Jess's The Collie Blog

Thank you to Pete Hepple for finishing Jess’s new Animals in War in Jacket. Pet Respect thinks it looks great!

Jess will be wearing her jacket to help promote our upcoming War Exhibition including Animals in War – May 8th 2020 -at Home from Home Petcare, Swanland HU14 3NF…12 noon to 4pm.

We proud to announce that Jess our recently retired Therapy dog is now our Charity Doggy Patron. She still loves her photograph taken and loves to pose.

Jess has worked as a Pet Respect Therapy dog for nearly ten years. She is well known in Hull primary schools and local care homes. The children miss her and still ask about her so this blog enables them to still have a connection with her .

We have bought Jess the above coat and lead due to her being nearly blind now. It has helped immensely, especially because it alerts approaching dog owners to her problem and it gives chance for them to have their dog under control. If a dog rushes up to Jess it scatres her and she snaps as she cannot see them approaching, especially if they run up to her fast.

You can also buy coats and leads such as “Freindly”, “Nervous”, “Rescue”, “Not Freindly” , “No Dogs” etc Most of the coats and leads are available to buy on Amazon.

Raised Feeding bowls can be a help to an aging dog. It helps a dysphagic dog and gives relief for them having to bend low to eat and drink .

Since Jess’s eyesight has become worse, we have had to adapt in a number of ways in order to help her in everyday life.

The first thing we did was buy her a new bed as had started to fall into the one she already had, as it was a hard bed with quite high sides. The new bed is soft and very low. This also helps her be more comfortable with her arthritis.

She only has some central vision so sometimes walks into door frames so we have smeared lemon juice on them and this helps.

We try and keep to routine and keep her food, water and bed in the same place. We avoid moving any furniture.

Jess is testing the new toy bought for our charity therapy dogs. This game is called Dog Tornado and it is a level 2 puzzle. It has spin and twist layers to challenge the dogs to find the treats. It fights boredom by keeping the dog busy.

Jess loves playing her dog puzzles. It stimulates her mind and helps her not being bored. There are lots of games that older dogs can enjoy.

Jess has a nice warm raised bed which is ideal for a dog at her age and conditions. Trying to get her to sleep properly on said bed is a struggle, but whatever she finds comfortable we’ll go with!

Jess was Pet Respect’s main therapy dog from 2010 till 2018. She sadly had to retire due to old age (13 years old) and suddenly going deaf and partially sighted.

She is missed by all the school children she used to work with and they ask after her every week. This is why we have started this blog. It will enable the children to still have a connection with her and can they can see she is happy and enjoying her retirement and has adapted well.