Tues 28th March: Reasons for choosing HKDR

The pups came wearing these "scarves"

I knew I had three very sweet slightly older puppies to take out of AFCD Pokfulam, and that they would be going to Tai Po rather than Lamma.  I have no space for any more, and anyway it's good to have a few puppies available at the big Homing Centre as well as the adults.  These three happy boys and girls are now called Zumba, Yoga and Potato, and you can meet them and their waggy tails if you are a Tai Po volunteer or a potential adopter.

Of course all three pups went to Acorn first to be checked and vaccinated, and I also took along the three newish ex-breeder dogs, Adele, Sizzle and Buffer.  Almost all breeder dogs have ear mites and/or infections and these were no exception, but at least they were heartworm-free and without serious illnesses, although Sizzle almost certainly has a thyroid deficiency causing hair loss and a "rat" tail.  It's not a big problem as thyroid supplements can easily sort that out and it will help him to lose weight too.

Wigbert has his eyes firmly on the treats

You all know we have a lot of puppies right now, and I know there is a huge choice for potential adopters.  Unwanted puppies are being born all the time and the likelihood is that a large percentage of them will never reach adulthood, and even if they do it will be as strays producing yet more litters.  It's a huge problem that doesn't seem to be getting any better,  and I have to turn away all of those who come to us having found puppies.  If anyone asks what they can do about it I say catch the mothers (or fathers) and desex them.  Picking up the puppies and thinking an organisation will take them in and they will be adopted isn't the answer, as the fact is everyone is overflowing with dogs that are lovely but unwanted.  There is and will always be a preference for "pure" breeds despite the fact that they often come with genetic health and behaviour problems. I don't understand it and never will, but the majority of adoption enquiries we receive are for named breeds only (and usually totally unsuitable too).

All we can do is to keep showing our sweet and beautiful mixed breed puppies and hope that they will be the lucky ones.  And why adopt from HKDR?  We think there are lots of good reasons, including the fact that we provide excellent post-adoption support from our trainer, Cactus Mok.