About Us

Happy Dog Tips started the way most useful things do — out of frustration. I'd spent years answering the same questions across the consulting room table, at the grooming bench, and over the garden fence with neighbours who'd just brought a puppy home, and I kept thinking: why isn't this written down somewhere sensible? Not the breathless, sponsored kind of advice that tells you every dog needs a £40 supplement, and not the vague reassurance that everything will be fine. Just the plain, practical detail that helps you get a dog comfortably through a long life.

Who I Am

I'm Fiona Ellis, and I write this site from a stone cottage outside Callander, in the Trossachs, with a twelve-year-old collie called Skye asleep by the stove and a rescue collie cross called Tam usually causing some quiet mischief nearby. I was a Registered Veterinary Nurse for nineteen years in a mixed practice in central Scotland — small animals and farm work both — and I've done home boarding and grooming for six years on top of that. Add it up with the dogs I've lived alongside since childhood and it comes to thirty-five years of doing this, badly at first, better now.

I left clinical practice in 2016, and I say that plainly because veterinary medicine has moved on since, and it keeps moving. So every health post on this site tells you clearly what's worth watching and what means ringing your vet today — but I don't diagnose, I don't prescribe, and nothing here replaces an actual conversation with the person who can put hands on your dog. I still ring my own vet regularly, nineteen years of training or not.

What This Site Is For

Happy Dog Tips covers the day-to-day work of keeping a dog well across a whole lifetime — grooming, feeding, health awareness, sensible kit, enrichment, exercise, and the practicalities that nobody quite prepares you for, especially the senior years. If you've ever stood in a vet's car park googling whether a symptom can wait until Monday, this site is written for that exact moment.

One thing you won't find here is training advice. Behaviour and obedience are a separate discipline, done properly by qualified trainers who can actually watch your dog work, and I'd rather send you to the right person than pretend I am one.

How I Write

I write everything in first person, because it's me — not a team of ghostwriters, not AI-generated filler dressed up with a stock photo. Every article reflects what I've actually seen, whether that's in a consulting room, on the grooming table, or on my own kitchen floor at 2am with a dog who's decided that's the moment for a health crisis. I try to be honest about grey areas — dog care is full of them — while still being clear about the moments that genuinely need urgent attention.

You can read more about how I research and fact-check on the Editorial Policy page, which sets out the standard every post is held to before it goes live.

Being Upfront

This site occasionally links to products I've actually used or would recommend to a client, and some of those links earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That's covered properly on the Disclosure page, and I'd rather over-explain it than leave anyone wondering. I also take privacy seriously, both mine and yours — details on how information is handled are on the Privacy Policy page.

What Success Looks Like Here

I don't measure this site by page views. I measure it by the message that says a reader caught something early because a post described exactly what to watch for, or the one that says they finally felt confident trimming their own dog's nails, or brushing out a matted coat without a fight. That's the whole point — practical confidence, not anxiety, and not false reassurance either.

• Straightforward grooming guidance, from everyday brushing to dealing with mats and shedding seasons
• Feeding advice grounded in what actually matters, not fad ingredients
• Health awareness posts that say plainly what waits and what means going now
• Honest thoughts on kit, bedding, and the small things that make a dog's life more comfortable
• Support through the senior years, which is where most sites go quiet and this one doesn't

Get In Touch

If you've got a question, a correction, or just want to tell me about your own dog — and I do enjoy hearing about them — the Contact page has the details, or you can email me directly at [email protected]. I read everything that comes in myself, and I'll always tell you if something's outside what I can advise on.

Thank you for reading, and for taking the sort of care that brought you to a site like this in the first place. Your dog is lucky to have you asking the questions.