What extraordinary times we are living in and I can only but stay enormously positive. Maybe I do live in a ‘dream bubble’ as my husband too often reminds me (and so often brings me back down to earth); but this time, I feel that we are all about to fast forward into a world that we care about far more deeply than ever before.
My positivity comes from a place of where I started. Such humble beginnings 5 years ago, where I hired a village hall, bought a dog scale, and armed with my new found knowledge of nutrition in our pets, I very naively thought that owners would come to my slimming pet sessions to learn about feeding their dogs a healthier diet and my classes would have an impact on the health of their pets.
But it wasn’t to be! No one wants to be told that their dog is fat and needs help and no one came! I felt very deflated as I had put so much time and energy into organising and planning these classes, and I had such a desire to help owners…….but I feel just SO fortunate as without even knowing it, I had stepped into the wonderful world of veganism!
With everything that I had learnt from my extensive nutrition studies, I realised that the more plants that were added into a dog’s diet, the healthier they will be. From this simple desire to help, I became vegan and so did Ruff – on the 6th May 2019. I remember the day vividly. I didn’t really know what I was doing and I knew nothing about veganism and I made so many mistakes…but the change in my life with everything that I have subsequently learnt has been dramatic. To start from ground zero and have SO much to prove to your family, your profession and yourself comes at such huge risk and I just could not get it wrong…especially for our little Ruff!
I feel that I am able to truly make a difference now with everything that I have learnt over the years, and continue to learn. I have now confidently helped thousands of owners get it right with their pets and with this comes my enormous positivity!
Arielle in 2018 with a passion for starting Slimming Pet Classes weighing and measuring little Ruff (how young he looks 4 years ago!)
I feel that together we are proof that this kind and sustainable way of feeding our pets is the way of the future. Together we have proved that there is no longer a need to kill anything to feed our pets – they can not only thrive, but actually be healthier without any fish, crustacean, bird, mammal or insect having to die to sustain them as plants do a better job at nourishing them (and us)! The impact that this has ethically and on our planet is remarkable and profound and it needs to give us all the hope we need for our future.
I fully respect that many of you who choose a vegan lifestyle do not support our monarchy and all that they represent (and I do apologise for my post in support of our late Queen if it offended any of you who work tirelessly as vegan activists); but as we usher in a new era with King Charles at the lead, I know that our environment will remain very high on his agenda.
So too do I have hope with our new Prime Minister Liz Truss. She turned herself vegetarian as a teenager in the 80’s according to her brother. With this knowledge, we can just hope that everything she felt in those early years of choosing a kinder way to eat will reflect in decisions that she now makes – surely she cannot forget her reasons for going vegetarian in the first place when it is needed now more than ever?
I will ride this wave of positivity, and continue to passionately promote plant-based feeding of our dogs. I thank all of you who have ever bought any of the foods or supplements that we sell, as all the money has been invested back into paying for this promotion!
I am so excited to have paid for and booked a stand at this year’s London Vet Show in November to promote vegan dog food to thousands of vets who are likely to attend. I am thrilled that I will not be the only one there! Vets Lucy McKinna from Noochy Poochy will have a stand, and Dr Guy Sandelowsky from Omni will have a stand too…and I will be giving a talk about plant-based dog nutrition – something that has never happened before at a Veterinary Show of this size!
I feel that all of us together can make that difference and the winds of change are definitely in our favour!
Don’t hesitate to take the first step. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the one’s you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails”
– Mark Twain
Study Of Twins Shows Benefits Of Plant-Based Diet
A ‘Groundbreaking’ Study Of Identical Twins Finds Benefits Of Plant-Based Diet And Same In Dogs!
We share the same gut microbiome as our dogs!
Dr Arielle speaks at Vegfest London about the similarities between us and our dogs on a plant-based diet in reducing inflammation and healing auto-immune conditions
London Vet Show Highs and Lows
I returned home emotionally drained, but also feeling so much more positive about the future of plant-based dog nutrition with the contacts that were made
