Events – Page 3 – The Not Just Pets Blog!

It’s National Pet Month and we are ready! Open Days coming soon to Bath and Frome!

Yes, it’s that time of year again and we are ready to bring you a selection of fun, family Open Days to promote National Pet Month and responsible pet ownership.

We have changed our offering slightly this year to bring you something different in each store. We have three different events, one at each of our stores for you this year!

At #Larkhall on Sat 20th April we have the following people coming:

Gillian Ussher, Pet Portrait artist from Perpetual Portraits – donating a fab raffle prize!!
Nicki Marsh, Dog and Pet Sitting
Caroline Woodland of GRWE with Syd the lovely greyhound – and possibly more doggies too!
Colin Rose, Dog Intuition
Bath Cats and Dogs Home
Michelle Addison and her bunnies – talking about her work with bunny rescue and giving information
Lee and John are bringing their ferrets Baby Gwin and Bonnie
Plus: offers on Burgess small animal food and samples, Natures Way offers and home made cakes for sale!

We want more! I hear you cry. Ok then, what about an all-singing, all-dancing full Open Day at our Frome store on Saturday 27th April?

For that we have:

GRWE – Greyhound Rescue West of England coming
@Sharon Arnold from FromeK9 with her doggies
Boo the European Eagle Owl
Garston Vets – The Doctor is In!
Cats Protection – the lovely ladies from the Frome group with their table of goodies on sale
Natures Way – www.facebook.com/itsnaturesway – meet Mark – special offers on dog food
Gillian Ussher, Pet Portrait artist from Perpetual Portraits – donating a fabulous raffle prize too!!
RAFFLE!! with some fabulous prizes
FACE Painting with Anny
Anny’s rats and hamsters
goodie bags
learn about animals as companions
animal handling
fancy dress

Wow! Is that enough for you? No? Well how about a series of educational talks and hands-on sessions at our Bath store on Saturday 4th May on the theme of “Your Pet as Your Companion”

We have various lovely people giving talks on:

Parrots (a special talk from Catherine Sellars from Pet24
Lizards
Snakes
Spiders (tbc)
Guinea Pigs
Rabbits
Rats, Hamsters and Gerbils

Plus we have

Bath Cats and Dogs Home and Claverton
Sarah Blackbourn DipCABT K9 Behaviourist,
Alice Ladkin, Pet Portrait Artist
children’s activities
offers on the day

AND .. in the week up to 4th May a special “SCRUFTS” photo competition for you and your companion pet! Send in your photos now and we will post them on our Facebook page.

So – come along and join in the fun, get educated, win a prize and just learn about how our beloved pets make such great companions with our special National Pet Month open days.

You can contact us at 8-9 St James Parade Bath BA1 1UL, telephone on 01225 461461, on our website at www.notjustpets.co.uk or email us at bathpets@aol.com

You can also follow us here on Twitter or on Facebook

Red Nose Day – we did it and THANK YOU!

This is an update to our RED NOSE DAY news and a BIG THANK YOU to all our lovely customers and friends who donated on the day. We have raised £263.72 so far for Comic Relief and we still have more coming in as pledges are fulfilled and people donate online at http://www.justgiving.com/NotJustPets

The customers at Frome helped keep Steph silent all day (a miracle!) and the staff at Bath helped keep our staff ‘spinning’ in the hamster ‘wheel’ and eating doggie treats.

Both shops sold lovely Red Nose Day cakes and dressed up Funny for Money. A HUGE thank you to all who supported this day and for helping to make a difference via Comic Relief. Here’s what your cash can do :o)

You can follow us here on Facebook or @NotJustPets on Twitter; email us at bathpets@aol.com or telephone us on 01225 461461

Keep up the good work for Comic Relief everyone and THANKS again! 🙂

Janine

Not Just Pets does Red Nose Day !

Yes, it’s that funny time of year again! Well, it’s every two years, but you know what I mean? It’s Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day on Friday 15th March and all the Not Just Pets teams are doing something funny for money on that day.

Please help sponsor or support us – at Bath we are eating doggy treats (!), running in a giant hamster wheel (treadmill), and you can design a dog bowl (pick up a plate and pay £1 to enter) or win a bag of dog food – just buy a lucky ticket!

In Frome Steph is being sponsored to be quiet ALL DAY. Will she do it?? – it will be a miracle if so – and she needs your help; the more she raises, the longer she stays silent – and the staff will thank you for that! 🙂

At both shops we have Red Nose cakes for sale and fancy dress. At Larkhall Lee will be dressed up and will also be selling cakes and taking donations.

We have Red Nose Windows in Bath and Larkhall – and the hamster ‘wheel’ will be in the Bath window all day. Please support us – pop in, donate, make a difference. Thank you!!

You can donate on our page here at https://www.justgiving.com/NotJustPets

You can also follow us on Facebook (please ‘like’ us) at www.Facebook.com/NotJustPets or on Twitter @NotJustPets or email us at bathpets@aol.com or simply pick up the dog and bone and ring us on 01225 461461.

It’s our Birthday! Open Day on Saturday 23rd February raising money for Bath Cats and Dogs Home!

Wow! Where has that year gone? We have been in our new premises for a year now so to celebrate we thought it was time for one of our (almost) famous Open Days!

This will be at our Bath store on Saturday, 23rd February and Claverton from Bath Cats and Dogs Home will be joining us too as we will be raising funds for the Home!

Things to look forward to are:

A BIG Raffle – first prize of £75 pet portrait with Alice Ladkin plus many more prizes! (all proceeds to Bath Cats and Dogs Home) – get your tickets now!
Face painting!
Claverton from Bath Cats and Dogs Home
Nature’s Way, Royal Canin and Barking Heads – nutrition advice AND special offers
Small animal advice and offers from Supreme Pet Foods
Hungry Hector himself and his treats!
Animal Handling
Animal behaviourist from 10am to 1pm
Free Drink and Nibbles AND a VOUCHER to spend instore if you pick up an invitation now
David the Vet from Nature’s Veterinary from 1pm to 4pm
Staff in Fancy Dress

… and more!

So why not join in the fun, raise funds for Bath Cats and Dogs Home AND bag yourself an offer on the day!

You can follow us on Twitter at @NotJustPets https://twitter.com/NotJustPets, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets?ref=hl on our website at www.notjustpets.co.uk or you can contact us

by email at: bathpets@aol.com

by telephone at: 01225 461461

in person at 8-9 St James Parade, Bath, BA1 1UL https://plus.google.com/100884629684818896064/photos?hl=en

Not Just Pets News! The Summer and more..

Well we have had a busy summer here at Not Just Pets with lots going on – I can’t believe it is four months since we updated this blog.

Sadly, early on in the summer we lost Ron Bond, our dear ‘Fish Man’ at our Frome shop to cancer. Ron was dearly loved by staff and customers and held a dear place in all our hearts. He had a unique ability to make people laugh and to make them feel special. You can find out a bit more about Ron here and read our eulogy to him, which was published in the Pet Business World: http://www.petbusinessworld.co.uk/news/feed/in-memory-of-ron-bond

So, the busy summer included the Olympics and the Jubilee and we had some glorious sunny days and wonderful events throughout. Our staff all got into the spirit of things and dressed the windows and even themselves to celebrate. We even had our own royal visitor!

We have lots of lovely new products and ranges instore, including the fabulous new PAWZ natural rubber dog boots – the world’s only disposable and reusable, waterproof dog boots! We have all sizes in stock to fit any dog so why not give them a go – we would love your feedback.

Another great new product we have added is Nature’s Way dry dog food, which is a new, hypoallergenic, wheat- and gluten-free diet which is rich in meat, Omega 3 & 6 oils, prebiotics and joint aid supplements. We have Puppy, Chicken & Rice, Fish & Potato, Lamb & Rice and Mature/Light. If you care about your dog’s diet AND your pocket – you will love this new range of food, made by people who are passionate about dog nutrition, in the West Country. All the goodness of nature in one crunch!

This week is RABBIT AWARENESS WEEK!

At our Bath store we are holding various educational events, including an instore day on Tuesday. We have a Bunny Hunt for the children, Name the Bunny competition, quizzes, goodie bags, samples and leaflets to give out. All our staff are friendly and knowledgeable and are happy to advise on all things rabbit – so come on in and have a chat about your bunny. We would love to see your pictures too – and we will make up a bunny photo gallery.

Get involved with Rabbit Awareness Week here.

You can follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets or on Twitter at: @NotJustPets or simply email us at bathpets@aol.com or via our website at http://www.notjustpets.co.uk

Not Just Pets does National Pet Month – Three Fabulous Open Days in Bath and Frome ! Your Pets and You – a Winning Team

It came upon us so quickly and it has already gone! National Pet Month – what a great month – we had lots of fun with our Open Days and raised funds and awareness for some of our favourite animal charities. The theme was “Your Pets and You – a Winning Team” and I think we were able to demonstrate this is in so many ways, from learning to grooming to fun!

In Bath we had two open days, one at our Larkhall store and one at our bright new store in St James Parade in Bath. Our nominated charity was Bath Cats and Dogs Home and we managed to raise a grand total of £535.90 from our open days in raffle tickets and facepainting and cakes and Bath Cats and Dogs Home also took donations in their buckets on the day. We shall be handing over the cheque to them soon -watch this space for piccies.

There were lots of “winning teams” on show – from Lee and his ferrets, to all the children who talked about their pets during the handling sessions, to grooming advice, nutrition discussions, training and behaviour ideas and some simple ideas for just having fun with your pet.

Our thanks go to all who donated, worked, dressed up, supported, supplied a prize or simply came along on the day. Special thanks to Hungry Hector, Royal Canin, Amanda from ALF, Alice Ladkin (who donated a very special £75 voucher for our raffle for a pet portrait). Alice’s portraits are beautiful and the winner of that voucher is a delighted customer. Thanks too to those who dressed as Claverton, from Bath Cats and Dogs Home and for the costume – Claverton was a big hit.

In Frome we had a hugely successful day, partnered by Royal Canin and Greyhound Rescue West of England and Frome Cats Protection. Steph brought Boo, her European Eagle Owl and we had bunnies, ferrets, rats and hamsters all meeting the public on the day. The cakes were once again delicious (thank you Doreen, especially) and we had help and advice from Kathverena Groomers and Animal Healing and Donna the Dog Listener. Andrew Rowley from Woodborough Kennels brough Tia and Boston and showed us all what we can do with our doggies with a little work. We raised £133.79 for each charity and the GRWE also took £179 on the day and the Cats Protection ladies took £252 on their table. So all in all, £698.58 raised on the day (amazing work!) and two homes also found for Greyhounds. Fabulous!

We also had our colouring competition, won by 3-year old Olivia – she loved her big fluffy doggie prize – and our photo competition won by Stuart Peard and his gorgeous doggies Nanuq and Lilka.

We cannot thank our suppliers and supporters enough for the donations of prizes and for attending on the day or sending colouring sheets or baking.. We appreciate all the help we are given to make this month a successful one.

Our aim was to show how you and your pets are a winning team and to promote responsible pet ownership and raise awareness and funds for local charities. I think everyone did a pretty good job! Thankyou!

You can follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets or on Twitter at: @NotJustPets or simply email us at bathpets@aol.com or via our website at http://www.notjustpets.co.uk

SNAKES ALIVE! SNAKE AWARENESS DAY at NOTJUSTPETS THURS 5 APRIL 9.30am-5.30pm

We recently lost Colin, our albino Corn snake – he was an old boy and had enjoyed a good life at Not Just Pets as the personal pet of Elisa, the manageress. He had been handled many times and all our snake-friendly customers loved him. Many children learned how to handle snakes by holding Colin as he had such a lovely temperament and was happy being out of his enclosure.

So, this month we decided to pay an homage to Colin by having a Snake Awareness Day and celebrate and educate our customers on all things snake. At least, on the snakes we stock – which include corns, royal pythons and carpet pythons – plus a few visitors who are coming especially for the day.

Please tell your reptile-loving friends as we will be having special reptile-related promotions on the day and you will have the chance to buy a few rare specimens with some lovely colour morph variations.

You can find out more by ringing 01225 461461, emailing at bathpets@aol.com or follow our Twitter page https://twitter.com/#!/NotJustPets or our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Notjustpets-Pet-Shops-in-Bath-Frome/103981576322758

Not Just Pets will be holding three more Fabulous Open Days in National Pet Month 7 April – 7 May

This year’s National Pet Month theme is “Your Pets and You: A Winning Team” and we shall be holding three special Open Days at our Bath and Frome stores to celebrate with National Pet Month and help to promote responsible pet ownership too.

On April 14th, from 10 am to 4pm we have our first Open Day for National Pet Month at our Larkhall store – and our special guest will be Howard Grove, Bath’s very own Dog Whisperer. So – book in early to ask him some behavioural questions and bring your doggie along to meet him. We shall have a raffle on the day with proceeds going to Bath Cats an Dogs Home. The DOCTOR is in – in the afternoon we have Murray from Ashman Jones Veterinary Clinic joining us giving advice on all things pet. We will have homemade cakes, face painting, animal handling (including Lee’s own lovely ferrets and Anny’s rats and hamsters), colouring competitions, nutrition advice from dog and cat experts and more! Come along and join in the fun!

On April 21st we will be holding a similar Open Day at our Frome shop – and this time you can meet Boo, our European Eagle Owl plus lots more lovely animals to see and handle. The Cats Protection ladies will be there with their wonderful stall and we will also have doggies from Greyhound Rescue West of England with us – plus nutrition experts on hand to help with your dog and cat dietary questions. Kathverena Groomers will be doing pet claw clipping – £1 a paw and Donna the Dog Listener will be with us too! There will be face painting, a raffle, competitions, cakes and all the staff will be dressed as animals. There will be offers and freebies on the day – so why not pop along and enjoy the fun?

On Saturday April 28th there will be lots of fun for all the family in our Bath store including: face painting, animal and reptile handling, a HUGE raffle in aid of Bath Cats and Dogs Home with some fabulous prizes AND Claverton the mascot dog attending, a Hungry Hector stall plus Hector himself, homemade cakes for sale, dog ICED TREATS on offer, a special promotion on frozen dog food, nutrition experts on hand from Royal Canin, grooming offers and advice, colouring competitions, ‘guess the neons in the tank’ competition, a dog training display and more. The staff will be dressed as their favourite animals – but you don’t have to (unless you want to!) Come along, enjoy the fun, meet lots of fabulous animals and find out all you need to know to keep your pet happy and healthy so that YOU make a winning team.

If you haven’t been in already this will be a chance to pop in and see our bright new Bath store – pictured above – with new small animals, new food and accessory ranges and a lovely new reptile room.

All the details will be on the National Pet Month site at http://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk and we will keep you updated via our Facebook and Twitter pages – so why not follow us to find out all our latest news? We will be posting a photo competition during National Pet Month on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Notjustpets-Pet-Shops-in-Bath-Frome/103981576322758

or follow us on Twitter at @NotJustPets https://twitter.com/#!/NotJustPets

You can also email us at bathpets@aol.com or telephone on 01225 461461/461478

NOT JUST PETS OPEN DAY SAT 25 FEB 10AM – 4PM!

We are having our Open Day on Saturday 25 Feb at our Bath shop at 8-9 St James Parade, Bath.

We are teaming up with Bath Cats and Dogs Home (BCDH) and have lots in store for our customers including:

– Claverton, the BCDH mascot and Russel Rabbit (let’s hope they get on!)

– a HUGE raffle (proceeds to BCDH)

– Face Painting

– OFFERS all day including 20% off dog and cat beds; BOGOF on selected toys, 15% off aquatics tanks and beardie set-ups; buy a Muddy Paws mat and get a Dinner Mate mat FREE; Royal Canin money-off vouchers; £2 off 2kg Barking Heads and more!

– Colouring competition for children

– Guess the Weight of the Jar competition

– Animal Handling

– Reptile talks and handling

– Flying Fish!

– Cakes for sale!

Come and get nutrition advice for your doggie or moggie, learn about everything from bunnies to beardies, gerbils to geckos and cats to chameleons!

Or just pop in and see us and pick up a bargain for your pet on the day! You’ll be welcome!

Keep up to date with us on Twitter @NotJustPets,

on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Notjustpets-Pet-Shops-in-Bath-Frome/103981576322758

or call us on 01225 461461 or email to bathpets@aol.com

KEEP UNDESIRABLE ADMIRERS AT BAY THIS VALENTINES DAY

Microchip operated SureFlap can tell a true love from a false friend

Is your flirty feline enticing every Tom, Dick and Harry into your home? Or does next door’s monster moggy like to gorge itself on poor Snowball’s favourite fishy treats? If these scenarios sound familiar, then a microchip operated SureFlap might be just the gift you need this Valentines Day.

SureFlap uses a cat’s own microchip as a personal door key, preventing overly persistent admirers from gaining entry and harassing your pet inside.

Intruder cats can be a source of real stress for our pets and can lead to fighting and spraying, which nobody wants in their home, says Judith Bank, Marketing Manager at SureFlap. SureFlap only opens when it recognises the pet’s microchip, so it keeps out unwanted visitors.

SureFlap was invented by cat lover and Cambridge physicist Dr Nick Hill, after his cat Flipper suffered at the paws of an intruder who entered through his standard, non-selective cat flap. After failing to persuade Flipper that a collar-activated cat flap was the answer to their woes, Nick started working on a system that used the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in Flipper’s microchip.

The company have gone from strength to strength over recent years, expanding beyond Europe to the USA and even reaching the Kiwi kitties of New Zealand. Along with being highly practical, SureFlap’s aesthetically pleasing design has lead to its inclusion in the Design Icons exhibition, which is on display until February 23^rd at Anglia Ruskin University.

Judith says: SureFlap is an essential for cat owners who struggle to keep out prowling pussycats, but theyre also very stylish and make a great gift if youre looking for something a bit original this Valentines Day.

SureFlap is compatible with all common microchips and is available direct from our online shop and in our stores at Bath, Larkhall and Frome.

or on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/NotJustPets

Or email us at bathpets@aol.com