One year since everything changed for Biggs—and for us.

Last week marked one year since Biggs broke his elbow and the subsequent surgery that ultimately became the catalyst for Native Breed.

As difficult as that whole period was, looking back now, it's impossible not to see how much it changed our lives.

Late on a Saturday afternoon, we arrived at Jamie's parents' house in Somerset after driving down from Hertfordshire. We pulled onto the drive, let the dogs out to stretch their legs, and caught up with Jamie's parents.

We hadn't been there 15 minutes when Biggs came running back over after having a mooch around the garden and crashed into a curb beside us.

He started screaming like we'd never heard before, and we knew immediately it was bad.

Jamie and his dad headed straight to a local emergency vet, who suspected his elbow was in pieces. With no specialist surgeons available that weekend, all we could do was make him as comfortable as possible with pain relief and sedatives until surgery could be arranged.

The following morning we drove back to Hertfordshire so he could be treated closer to home by a surgeon we trusted. On Monday, our vet referred us to Davies Veterinary Specialists, where Dr Vincent and his team took Biggs in for surgery the next day.

We'd held it together for Biggs throughout the weekend, but when we got home after dropping him off, emotions kicked in hard as the situation sank in.

Our minds immediately went into overdrive thinking about how we could make sure his recovery had the best possible chance.

1. We covered every bit of slippery wooden flooring with rugs.

2. We disconnected our doorbell so he wouldn't hear it ring and get worked up.

3. We put "Do Not Knock" signs explaining the situation on our bins with our mobile numbers as alternatives, then used the bins to block access to our front door.

4. We set up a parcel box and spoke to our super helpful local postie.

5. We rearranged our diaries so Biggs would never be left alone, cancelled plans, and agreed not to have visitors.

6. We ordered a padded harness knowing he'd spend months wearing it whenever he was out of his crate.

7. Most importantly, we had a very honest conversation with each other. We knew we had to take a tough love approach as that was best for him, even though he didn't understand why.

8. Thankfully, Dr Vincent called after surgery with the news we'd been desperately hoping for—everything had gone as well as he could have hoped.

Thankfully, Dr Vincent called after surgery with the news we'd been desperately hoping for—everything had gone as well as he could have hoped.

Over the next couple of weeks, life settled into a routine.

Pain medication, sedatives and the summer heat kept him dozy initially, but as he began feeling better, things became much harder. Biggs wanted to be active again long before his elbow was ready.

Those weeks taught us just how important routine, patience and consistency really are.

Around that time, we started thinking about how we could support his recovery beyond simply following Dr Vincent's instructions.

The medication was upsetting his stomach, so we began mixing our own bone broth into his food and water each day.

We realised the collagen we both took every morning was exactly the kind of nutritional support his body needed while repairing bone, cartilage and soft tissue. So that became part of his daily routine too.

A little later, another conversation quietly helped shape what would become Native Breed.

One day, a client asked Jamie how all his dogs were in such good shape. Half-jokingly, he said he gave them a scoop of his own creatine every morning, which got him thinking…

After reading the available research, he discovered creatine had also been studied in dogs, with evidence suggesting it could help support muscle health during periods of inactivity. For Biggs, a dog who was spending most of his days confined to a crate, it made complete sense.

That moment stuck with us.

If these were the kinds of quality products we wanted for Biggs, made with the same integrity we expect for ourselves, why didn't they already exist?

That question eventually became Native Breed.

Recovery wasn't straightforward.

Jamie started simple physio every other day using a wobble cushion. At first, Biggs barely wanted to bear weight through his injured leg, but session by session we watched him grow stronger. We even bought him a walking treadmill and set it on an incline to take some pressure off his elbows, although Biggs quickly worked out he could cheat by leaving his forelegs off the treadmill and only using his back legs...

His walks started at just five minutes and increased gradually. Jamie would take him to quiet spots in the woods where he knew he was unlikely to meet anyone, giving Biggs the chance to calmly explore off lead—something only possible because of the training they'd already put in together.

When he wasn't walking, we'd take him into shallow streams near our home for some natural hydrotherapy and low-impact exercise through his elbow.

Then came our biggest setback.

At nine weeks we returned to Davies full of hope, expecting to be told he could begin getting back to normal.

Instead, Dr Vincent told us the bone wasn't healing as he'd hoped.

We were told to carry on for another eight weeks.

It was a real blow to the guts, but Biggs seemed to accept his new routine, so we carried on.

Eventually, after 17 long weeks, we returned once more.

After watching Biggs walk down the hall and examining him, Dr Vincent told us he was moving so well and was so comfortable through his range of motion that he didn't even feel further X-rays were needed.

The relief that gave us is hard to explain.

One of our major stresses around this whole thing was we knew Biggs' lifestyle would have to change but didn't think he would handle it well, if at all.

Thankfully, he's taken to semi-retirement well, and although he still looks to head out with Jamie and the other dogs each day, he's also pretty content working from home with Sophie, and not only knows which coffee shops do the best dog treats, but who in the shop he can flirt with to get them.

His life is of course different now, but we'd like to think he's a happy dog, and hope he knows how much he's loved.

Looking back now, Biggs' accident gave us something we'd never have wished for, but it also gave us something we never expected.

It was the spark that lit Native Breed.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us.

Jamie & Sophie

P.S. If there's anything we'd encourage every dog owner to take away from our experience, it's these two things:

1. Please insure your dogs (unless you're fortunate enough that vet bills don't make you squirm!). We only had Biggs insured for around half the cost of his surgery. Without help from family, we'd have found ourselves in a very difficult position.

2. Never underestimate the value of training. He was already conditioned to his crate. He knew how to settle. He understood what 'no' and 'enough' meant. He knew how to walk nicely on lead and go easy. Those foundations made one of the hardest periods of his life so much easier to manage. We'll never know how different his recovery might have been without them.