In our frantic, digitally-dominated daily lives, sometimes we need a reminder that there is wisdom in simplicity. The challenge is to be open to learning from it. Very few animals have mastered the art of living better than alpacas. They are experts in making the most of every day and enjoying simple basic things. It […]
As someone who openly acknowledges my animals are child substitutes, it’s interesting to find out that I’m not alone! Here in Italy, recent research carried out by AstraRicherche for leading Italian petfood company AgrasDelic has shown that a growing number of Italians consider their cat or dog not just a pet but more like a
More Italians Than Ever Truly Value Their Cats and Dogs Read More »
Someone once said to me “you have a lot of bird stuff in your house, haven’t you?” This came as quite a surprise, but I did a quick inventory and confirmed that, yes, between feathers, pictures, photos, wooden wall hangings, ornaments and fabrics I do seem to have a thing about birds! After my wonderful
This very useful text was posted in Italian on the Facebook page: Adotta Un Cane Dal Canile. I have translate it into English and changed it a little bit. I hope you find it useful, I certainly did. HOW TO AVOID A DOG GETTING HEATSTROKE In summer the most deadly and underestimated danger for our four
Our lab ZsaZsa has always suffered from the heat, despite being born in Italy. Now she is ten, it is even worse and although there has hardly been any hot weather to speak of so far this year, she still has panting fits. I have found the best solution for her is to drape her
I just had an email from someone asking me how many pets there are in Italy. This intrigued me as although I’ve recently posted about the Italian pet owning statistics published earlier this year, I didn’t recall reading any pet numbers in that. Anyway, I did a quick google search in Italian and there appear
Well, I am now the very proud owner of four beautiful female alpacas. Their names are Nicola, Emilia, Champagne and Diana. Two are huacayas (the teddy bear kind) and two are suri (the dreadlock-haired kind). They arrived almost three weeks ago and have already changed my life in the best way! The three white ones
According to a 2013 survey by Eurispes, the Italian Institute of Political,Social and Economic Studies, the country’s economic woes have not taken their toll on the nation’s pets. In actual fact there has been a rise in pet ownership. Over 55 percent of Italian families now have at least one pet, up 13 percent on last year. Dogs remain the
Pet Ownership in Italy on Increase Despite Crisis Read More »
This delicate, elegant and fragile looking creature looks just like a greyhound but its small size classifies it as a toy breed. The name in translation is “small Italian harehound” and that is indeed what they were originally intended for – hunting hares and rabbits. They can reach up to 60 km per hour (37
If you have ever heard of – or dreamed of – a truffle dog then this is the one! It can find the elusive, valuable scented fungus anywhere and is apparently the only breed of dog that has been specifically developed with this amazing and useful characteristic. Its name literally means “Romagna lake dog” and