Thurs 3rd May: Farewell to Diamond

I keep forgetting to take photos, something that probably shows my age as now everyone seems to photograph everything, from their meals to their flight destinations, and that's not counting the endless selfies.  I need to remind myself to take photos of the new dogs and puppies so I can share them here on my blog, but once again I have no visual record of the seven puppies I took from AFCD today, four very young and three just a bit older.  Two of the younger ones (around five weeks old) went straight to a foster home, while we're looking at housing some of the others at Whiskers N Paws while they wait to be adopted, probably the three older ones.  That means we need a foster for the two remaining babies if anyone is able and willing, so please email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com.

The life expectancy of the average large dog is around fourteen years based on my own experience over the many years I have been doing this work.  Smaller dogs live longer, and giant-sized have a considerably shorter lifespan, but in general most dogs (except very large) are still active and healthy until well into double digits, and I certainly wouldn't expect to see a slowdown in energy or activity in the average ten year-old, for example, particularly mixed breeds.

Fluffy baby Diamond

Diamond was always a beautiful girl, cute and fluffy as a baby pup and big and shaggy as an adult.  I never understood why she wasn't adopted when she was young, but she stayed with me and became my shadow, always by my side even at night when she slept on the bed next to me and Griffin, and sometimes Griffin's sister Opal.  Whenever I left for the day Diamond would walk me to the sampan, and she would love to show visitors around, her body always in a crescent shape so she could smile at whoever she was guiding, while swishing her tail at the same time.  Everyone loved Diamond's open and happy nature, except for the snakes.

Halo last year after surviving a cobra bite

Diamond and Halo were dedicated snake killers, with Halo being the main spotter and Diamond joining in as soon as one was seen.  It didn't matter if it was a deadly cobra or a harmless rat snake, and I knew that there was always a risk of a dog being bitten so did my best to make sure that didn't happen.  However most of the snake victims had become trapped in the storm drains so I didn't even see them until long after the dogs had, and by then it was too late to do anything.  Halo was bitten last year but survived, and the very next day was back to her hunting.  The other dogs show no interest in the snakes other than a natural fear, and they never joined in when Halo and Diamond were attacking.

Adolescent Diamond

The first I knew about today's cobra find in a storm drain was when I saw Diamond and Halo doing their usual snake dance, jumping back then lunging forward as the poor snake tried to look both ways at the same time.  Today I managed to call them off and put them both on leashes, and even took a video of the cobra before walking back towards home .  When I thought it was safe to let the dogs off leash I did so, and both seemed perfectly normal.

I don't take enough photos of my dogs and this is the only recent one of Diamond

When I got home and fed the dogs, as I usually do after our walk, I noticed that Diamond wasn't there and knew immediately what had happened.  I ran out of the house and back into the woods, dreading at every turn in the path that I would find her, and when I did she was already dead.  Diamond was only six years old, a young dog in her prime, and I wish I could have made her understand that cobras are best left alone but she would never listen.