Fri 18th May: Alternatives for allergy sufferers

This lovely bulldog girl will come on Monday

There is always a demand for young and small purebreeds like the French bulldog puppy and the shiba inu, so there is never any concern about finding them homes.  I hope the same will apply with the one year-old English bulldog girl who will come on Monday, along with a young poodle, a mixed breed puppy (see below) and a senior golden retriever, also already with a potential home.   We're also expecting two new poodles on Saturday, again young I'm told, but while the other four are from AFCD so we can be sure that they will  arrive, I can never be cetain about the dogs being surrendered from private homes.  So many times they end up not coming for whatever reason.

For now I want to talk about the six month-old mixed breed puppy that is part of Monday's intake, because so many people ask for non-shedding types like the poodle variations; labradoodle, cockapoo and so on.  I really dislike this obsession with designer cross-breeds, mainly because what people don't seem to understand is that if you mix a breed with another breed the outcome isn't always the same.  Take the original cross-breed, the labradoodle, half labrador, half poodle.  A litter from two types of parents won't all look the same, something that should be obvious if you look at human siblings.  Some labradoodle puppies will have the required curly coat, but others will have the flat labrador coat.  Some will have the typical temperament of one parent, some the other and the rest a bit of both.  You can't dictate the result when you mix breeds, and those that don't conform with the desired look are disposed of.

Ozzie (l) and Oona at Tai Po

If you suffer from allergies and you want the type of coat that is better for this condition (bearing in mind that there is no such thing as a 100% non-allergenic breed), you can consider other types of dogs.  Schnauzers, shih tzus, Westies and Yorkies all have coats that are less likely to cause an allergic reaction, and any of the silky or wire-haired mixed breeds fall into this category too.  There is also the type I call the fuzzies, and we already have a pair at our Tai Po Homing Centre, Oona and Ozzie.  To be honest these are my personal favourite "breeds", and long-term readers or HKDR followers will remember the Monkey Dogs and Gala, and even the first Oona from Pokfulam days. I still have one of the originals on Lamma, Fuzzy Monkey, and you can see that she is almost identical to the current Oona.

My Lamma Fuzzy Monkey

Monday's fuzzy-faced pup would suit allergy sufferers

The puppy coming on Monday is a fuzzy-coated boy, and I'm sure he's going to turn out to be lovely.