Lilly's Recommends

Green Pantry

Green Pantry has been part of our lives for years.

When Lilly became poorly, feeding her became increasingly difficult. She had pancreatitis and had also developed a chicken allergy, which meant we were struggling to find something suitable beyond the veterinary diet she had been prescribed.

We spoke to Green Pantry and switched her onto their White Fish recipe. It suited her beautifully and helped keep her diet stable for several years, at a time when even small changes could make a huge difference.

We sadly lost Lilly, but Green Pantry stayed.

We now feed it to Honey and Pixie, keep it on regular subscription, use pieces as treats, and regularly recommend it to boarding families. We’ve even given clients little samples from our own food to try, and recommended the White Fish recipe to our vet because of how well Lilly did on it.

We know there is no single food that suits every dog, but Green Pantry is one of those brands we know, use and trust.

Lilly’s favourite: Green Pantry White Fish 💚

Green Pantry Website 

Butternut Box

We’ve had several Butternut Box dogs staying with us and have been really impressed with the food. The ingredients look great, it looks and smells like proper food, and the dogs certainly seem to approve too.

Having cared for dogs with very different dietary needs, we know there’s no single food that suits every dog. But if you’re looking for fresh, gently cooked meals with a good variety of recipes, Butternut Box is one we think is well worth a look.   

Lilly’s is now a Butternut Box ambassador, which means we can also share a special offer with our families.  

50% off your first two boxes with Lilly’s using code LILLYSBESPOKE50 

Click here to get 50% off your first two boxes! 

Freezebone UK

If you’ve followed Lilly’s Facebook Page for a while, you’ll probably have spotted these appearing rather regularly. 😂

We use our Freezebones all the time.

What I particularly love about them is that you don’t have to buy a ready-made filling and hope it suits the dog in front of you. We can make each one up ourselves according to that dog’s normal diet, dietary requirements, allergies and preferences.

We’ll usually start with something we can freeze into the base, such as goat’s milk powder or pumpkin powder made into a broth, or bone broth.

Then comes the fun bit.

Kibble, strawberries, blueberries, melon, banana, yoghurt, peanut butter, cucumber, carrot… little bits dotted throughout for them to lick, nibble and work their way around.

The world is your lobster. 😂

They’re brilliant for calm enrichment, particularly during the quieter parts of a boarding day, and because we make them ourselves we can keep things as simple or as interesting as the individual dog needs.  Perfect for a chilly lollipop in the summer or a quiet 30 minutes or so (yes, really!) in front of the log burner in the autumn or winter.

A dog with dietary restrictions doesn’t have to miss out on enrichment just because they can’t eat whatever happens to be in a standard pre-filled toy.

They wash brilliantly, freeze brilliantly and have survived an impressive amount of use here at Lilly’s.

They are a little pricey, and once postage is added it can make buying just one feel rather extravagant. So when I placed my last order, I bought a few extras at the same time to spread the postage cost a bit.

That means I do have a small number here if any of our Lilly’s families would like one without having to place a separate order themselves.

And just to be completely clear, I’m not a Freezebone affiliate and I don’t earn anything from recommending them. Their affiliate scheme is a little too sales-y for me, with targets and so on.  I just genuinely think these are excellent and we use them constantly.

Very firmly a Lilly’s Recommends. 💚

Have a look here: https://freezbone.co.uk/

As always, we choose ingredients appropriate for the individual dog and check dietary requirements with their family.

Tractive GPS Tracker (for dogs and cats)

Recently, it feels like I have seen far too many posts on local Facebook pages about dogs going missing.

A gate left open. A dog slipping a lead. A frightened dog bolting somewhere unfamiliar. Then that awful scramble of people sharing posts, checking roads, fields and footpaths, and desperately trying to work out which way they may have gone.

It really brings home just how quickly it can happen. That is one of the reasons I am such a fan of GPS trackers.

At Lilly’s, our boarders wear PitPat GPS trackers. They do not require an ongoing subscription, which makes them a much more sustainable option for us when we are providing trackers for multiple visiting dogs.  They are more expensive as a one off cost.

But our own girls wear Tractive. And the reason is slightly different.

Yes, Tractive gives us the GPS reassurance we want. We can see where Honey and Pixie are, use LIVE tracking and set virtual fences.

But what I have become particularly impressed by is the health and wellbeing data.

Tractive builds up a picture of what is normal for your individual dog, including their activity and sleep patterns, and can flag when something changes.

We actually had an alert for Pixie recently because she had been waking more than usual during the night.

On its own, that does not diagnose anything. But it prompted us to look at her a little more closely and consider whether she might be uncomfortable.

And with Pixie, that is genuinely valuable.

She is incredibly stoic. She does not make a fuss, and she would not necessarily show obvious signs that something was not quite right. Without that little nudge from the data, it would have been very easy to miss such a subtle change.

That, for me, is where technology like this becomes more than just a gadget.

It gives you another piece of information about a dog who cannot simply tell you, “I do not feel quite right today.”

What I particularly like

💚 Proper GPS tracking if your dog ever does get loose
💚 LIVE tracking when you need to locate a moving dog
💚 Virtual fences which can alert you if your dog leaves a designated area
💚 Location history so you can see where they have been
💚 Health and activity trends which can help highlight changes from your dog’s normal pattern

A couple of things to know

Tractive does require a subscription, so it is not necessarily the most practical option if you are buying trackers for lots of dogs. That is exactly why we use PitPat for our boarders.

But for our own dogs, where we want that longer-term individual health picture as well as GPS tracking, we have found the Tractive data genuinely valuable.

As with any tracker, I would always regard it as an extra layer of protection, never a replacement for secure gates, sensible handling, good leads and proper supervision.

But if the worst happened and one of my dogs got loose, I would want every possible advantage in finding them.

And if their tracker quietly notices a change in them before I do, even better. 💚

Optional Tractive link

For owners who would like a GPS tracker for their own use at home, we can share an optional Tractive referral link which gives 30% off the device.

If you choose to purchase through our link, Honey also receives two months of subscription added to her Tractive account, which is a lovely little bonus for us too.

There is absolutely no obligation to use the link, and it does not affect our recommendation.

Click this link to get 30% off Tractive :)