you decide to try this method, do buy a quality Apple Cider vinegar, not the cheap processed versions in the super market. Here in the UK Aspall are the best, and is the one I buy for personal use for salad dressings etc.

 

Important Note 2!

Remember, that if you try the vinegar method, you are also adding a very healthy product to your dog's diet.
Apple Cider Vinegar has countless health giving properties, including help for arthritis and many others, for humans, AND dogs. I will be writing a separate article on this subject in the next day or so.  

The Power of Fireworks...

Almost 8 pm on Thursday 5th November 2015, and no doubt there are countless millions of people gathered around bonfires watching fireworks explode into the (very damp) night sky. Here, the sky
is alive with colourful stars. All very pretty......until they explode into ever louder bombs. Our Greyhounds are hiding away in corners, under pillows, under covers, terrified and confused by it all. Yes, it happens every year at this time, and we should get used to it, but the hounds do not.

Years ago, I spoke to a man from Trading Standards in Birmingham about the dilemma of fireworks' noise
and the effect on animals. His reply was that fireworks do not HAVE to have noise, they are created that way for maximum effect, and it seems, they are created ever more so every year. It is like a war zone here, and sadly it won't be for just one night Bonfire Night, as it used to be, it will no doubt continue well into the week end and beyond. So animals everywhere, indoors and out will just have to like it or lump it, and so too their equally suffering owners who do their best to pacify and calm their animals by any means possible, from thunder shirts, rescue remedy, calming pills and potions galore, along with comforting words....and so on and on and on. As this is being typed, we have YouTube on in the background with Ludovico Einaudi piano music - which seems to be soothing them just a little. Blissful stuff. It is not only stressful for domestic pets, it is equally, if not more stressful for wildlife outdoors, sheep, horses, cows, roosting birds in the trees, never mind hibernating animals everywhere. How selfish is humanity, we could so easily make these monsters into quiet monsters......for the animals. How I wish we could.

 

Are Ear Mufflers the answer?

Lovely sunny day to be going to Perry Barr RGT's Annual Fun Day at Solihull Riding School. Glorious day and so many wonderful hounds wandering serenely around looking just beautiful as they always do.
The atmosphere at any greyhound event is always a pleasing one. Very rarely are there any spats growls or grumbles, just a peaceful acceptance of their kindred breed (greyhounds love greyhounds mostly).
However there is one thing my two dislike intensely at these sort of do's - and that is THE TANNOY - it is quite loud for a good reason - so people can hear and be informed of the next class in the show ring, but so many dogs stand there trembling and shaking. It IS pretty loud to be fair, so I can sympathise.

May be someone should come up with some ear mufflers to protect those Oh so sensitive ears

((looks like someone already has)!

Lou Lou Shower Mac NEW

A couple of days ago, we posted about a newer, heavier-weight version of our popular Shower Mac with Hood. We've done a prototype using the heavier fabric, and Louis is shown here modelling it (with great reluctance)! It is the same design as the standard light-weight version, but with a heavier fabric. It is lined (in this case) with royal blue and white spot cotton fabric. We're calling it the Lou Lou Shower Mac. Currently there are 3 colours available, Royal, Red and Black with any choice of cotton lining shown on our swatch page.

There a few edits we are planning which will be completed by the beginning of next week (week beginning 24th August). It will be available for Greyhounds, sizes 24-32, and Whippets sizes 18-24. For further information, please contact us at lilypeeps@gmail.com

Lou Lou Shower Mac with Hood - NEW

They say you can't please all the people all of the time; and if you are in business and you merrily go along thinking you can; then you're wrong. We have sold an awful lot of our Greyhound (& Whippet) Shower Macs with Hood; They are simply a portable shower mac, rather like the sort you would scrunch up and put in a bag to take with you on a day out, if there's a chance of rain. They are not designed for monsoons or deluges; that is more the job our our Greyhound or Whippet Raincoats, which we guarantee to be 'all-day-waterproof'.

We had a customer recently who bought two Shower Macs, but was unhappy with the quality of the fabric.There is always a positive side to everything. Oddly, we do happen to have another waterproof fabric in our stock room which has been sitting there doing nothing for many months, and could fit the bill for this customer, so we have sent samples for her to look at. Again it isn't quite the quality of our Classic or Chi Chi Raincoats fabrics, but it is certainly of good quality & weight, and it is rain proof.

On thinking about this, we decided to introduce an alternative to the Shower Mac using this fabric. It will be the same design as the Shower Mac, with hood, no chest piece, but will be lined with cotton fabric of choice (see swatch page). We have made a few to test them out and they look smart, heavier and we hope, will appeal to customers who would like the alternative.

Here is a picture of our original Standard Shower Mac with Hood, the new one will look likewise, but heavier - and lined. Price we anticipate to be around £30 plus postage.

Any and all comments - are welcome

Huff and puff......& relax!

After what seems like weeks and weeks of organising, packing, preparing and general faffing....we finally moved, and are (sort of) settling in. Loads of work to be done here to get us straight and in some sort of order, but the outlook is positive and there IS light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn't the oncoming train! (Well not this time, thankfully)! The hounds were not at all happy with any of it, Ellie would have nothing to do with the house and sat in garden, intermittently digging a hole in the lawn with great gusto and enthusiasm.

The hole - we decided - would make a very nice 'feature' so we filled it with compost and planted it up with plants from the umpteen pots and planters we brought with us. Thanks Ellie, you did us a favour, it looks lovely in front of the bird bath.

Anyway, both hounds are settled at last, and I can safely say, they have adopted their new abode as home. Relief all round.

Here's Louis demonstrating his 'acceptance' of life in the new pad!