Review: Meg Heath Dog Leads

If you're looking for dog collars or leads, Meg Heath has you covered. They also sell head collars, training leads and harnesses, and are always adding to the range. Everything is available in a wide range of colours - 18 right now! - and if you have something special in mind they will work with you to create bespoke collars and leads. In fact, none of their products are pre-made as you can customise the size, colour and fittings of every item you buy.

We went for the Double Tag Flat Collar (from £9.99) and the Double Up Lead (from £8), both in electric blue. The latter is particularly handy as you can use it at full length or half length, which is great if you don't want to carry multiple leads with you on walks.


I was really impressed with the quality - all items come with a five year guarantee and the stitching has a lifetime guarantee! Based in Lincolnshire, Meg Heath have been working with dogs in rescue, training, and boarding kennels since the mid 1980s. In other words, they know what they're doing when it comes to creating top notch products for your pooches.

Not satisfied with the challenge of getting Bracken to stay still long enough for a photograph, I then decided to get Marianna to pose with Bracken and the new double up lead. The lead is awesome. Getting a two year old and her best friend to co-operate... not so much.


Still, you can see what a gorgeous colour that lead is! Check out the range for yourself at Meg Heath Dog Leads. You can also connect with them on social media via Facebook and Twitter.

Meg Heath are also kindly offering a dog collar and lead to one lucky reader! Fill out the Gleam form below to get up to five chances to win. :)

Review: One Third Stories

One Third Stories are language learning tools - stories that start in English and end in another language. I reviewed the prototype last March and was really impressed with the concept and how well it worked. As I wrote then:

Languages open up a whole world of new opportunities and new experiences. The problem is, how do we introduce languages to young children in a way which makes them both accessible and fun? This is what One Third Stories have set out to accomplish and their approach is really something to get excited about!

Instead of throwing you in at the deep end, or just skirting the edges with a word followed by its translation, One Third Stories substitute English words for their counterparts, relying on the context of the surrounding sentence to clarify their meaning.



This short story follows a little girl who has lost her voice - the first couple of pages are English only, then Spanish words begin to appear as you move through the tale. This is such a fab idea, and feels a very natural way of learning new vocabulary. Enabling children to pick up those key words of the story very quickly is essential, as it inspires them to keep going by proving that they can do it. It's so much better than endlessly reciting the same thing over and over again, the way so many forays into language learning begin.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the books went into full production late last year. We were sent the Spanish language learning bundle (RRP £19.99) as a thank you for our initial support. These are also available in French, Italian, and German, and include a hardback book, audiobook, a set of 32 illustrated flashcards, and an activity book with puzzles and games. The hardback book alone is £14.99, so the bundle is really good value!

Obviously, Marianna is still too young (she only just turned two) to really engage with the concept wholescale, but she has enjoyed having the story read to her and pointing at the things she recognised, and repeating the Spanish words. I'm really excited to use it with her as she gets a little older though, and to use the same approach to start introducing some Welsh vocabulary before she starts learning it at school.

I really like that there are already options for ongoing learning - see the monthly subscription page - so you can continue to build on that initial enthusiasm! (Even better, OTS have kindly offered my readers a discount with the code BABIAFI15.)