Barking Rad

Barking Rad Alfie!

This is Alfie. In his usual position: sitting in the front window barking at passers-by and making it clear to all and sundry that if they dare to approach the house he will lick them to death.
Alfie looks cute, but he isn’t. Left to his own devices he causes such a kerfuffle that my silly neighbour recently saw fit to serve me with a noise abatement order. Which I have duly ignored because the council told me to, and we all agree that despite Alfie sobbing like a baby when I dare to leave the house for no more than an hour or so a day (I take him to my Dad’s if I will foreseeably be any longer), I have to leave the house regardless and dogs are dogs and neighbours who inform you that sad dogs and next door’s sex life give her a migraine, probably just need to get a life.
But I digress. Because I am bonkers crazy cross about my neighbour and bonkers crazy in love with my silly dog regardless and though I draw the line at calling him my fur-baby, I simply cannot express how very much I appreciate his silly doggy ways and indeed want to spoil him absolutely rotten.

Which is where Barking Rad comes in. Barking Rad is a monthly subscription service for dogs: delivering hand-made British toys and treats to little woofers across the land, and this month Alfie and I  were lucky enough to take receipt of one of these happy little boxes and I am not quite sure who was the most delighted!
The very notion of monthly subscription boxes is so very BrocanteHome, because it combines routine delivery with the kind of gloriously giddy celebration only receiving a parcel in the post can bring. While I routinely throw in a little something into my basket for Alfie when I am perusing the aisles of TK Maxx, there is no sense of occasion to my purchases and I do believe that a sense of occasion is a blessing in all manner of things!
Opening the box was such fun: Alfie can smell food from about three miles away and was already demented with excitement when I sat down with him to see what kind of doggy delights were inside..

Namely: a doggy donut from Arton and Co.

A bottle of chicken flavour Barkers Brew… which I had to talk my Dad out of tasting.

A tiny tub of Skin and paw salve – which was invaluable when my silly mutt bashed a bee and was promptly stung for his troubles – and a really rather fabulous moustache shaped corduroy toy he immediately stuffed under the sofa for safe keeping…

Oooh and finally… a bag of Sunday Roast treats I would have showed you but unfortunately Alfie snaffled the lot in one go when I nipped off to open the door. So they must have been good and here is said dog trying and rather dramatically failing to hide the evidence!
The whole experience was fun for both me and for Alfie. It felt good to be supporting doggy artisans and British independant industry and I love it that Barking Rad are committed to helping re-home dogs not quite as fortunate as Alfie as part of their business model.
Subscription boxes are such excellent fun because they deliver all that we probably couldn’t source locally ourselves and in the process introduce us to new favourites. I know for sure Alfie could oh so quickly develop a rather happy addiction to Barkers Brew and I could very definitely develop an addiction to monthly boxes full of  safe, doggy-friendly goodness.
Now if only I could do something about my nutty neighbour too!