This week we’re joined by Dr Carly Ameen who is a Bio-Archeologist who has been part of a team studying the  emergence and diversification of dog morphology. Looking at the remarkable difference in over 600 dog’s skulls from as far back as 11,000 years, the team discovered a huge variety of skull shapes and sizes. This proves that dogs were very different from wolves at this point in time. But the missing link as to when wolves became dogs is still unclear. Clearly it was more than 11,000 years ago! The variety of skull shapes in what is generically termed a 'canid’ also dispels the myth that the Victorians created the range of dog breeds we see today. The extreme exaggeration of features was not apparent in the skulls analysed, but they do prove that dogs had been shaped, certain shapes were being created pressumedly for the different purposes that dogs were used for whether guarding, hunting, or simply being ‘lap dogs’.  We chat about the Romans and how there are graves dedicated to dogs in the UK dating back to the Roman empire, again proving the huge impact dogs have had on our lives for centuries. The question of when wolves became dogs may never be  answered as for many years the wolves - a strain of Grey Wolf, long extinct, would have remained as wolves for likely hundreds of years. What we do know is that these early dogs saw something in us early humans that inspired them to become man’s best friend.

Read the study here

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

This week we're joined by Solicitor, Ben Evans from Co-Op Legal Services who is talking about why lawyers are recommending that couples think about a ‘Pet-Nup’ agreement when taking on a pup. With 42% of all marriages in the UK ending in divorce, it’s not uncommon for the dog to be caught up in the break up.

Ben explains he has seen dogs used in ‘psychological warfare‘ in acrimonious circumstances.Apart from being very costly to take the custody case to the courts, this stress and negative emotion oftentimes does not have the welfare of the dog in mind.

Instead lawyers recommend to be better safe than sorry, by thinking ahead, being mature to make plans in the event of a split. Not least to think like a dog and try and work through communication positively to make the difficult situation easier.

Going through the courts is made complicated as despite the Animal Welfare Act 2022 defining animals as sentients, the fact remain that in family law, pets are still labelled as chattel, a possession like a car or a fridge freezer. Until this disparity in law is bridged resolving custody can be complex and often based on the name attributed to the pet’s microchip rather than to the person that could offer the best care for the pet.

Find out more about here.

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

This week we’re  joined by Esther Logue, Content and Communications Manager at Paleo Ridge, catching up on the latest developments at one of the UK’s fastest growing raw food brands.

We chat about the huge expansion of the raw feeding sector in the last decade and how the company has doubled in size in the last five years to adapt to this growing demand from an expanding customer base.  

Announcing  the firm’s  new semi-automated production facility, which is a huge investment that underpins the brand’s long-term commitment to improving product availability, maintaining stock levels, exceptional quality standards and supporting its growing network of retail and trade partners.

We chat about the introduction of new lifestyle ranges  in Puppy and Senior in the PaleoPlus range as being tailored to specific needs, and the first to contain Reishi mushroom tincture. 

More than that we talk about why feeding dogs as nature intended fuels the immune system, and provides cellular energy that promotes natural health and vitality. 

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

This week Anna chats to the ‘House Plant Doctor, Joe Bagley, on the huge benefits of bringing house plants into our homes, adding that important Vitamin G - for green!

More than a third (36%) of people say they miss the greenery outdoors during autumn and winter, while 65% spend more time inside and as little as 5% of people go outside for leisure multiple times a day between the months of November and February, according to new research by the Plants & Flowers Foundation Holland.

Similarly dogs have more limited time to enjoy daylight and outdoors too, and while SAD syndrome isn’t considered something our pets suffer from, but the effects of being indoors more with centrally heated environments can take its toll on our dogs.

With indoor environments considered 3.5 times more toxic than outdoors, breathing in household cleaning volatile compounds, dust particles and more , adding plants can help balance indoor air quality with over 52% people agreeing houseplants improve overall wellbeing.

For dogs they give an extra interest with natural odours to invibe along with helping reduce anxiety 

We chat about the best indoor plants that are non toxic to pets , even adding your own homegrown cat nip or cat grass for your kitty to nibble on.  But overall why plants give us a real mental boost!

Follow on Instagram

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

This week Anna is chuffed to have chatted to Journalist and Author, Sophia Money-Coutts, about her new book - The Year of the Dog.

It’s the funniest, most heart warming ‘memoir’ of bringing ‘Dennis’ - the Parsons Russell Terrier pup into her life just over a year ago. Approaching a landmark birthday, it’s the roller coaster journey of how he has changed Sophia’s life for the better!

We discuss how the thought is that raising a puppy is simple: feed them, walk them, love them. Right? Wrong!!

Sophia was armed with Pinterest-perfect plans and firm ideas about training, but just as the puppy pads hit the floor, the rest of her world falls apart.

Suddenly single and quietly unravelling, Sophia finds herself solo parenting a tiny, gleeful agent of chaos who devours foam earplugs, destroys her shoes, and has an alarming taste for spiders. He’s also the only thing keeping her afloat.

As the months roll by in a haze of dodgy first dates, sleepless nights and meltdowns in the park, Sophia begins to make sense of it all: the grief of a life that didn’t go to plan, the weirdness of being single in your late thirties, and the surprising ways love shows up when you least expect it.

By the end of their first year together, Dennis hasn’t just wrecked the furniture: he’s quietly rebuilt Sophia’s life!

Without doubt this true account of the ups and downs of puppy ownership is one of the funniest and heart warming books I’ve read for ages .

It’s a pawfect stocking filler this Christmas especially for someone thinking about bringing a puppy into their life!

Order your copy here. And follow Sophia on @sophiamcoutts.

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

In this classic episode (and Anna's personal favourite) the eminent biologist and author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home talks to Anna about the science behind our pets' 'sixth sense'.

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

We’re joined by Dr Nick Thompson talking about the integrative principle, based on a holistic viewpoint where different modalities including diet, acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, red light therapy and physical therapies combine to offer a tool kit to help the natural healing process, whilst keeping your pet’s body burden to a minimum. We discuss the building blocks of species appropriate nutrition and the confusion in the market with so many pet foods brands, that it's no wonder ‘pet parents' get confused! Being a huge advocate for feeding a raw, balanced and complete diet, Dr Nick explains why, in a world where climate change and farming arguments can get confused with what dogs and cats should eat, he vehemently advises against feeding dogs and cats as Vegans. Dr Nick helps de-mystifying supplements, highlighting his ‘go-to’s ,which includes Antinol as a broad spectrum source of Omega-3 - an essential addition for pets and their people as our bodies don’t make themselves. We discuss overall wellness and vitality, which can be affected by human stress transferring to our pets, along with the vast array of indoor pollutants that can also contribute to the ‘body burden’ overtime. And why prevention is always better than cure!

For more information go to holisticvet.co.uk or follow on Instagram

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: [email protected]

We’re joined by Lisbet Stuer-Lauridsen and Amber Synnott from Cloud 9 Vets who have launched a service dedicated to offering  at home  euthanasia for all pets, but mainly dogs and cats. They conducted a survey recently that revealed that two thirds of pet owners had no idea that it was possible to help your pet cross to the rainbow bridge at home.  Cloud 9 Vets operates as a national network of vet practices that service all the main hubs around the UK. These practices have been cherry picked by Amber and Lisbet as upholding the best practice for compassion and care.  The benefits of at home euthanasia include the pet staying happy and calm with their family and other pets close by . The Cloud 9 team work closely with all pet parents to make the crossing smooth from choosing a special location to taking time with deep understanding of the  emotional situation.  Cloud 9 ’s  hope  is for more pet parents to  be aware that at home euthanasia is an accepted part of vet practice, and they step in where many practices do not offer this very valuable and inevitable part of all pet ownership.

Find out more at cloud9vets.co.uk and follow on Instagram

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: [email protected]

In this classic episode from the archive, we’re joined by Dr Paul Koudounaris talking about his book ‘Faithful until Death’. As a first in terms of investigating Pet Cemeteries all around the world, Paul admits this was a labour of love of 11 years. Revealing the history of pet ownership as in the late Victorian era industrialisation meant more folk moved into cities, creating a new kind of pet husbandry, which included giving them a ’good’ death. Paul explores Cemeteries, and tombs from as far afield as Thailand, across Europe, in the UK and across the USA. We chat about the ridiculous thought that animals do not have souls, as an illogical concept of theology.  We talk about the resistance to burying pets in churchyards, and the people who helped make change with setting up/ building dedicated pet cemeteries. As a massive animal lover, Paul became a pet bereavement councillor for several years as well as tracking down the author of iconic poem : The Rainbow Bridge, and in revealing one of the greatest mysteries, of the Paris Pet Cemetery called Le Cimitières des Chiens in Paris where the iconic canine film legend,  RIn Tin Tin,  is said to be buried. We chat about Tawny the ex circus lion who lived in Beverley Hills and rests in the cemetery in LA, and more! The book takes you on an emotional journey, through which there's comfort in how many have grieved their pets, for a loss that is means losing apart of oneself, and how Pet Cemeteries set in history our love for all animals.  As the late Queen famously said: “Grief is the price of Love.”

Faithful Until Death is published by Thames & Hudson or you can buy it here

Follow Paul on Instagram

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: [email protected]

In this classic episode, Anna talks to Chocolatier, Paul A. Young in his small shop in Camden Passage, Islington, London. As well as the UK's leading maker of fine chocolate, Paul is an author and more importantly proud dad to Billy, a minature Dachshund. Chocolate is obviously bad for dogs but not for Pet Parents. Paul and Anna sample some of his treats and talk about how he needs to keep 'his work' away from Billy.

Order Paul's new book The Joy of Chocolate or any of his delights here or follow on Instagram

Thank you to the good people at Antinol. We're super proud to be collaborating with them and you can enjoy at 10% discount on your purchase by using our promocode ANNAWEBB. Remember - you're supporting A Dog's Life by supporting our proud sponsor!

If you want to switch to a raw diet for your dog, you can't do better than Paleo Ridge. Find out more here and follow them on @paleoridge

Instagram: @Paleoridge

For more about Anna go to annawebb.co.uk

Music and production by Mike Hanson for Pod People Productions

Cover art by Jaijo

Cover photo by Rhian Ap Gruffydd at Gruff Pawtraits

To advertise on or sponsor A Dog's Life email: [email protected]