Bungee Dog Leads Review

You may have wondered what on earth all the fuss is about bungee dog leads (or indeed actually what they are!)

Well, there's a variety of different companies producing a bungee dog lead, the picture on the left shows one of the Ezydog versions which comes in a variety of colours and specifications. This one is the one that looks most like a traditional bungee rope (i.e. the sort you use to tether your luggage to your roof rack!)

The Ezydog Cujo version as seen here, has an easygrip handle which helps spread the weight of your dog pulling across the spread of your hand as well as giving you a better, more comfortable grip. (we have the 40" black cujo for Jack, and the handle has really proven it's worth this winter as I'm finding icey fingers don't grip so well!) This dispersement of weight, mixed with the bungee action of the actual lead reduces strain on your arm and shoulder. If you have a dog that pulls a lot, it won't stop them from pulling but it will reduce the impact on you and any jolting on your dog's neck, making walks a good deal more pleasant for both of you!

We've been using our Cujo lead for 5 months now and it's just been brilliant. We've also started using it with a cujo extension (actually designed for use with the 25" lead, but we use it with the 40" as we've not got on with extendable leads which seem to get stuck and tangle a lot.)

See the full range of bungee leads available at JackPaws.com

We're no longer stocking Dear Dog products

The one thing that is close to our hearts is providing excellent customer service, which includes getting our customers orders to them in super quick time. In order to keep prices low, and to provide great service we've forged great relationships with our suppliers to allow us to do just-in-time delivery of stock in some cases.

Unfortunately, our supplier of Dear Dog products hasn't been able to provide an acceptable level service to us, so with regret, we will no longer be selling these products online.

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Jack's Product of the Week: Camo Bed by Dear Dog

We've just started stocking a new range of dog beds by dear dog. We've been trialing the camo bed with Jack and he absolutely loves it. He wastes no time snuggling down into it, and it's currently doubling as a toy box, as he likes to "bury" toys underneath the removable cushion.

As he's still a puppy, we have to report he's had more than his fair share of "little" accidents on the bed! We've washed the whole bed once, and the removable cushion at least 10 times and the fabric is wearing well (considering the difference in no. of washing between the 2 parts of the bed, there's no difference we can see in the material.)

All the beds are available in 2 sizes (as with all Dear Dog products, they are aimed towards the small to medium sized dog market.) They are beautifully made, and ooze quality - they're certainly some of the nicest soft dog beds we've seen on the market.

Coming Soon - Range of Dog Walking Belts from Doog Australia

We've a new range of really handy walking belts which feature pockets for poo bags, hand wipes, treats and a mobile phone pocket and a hand clip for your dogs lead to allow hands free walking.

We'll be offering these in 5 different colours - camo (pictured), plain black, plain green, brown/blue spot, brown/pink spot.

Lightweight, comfortable and beautifully made, these belts would make a fantastic Christmas present for dog lovers or treat yourself!

We're back from GLEE and we've loads of exciting new products up our sleeves!

ok - not quite up our sleeves, but we've new stock arriving soon which we're really excited about.

1) A new range of british made hands free leads, which secure to your wrist (perfect when out shopping, jogging, sorting out the kids etc...) There's been a lot of interest in the press (and deservedly so) - here's what Dog Today had to say in their Oct 2008 edition

2) Some fantastic new dog travel products - watch this space

3) A huge new range of collars and leads

and even more to come ready for christmas.

Instilling a fear of dogs into your kids

We were out and about this weekend with Jack (it was his first experience of crowds while standing on his own 4 paws, he did fantastically well, and with true pug pride was his usual fearless self.)

It was an interesting social experiment - as we all know, puppy's tend to draw a lot of admirers, and Jack is no exception. There were 2 very clear groups in the children that spotted him - those that ran up to him and asked if they could make a fuss of him and those that stood and pointed at him, whilst being dragged away by parents - twice I heard "don't touch, he might bite". What a terrible prejudice to instill in a small child. Yes, we should be concerned about "problem" dogs (and that is a whole other discussion), but to tar all dogs with the same brush is unfair to both children and dog kind. Parents should be teaching their children to treat all animals with respect, and fear does not teach them this.

I was brought up with numerous pets, have been bitten, clawed and scratched from a very young age (not to mention being kicked and stood upon by horses!), but learnt from that and have continued to love and respect pets. The fun and affection you receive in return is one of the best things in life, and it's very sad that many children miss out on this because of parental ignorance.

A brilliant resource for dog owners

We're always looking for new places to visit with Jack, and recently came across this fantastic site, www.dogfriendlybritain.co.uk. You can use the handy search facility on the home page to search for dog friendly days out, holidays, eating places by county. There's loads of really useful information (particularly on beach restrictions - of which there seem to be more and more of recently), as well as information about facilities for dogs at different attractions.

There's also useful directories on dog training, shopping and more.

3 months Free Membership with The National Trust

If, like us, you're always on the look out for new and exciting places to visit with your dog, did you know that all open space National Trust Properties are dog friendly?

To see the full list of National Trust Properties in the UK, visit The National Trust website here

If you are interested in joining the National Trust and get free entry to all properties for a year, take a look at their membership website here for the latest membership offers

New Dog Grooming Range Just in at JackPaws.com

Watch out for the new range of doggie grooming products just arrived this week at JackPaws.com.

Lushpuppi is a new brand of premium range of dog shampoos, conditioning spritzers and super absorbent, lightweight towels made to keep your mucky pups coat in tip top condition.

We've searched for several months trying to find a range of premium grooming products that were kinder to your dog and the environment. The guys at Lush Puppi have come up trumps with a range infused with organic essential oils and conditioners,that Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Petroleum free. All products are priced at a very reasonable £5.99 and are presented in smart containers that wouldn't look amiss on your bathroom shelf (they also smell good enough to use on your own hair, but we don't recommend it!) See the full range available here at JackPaws.com

Dog Walking - Share walks in your local area

Being based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, there's no shortage of fantastic walks in our local area and further a field. It's all too easy to be doing the same old walks over and over again, which let's face it, becomes rather boring, so why not share your favourite walks by posting a comment to this post?

Here's a link to a website local to us called Strolling in the Stroud District and it features a number of circular walks suitable for different abilities. So next time you're thinking of visiting the Cotswolds, why not take a look at the Strolling in the Stroud District website, there are some real little gems of walks to enjoy.

Pet Plan, probably the best pet insurance out there..

Having tried various pet insurance suppliers over the last 10 years, and claimed 3 if not 4 times, we've found Pet Plan to be the easiest to deal with and most prompt to pay up without quibble.

There's nothing more daunting when faced with a large vet bill, whether your insurance will cover it.

PetPlan offer 3 levels of cover (we've not found this with any other insurer and most other companies only offer the equivalent to PetPlans basic cover), to suit your pocket and level of requirement. There's also nothing stopping you changing the level of cover.

For more information on PetPlans cover and any current offers and a free quote, click the image above or this link to Petplan Pet Insurance

Dear Dog Designer Dog Harnesses are on their way

We've a new range of harnesses from Dear Dog arriving at JackPaws.com. We'll be stocking three designs - the Camo Dog Harness you see below, the brown and blue stripy dog harness to the right, and a gorgeous blue distressed denim harness.


All Harnesses come complete with a matching lead. While these are similar in shape to our Puchi range of soft dog harnesses, they differ in that they are padded as well as offering a waffle cooling material next to your dogs coat. This offers extra support and comfort, while keeping your dog cool.

See the full range of dog harnesses at JackPaws.com

Jacks Product of the Week - Dog Doo Bags by Ezydog

These truly are one of our favourite EVER useful dog accessories. If like us, you can never leave the house for a walk without cash, keys and mobile phone and a stash of poo bags, and bulging pockets, the Ezydog Dog Doo bag is the product for you!

It attaches to your dogs lead or clicps to your belt loop. Available at JackPaws.com in 2 colours (red and blue), it's £6.75 - a very small price to pay for a little gadget you'll wonder how you ever lived without!

So you wanna be a record breaker? Calling all Dog Walkers...

Do you fancy getting into the Guiness Book of Records? What are you doing on June 15th? Butchers are sponsoring the now annual Great North Dog Walk, and are looking to beat the record of 10,272 dogs.

It's free to join in, but you need to fill out an application form. Why not use it as a great opportunity to raise money for your local / favourite pet charity?

Find out more here

Cruelty Free Pet Food

It's quite possible that you've never considered whether the food you buy your pets is cruelty free. Many companies carry out invasive testing on pets like yours in laboratories, and not as straight forward taste tests as many brands would have you believe.

Here is a list of some of the pet friendly brands (for more information, visit the PETA website)

• Burns pet nutrition
• Organipets
• Feelwell
• Cambrian Pet Foods Ltd
• CLINIVET ® Nutrition

Choccalishous: New Ezydog Dog Harnesses and Leads

We're in the process of adding the full product range from Ezydog to JackPaws.com
We absolutely love their bungy leads - if you're tired of your dog pulling your arm out of its socket, these leads are heaven sent. Complete with a gripped handle to even pressure, the bungy action of the lead reduces pull on your arm, and creates less stress on the dogs neck.

The Cujo lead, teamed with an Ezydog Dog Harness will make walks much more pleasurable for both of you. The leads have an extra safety feature of a reflective thread (as do the neo collars.)

Have a look at the complete Ezydog range (we're loving the chocolate harness, matched with the 40" Cujo lead for Jack - he looks the business!)

More new stock! "Evil" T-shirts from Puchi as seen on The Paul O'Grady Show ITV1

We purposely don't stock many dog clothes, but every now and then an item comes up which we fall in love with (such as the puchi pac a macs) and we know JackPaws customers will love them too.

These red dog t-shirts from Puchi, feature a silver "Evil" printed on the back. We all know no matter how much we love our dogs and they love us back, they've all got a little evil streak in them!

This t-shirts will be available this week on JackPaws.com

Retailing at £14.95

New Puchi Pink Camo Dog Harnesses Coming Soon!

We just taken delivery of the new pink camo harnesses and leads from Puchi. They'll be online very soon, but we thought you'd like a sneak peak!

They'll retail at £16.95 on JackPaws.com, and come complete with a matching lead.

We're sure you'll agree, they're super cute and also very practical, reducing strain on your dogs neck.

Jacks Product of the Week: Enamel Dog Tags for Dogs

We saw these fantastic dog tags at crufts 2008, and just knew we had to stock them.

They really are some of the best quality, funkiest tags we've seen, and they're pretty good value too (certainly compared to the rather cheap looking tags we've seen in the larger retail park pet stores.)

Two of the biggest complaints we hear from Pet owners is that the engraving wears off the tags, or the ring attachment is so flimsy, the pet loses them.

These pet ID's from Red Dingo are made from high quality stainless steel, and the colour is enamelled (not painted) so it lasts. The disc's themselves are about 3 mm thick with rounded edges. Jack Paws currently offer 8 designs, 9 colour options and 3 sizes (we're looking to expand the range to offer cat tags too).

Engraving is free - as the tags are delivered straight from the manufacturer, they can take 7-10 days (but we've found it's generally quicker.)

Go on, jazz up your dogs collar with a funkier and better quality dog ID tag! See the range available at JackPaws.com

April is National Pet Month

This month is National Pet Month. Supported by Iams, the aim is to:

• promote responsible pet ownership
• make people aware of the benefits of pets for people and people for pets
• increase public awareness of services available from professionals who work with animals
• raise awareness of the role, value and contribution to society of working companion animals

There are literally hundreds of events being held across the UK throughout April. To see what's happening near you, check out the official website

Jack Paws is now on Facebook - become a fan!

We've joined the social networking evolution, and now have a page on facebook! Click the link to the right to see our page, and if you like what you see, why not become a fan?!

It's a great place to be first to hear about our latest products, news and events.

New Store Launch - JackPaws.com

It's finally here, after weeks of blood, sweat and a few tears (well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it certainly felt like a baptism of fire!)

Let me tell you a bit about who we are and why we started the Jack Paws brand:

Jack Paws are owned by a husband and wife team (Phil is a graphic designer, and Lol has a background in online marketing and software development.) looking for high quality dog products for their new puppy, without the designer price tag. The market seemed saturated with baby pink and blue products, coated in diamonte - which just wasn't them. What they really wanted were high quality products that looked funky, but were also very practical.

From researching the market, they found they weren't the only people that felt like this, and this is where JackPaws.com was born!

The website has just gone live, and we're still sourcing new products and adding them to the site on an almost daily basis. We want to offer great customer service - if you don't see the size you want, drop us a line and we'll see if we can source it for you at no extra cost. If there's a fantastic product you've spotted somewhere, but can't find where to buy it, let us do the legwork for you.

We'll be reviewing our favourite products and keeping you up to date on all the latest news from the dog world on this blog, so be sure to subscribe to posts.