Sun 21st Jan: Operation Elke

Portman is now Rocket

The photos from today's Whiskers N Paws puppy afternoon aren't published yet but there were four on-the-spot adoptions and two fosters-into-forever homes.  The latter were Portman, who is now officially Rocket (and a very suitable name) and Patchy, who was adopted as a baby with the still-unlucky Rafi.  Patchy is now Mimu and she will be moving to Italy soon along with her ex-HKDR "sister" Painty.

Patchy grew into a very beautiful girl

The other four lucky pups were Eugenie and Lilac, while Ivo and Rosie were adopted as a pair.  Coincidentally, these last three were all from the same litter, even though the sharpei-cross youngsters have mixed in together and are very difficult to distinguish.  I had thought the tiny Waldo would be one of the first to go, but I was wrong.

We were also lucky enough to have two sets of donations from children who wanted to help the dogs and puppies in place of having birthday presents.  I'll post the photos when they arrive but I want to say a big thank you now, as the importance of educating children can't be underestimated.

Elke would make a perfect all-round family dog

Rosie and her litter made their debut last Sunday

I was really hoping that today would be Elke's last Whiskers N Paws, but it wasn't to be and she came back to Lamma with her friend Peaky.  It's not that Elke is unhappy, but at four months she has yet to wear a collar or see a car, and the longer she stays in the quiet backwater which has been her home for the past three months the harder it will be for her to adapt.  If nothing else I would really appreciate being able to send her to a foster home where she can learn the ropes before finding her forever home.  Elke is an incredibly sweet girl, very laid-back and easy, and she didn't bat an eyelid while having baby fingers poking her in the face.  She's old enough to be able to fit straight in with no fuss while still being young enough to be very much a puppy.   As I also mentioned yesterday, while I first thought that she and her brother Henry would grow into large adults, she is more sturdy than tall and the younger litter who are now around ten weeks old are just about the same size.

We will be getting more dogs from the  "home" that the recently-arrived-and-adopted "shorgi" and springer spaniel came from, some poodles and a bull terrier, but before they arrive I need to know if anyone would be interested in the bull terrier.  This is a breed that has devoted fans but isn't everyone's cup of tea.  They share the same intense loyalty that sharpeis have for their families, and that can be a very good thing but also a problem in certain situations. These are dogs that bond closely and anyone who adopts must absolutely make a lifelong commitment.

I do also need to once again make a comment about poodles, because of all the breeds these are the dogs that are adopted and returned with depressing regularity.   Their bad luck is that they have a coat which is suitable for people who are sensitive to regular dog hair so they are adopted on that basis, and without any consideration being given to the fact that this is a very emotional and highly-strung breed.  In fact I think it would be true to say that of all the breeds the poodle is the one most likely to bite if their handlers don't understand the poodle personality and temperament.  Treated properly they are fantastic little dogs who are incredibly smart, but few people really know how to bring the good side out of them.   I can envisage a time when all of the small dogs at HKDR are poodles that nobody wants.