Essentially EMMETT

02/04/2026

Great to see this new course… and the ripple effect of supporting more dogs 💙✨

College of Bowen Studies

We have been promising you, it's what you've all been waiting for ... and it is finally on it's way! A brand new Canine Bowen course is launching soon! 🤩

You can trust that your four legged friends will be safe in the hands of these three professionals, whilst you learn this incredible technique in a relaxed animal-centred, learning space.

Meet your Tutors:
Jules Wilson -Human and Canine Bowen Therapist and UK Instructor for John Garfield AMT
Phoebe Davies - Veterinary Surgeon and Acupuncturist, Human and Canine Bowen practitioner
Hannah Sutton - Human and Canine Bowen Practitioner and Canine Behaviourist

The information, knowledge, skills and support will potentially be life changing for the dogs you will come into contact with.

Express your interest by commenting below!

08/03/2026

BIG NEWS!

WE’RE OPEN! 🎉

Thank you so much for your patience over the past few days. We’re so excited to share that our new Peterculter premises is ready!

We can’t wait to welcome you through the doors from Monday.

Please note - our car park is not quite ready yet so please bear with us while this is completed.

08/03/2026

Endo, an Appaloosa gelding from Corvallis, Oregon, was a remarkable horse known worldwide as “Endo the Blind.” Adopted by his owner Morgan Wagner as a young horse, he developed an extraordinary bond with her, learning to navigate and perform despite losing his sight. Endo became completely blind after suffering from a painful eye condition called Equine Recurrent Uveitis, which eventually required the removal of both eyes. With patience, training, and the guidance of a miniature companion horse, he adapted to life without vision, learning to move confidently and trust his surroundings.

Remarkably, Endo achieved three Guinness World Records: highest free jump by a blind horse, most flying changes in one minute, and fastest time to weave through five poles. Beyond his accomplishments, Endo was known for his playful, spirited personality and became an inspiration to horse lovers and the broader public, proving that disability does not define capability. He passed away at the age of 26, leaving behind a legacy of courage, perseverance, and the extraordinary bond between horse and human .morgan 🐎💔

13/02/2026

09/02/2026

She Isn’t Hunting Spiders. She’s Eating Your House. 🧱🐦
You hear a persistent tap-tap-tapping on your exterior wall. You spot a small, bright Blue Tit pecking away at the mortar between your bricks. Your first thought: “She’s just looking for insects.”

You’re wrong.

She is engaging in Lithophagy—the consumption of stone. This bird is literally mining your home for minerals because the natural world around her has run out.

The Science of the “Wall-Eater”
1. The Calcium Crisis (The Biology of Egg-Laying) 🧮
A female Blue Tit is on the verge of laying a clutch of 10–12 eggs.

Each eggshell is composed almost entirely of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO₃).

Producing a single shell requires roughly 100mg of calcium.

Her natural diet of seeds and caterpillars provides less than 5mg of calcium per day.

She is operating at a 95% deficit. If she cannot close this gap, she physically cannot lay her eggs.

2. The “Mortar Mine” (A Question of Availability) ⛏️
In a healthy forest ecosystem, she would consume hundreds of tiny snail shells for their calcium.

But in a typical, tidy UK garden in late winter/early spring, snails are hibernating, scarce, or have been eliminated by pesticides.

So, she turns to the next-best available source: the mortar in your walls.

Older UK homes often use lime-based mortar, which is rich in calcium and soft enough to crumble.

She isn’t sharpening her beak. She is swallowing mineral particles, which will dissolve in her acidic stomach (proventriculus) and be repurposed to form her eggshells.

3. The Dual Purpose: Grit as a Tool 🪨
This behavior serves a second, critical function. Birds lack teeth.

To grind food in their muscular gizzard, they swallow small stones called Gastroliths.

Pecking at the wall provides both the chemical calcium for reproduction and the mechanical grit necessary for digestion.

Without this, she risks hypocalcemia (leading to soft, unviable eggs) and inefficient digestion.

The Verdict
If a bird is eating your wall, she is acting out of desperation. Do not chase her away. Instead, provide her with a better, more convenient source.

Offer a “Birdie Mineral Buffet”:
Baked, Crushed Eggshells: Sterilize by baking, then crush into small pieces.

Oyster Shell Grit: Widely sold for poultry.

Cuttlefish Bone: Scrape it into a powder or offer small chunks.

Place a small pile in a bird feeder or on a table. She will almost immediately abandon your mortar once she discovers this pure, easy source.

Quick FAQ
Q: Will this actually damage my house?
A: Structural damage is highly unlikely. She is collecting mere grams of surface material. Unless your mortar is already severely degraded and sandy, her activity won’t cause failure. She’s essentially just scavenging loose particles.

Q: Why is she pecking at my window putty?
A: It’s the recipe. Traditional linseed oil putty contains chalk (calcium) and linseed oil (fat). To a nutrient-starved bird, this combination is like a “Calcium Energy Bar.” Modern silicone-based putties don’t offer the same appeal and are generally ignored.

Q: Can I use grit sold for pet birds?
A: Yes, but check the type carefully. There are two kinds:

Insoluble Grit: Like flint or granite. Used only for grinding food in the gizzard.

Soluble Grit: Like oyster shell, limestone, or cuttlebone. This provides essential calcium.
For a laying female, soluble grit is what she critically needs.

27/01/2026

Medical Detection Dogs are truly remarkable ❤️