Brockswood

We are very proud to have been entered into the 2018 Dog Friendly Awards, and would be over the moon if you would vote for us - it only takes a second and you don't have to sign up for anything! We love meeting your waggy-tailed friends and are doing our best to make the sanctuary as dog friendly as possible so that you can bring the whole family here, and so happy that this is being recognised. Thank you!
Also don’t forget to keep your calendars free for our upcoming annual Dog Show coming up this Saturday!

We're very pleased to announce that, in partnership with Lockwood Animal Hospital, our Fun Day & Dog Show is back for another year, so please do put the date in your diaries - Saturday, 25th August!
Come along and help us to raise money for our animals, and the many more animals that need our help! Funds raised on the day will go towards their food, bedding, veterinary care and medicines, plus enclosure maintenance and improvements!
Meet and feed our rescued animals and get c...lose to some of Proteus Reptile Trust's rescued snakes and lizards.
Enter your dogs into the Dog Show; there will be something for all ages and breeds! Why not try your hand at an Agility or Obedience class? There will also be Obedience demonstrations throughout the day!
Browse our stalls and pick up a bargain. If you or your company would like to reserve a spot for a stall, please get in touch - our booking form can be found on our website - www.brockswood.org/book-a-stall
Meet our historical re-enactment group in 'Generfeld', their Anglo-Saxon village, and try your hand at archery (for children).
We also have a café on site, and free parking is available. Please get in touch if you would like any more information about this event, or think that you would like to get involved. We're looking forward to meeting you and your dogs!
* Dog Show, Agility, and Obedience Classes & Demos * Falconer * Bouncy Castle * Tarot Readings from A Journey Through Spirit * Children's Have-a-Go Archery * Meet the Reptiles * Face Painting * Café
We hope to see you and your canine friends soon!
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Following a couple of last minute cancellations we now have some spaces left on our children’s Canine First Aid course tomorrow! This is an excellent opportunity for those budding vets and dog lovers!

Classes will be taught by Lillie, an experienced dog (and human!) trainer who had been working with dogs most of her life. She has had many breeds over the years and has trained four of her own dogs to the top level of the Kennel Club’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme awards. She has been training people and dogs for a number of years and most recently at The Dog Training Club - Sedgley - you may have seen their excellent demonstrations at our annual Dog Show.
The classes will be bas...ed on basic obedience and are aimed at giving you a starting point for training your dog, and tips you can use at home. Lillie only uses positive reward based training and so therefore full check chains or aversive equipment or tactics are not allowed!
Harness, flat collar, half check collars and head collars are all allowed as long as fitted correctly and appropriate to the dog. Make sure you bring plenty of treats and a toy (and a clicker if you so wish).
Sadly as we will only have an hour, dogs need to be friendly with other people and dogs (as we unfortunately won’t have time for one-to-ones at this stage with reactive dogs).
We will be working around animals although not directly with them, so at no point are dogs allowed off lead and all dogs must be kept under control at all times for the safety of the other dogs in the class and the other animals on site.
We will be limiting classes at this stage to 6 handlers and dogs so book fast if you would like to join us!
Please fill out the booking form on our website to register your interest and secure your place: www.brockswood.org/dog-obedience-classes< br> See More

We recently mentioned that the sanctuary is dog friendly, and now we’re pleased to announce that we will be hosting Dog Obedience Classes every Thursday throughout August, 18:30 - 19:30. We will be limiting classes at this stage to 6 handlers and dogs so book fast if you would like to join us!
Classes are FREE but a donation towards our work at the sanctuary would be very much appreciated.
Classes will be taught by Lillie, an experienced dog (and human!) trainer who had been ...working with dogs most of her life. She has had many breeds over the years and has trained four of her own dogs to the top level of the Kennel Club’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme awards. She has been training people and dogs for a number of years and most recently at The Dog Training Club - Sedgley - you may have seen their excellent demonstrations at our annual Dog Show.
Classes will be based on basic obedience and are aimed at giving you a starting point for training your dog, and tips you can use at home. Lillie only uses positive reward based training and so therefore full check chains or aversive equipment or tactics are not allowed!
Harness, flat collar, half check collars and head collars are all allowed as long as fitted correctly and appropriate to the dog. Make sure you bring plenty of treats and a toy (and a clicker if you so wish).
Sadly as we will only have an hour, dogs need to be friendly with other people and dogs (as we unfortunately won’t have time for one-to-ones at this stage with reactive dogs).
We will be working around animals although not directly with them, so at no point are dogs allowed off lead and all dogs must be kept under control at all times for the safety of the other dogs in the class and the other animals on site.
We hope to see you and your dogs soon!
*** We are currently experiencing issues with the booking page on our website, until this is sorted please send us a message with the date/s you are interested in attending so that we can manually book you in, thank you ***
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We’ve had a few comments about certain areas of the sanctuary being overgrown. We have kept areas with natural growth to support the conservation of the native wildlife sharing our site, and also to provide free and natural food for some of our animals. We have a number of animals known as grazers and browsers, such as the sheep and goats. Although these animals have specially formulated bought-in diets and lots of hay, it is also normal for them to eat lots of different gras...ses, “weeds”, flowers, shrubs and tree leaves/branches. This is not only good for their diet, it’s great for their mental welfare as this is behaviour that they’d be performing in the “wild” and helps to prevent boredom!
You’ll notice for instance that the sheep paddocks are currently looking very bare as the grass is struggling to grow back and becoming scorched with the hot weather we’ve been having. You don’t need to worry though, as these patches of wild growth are providing them all with ample food as we move them around the site after closing time each day, and they love munching it down and picking out their favourite plants!
If these areas had been mown, we wouldn’t be able to do this and would be spending hundreds more a month on buying this in (one bale of hay alone costs us £35).
Now that looks like a happy sheep!
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We are very happy to tell you that after months of hard work, our brand new duck aviary is now COMPLETE and we have moved them all into their new home! They settled straight in and are all loving it, as well as their new housemates, Raj and Jasmine the peafowl!
Another enormous thank you to Selco Builders Warehouse who’s extremely generous donation of building materials made this project possible. It’s been a joy to build something from scratch and create such a wonderful hom...e for these animals.
We’d also like to say a huge thank you to our very dedicated staff and volunteers who have spent so much time and effort in building the duck’s new dream home. They started it in the snow, and finished in the hot sun - what a contrast! They’ve all done a fantastic job and we’re so proud of them and the result.
This is our dream for the rest of our animals; to give them all brand new, modern, spacious, purpose built enclosures. With your help and support we can do it!
Thank you 🦆
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With all this hot weather and heat exhaustion a real threat, we thought it would be an important time to run another Canine First Aid Course, but this time for Children as we believe it's just as important for them to know how to care for their pets in an emergency (and a great start for those who want to be vets when they grow up!)
15th August 2018
For ages 9-15, this comprehensive first aid course is taught here at the sanctuary by veterinary surgeons with extensive experie...nce in emergency and critical care for your dog (and we will also cover cats and small animals). Your child will learn about:
* The normal dog and examination skills * Breathing difficulties and choking * Cardiac arrest and how to perform CPR * How to identify lameness * Fracture management * Wounds, bleeding and bandaging techniques * Seizures * Poisoning * Stings * Medical emergencies e.g. gastric dilation (bloat) * Common canine problems such as ticks, nail clipping etc.
Places are limited to 10 per course with a high instructor-to-candidate ratio to ensure each child gets the maximum benefit from the course!
http://www.brockswood.org/ap…/webstore/ products/show/7830163
— Products shown: Canine First Aid for Children - 15th August 2018.
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We would like to say an ENORMOUS thank you to Wetnose Animal Aid for their generous donation of funds towards a couple of our recent vet bills (which add up very fast!), and a month’s supply of animal feed! These are some of our highest monthly bills, and this has been a massive help to us this month, thank you so very much!
Wetnose Animal Aid are a not-for-profit organisation run by a passionate and dedicated team of volunteers, helping to raise much-needed funds for some of the lesser known animal rescue centres and organisations such as ourselves, who need all the help we can get in order to survive and thrive. For more information about their excellent work and how to help them, visit their website at: www.wetnoseanimalaid.com

We’ve had a lot of people get in touch and ask if they can bring their dogs here, so we’d like to let you know that Brockswood is a 100% dog friendly site, and we absolutely LOVE meeting your furry friends! Our animals are used to seeing dogs and aren’t bothered by them (if they’re well behaved and on leads) so no need to worry about that. As an important part of your family, we want you to be able to enjoy time TOGETHER, instead of leaving them behind at home – or even worse..., in a hot car!
We have water bowls and lots of cold water taps around the sanctuary that you are more than welcome to use if you prefer to bring your own. Our café is also dog friendly, so you can bring them with you for a bite to eat, or why not grab a picnic blanket and settle down on the grass together outside?
We are planning lots of events for you and your dogs to enjoy, beginning with our annual Fun Day & Dog Show coming up on 25th August – we can’t wait! We also have some more dog-themed courses and training sessions coming up soon and will post details in the near future. Stay tuned!
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Duck Aviary Update: We are over the moon to announce that work is now nearing completion on what has been our biggest renovation project yet, and we are very close to showing the ducks (who were unfortunately evicted last Christmas when the heavy snowfall caused their old aviary to collapse!) their brand new home. We think they’re going to love it.
• The pool has now been fixed and re-sealed, and the entire pipework feeding it dug up and repaired (we had quite a few leaks). B...roken underground water pipes have become a real issue here throughout the whole site over the past few years, and so a lot of our hard (and very dirty!) work we’ve undertaken is somewhat invisible to you. We decided recently that we wanted to stop simply patching things up and to instead fix the sanctuary from the ground up - literally. It’s labour intensive, and unfortunately quite expensive, but it will all be worth it in the end.
• The steps for our keepers working in the enclosure have been built, and smaller steps and ramps for our flightless ducks.
• The terraced areas are now complete, with various substrates such as bark mulch, grass and gravel put in place so they have a variety of land areas to investigate.
• Thanks to a generous donation of sand from Jewson, we were able to create a beach area next to the pool! We think they’re going to love this (we certainly do!)
• We’ve started putting in perches (all branches and logs from trees that have naturally fallen on site - waste not want not!) and digging in plants to provide hiding/nesting spaces and lots more sensory enrichment to investigate (these will also attract insects which some of our ducks like to catch, promoting natural behaviours they would express in the wild).
Next steps:
• More plants - the greener the better!
• The final viewing window mesh will be attached (it’s providing useful access to us for large items at the moment)
• Completion of the double door for our staff and volunteers working in the aviary - this is a “safety net” should any of the ducks walk through the aviary door when opened, preventing escapes - these ducks are all with us for a reason, unlike the many wild mallards we rescue and release throughout the year. These ducks either cannot fly, have health problems/disabilities, or are non-native breeds that cannot be released for legal reasons, so it is important that they’re kept securely inside the aviary.
• RELEASE - moving the ducks into their new home!
Once again a massive thank you to all who have donated both funding and materials to this massive project. It’s taken a little longer than we’d hoped, but all of the work has been more than worth it. We’re so proud and excited to show you what we’ve achieved, and a taste of what we can do with the entire sanctuary with your help and support - together we can do so much here!
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Phineas the Golden Pheasant reminds us of somebody 🤔

The girls have been very busy with all of this beautiful weather and we now have another big batch of nice fresh duck eggs for sale. We're very excited to say that their brand new aviary is now nearing completion and just needing some final touches such as perches and plants - so the ducks are raising their own money for us to be able to buy some to plant in there, and get their new home looking as natural as possible for them, with lots of new things to investigate, nibble, and nest in!
Eggs are for sale in the café and as before we'll be happy to pop your name on our duck's VIP list, so that you can reserve as many as you like, and we'll let you know when they're ready for you to pick up!
Thank you.

We're very pleased to announce that, in partnership with Lockwood Animal Hospital, our Fun Day & Dog Show is back for another year, so please do put the date in your diaries - Saturday, 25th August!
Come along and help us to raise money for our animals, and the many more animals that need our help! Funds raised on the day will go towards their food, bedding, veterinary care and medicines, plus enclosure maintenance and improvements!
Meet and feed our rescued animals and get c...lose to some of Proteus Reptile Trust's rescued snakes and lizards.
Enter your dogs into the Dog Show; there will be something for all ages and breeds! Why not try your hand at an Agility or Obedience class? There will also be Obedience demonstrations throughout the day!
Browse our stalls and pick up a bargain. If you or your company would like to reserve a spot for a stall, please get in touch - our booking form can be found on our website - www.brockswood.org/book-a-stall
Meet our historical re-enactment group in 'Generfeld', their Anglo-Saxon village, and try your hand at archery (for children).
We also have a café on site, and free parking is available. Please get in touch if you would like any more information about this event, or think that you would like to get involved. We're looking forward to meeting you and your dogs!
* Dog Show, Agility, and Obedience Classes & Demos * Falconer * Bouncy Castle * Tarot Readings from A Journey Through Spirit * Children's Have-a-Go Archery * Meet the Reptiles * Face Painting * Café
We hope to see you and your canine friends soon!
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Our sheep have now all been sheared and we once again have a big bundle of their fleeces that we’re not quite sure what to do with. We use some as nesting material for wild birds to take, and have even used them as insulation in stables (still keeping the sheep warm even after they’re no longer “wearing” them!)
As our sheep are mostly mixed breeds and we don’t have a large commercial flock, we struggle with places such as the wool board and wool spinners who might otherwise like to buy them.
We’re wondering if there’s any interest in these raw fleeces from any crafty folks? Raw fleeces from rescued sheep, so far more ethical than some other ways and places you might be able to obtain a sheep fleece. Any ideas? We’d absolutely hate to see them go to waste!

It’s shearing day, and the sheep are all starting to look very smart with their summer cuts! Auntie is out sunbathing awaiting her turn. We have a very gentle shearer who does an excellent job - why not come along for a chat and see how it’s done!

Social Dog Walk in aid of the wonderful The Animal Healing Trust And Horse Rescue TOMORROW morning, meeting here on the Brockswood car park at 10:30am, and finishing back here - full route details can be found here: https://tractive.com/dogwalk/share/?id=p9 5pIV80YMHDOIqj9d1yl
All are welcome with or without a dog; just come along and meet some like minded people, enjoy the fresh air and a relaxing outdoor walk, the best exercise!
Don’t forget your waggy tailed friends are always welcome here 🐶

Thank you to everybody who came to watch and ask questions during our recent spring sheep health check. Winter is a critical time for the sheep, especially some of our golden oldies, so when spring comes around we like to take the opportunity to make sure they’re all still in good shape. This involves assessing their weight; cleaning and trimming their hooves; checking for loose horns; giving them a dose of worm treatment and a spot-on treatment to keep flies away; keeping an... eye on their gums and teeth (as these start to wear and become loose with age and some of our older sheep need diet changes as this starts to happen); as well as checking for lumps, bumps and cuts that might be hiding under their fleece.
We have a couple we want to keep a closer eye on while they gain a little more weight, but otherwise they’re all doing very well... and we’re sure they’ll forgive us for interrupting a day of sunbathing and grass munching very soon!
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