Category Archives: Competitions

Not Just Pets News! The Summer and more..

Well we have had a busy summer here at Not Just Pets with lots going on – I can’t believe it is four months since we updated this blog.

  

Sadly, early on in the summer we lost Ron Bond, our dear ‘Fish Man’ at our Frome shop to cancer. Ron was dearly loved by staff and customers and held a dear place in all our hearts. He had a unique ability to make people laugh and to make them feel special. You can find out a bit more about Ron here and read our eulogy to him, which was published in the Pet Business World: https://www.petbusinessworld.co.uk/news/feed/in-memory-of-ron-bond

   

So, the busy summer included the Olympics and the Jubilee and we had some glorious sunny days and wonderful events throughout. Our staff all got into the spirit of things and dressed the windows and even themselves to celebrate. We even had our own royal visitor!

    

We have lots of lovely new products and ranges instore, including the fabulous new PAWZ natural rubber dog boots – the world’s only disposable and reusable, waterproof dog boots! We have all sizes in stock to fit any dog so why not give them a go – we would love your feedback.

                      

 

Another great new product we have added is Nature’s Way dry dog food, which is a new, hypoallergenic, wheat- and gluten-free diet which is rich in meat, Omega 3 & 6 oils, prebiotics and joint aid supplements. We have Puppy, Chicken & Rice, Fish & Potato, Lamb & Rice and Mature/Light. If you care about your dog’s diet AND your pocket – you will love this new range of food, made by people who are passionate about dog nutrition, in the West Country. All the goodness of nature in one crunch!

    

 This week is RABBIT AWARENESS WEEK!

At our Bath store we are holding various educational events, including an instore day on Tuesday. We have a Bunny Hunt for the children, Name the Bunny competition, quizzes, goodie bags, samples and leaflets to give out. All our staff are friendly and knowledgeable and are happy to advise on all things rabbit – so come on in and have a chat about your bunny. We would love to see your pictures too – and we will make up a bunny photo gallery.

  

Get involved with Rabbit Awareness Week here.

You can follow us on Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets                        or on Twitter at:  @NotJustPets or simply email us at bathpets@aol.com or via our website at https://www.notjustpets.co.uk

 

 

Not Just Pets does National Pet Month – Three Fabulous Open Days in Bath and Frome ! Your Pets and You – a Winning Team

It came upon us so quickly and it has already gone! National Pet Month – what a great month – we had lots of fun with our Open Days and raised funds and awareness for some of our favourite animal charities. The theme was “Your Pets and You – a Winning Team” and I think we were able to demonstrate this is in so many ways, from learning to grooming to fun!

 

           

In Bath we had two open days, one at our Larkhall store and one at our bright new store in St James Parade in Bath. Our nominated charity was Bath Cats and Dogs Home and we managed to raise a grand total of £535.90 from our open days in raffle tickets and facepainting and cakes and Bath Cats and Dogs Home also took donations in their buckets on the day. We shall be handing over the cheque to them soon -watch this space for piccies.

There were lots of “winning teams” on show – from Lee and his ferrets, to all the children who talked about their pets during the handling sessions, to grooming advice, nutrition discussions, training and behaviour ideas and some simple ideas for just having fun with your pet.

Our thanks go to all who donated, worked, dressed up, supported, supplied a prize or simply came along on the day. Special thanks to Hungry Hector, Royal Canin, Amanda from ALF, Alice Ladkin (who donated a very special £75 voucher for our raffle for a pet portrait). Alice’s portraits are beautiful and the winner of that voucher is a delighted customer. Thanks too to those who dressed as Claverton, from Bath Cats and Dogs Home and for the costume – Claverton was a big hit.

       

In Frome we had a hugely successful day, partnered by Royal Canin and Greyhound Rescue West of England and Frome Cats Protection. Steph brought Boo, her European Eagle Owl and we had bunnies, ferrets, rats and hamsters all meeting the public on the day. The cakes were once again delicious (thank you Doreen, especially) and we had help and advice from Kathverena Groomers and Animal Healing and Donna the Dog Listener. Andrew Rowley from Woodborough Kennels brough Tia and Boston and showed us all what we can do  with our doggies with a little work. We raised £133.79 for each charity and the GRWE also took £179 on the day and the Cats Protection ladies took £252 on their table. So all in all, £698.58 raised on the day (amazing work!) and two homes also found for Greyhounds. Fabulous!

 We also had our colouring competition, won by 3-year old Olivia – she loved her big fluffy doggie prize – and our photo competition won by Stuart Peard and his gorgeous doggies Nanuq and Lilka.

We cannot thank our suppliers and supporters enough for the donations of prizes and for attending on the day or sending colouring sheets or baking.. We appreciate all the help we are given to make this month a successful one.

Our aim was to show how you and your pets are a winning team and to promote responsible pet ownership and raise awareness and funds for local charities. I think everyone did a pretty good job! Thankyou!

You can follow us on Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/NotJustPets                        or on Twitter at:  @NotJustPets or simply email us at bathpets@aol.com or via our website at https://www.notjustpets.co.uk

 

Not Just Pets will be holding three more Fabulous Open Days in National Pet Month 7 April – 7 May

This year’s National Pet Month theme is “Your Pets and You: A Winning Team” and we shall be holding three special Open Days at our Bath and Frome stores to celebrate with National Pet Month and help to promote responsible pet ownership too. 

On April 14th, from 10 am to 4pm  we have our first Open Day for National Pet Month at our Larkhall store – and our special guest will be Howard Grove, Bath’s very own Dog Whisperer. So – book in early to ask him some behavioural questions and bring your doggie along to meet him. We shall have a raffle on the day with proceeds going to Bath Cats an Dogs Home. The DOCTOR is in – in the afternoon we have Murray from Ashman Jones Veterinary Clinic joining us giving advice on all things pet. We will have homemade cakes, face painting, animal handling (including Lee’s own lovely ferrets and Anny’s rats and hamsters), colouring competitions, nutrition advice from dog and cat experts and more! Come along and join in the fun!

On April 21st we will be holding a similar Open Day at our Frome shop – and this time you can meet Boo, our European Eagle Owl plus lots more lovely animals to see and handle. The Cats Protection ladies will be there with their wonderful stall and we will also have doggies from Greyhound Rescue West of England with us – plus nutrition experts on hand to help with your dog and cat dietary questions. Kathverena Groomers will be doing pet claw clipping – £1 a paw and Donna the Dog Listener will be with us too! There will be face painting, a raffle, competitions, cakes and all the staff will be dressed as animals. There will be offers and freebies on the day – so why not pop along and enjoy the fun?

   

On Saturday April 28th  there will be lots of fun for all the family in our Bath store including: face painting, animal and reptile handling,  a HUGE raffle in aid of Bath Cats and Dogs Home with some fabulous prizes AND Claverton the mascot dog attending,  a Hungry Hector stall plus Hector himself, homemade cakes for sale, dog ICED TREATS on offer, a special promotion on frozen dog food, nutrition experts on hand from Royal Canin, grooming offers and advice, colouring competitions, ‘guess the neons in the tank’ competition, a dog training display and more. The staff will be dressed as their favourite animals – but you don’t have to (unless you want to!) Come along, enjoy the fun, meet lots of fabulous animals and find out all you need to know to keep your pet happy and healthy so that YOU make a winning team.

If you haven’t been in already this will be a chance to pop in and see our bright new Bath store – pictured above – with new small animals, new food and accessory ranges and a lovely new reptile room.

All the details will be on the National Pet Month site at https://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk and we will keep you updated via our Facebook and Twitter pages – so why not follow us to find out all our latest news? We will be posting a photo competition during National Pet Month on our Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Notjustpets-Pet-Shops-in-Bath-Frome/103981576322758

or follow us on Twitter at @NotJustPets https://twitter.com/#!/NotJustPets

You can also email us at bathpets@aol.com or telephone on 01225 461461/461478

..and the winner is…

We are delighted to announce the winner of our pet photo competition which was entitled “they’re not just pets, they’re family” 

This is Riley who lives with @JoJoCoombe who sent this lovely picture to us via Twitter. This was a really tough competition to judge with some lovely pictures and it is great to see our customers really treating their pets as part of their family. Our independent judge thought that this one encapsulated the title of the competition perfectly – and Riley is most definitely part of the Coombe’s family.

Riley is the Coombe’s Bernese Mountain Dog – he’s only 9 months old and Jo says “he is a gentle giant that enjoys cuddles and paddling in the river”. His prize will be winging its way today to him.

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition and for spreading the word that “they’re not just pets, they’re family” which is our Company motto. Here is a gallery of photos for you all to enjoy.

 

Don’t forget to “like” our NotJustPets page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @NotJustPets.

A busy week at NotJustPets! The weekly blog

Hello everyone!

Take a look at the picture gallery from our competition  “they’re not just pets, they’re family”. Which is your favourite so far? The competition is going well but we still need those pet pics – send in your pictures to show us how your pet fits into your family and the winner will receive a prize for their pet.

                               

It’s been a busy week at NotJustPets this week – starting with Anny taking some special small furry creatures off to Warminster to show youngsters at a holiday club how to look after these small animals.  We offer a service to local clubs and schools – either come in and see us for a tour and educational talk or we will come to you and bring some animals for the children to handle and ask questions about. We provide free literature according to the age group and we have had some fabulous feedback and some lovely letters and pictures from the children. Just call 01225 461478 and ask Anny for more details.

The children Anny visited aged from 5-14yrs and Anny was asked some wonderful questions like “what is the meanest pet you can keep that lives in water?” and “what does the biggest snake in the world eat and what is that snake called?” The children decided a terrapin might be the meanest underwater pet, although another customer suggested a piranha (which we do sell!) To answer the snake question, the Python reticulatus is the longest and can grow up to 30ft long, although it isn’t the heaviest and they eat mammals and birds but as they are non-venomous they are not really a threat to humans.  

Whilst we do sell pythons in our pet shops, we mainly sell corn snakes and milk snakes and we have a pet albino Corn Snake called Colin (see picture). Colin is very curious and once threaded himself through my trouser belt loops to see what was around the other side! What a fashion accessory! We keep all the skins that Colin sheds to map his growth and to educate customers when they ask questions about him – the picture below shows an old shed from about two years ago which we were showing children at the Frome Cheese Show. We are not entirely sure how old Colin is, but think he is in his mid-teens and he is around 6′ long now.

    

If you need help with your snake set-up just let us know – we stock a good range of vivariums, accessories and frozen food as well as free caresheets and some good books in store.

We have been busy with our holiday animals this week – and we have been asked to board everything from tortoises to cockatiels. Whether you have a pet reptile, small furry or bird you may want to have someone look after it while you are away on holiday. At our Bath store we can offer your pet a holiday too! We can look after rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, birds and reptiles for a small daily fee – so you can go away knowing your pet is in the best possible hands. If you are interested, contact us via the website or by email or call on 01225 461461.  We get busy in peak season, so book early to avoid disappointment.

We have some great offers coming into the stores next week including a lovely 6′ rabbit hutch with a run attached to house our gorgeous bunnies on sale at the moment. The harlequin rabbits have wonderful colours but they need lots of room – so these will be on sale from Monday at £199.99 including bunny (or a pair of bunnies from the Frome shop) – that’s if these gorgeous cuties don’t sell over the weekend! We still have Cinnamon and Nutmeg too (end pic on right) – they really need a home now and they are gorgeous!

         

We also have a Nutrition Day on Saturday 6th August with some fabulous offers on Royal Canin cat food. Trevor from Royal Canin will be in store to answer all your nutrition questions and there will be some huge discounts on cat food. So come on down next Saturday 6th August and join us!

Don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook at NotJustPets, follow us on Twitter @NotJustPets and add any comments below. We’d love to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to read our blog! Have a great week!