Dog friendly places to eat in London are rare, and usually they are pubs or separate rooms in cafes. More often than not, the term ‘dog friendly’ simply means you can eat at an outside table – not much use in January!

dog friendly cafe

Now a new pub/restaurant, The Commander, in Hereford Grove, is in the heart of trendy Notting Hill – London W2. It has been well known as a gastro pub but when it reopens next week there will be a dog friendly bar & restaurant, deli, market area and a butcher on-site. So after sitting down for a nice relaxing meal with your pet, you can buy some delicious sausages for the dog – in case he is hungry again by the time you get home.

I think this is an excellent development and hope other places follow suit. remember when a restaurant would ask your preference -  ’smoking or non-smoking’? Well now the choice could be dogs or no dogs? Would-be dog owners will also get a chance to sit near some lovely well-behaved dogs and if the ask nicely they might be able to give them a tit bit. Read more »

This is a story that cheered me up enormously today. A soldier, Gwen Beberg, on assignment in Baghdad, found and adopted a stray puppy who she named Ratchet. At the end of her tour of duty, Gwen arranged for Ratchet to fly back to the States with her luggage. At the last minute Sgt Beberg faced a new battle with bureaucrats who tried to prevent Ratchet’s return. But with the support of a charity, Operation Baghdad Pups, the six-month old dog was flown back to Minnesota where Gwen’s parents cared for him. This week Gwen herself flew home, and was greeted by her lovely dog – who has grown much bigger while they were apart! An enthusiastic welcome nearly knocked the soldier off her feet – aaah!
http://blogs.dogtime.com/the-news-hound-blog/2009/01/ratchet-and-soldier-finally-reunited

On Saturday we made the sad journey to the Vet’s to collect dear Kev’s ashes. If such a sad task can be said to ‘go well’, then this one did. Our Veterinary nurse gave us the little box in a private room, and had even brought some biscuits in case our blood sugar levels needed a lift – as long as it was not a weight loss pill. There was also a certificate verifying that the box contained Kev’s remains only. We took the box and went to collect my Mum, who also wanted to come along for the scattering. The place we chose is the local churchyard. Since we moved here permanently Kevin had been unwell and there was no single ’special walk’ that we wanted to commemorate. The position was different in London, where Kev spent many happy hours roaming around in the grounds of Alexandra Palace.

Life without your dog after he has died can be hard. It is just over two weeks since Kev died and we have said we will wait for a few months before deciding whether to get another rescue dog. If we get a younger dog, we know the commitment could be more than ten years so we intend to take at least one holiday abroad before adopting our next pet. There could also be the need for some extra safety equipment to stop the dog falling on the stairs. In the meantime we can continue with our sponsorship of a dog in the care of Dogs Trust. This is the next best thing to having a dog of your own, but it is still hard when they show all the appealing faces of the dogs in their TV ads!