Long Overdue Update!

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't posted since the New Year, things have been quite hectic here! The reason for this, is I managed to get a new job! I start on Monday and I'm thrilled to bits that I'll actually be working close to home, with some really nice people. So I've been rushing around lately going to interviews and buying new work clothes, and consequently haven't had the time to update the blog at all. I am just happy that I'll now be able to get back into my usual routine and it also means that I'll be able to continue to afford to feed Gerry his vegan food :)

Talking of dog food, I ordered Gerry a new treat today. Now it's not strictly "vegan" and I don't know what other vegans will think about this - it is a dog chew made from Stag Antler. The difference with this animal product is that it is naturally shed and a sustainable resource. No deer were hurt in the process, and the chews last a long time and are good for dogs, providing them with lots of necessary vitamins and minerals. The company also makes sure that all their packaging is environmentally friendly and recyclable. I decided to order one because Gerry loves his chews and the vegetable-based or rice-based chews I've bought him in the past are gone in a matter of seconds, and I need something to keep him occupied when I'm away from home and that will last him a good while. He has a plastic bone with vegetable paste inside which lasts a long time, but sometimes I do worry about him swallowing little bits of plastic. These antler chews are 100% natural, beneficial nutritionally, help to clean the teeth, are ethically produced and are not harmful to any animals in the process.

I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this. I have no idea how these deer are kept. If I found out that they were not roaming free in an estate or parkland, and discovered they were intensely farmed or mistreated in any way, then I would stop buying them immediately. Does anyone have any insight into this?

















Gerry recovered well from his fractured paw. He was actually very well behaved during his 6 weeks house arrest - as if he knew exactly why he wasn't allowed out. He went through a pretty terrible time, poor thing. The bandage on his leg rubbed the skin and he got a few pressure sores and the skin started peeling off, which meant the bandage had to be removed, slowing down the healing time for the fracture. He's still being eased into exercise now (I think he overdid it a little today on a walk with a Sighthound Stroll friend and ended up limping a little) but he's doing well and his sores have nearly completely healed over.

In other news, I got a tattoo on my foot recently. I was planning on getting the other one done, but after the way my foot reacted to it I think I'll be leaving it for quite a while - I could not walk for about a week! It really swelled up and it was so painful. My tattooist Joe didn't do it this time, but my friend Anto, their apprentice, did an amazing job and used the same Eternal vegan ink as Joe uses. Here's the result, neat huh!

I also got my septum pierced. I've missed my nose piercing for the last few years. I only really took it out because of my work, but with a septum piercing you can tuck it up and hide it away inside your nose whenever you want. So that is what I shall do! It's very subtle, as it's only a small horseshoe and not a full ring. You can just about see it in this photograph.

And now for some lovely pictures I've taken recently:

And some yummy vegan food I had over the Christmas / New Year:

Homemade apple cinnamon crumble with nuts on top and vegan custard.

Black Bean, Apple & Soya Mince Chilli, which was really very good.

Christmas Dinner at my dad's with the Mulberry Bush's homemade nut and mushroom roast, with a wonderful sauce made with morello cherries and red wine, accompanied by sprouts and chestnuts, with maple roasted root vegetables. Mmmm!

My second Christmas dinner at home with the boyfriend consisted of orange and cranberry stuffing balls, root vegetable roasts (with yummy peanuts) from Goodlife, maple roasted root veg, sprouts and copious amounts of cranberry sauce and thick, delicious vegan gravy. Well worth waiting for!!

A chickpea tagine made with spicy sundried tomato and cinnamon sauce from Tesco, accompanied by some of Tesco's own Mediterranean Cous Cous. A quick and simple meal which tasted lovely!

So I'll update again soon and let you know how my new job is going. The words "Occasional Friday Pizza" and "Night at the Dogs" have already been thrown at me even at the interview stage, so we'll have to see how I cope with that! There will be no way I'm going to the greyhound stadium, so maybe when people ask why I can use it as an opportunity to educate them on sighthound welfare. As for the pizza, I'm sure I'll be able to order in something without cheese and educate a few more people about veganism when they give me some funny looks!

Bóthar Disgraced

The Irish charity, Bóthar, raises money in order to send pigs, cows, goats, sheep and hens out to developing countries to provide poverty stricken families with the means to solve their problems. The animals will provide milk and eggs to these people, and even though I disagree with any kind of animal farming, this, I think, is the most applaudable type, where an animal is sent to someone who will really look after it and value it and it will be given a longer, happier life than the average farm animal.

However.............................. read on.

Bóthar have always insisted that animal welfare is a great concern of theirs and that vets check their animals when they arrive to the families and that they are checked regularly to ensure that they are being looked after properly...

So, how shocked are we to discover that Bóthar is planning to raise money at the expense of cruelty to other animals? Yes, believe it or not, they are holding a FUNDRAISER at the GREYHOUND STADIUM in Cork!! How unbelieveable is it, that an organisation that has assured concerned vegans that animal welfare is a prime consideration of theirs, is raising money at the expense of exploiting innocent animals?

Are they not aware that thousands of greyhounds are put to sleep each year because they don't make the grade to be able to race? Even if they do make it to the race track they are often kept in squalid conditions as their owners don't care about their welfare. And when they retire from racing they are usually surrendered to pounds or found dead with mutilated ears to disguise their ID.

Join their facebook page and leave a comment about how you disagree with what they are doing! I can't even explain how disgusted I am. And I know a lot of people who supported Bóthar who will now have nothing to do with them. Really, I hope they will back-track and issue a public apology, as this cannot be tolerated.

Injured Pup!

I'm not sure if any of you know, but Gerry hurt his paw about a week ago and has been bandaged up and not allowed to exercise since. He is currently spending the night at the vet's and will be x-rayed tomorrow to see what the problem is. My boyfriend was out walking him and he ran down to the trees by the river and came back limping. The weird thing is that he wasn't crying at all - he's hurt his paw temporarily before and has uttered screams I've never wanted to witness again for the rest of my life, yet has been fine 2 minutes later after a cuddle and a treat! This time however, there was no indication of the cause of the problem. Tomorrow we will find out what exactly has gone wrong. He's been putting a bit more weight on it lately, but it's still swollen and sore. Not a great time for it to occur really, as soon as I've been made redundant! Luckily the insurance will cover most of it so I'll get my money back.

I've been treating him a lot since he has been poorly. I feel sorry for him being on house arrest. The only time he's been let outside in the last week is to do his business. He's been exceptionally good though, minimal complaining. It's as if he knows he's injured. When we've had falafels I've made him his own little portion. And when we had stewed spiced nutty apples he had his own doggie version without spices or sugar. He's also had a few puff pastry treats! The vegan kibble seems to be going down really well - no upset stomachs, no excessive pooing, very healthy coat... and he really looks forward to meal times! I have to monitor what he eats at the moment because he's getting no exercise. He seems to be adapting well though and it helps that I'm around for him most of the time.

I'll update soon regarding the status of his injury. I think it's either a dislocation or a fracture... fingers and paws crossed it's not broken! Here he is with his funny squeaky-fries toy! Apparently his two girlfriends (YES TWO!) have bought him a present, so next week he will have his first visitors he's had in a while and I'm sure he will be delighted! :)

Remember Logan?

Do you remember Stretch? The little lurcher I rescued?

Well here are some more recent photos! He is now called Logan (Logi for short) and was transported from the rescue centre last month over to the UK by Erin Hounds. He was fostered by a lovely girl who I befriended on Facebook and who posted up these beautiful pictures of him. He looks so much better now and is really coming out of his shell, wanting to play with toys and always running over for a cuddle.

Logi is still looking for his forever home and a soft couch to sleep on and call his own... so if you would like to adopt him or know of someone who's looking for a new friend to share their home with, then get in touch with Erin Hounds today - his rescue information and more photos can be found here.

And So It Begins Again...

Hi Everyone! So good to be back...

I had a wonderful time in Wales, full of gorgeous vegan food as always.

First stop was the Mulberry Bush - the little organic shop and vegetarian/vegan café in Lampeter. I didn't actually manage to take a photo of my food as it totally slipped my mind when we wandered upstairs and bumped into an old friend. I had the vegan dish of the day which was a creamy mushroom pie, accompanied by some very tasty beetroot, carrot and broccoli salads. My father opted for the vegetarian quiche, spicy potato wedges and a salad.

We did a bit of shopping afterwards, as my father hadn't got any supplies in, so I got some gorgeous Sojade blueberry yogurt from the shop downstairs and then went across to Sainsbury's to stock up on tomatoes, cucumber, bread, and some Good Life nut cutlets. These cutlets were extremely good, I'd really like to sample more in their range. I have discovered they are available in the Health Store at the Square in Tallaght so I'll definitely be buying some again in the near future. We cooked the cutlets in dad's halogen oven (the wonder-oven!!) and topped them last minute with some cherry tomatoes and Cheezly vegan cheddar cheese, and ate them with dad's homegrown parsley and vegan butter-covered baby "charlotte" potatoes, baby broad beans and peas. Perfect!

Another meal I ate while at home was a mixed salad with two savoury vegan pastries we picked up at the farmer's market in Aberystwyth. This stall, run by a company called Parsnip Ship, was the only one to label its food as vegan. I think there were about 4 different things I could have chosen from, but I decided to bring home the mini Thai butternut squash pie, and a type of Indian bhaji that contained beans and many different grated vegetables. They were both really good and I shared them with my dad who loved them too. I'd definitely go back and get more on my next visit!

While in Aberystwyth we also popped into Lidl and I found that they now sell bags of vegetable crisps and a lentil soup which is labelled as suitable for vegans. I bought this soup but didn't get around to eating it, so I'm going to purchase a tin in Dublin and will let you know what it's like. Other snacks I picked up were some maple syrup roasted cashews, macadamias and almonds... WOW. These were fabulous! A really good find for vegans as they're quite like honey roast nuts but even nicer, and totally guilt-free! The cracked black pepper and salted cashews and macadamias in the picture were nice as well, but I have a sweet tooth so definitely preferred the maple ones. After shopping we stopped for a well earned drink at a café where they sold Teapigs products where I had one of the nicest chai soya lattes I've ever tasted, so I decided to buy a box to take home. My dad had never tried chai before as he doesn't drink tea, but he says he's going to order one next time he's at the Mecca. I seem to have got several people into chai over the last year or so, but wasn't expecting to convert a seasoned tea-hater into a chai-lover! The café also sold mint and vanilla versions, which I haven't heard of before, although I think it may just be a regular chai with a dash of flavoured extract or syrup added to the mix.

One of the evenings, one of my father's friends invited us over for a meal. I was seriously impressed at the lengths she went to, seeing as I think she finds it difficult to understand what I can/can't eat! We had a large mushroom stuffed with hummus, topped with crispy breadcrumbs, encircled with cherry tomatoes. The main was a version of Glamorgan Sausages, a well-known traditional Welsh dish. These sausages were wrapped in pastry and made with vegan cheese, breadcrumbs, leeks, herbs and spices. I must get the recipe and post it here, as they were delish!! My father loved them too, but the other non-vegans weren't too impressed. Dessert was a sweet gooseberry crumble, made with fruit from the gardens at local National Trust property, Llanerchaeron, where our friend is a volunteer. I never used to be keen on gooseberries from our garden as a child, but then again when I was younger I didn't like cooked fruit very much on the whole... this time though, I could have eaten it until I popped!

After eating such wonderful homecooked meals I was very disappointed with the one restaurant we did go to. I was expecting great things of the Belle Vue, seeing as this pub/restaurant caters for vegans on request. One of my father's colleagues is a vegan and eats there regularly, so imagine my shock when I received the most dry, bland and inedible dish imaginable. This "maize cake", as it was called (although it looked and tasted more like a lump of clay to me), was so dense and stodgy with no flavour to it whatsoever. It came on a bed of buckwheat (which is also quite dry, so you can imagine these two combined was not at all good) accompanied with roasted peppers, garlic, onions, tomatoes and olives. There was no sauce to moisten it at all, and when offered sauce I was only given the choice of mustard, ketchup or brown sauce! I'd have been happy with just a larger portion of the buckwheat and the vegetables, to be honest, and I left pretty much all of the maize cake, so I hope the chef got my point!! I very rarely like to make a fuss and complain about something when someone else is paying, but in hindsight I really should have said something, especially as my father and other people who tried it also thought it was rather disgusting. I was very glad that I managed to eat quite a bit of the starter - shared platters of crusty bread, olives, pickles, hummus and balsamic syrup. This was the meal's only saving grace! I certainly won't be asking to go back to the Belle Vue ever again, not just because of the food, but because service was terribly slow as well. Everyone else ordered meat and seemed to like their dishes, but there seemed to be a bit too much mashed potato heaped onto the plates. Everyone else's food came with some sort of lovely looking sauce, so it was quite annoying that mine came with nothing. Even a plain tomatoey sauce would have been very welcome.

It's a real shame when you go out somewhere and have a disappointing meal which cost quite a bit, then go somewhere else the next day and hardly pay anything for a huge plate of delicious vegan food. We went to the Royal Welsh Show during my visit, and I immediately spotted an Indian Cuisine stall selling lots of vegan/vegetarian options. For £8.50 dad and I shared a huge mixed platter of vegetable curry, lentil curry, onion bhaji, pilau rice, and naan bread (which he ate as I wasn't sure what was in it). We were so stuffed! It was such a good find. I suppose the Royal Welsh isn't a very typical place for a vegan to visit, seeing as it's an agricultural show and you're surrounded by meat and cheese from local farms, farmers showing their livestock in the ring and row upon row of stalls promoting dairy products and cattle feed supplements. I'm not sure why, but this doesn't really bother me at all. I guess it bothers me a bit that the money you spend on the entrance fee goes to the NFU, but then again not all farmers are dairy and animal farmers, so I try to put it to the back of my mind. Going to the Royal Welsh has been a family tradition since I was small and I wanted to go there and experience it again. The main reason also being to take photographs of the event. It was very enjoyable walking around the flower and vegetable tents, watching the Section D stallions in the main ring, talking to the people at the Greyhound Rescue Wales stall, sampling the world's first organic whiskey made by Da Mhile, tasting the Co-op's new Moroccan chickpea hummus, eating some yummy fresh cherries, meeting some cute otters, and wandering around various wildlife conservation and alternative energy tents and stalls. We were lucky with the weather and it didn't rain too badly, although there was still quite a bit of mud!

So I had a very enjoyable time. Gerry was ecstatic to see me when I returned, bounding all over the place. My dad got him a present - a ball that makes about 20 different zoo animal noises - so it was hilarious watching his reactions to it. I was also quite shocked to see that he'd put on a bit of weight, seeing as my boyfriend (who couldn't make it to Wales this time as he couldn't get time off work) is afraid to let him off the lead in case he doesn't come back to him, so he hadn't been burning off much energy. I've had to put him on a little diet, with restricted treats, and am going to take him on extra long walks to places where he can start running with other dogs again! Poor little Gerry!!

Since being back, I've been researching starting my own photography business, which I'm extremely excited about. There will be more news to come on that when I've actually got the ball rolling. On my return I also did a big food shop and have discovered that Tesco are selling Innocent's new Veg Pots half price, at only €1.99 each. I bought five of them and shall review them in my next blog post. All of them are labelled vegan and look like they are going to be really good - a brilliant idea for a healthy, quick, work lunch. I don't think I'd pay full price for them though... well I suppose it depends on how much I like them. Watch this space! :)

I'll leave you with a few random photos from my visit.

Fun in the Sun!

Hi Everyone!

As always, apologies that things have been so quiet here at Velovegan. The weather is just too nice to be inside blogging. Gerry and I have been out on walkies in the sun and I have a new macro lens for my camera, so we've been wandering around exploring the local countryside. Gerry has also been terrorizing the neighbourhood, stealing bread rolls from families out on picnics and knocking small children over in excitement... I didn't know whether to laugh or be mortified!!! I guess dogs are there to embarrass you occasionally, just like children! Gerry's skin condition is getting much better, he really is on the mend now, and we went on an organised walk for Sighthounds up at the Hellfire Club in the Dublin mountains the other day which was amazingly good fun and made lots of new friends.

Here are a few photos I've taken recently:

That's Gerry's new girlfriend Stig, who belongs to my friend Jeni :)

I've not really been doing much cooking recently, although we did make the Cottage Pie again yesterday, but added some sweet potato to the topping as well, which was delicious. I also went to my boyfriend's sister's house over the weekend, who gave me some lovely homemade vegan soup and some roasted vegetable cous cous.

The only place I've eaten out at lately is Cornucopia - here's a photo of what I got: Delicious stuffed aubergine, spicy mash and lots of different salads. YUM!

Hope everyone's having a lovely time in this nice weather! :-)

Sickly Pupsickle

I'm really excited for the week to come. My father is coming to visit from Wales on Saturday and I literally can't wait to see him. I don't think I've seen him since May of last year, seeing as my visit at Christmas fell through because of the terrible snow and ice. I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with him, eating good food, strolling in the evening sun with Gerry (the weather has been fantastic through the whole of March in Ireland, for once!), and visiting lots of galleries and some new sites he's never seen before. I'll be taking my camera with me everywhere so I'll definitely have a few pics and stories to share about vegan eats and treats!

We'll also be visiting Dublin Flea Market. Some friends and I are thinking about getting a stall there next month - I will be flogging some vintage jewellery and clothes, while they will be selling their artwork, zines and papercraft items. It will be a really fun venture and will give us a bit of extra money on the side.

In other news, I took Gerry to the vet as he has been experiencing hair loss on the back of his legs since January. I hadn't taken him any sooner as I thought it may have been natural shedding, or something known as "Bald Thigh Syndrome" that greyhounds are prone to getting, for no particular reason. Also, as he didn't seem irritated by it in the slightest I didn't really see the urgency. Anyway, yesterday I trotted him over to the vet to get it checked, as it's been getting a bit worse lately and I wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious. Gerry is always straining at the lead to go to the vet's because he can see all the doggies in the waiting room and wants to go in and say hello and have a good sniff around the food and toys they have for sale at reception. However, getting him into the surgery is a totally different matter! He refuses point blank to walk in, and I have to carry [all 21kgs of] his big, gangly body into the surgery and up onto the table. What a scaredy-pup! Once he was in there he was grand though, he waited patiently while I talked to the vet and didn't whine or make a fuss when he was given an antibiotic injection. He is now on antibiotics for 2 weeks, as he seems to have a bit of a skin infection. They are hoping it's some sort of mite and that the antibiotics and application of a repellent spot-on called Advocate will get rid of it once and for all, and that it's not a skin condition that will need constant management or an allergy that we can't do anything about. I have to take him back in a fortnight to see how he's doing. If it hasn't cleared up they'll be taking him in for a skin test, but hopefully it won't come to that and we can just continue with the monthly application of the Advocate and see if he needs any more antibiotics or not. Poor little chap! Apart from this he's in amazing health though, enjoying the Springtime sunshine in the park, running around with his friends and lapping up the attention he attracts from everyone!

I am still trying to source vegan kibble for him. It's a nightmare. I've literally checked everywhere, and as nowhere in Ireland stocks any (apart from one place which is way too dear) it's either too expensive to get it shipped over from the UK, Europe or America, or they won't deliver here at all! I've emailed a few places to check that their ridiculously high shipping fees are correct, but I've yet to hear back from them. All I can do at the moment is feed him as high quality raw organic kibble as I can, and make sure all his other treats are vegan. He goes crazy over a kong filled with frozen mashed banana and apple chunks, and he adores his vegetable based chews and biscuits, as well as rice, broccoli and carrots, so he's definitely a healthy pup who doesn't get fed any junk :-)

***UPDATE***
I just got a lovely email from a staff member at Veggie Pets about ordering 30kgs of  V-Dog. She is going to find out exactly how much it is for me to send it to Ireland, and they can hopefully do it quite cheaply if I'm going to be a regular customer. I really do hope it's an option as £22 for a 15kg bag is very very good, and I would have no problem paying an extra £20 on top of that for shipping. Even if it costs me a total of the equivalent amount of euros that it would to get the Yarrah food from Zooplus, I still wouldn't mind as it would be 10kgs extra food than what Zooplus could give me. FINGERS CROSSED!

Here's a photo of the gorgeous Bianca over at Vegan Crunk, and her vegan dog Datsun who is a most handsome ambassador for V-dog. Hope you don't mind me stealing this pic from your blog, Bianca!

Greyhounds to China Protest

Today I attended a demonstration in Dublin city centre, to protest against the Irish Greyhound Board exporting greyhounds over to China for racing. There are no welfare policies for animals in China, so you can imagine what an awful life our Irish dogs will lead during their racing careers - not to mention what will happen to them afterwards.

It was a really decent turn out, and some people even brought their dogs along with them. Not only was it great to attend and show my support, but I even met some really nice, interesting people. I met up with lovely fellow vegan and lurcher lover, Cat, whom I've met through this blog and also managed to exchange details with a girl who lives not too far from me who owns a greyhound, so that we can organise some doggie meet-ups.

Here are some photos from today's protest. I'd really appreciate it if anyone, regardless of where you live in the world, could go HERE and sign the online petition. We have to stop this NOW.

Not Going To Plan

Gerry will have his first birthday next month, meaning that I've owned him for 6 months now. Time has flown and he's a pleasure to have around!

The only thing is..... veganising his diet is not going to plan at the moment. It's not worrying me too much, but it's still annoying. Especially as the only obstacle is money. I work part time and the cheapest place I can get vegetarian kibble from charges €72.00 for 20kg. That's a lot of money for food which would only last about 2 months tops. I am currently in the process of changing him over from Red Mills to Happy Dog, which is only €48 for 30kgs and is described as: "dog food containing no chemical colourings, flavours or preservatives, no animal meal and no soy."

I was recommended Happy Dog by a German girl who works in Maxi Zoo. I mentioned to her that I fed Gerry Red Mills and she told me that it wasn't very good quality, and that it was still full of sugar even though it wasn't listed plainly in the ingredients, as Irish advertising standards do not require that you do this. I don't know if this is true, it sounded odd to me, but I took it on board anyway. When I got home I checked the ingredients and the pack actually said "animal and meat derivatives" on it....... last time I checked all it said was "chicken" and a certain percentage, which I was happy about as I was avoiding foods that just vaguely listed "meat and animal derivatives" as an ingredient, for obvious reasons. I have no idea if the ingredients suddenly changed, or the way they listed them changed, but I clearly remember not seeing this before. So I decided to get the Happy Dog, which is apparently made from the best raw ingredients, and actually seems to list everything concisely on the package. I want to know that the meat he does eat is pure and not any kind of disgusting off-cut unfit for human consumption.

It still sickens me to think that I'm failing with this, but what else can I do? I simply cannot afford Yarrah Bio-Vegetarian. If anyone out there can recommend a site where I can get vegan kibble at a more affordable price and cheap or free shipping to Ireland please let me know! The other alternative is, of course, to make meals from scratch for Gerry. But I worry about my own health and nutrition on the best of days, and vegan canine nutrition for a naturally carnivorous animal is even more complicated to cater for, not to mention costly.

I don't know where to go from here. I guess it all depends upon me getting full time work, but I am happy where I am at the moment and if I were to change jobs it would mean I'd be around far less for Gerry.

Also, if anyone could recommend a vegetable based oil that I could feed Gerry to improve his skin and coat that would be great. Greyhounds are prone to getting BTS (Bald Thigh Syndrome) where they lose their hair on their bums and back legs. Gerry has this now to some extent and it's a cosmetic condition, rather than medical.  It doesn't bother him in the slightest but it still is rather irritating to have to deal with. I've had to temporarily start feeding him salmon oil to improve his coat and give him the extra fatty acids and Omega-3 that he needs. If there's a vegan alternative out there I'd certainly be using that instead.... Would coconut oil have the same effect and similar amounts of Omega-3? HELP!!

Dog Treats fit for Humans!

Just a quickie...

As Gerry has to be left alone for the occasional day where my boyfriend and I are both in work at the same time, I decided to bake him some lovely treats to go inside his activity ball. I'd run out of his Christmas supplies of Organic Pet mini biscuits, so instead of buy more I decided to go for the cheaper (but very much more laborious!) option of making my own.
























I used:

- 1 Cup Cornmeal (Polenta)
- 2 Cups White Flour
- 1 Cup Oats
- Honey (a little to sweeten)
- Vegetable Oil (to glaze and aid browning)

They turned out really really well! It took me FOREVER to roll them into tiny balls, and this amount of mixture made quite a substantial amount. I wouldn't normally have honey in the house, of course, but we still had some left over from when Gerry had kennel cough back in October. You can substitute this for agave nectar or molasses.

They are gorgeous by the way, I even had a few myself!! This should keep him entertained tomorrow, trying to fish them out of the ball by pushing it around the floor with his nose. I feel so so bad having to leave him for the whole day, but as long as he gets a long run in the morning and another again when I get home he's usually fine... I leave the radio on for him, he has plenty of toys, and some long-lasting chews to keep him happy.