Weds 30th Nov: Puppy season begins

Eight more unwanted puppies will be looking for homes very soon

I had made a list of everything I had to do today, but preparing a space for two-week-old puppies wasn't on it.  However that's exactly what happened after I got a message from Kathy saying AFCD had asked if we would take a litter of eight that had just come in. There's a huge difference between newly born pups and when they're a month old and are able to feed themselves, and two weeks falls halfway between the two meaning they will happily take milk from a bottle but can't yet lap.  Bottle feeding is bearable when you have two puppies, but six is chaos, especially when you have one bottle, a single pair of hands and all the pups look alike so you can't work out which ones have already fed.  They cry in unison whether or not they're still hungry, and as I am feeding one the rest of them are lined up along my arm sucking hard on my skin like piglets in a row.

Obviously I was happy that at least two found a foster home before having to come to me, and now Cindy has sent me the fantastic news that the rest can go today (Thursday) so I'll be able to catch up on some sleep soon I hope.  Within a week there will already be a big change in the pups' development, and when they are only six weeks they will be almost independent and certainly weaned and eating by themselves.

Sadly these babies aren't the only ones as there's another litter around the same age also at AFCD, but still with their mother.  At least she can take care of their milk needs until they are old enough to be separated, or to find a home where they can stay together a bit longer.

I read on a Facebook group that a certain Hong Kong vet suggests that desexing of male dogs isn't desirable in terms of their health, and I can't say how sorry I am that any vet can even hold this view, let alone encourage dog owners to leave their male dogs entire.  While it's true that only females can give birth it takes a male to make puppies too, and on top of that neutering prevents unsociable behaviour such as marking, aggression/fighting and humping.  The person who posted this information subsequently keeps two entire males who are often allowed to run free, and that is exactly how babies are made.  I don't know how many times I've heard that a dog "accidentally" became pregnant and gave birth as if there wasn't a very simply way of preventing that happening, and I really don't understand which debatable health benefits can be more important than making sure no more unwanted puppies come into this world.

Funny Girl

The "Funny Girl" arrived at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre today, and thanks to everyone for helping to identify the very similar male I was hoping might be looking for a friend.  It turned out the family of Bamm had just recently adopted a puppy brother for him so I was just too late, so now our girl needs a home.

Bamm identified, but too late