Dusty

Remember - a dog is not just for life, it's for Christmas too.With that in mind, our friends at Chill Factore opened their doors this week for the UK's first ever pet grotto. Well behaved dogs and cats arrived at the UK’s longest real snow slope to play on the snow, munch on delicious treats and dress up in festive Christmas outfits. It was really exciting as the pets queued in Santa’s Snow Kingdom ready to meet Santa Paws, a 3-year-old St Bernard and receive an extra special doggy treat. Not every animal is as lucky as I am. Special guests from Manchester & Cheshire Dogs' Home also paid Chill Factore a visit. It was great to see dogs and staff alike enjoying the sub zero temperatures and unlimited snow. And what was it all for? For many animals it was their first experience of snow but, by inviting Manchester and Cheshire Dogs' Home to the event, it was hoped to remind people thinking of buying a pet for Christmas that there are plenty of animals in need of families, and that many people rush into buying dogs, only to find they are unable to cope.But if you can, we'll be your friend for life (all 10 to 12 years of it).Find out more about Manchester & Cheshire Dogs' Home.Read Time Out Manchester's resident dog blogger Dusty's most recent blog - Four disgusting dog treats from Pets Own in Prestwich. 

Having recently discovered a quite wonderful pet shop close to where I live, I've been branching out and expanding my horizons food wise. Yes I still like my ultra non allergenic rice based dry food mixed with tip top meaty stuff, (I have sensitive skin), but sometimes you need something dirty...Pets Own is in Prestwich and is run by a friendly human called Christian, and not only does he have the best shop ever, (for dogs that is), he knows all of our names too. In the face of more 'corporate' pet product suppliers, Pets Own remains very independent which means that Christian can offer a fantastic range of products, often locally sourced, and some surprise things too... Here he is behind his counter of delights.   As you can see, that counter is a dog's dream, with all manner of smelly, tasty, chewey things to get our jaws around. The thing is, my human doesn't eat meat, which makes picking treats out for me a tricky business. When we go in to buy my pet food, I like a good sniff around, and Christian always gives visiting pets a nice surprise from the counter, but as soon as my owner sees something that looks animal like, he gets all veggie on me and pulls a face. So I asked Christian to select a few really disgusting items from his counter to let me try. Boy was I ready!   In at number 4 - Lamb Spaghetti  Made up of bit's of lamb sinew and other tasty morsals from baby sheep, these thin strips make an ideal quick treat for my owners to bribe me with. And although I'll o

Hello everyoneNews has reached me that this weekend sees a festival designed to celebrate the relationship between us magnificent doggies and our, frankly, stupid owners. It's actually a great opportunity to meet some new pals, have a nice walk, sniff a few... well, you get the idea.The organisers say the event is an outdoor festival where dogs are welcomed with open arms and includes The Great Dog Walk, Eukanuba SuperVet Live Tour and have-a-go sessions for dogs including dock diving, which sounds like fun if you're one of those silly dogs that likes to jump in any bit of water they can. Plus, there are talks and demonstrations on all aspects of a dog's life, grooming sessions and a chance for your owners to enjoy food, drink and plenty of shopping, which means goodies for us! DogFest is hosted by Channel 4's Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick. He's very good, such a nice man, very gentle when handling our bits and pieces.Importantly, the Great Dog Walk is in aid of The Humanimal Trust, the first charity in the UK set up specifically to champion the simultaneous advancement of animal and human healthcare.Of course there are HUGE benefits for people who realise that opening up their hum-drum lives to the glories of canine companionship, so if you fancy a day out, bark, bark and bark again until they agree to take you. Come on, it'll be great fun.DogFest, Arley Hall, Sun June 14 Exhausted now so I've cleared my desk and it's time for a dog nap...MORE FROM THE DOG, SORRY, BLOG

Hi everyoneIt's Dusty again, here to dig deep, claw away the drab and sniff out one or two of the hottest things to do over the May bank holiday weekend. Of course, being a celebrity pup means I just have to look cute and pad out a few choice pearls of canine wisdom every now and then, so I don't honestly understand why you people get so excited about not working, as I never really work anyway.Since my first dog blog post for Time Out Manchester, things have gotten a little out of paw, with demands from people to get me to lend my blessing to their shoddy products, squalid events or unsavoury publications. I'm face-timing all the live long day but no matter how many deep fried pigs ears I'm offered, my answer is 'no' - I'm a Time Out pup through and through.Let's start with music. Hours of fun can be had running over to the speakers and cocking my head to one side at some of the sounds bursting out of them. At just under one year old, I'm still finding my way but I don't think I like classical, I'm not sure I like electronica (but my Dads do) so I howl and whine at some of that until they turn it off, but I do like rock. They don't have much of that though... This weekend sees the rather marvellous Sounds from the Other City, an annual music and art festival which happens in Salford. Which isn't the other city for me as I live there. My colleague Jess (I know that name is sometimes used for dogs but she isn't a dog, she's an actual person), has put together ten things to look

Hi. I’m Dusty, a one year old English Bull Terrier living in Manchester with my two Dads. Apparently it’s National Pet Day and I’ve been asked to put paw to pad to write something profound on the subject. Much to my horror it turns out that I’m their pet, not the other way around, which I’m still trying to come to terms with. I love Manchester - there are SO many places to go to the toilet here. Having spent a lot of time in the city centre, I’ve been learning about these things called bars and pubs where people get silly and then go for a pee on the way to their taxi. Learning by example, I do the same thing, stopping on street corners, shop doorways and sometimes in the middle of the road as traffic hurtles towards my Dads. You should see their faces. Priceless. But quite a few drinking holes have lovely outdoor spaces, some of which welcome dogs and even provide a bowl of water. Like you lot, we love a drink in the sunshine and here are the best bars and pubs with outdoor spaces in which to do just that. I only drink water at these places. My dads haven’t noticed the missing bottles from their shelf which I keep for when they’ve gone to bed… Another good place for dogs during the sunny daytime is a place called Canal Street, where there are not only lovely places to eat and drink but there is no scary traffic threatening to squash me. It turns out that my Dads are something called ‘homosexual’. Whatever. When it comes to sexuality, you people seem to have all manner of