Say hello to Ida and her dogs

Here we have Ida, one of our ambassadors. She lives with her partner and their three dogs Burton, Cleo, and Raya. At the moment she is studying to become a police officer, and her dream for the future is to work as a dog handler.

After her parents said no to having a dog for several years, she was quick off the mark on her 18th birthday and got one of her own. Her first dog was a rehomed dog with very little background information. This gave her valuable knowledge about how to work with a dog, and she went on to complete training courses as a dog instructor and problem dog investigator – though she was unsure whether she would want to take in more rehomed dogs in the future.

After that rather challenging experience with her first rehomed dog, Ida was uncertain about whether she wanted to take in another. But then one day Burton’s face appeared in her Facebook feed on a Staffy page. After doing her research with the breeder and the current owner, she decided to welcome Burton into her home. He was 7.5 years old at the time and was due to be put down if he did not find a new home. Today he has reached the grand age of 15 and has gained some four-legged company in the form of Cleo, aged 7, and Raya, who is 2.

Together with Cleo and Raya she competes in nosework, and to some extent in obedience as well. Within nosework there are four different elements in which the dog searches for specific scents: indoors, outdoors, container search, and vehicle search. It is a rewarding and enjoyable pursuit for both Ida and the dogs. When they are not training for competitions, they love spending time in the forest where the dogs have the chance to run freely.

They have been using Raw for Paw for several years and love the natural products. For Ida, seeking out natural products for herself is just as important as doing so for her dogs.

“The treats are a huge favourite here – there are always different flavours in the house.”

The supplements are also very popular at home. For all the dogs she rotates through supplements from the Joints and Movement category, so that the dogs can live as active, long, and pain-free a life as possible. Another favourite is Brewer’s Yeast.

“It really is magic in a jar. I don’t have any long-haired dogs, but I notice the shedding season clearly enough with all those little short hairs everywhere. One course of Brewer’s Yeast and the problem is gone.”

If you’d like to follow Ida and the dogs, you’ll find them at @staffeligan