Mon 29th Aug: New young puppies

This will be a quick post as I have to be out early and will be back late (my sister is passing through Hong Kong for a day).

I was asked to help with a strange situation involving two dogs that had been surrendered to AFCD. The dogs were known as they had been rescued as puppies and homed by someone who, on learning that they had been taken to AFCD (as adults), wanted to adopt them herself and required an organisation to sign them out. The odd thing was that the ex-owner of the dogs completely denied that they were at AFCD and kept insisting that they were with a lovely new family in Sai Kung, while the microchips and the dogs themselves told a different story.  Anyway, the adopter and I met at the Animal Management Centre today and the dogs are now in their new home, safe and happy, and that's the end of it, but we're still wondering why there needed to be this elaborate cover-up when the truth was clear for all to see. People can be very strange as I know only too well.

One of 5 new puppies today

There were five new and young puppies at AFCD, three of one litter and two of another, with the trio being sharpei crosses.  One of the pups, now called Baggins, looks very sharpei-like, with brother Crinkle slightly less so and the sister with only the tiny ears as a clue.  I took a photo of Baggins as he was on the consult table at Acorn and posted it on Facebook which resulted in several home offers by the time I got home. He's certainly a very cute little baby, but I need to let any potential adopter know about the sharpei issues which include the fact that anyone with even slight dog allergies will have problems with this breed.  The other two siblings have a regular dog coat so they would be a better choice, but there's no denying that Baggins is very appealing.

There was  also a twelve year-old cocker spaniel at AFCD, who was in pretty good shape for a senior except for two things, one being the typical spaniel ear infection (common because of the long ears) and the other the terrible condition of the teeth.  In fact during the drive from Pokfulam to Sai Ying Pun I thought the strong smell was coming from the puppy crates, but it was the cocker's mouth that was the culprit.  The stench was almost unbearable from a human point of view, but what is worse is that a bacteria-filled mouth can poison the whole body  and cause all sort of health issues, affecting even the heart in some cases.  Keeping a dog's teeth in good condition and having regular dental checks and cleaning can make a big difference to general health and life expectancy.  If you don't take your dog for regular health checks including the teeth, it's a very good idea to do so,