Category: Store News

Keep up to date with what has been going on in our Bath and Frome pet stores!!

Happy New Year to all our lovely customers and followers!

   

Wow! Where did that year go? The past year saw us being very busy Indeed. Our activities have included: (click the links to find out more) 

  • working closely with National Pet Month and winning their national award (remember May the 4th be with you? – great fun, and educational too!)
  • collaborating with Nature’s Veterinary – and we now have our resident vet, Dave Tweedle on board and IN STORE consulting twice a week and offering pet health checks, vaccinations, pet passports, MICROCHIPPING, nail clipping, etc.
  • meeting Theo Paphitis after winning our #SBS Winners award – what an inspiration that man is, too!
  • winning the PetQuip UK Independent Retailer of the Year award; launching on MyHigh.st – and we will be doing more work with that soon
  • going silly for money for Comic Relief
  • teaming up with Bath Bunny Rescue and we continue to support them with promotions, amazing cake sales (thanks to some fantastic local businesses for their donations) and fundraising events (raising over £500 so far)
  • holding various fundraising events for Bath Cats and Dogs Home and raising over £900 for them
  • introducing new fabulous foods and encouraging more dogs and cats to eat better foods like Pure Pet Food, Gentle dog food, Canagan and the new Natures Menu
  • meeting Tori the disabled service dog (and her humum Jana) who brought joy to all who met her – and she helped us raised a bit of money for Blind Dog Rescue UK
  • meeting lots of our customers’ pets by looking after them while their folks went on holiday
  • teaming up with Donna and Jo, dog trainers/listeners who have formed The Puppy Academy and Wiltshire Pet Care – we sponsored the puppy packs and prizes and look forward to working with them in the future.

  

We hope to do lots of new and exciting things in 2014 – including updating our website at www.notjustpets.co.uk. We will be introducing new foods and products especially to our new Frome shop and hopefully boarding there too – so your pets can come for B&B! We will have our usual Open Day events during National Pet Month and there will be some surprises too. We are looking at all sorts of ideas from puppy parties and crèches to grooming sessions and small animal handling days. So – watch this space!

We really believe – they’re not just pets, they’re family.

  

Any ideas and suggestions you have will be welcomed – and we hope to gain lots more followers via our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/NotJustPets) and Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/notjustpets/) pages – plus we will be joining Instagram soon too!

We run regular photo competitions, quizzes, offers and promotions on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so why not “like” or “follow” us today! 

Get in touch via any of the above, or via our website or email at bathpets@aol.com or telephone us on 01225 461461. Or simply pop in, you’ll be welcome!

 

The Story of Tori, the disabled doggie who brings joy to others

Not Just Pets was privileged to play host to a delightful visitor from Michigan in the USA this week – Tori, the disabled service dog.

    

Tori’s owner Jana says:

“I got Tori when she was 6 months old from a rescue group in Texas. She has degenerative disc disease and ruptured a disc in Oct 2009 and had surgery at Michigan State University Vet Clinic, she ruptured another one in Feb 2010 and had another surgery. The second one she didn’t recover from and could not walk or stand. We got her a custom wheelchair from Eddie’s Wheels and it rehabilitated her so she can now walk and stand but continues to use the wheelchair because she has one weak back leg that drags. The vet suggested I get her certified as a therapy dog in 2011 so I did and she LOVES it. She’s an amazing little dog.

She is the sweetest, most comical dog. I can’t travel without her, we are very bonded. She loves her therapy work too and works magic with children.”

Tori travels with Jana to nursing homes, schools and anywhere where she can bring help and therapy to those who need it. People are drawn to her and Tori brought a smile to all the customers and visitors at Not Just Pets on St James Parade in Bath on Friday – and also managed to raise funds for Blind Dog Rescue UK with a small raffle – with prizes brought all the way from America.

  

You can follow Not Just Pets on Twitter @NotJustPets

on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets

on Pinterest here  or find us at

8-9 St James Parade, Bath BA1 1UL   Tel: 01225 461461 E: bathpets@aol.com

Not Just Pets wins TWO Industry Awards!

         

Wow oh wow! What a fabulous week we have had. We are delighted to tell everyone that Not Just Pets has just been named as PetQuip UK Independent Pet Retailer of the Year 2013! Isn’t that fantastic? The awards were given at a dinner at PATS Harrogate (Pet and Aquatic Trade Show) and were sponsored by Westland, Petface, Group55 and PATS with the media partner being Pet Business World. We were commended for devotion to customers, knowledge, creativity and work within the community. We have worked hard during the past year to forge links with our local community and support local animal charities as well as promoting the cause of the independent retailer. We were completely gobsmacked to win this award and we are obviously over the moon, especially as the calibre of other entries was so high, such as Scampers and Dobbies.

   

Not only that we have just discovered that we have won the overall award for National Pet Month for our events during National Pet Month this year. The judges felt that our events did the best to further the aims of NPM and to promote responsible pet ownership. It means so much to have all the hard work of the team at Not Just Pets rewarded in this way. Everyone at Not Just Pets worked really hard this year to think of new ways to get our community involved with events for National Pet Month (including dressing as Jedi for May the 4th), and we had fantastic support from so many different people, from our local vet, local rescue centres (Bath Cats and Dogs and Bath Bunny Rescue), our fabulous suppliers, local pet portrait artists, animal experts/trainers and of course our wonderful customers. We raised over £1300 for local animal charities and did a grand job of promoting responsible pet ownership – and we had fun doing it!

We feel that these awards really show that hard work does pay off and that it is important to keep evolving and adapting to move forwards in our industry. We try to listen to our customers and get involved in our local communities with events, through social media, supporting local animal rescue centres etc. We are very keen to promote responsible pet ownership and to keep driving trade to the independent retailer. We were in prestigious company at the PetQuip awards and are delighted too for all the awards given to our partners and suppliers in the industry such as Peregrine Livefoods, Beaphar, Collarways, Canagan, Natures Menu, Burgess, James & Steel and Marriage’s Feeds.

  

We had a busy weekend as we were judges for some of the product awards and there were so many fabulous products in the showcase. It was a real treat to see so many British products on offer and also so many strides being made for the independent retail trade by suppliers offering good quality, unique products.

We shall soon be working with Pure pet foods and their fabulous dehydrated dog food – which is made in a human grade factory so it really is good enough to eat. Plus we shall be stocking the new Beaphar Calming spot on – a great alternative to other calming products especially for pets on the move. We already stock the Natures Menu range and we were delighted to see some fabulous new products in their Country Hunter range (don’t say that one too quickly!) We also really liked the new Soopa treat range – good enough for us to eat again although not recommended for owners, more for dogs (a little chewy). These come in yummy flavours like Papaya, Coconut and Sweet Potato. We shall be stocking these soon.

We are moving things around at the Bath Pet Shop with some changes coming soon – including a new Pet Boutique instore. Do let us know if there is anything particular you would like us to stock.

Please share our stories and join in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter @NotJustPets – and don’t forget to check our Pinterest boards too.

 

Not Just Pets is based in Bath, Larkhall and Frome with the main store at 8-9 St James Parade, Bath, BA1 1UL and a website at www.notjustpets.co.uk. You can follow us Facebook at www.facebook.com/notjustpets and on Twitter at @NotJustPets

 

Not Just Pets raises funds for Bunny Rehoming in Bath

     

Just a short blog this week to let you know about a fabulous rabbit rehoming service in Bath, run by Michelle Addison. We got to know Michelle when she attended one of our Open Days at Larkhall in April and since then we have been working with Michelle to help her with her mission to rehome Bath’s abandoned bunnies.

  

Last Saturday we held a huge Cake Sale and Raffle for Bath Bunny Rescue which was supported by many fabulous businesses in Bath including The Society Café, Green Rocket Café,Indulgence Café, Coffee @ Camden, Roman Candles and the Pig Guide among others. There were some wonderful prizes donated from the likes of Heather’s Pet Care, who gave free dogwalking sessions and photo shoot sessions, Smallprint Silver Fingerprint Jewellery in Bath who gave jewellery prizes, Highcroft Vets in Whitchurch who gave a £25 voucher and this was one of the amazing cake prizes, thanks to Indulgence Café in Bath. (photo thanks to @ThePigGuide) 

We just wanted to thank all those involved and especially our lovely customers for buying all the raffle tickets and yummy cakes. We raised around £200 and the money will go towards vaccinating and neutering the rabbits so that they can find new forever homes as quickly as possible. If you have any questions you can join Michelle on Facebook at Bath Bunny Rescue or on Twitter @BunnyRehoming or via her website at www.bathbunnyrescue.co.uk.

Don’t forget we have veterinary appointments every Thursday and Friday with David Tweedle, our Resident Vet from Nature’s Veterinary – telephone 01225 461461 for details. We now offer Pet Passports, boosters, nail clipping, microchipping, anal glands, flea and worm checks and health checks.

You can follow us at www.notjustpets.co.uk, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NotJustPets, on Twitter @NotJustPets or email us at bathpets@aol.com. Or pop in or ring us on 01225 461461. 8-9 St James Parade, Bath. Come on in, you’ll be welcome 🙂

A very successful National Pet Month at Not Just Pets – thanks to all of you!

   

Not Just Pets celebrated National Pet Month in style with three fabulous open days at each of the stores – at Larkhall on 20th April, at Frome on 27th April and in the main Bath store on 4th May.

All three events were very slightly different but they all emphasised the theme of National Pet Month which this year was “Your Pets and You; Companions for Life” and promoted responsible pet ownership, the ethos of National Pet Month. The events were a huge success and really well-attended with visitors coming from the local area and further afield. The weather was kind on all three days which helped the days go with a real swing!

The Larkhall event raised funds for Bath Cats and Dogs Home, Greyhound Rescue West of England and for Bunny Rehoming in Bath. There was plenty of animal handling (including ferrets), experts on hand to advise on dog behaviour and small animal rescue, offers on good quality foods and nutrition advice and a local pet portrait artist. Total fundraising on the day came to £187.57 with special help from Claverton, the mascot from Bath Cats and Dogs Home.

 

The Frome event almost took over the Kingsway precinct in Frome with activities from demonstrations and parades by dog handlers from the Frome K9 dog training school, to a huge stall from Cats Protection, nutrition advice from good quality food suppliers, personal encounters with Boo the European Eagle Owl, lots of competitions including a “guess the breed” competition from the local vet – plus he was on hand to answer questions. There were meet and greet sessions and handling with rescue greyhounds, bunnies, rats and more, face painting, a fabulous raffle and local pet portrait artist too. Funds were raised for the local small animal rescue centre CottonTails and for Greyhound Rescue West of England. The total raised on the day was £494.59 and £17.50 of merchandise sold by GRWE on the day.

The Bath event took a slightly different format. There were talks being given every half hour on all the different types of companion pet from hamsters at 11am to fish at 4pm with lizards, small furries, spiders, snakes, dogs and cats in between. In total eleven different talks with some amazing animals on hand, all given by either staff of Not Just Pets in Bath or visiting experts. The staff were dressed as Jedi instructors as it was May the 4th (May the Fourth Be With You!) The talks covered all aspects of the different pets people keep, how to look after them and why they make such good companions. Nutrition advisers, animal behaviour experts and a local pet portrait artist all supported the day too.

This event also raised funds and awareness for Bath Cats and Dogs Home  and for the local Cats Protection in Bath and the small animal rescue centre. The total raised was £104.78 instore plus much more in BCDH buckets – totals to be announced soon. There was a pet photo competition which was a big hit and was won by this handsome fellow called Koda, with a cute Westie and another cute German Shepherd as runners up. We had sixteen entries which all raised funds for Bath Cats and Dogs Home and over 100 votes instore and likes on Facebook.

The three events were fun, educational and did much to promote the National Pet Month ethos and this year’s theme of pet companionship. Not Just Pets would like to thank all those who supported the event, whether by attending and giving a talk or advice, by helping with promotion or oganisation, by sharing their invaluable knowledge and to the wonderful customers who turned up and took part and donated on the day.

  

   

Pictures from the event are on Facebook here for Larkhall: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.499488393438739.1073741828.103981576322758&type=3

here for Frome: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.538445446206198.1073741825.126233544094059&type=3

and here for Bath:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.504433352944243.1073741830.103981576322758&type=3

You can follow Not Just Pets on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets or on Twitter at @NotJustPets

Email on bathpets@aol.com or telephone on 01225 461461

Not Just Pets, 8-9 St James Parade, Bath, BA1 1UL

Not Just Pets Open Days for National Pet Month Who’s coming to Bath in May?

  

Open day Saturday 4th May at Not Just Pets, 8-9 St James Parade, Bath!!

Help us to celebrate National Pet Month and the theme of Your Pets and You: Companions for Life

Come and learn about all the different pets people keep, how to look after them and why they make such good companions.

11.00am –  Learning about hamsters

11.30am –  Learning about lizards

12.00pm –  Learning about dogs with behaviourist Sarah Blackbourn

12.30pm –  Learning about rabbits with a volunteer from Cotton Tails

1.00pm –    Learning about snakes

1.30pm –    Learning about guinea pigs

2.00pm –    Learning about parrots

2.30pm –    Learning about cats with a member of Bath Cats Protection

3.00pm –    Learning about spiders

3.30pm  –   Learning about rats

4.00pm –    Learning about fish

We will also have coffee provided by Starbucks! Cakes, Alice Ladkin, a local artist who specialises in pet portraits will be here, representatives from Bath Cats Protection, Hamster Rescue and Cotton Tails as well as continuing our photo competition!

And we will be Raising money for Bath Cats and Dogs home

 

Telephone 01225 461461 for details or Email us at Bathpets@aol.com

Follow us @NotJustPets on Twitter or on  Facebook at www.Facebook.com/NotJustPets

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

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