Eden And Ged Welcome Spring.....

It seems as her confidence has grown little Eden has also become camera shy. Every time you get a camera out she hides.....

I'e been trying to catch the excitement of her coming out of her kennel but at the moment this is the best footage I have. She knows exactly when it's her turn and has this beautiful high pitched bark to tell you to hurry up! One day I will be able to record it!

Anyway here she is with Amy and her boyfriend Ged out on a walk in the sunshine. If you look back through the previous videos you will see how amazing this is for both of them. Eden even has time to take some treats.....

Some of the earlier videos.....

Marley And Me.....

Just had an amazing walk with Marley, as he continues to make huge steps forward.

At first glance this video may look just like a dog going for a walk, but if you remember how Marley was when he came 12 days ago there are two crucial changes here.

First up the protective gear has been stopped. Marley isn't aggressive in any way, and perhaps more importantly the metal lead (which stops he being able to bite through it) has been substituted for an ordinary lead..... I can't emphasise how much of a big step thus is for him.

In The Gazette.....

We have a double story in this weeks Northumberland Gazette.....

Good luck and thank you to Luke and Joshua!!

Marley Doing Well.....

It' Just a little over a week since big Marley arrived with the huge reputation he lived up too for being unwalkable on the lead. I had an instant soft spot for him, such a noble and handsome boy that has clearly been through something to make him like this.

Rich and myself have put a lot of time and energy into Marley over the last week, and as you can  see from the video below, yesterday Marley and I shared a nice walk in some long-awaited spring sunshine.

Just in case you've orgotten how far he has come, here's day one.....

Worthy Of Such Devotion - The SHAK Story. Pre-Order Your Copy Now.....

About nine months ago I received a letter from a man who had stumbled across my mam fundraising outside Pets At Home. He had been intrigued by the work we do and by the story behind why I founded the charity you all now know as SHAK.

That man was Robert MacGowan, published author of Jessica's Grandad and Hamsters In The Park. We met at HQ for an initial meeting, before months of Costa Coffee and unearthing some memories I'd buried deep inside. Everyone has had an effect on what I stand for now, but more importantly what the charity stands for today.

The result is a book called Worthy Of Such Devotion, excellently written and covering both the life of myself and the charity I created in the memory of my best friend.

The release date is still a couple of weeks away, but we are now offering you the chance to pre-order your copy now.....

As well as being one of the first to read why we are what we are, pre-ordering means your copy will be signed by both Rob and myself! 

To be one of the first, order your now from the SHAKShop:

Order Worthy Of Such Devotion HERE

Thank you in advance, thank you Rob, thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way and thank you Shak for making me do this.

Nearly Here.....

Nine months work is nearly taking a physical form.....

Bren's Latest Trick.....

I couldn't help but laugh at Bren's latest trick when out on his walk with Rich and Cooper. If you can remember his story he was going to lose his life for being aggressive.....

Day Two With Marley.....

Day 2 with Marley and we're definately making friends.  One little spell on the way back but again I was able to regain his concentration.....

Day One For Marley.....

Marley arrived late last night with a reputation of being impossible to get on a lead and to take for a walk. Whilst there is no aggression there towards his handler, his power, size, weight and obsession to grab the lead makes him a pretty daunting task.

This morning it was time to take him out for the first time. The task of getting him on a lead had me nervous, but he was brilliant and for the first few minutes I did wonder what all the fuss was about.

Then we passed another dog and at first he seemed ok. Then it was as if there was a switch turned and his anxiety leaf to..... well see for yourself......

I think the most amazing thing was that I was able to get him back and regain his composure, something I'm very proud of. I'm sure once the novelty wears off I will have an even more difficult task, but for now we need to try and keep him responsive. 

Can You Help Our Dogs On Specific Diets.....

It seems like an eternity since all the very generous donations arrives at Christmas and as the winter just seems to be never-ending the cupboards are beginning to get bare with certain things.

Due to various things such as skin conditions and sensitive stomachs we have some dogs that are on specific foods. Due to your enormous generosity we have a great supply of regular dog food, but we are getting short of:

Chappie both tinned and dry food

Hypoallergenic dry food

Fish based food (salmon and potato)

Food can be donated at our various drop off spots including Sainsbury's and Pets at Home in Alnwick, Pets at Home Cramlington, Moorview Vets and the bin at SHAK HQ in Greenwell Road Alnwick.

Thank you so much in advance.

Duke who loves his Chappie!

The 7th March 1999.....

Whilst researching and going back through my memories for a project I hope to be able to announce to you very soon, I found this photograph of Shak and myself. It was taken 19 years ago today and I'd owned him for approximately 3 hours.

That day changed my life forever and provided me with a friend I'll never forget. A friend that really was 'Worthy of Such Devotion.'

Yoshi Update.....

Yoshi update from Amy...

As you can imagine due to the large amount of snow fall we have faced some challenges over the past few days however as always our amazing team all pulled together and all our dogs are safe, warm and well!

We would all just like to say a massive thank you first of all to everyone who donated funds in order to help Yoshi on his road to recovery. After one very manic week we got some hopeful news at Yoshi's latest appointment with his ophthalmologist. Yoshi's course of antibiotics & eye drops have helped him massively- his eye is now slowly returning back to its original colour and he is his happy old self. It's a possibility that Yoshi has been one of the lucky ones and his uveitis has not developed further into a secondary condition which is great news. We will continue to monitor Yoshi for the time being and keep on top of his medication but so far things are looking positive so again, thank you.

We'd also like to say a big thank you to everyone who has contributed towards his veta bill. The appeal currently stands at £105, but with his medication on going we really do need for you to keep supportimg him.

Here's a photo of Yoshi enjoying (or not) the snow.....