Thurs 19th Oct: The end of a frustrating week

Shy Tickle is doing really well in her foster home

With news of yet another victim of "boarding school" training being thrown out because of resulting behaviour issues, I was so happy to read this from a foster parent of one of our timid doglets.  Tickle is improving steadily, something I honestly never thought would happen, and it's a combination of Cactus's training advice and the foster listening and following through. 

"I really love the way of your training, which is not pushy and it proves it is working (on Tickle). For my previous dog, I have attended a training with her, but the way they trained is to use those "choke chain", which keeps on choking and choking and when we back home, my dog vomited :(  After that, I didn't attend the training course organized by them any more".

It's really sad to know how many times our adopted puppies have been subjected to harsh training, then a year later when the unfortunate and inevitable results surface, the dog is thrown out.  This latest case was also one of our ex-puppies, about whom we heard nothing despite emails from Cactus, and it was the same with all of the others like Rafi, with a total lack of communication until the bombshell of return.

ex-HKDR Izzy and her newborn baby sister, best friends from the start

With every case we wonder how we could do better, be more careful, question more deeply, especially if there is a good chance that a human baby will be coming onto the scene at some point.  A baby arriving is one of the most common reason for dogs to be thrown out, as the parents have no time any more or are afraid for the baby's health and safety (why?).   Often the dog is ejected even before the baby is born, but with so many wonderful cases of a newborn and the established dog being the best of friends from the start that's really very sad and unnecessary.

Coping with these cases of abandonment is very difficult for all of us and in different ways, beginning with the disappointment and anger and then the logistical aspect of what to do.  How can we simply accept all dogs back without question when we have nowhere to put them, or when the dog's behaviour has been affected by its treatment?

Laura is doing so well in her foster home

I've been having a frustrating week on top of the usual dramas, though I think my experience dealing with local contractors is fairly typical.  So far they have turned up only once, and that was to drop off a couple of bags of cement, although I have been getting up very early each day to make sure I'm ready and the dogs have been walked.  All work was supposed to have been completed this week but it hasn't even started yet, and my patience is wearing thin. 

One thing is for sure and that is that I'll have to leave home for the Sunday Whiskers N Paws afternoon, even if we aren't overloaded with puppies right now.  I'm hoping it will means that those like Harvey and Laura will find homes, especially as Laura has been doing so well in her current foster home and learning all the tricks of how to be a good family member.  Our foster homes are incredibly important to us for reasons like this, so even if you can't commit to adoption please think about giving a hand to puppies that can benefit from a home life.

We also need foster homes for younger pups with tick fever, just to get them through their treatment (the "liquid gold" that works well even though it's inconvenient).  Unfortunately its been a very bad period for tick fever in pups coming from the New Territories and it's been a big headache for us.  All vet and food costs are covered if you are fostering for HKDR, so please let Cindy know if you can help by emailing foster@hongkongdogrescue.com, thank you.

Laura's brother Harvey needs a home too