It's difficult to think and write about anything but the Super Typhoon Mangkhut heading our way, and I have been checking the Windy website regularly and watching with horror as the animated whirls and arrows move slowly towards us. I'm not concerned about myself or the house, it's the dogs that are living outside, both here and at Tai Po, and the danger of falling trees, fences and everything else, including the intensity of the wind which could easily lift a dog off the ground. There's nothing that can be done except hope for the best, and for those who are worried about stray dogs living wild, I think they probably have a good sense of how to find shelter.
So far a good number of dogs have left Tai Po Homing Centre to go to foster homes, and of course we are extremely grateful for the help. At this point we have several more dogs due to leave the Centre on Saturday, after which the staff and volunteers will move the remaining dogs into safer areas so we can't reply to last-minute foster offers. I will be busy moving or securing anything and everything I can, so will also not be able to answer messages as I usually do.
The Homing Centres will be open on Saturday for any adopters wanting to meet dogs, and fosters who are already registered with us so can offer a temporary home without having to go through the registration formalities.
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| Wallace is really a very lucky puppy to have such a loving family |
There was some good news to lighten the mood today, and that was that puppy Wallace, who had missed out on a home because of tick fever, turned out not to have either babesia or erlichia following a test, so if and when his family move back to Australia he will be going with them. This also means good news for Wallace's sister Harper, who was adopted despite the supposed tick fever, because it means she is also probably free from any infection.
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| Harper was adopted last month |
Tick fever is the assumed reason for puppies and dogs having a low red cell count (anaemia) but there are other factors that can cause this, so for example with the recent intake of breeder dogs who are slightly anaemic but showing negative on the tick fever test we can put it down to poor breeding, poor food, lack of basic health necessities like de-worming and poor living conditions.
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| Poppet is both blind and deaf |
I was at Ap Lei Chau today buying supplies and spending some time with the dogs in the Homing Centre. I had long suspected that our blind Maltese puppy girl was also deaf, so decided to test it today by banging metal bowls together. Poppet didn't respond at all, so I think that's pretty conclusive evidence that she can't see or hear, and reduces her options for finding a home quite drastically. It's a real shame as she would otherwise be so easy to place being a small-breed puppy and so sweet and playful, and I do hope there will be at least one understanding adopter for her. Dogs that are born blind or deaf can learn to cope quite well, and although training needs to be adapted it's still perfectly possible. In the case of "Helen Keller" (Poppet's new nickname) you would have to train using touch instead of verbal or hand signals. I have to do this now with my own boy Murphy who has also become totally blind and deaf, so I touch him to let him know where to go or where his food bowl is.
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| 3-legged pom Moomin and poodle Toto |
Another puppy who is also a bit different but really quite homeable from my perspective is Toto the poodle. When he first came to us as a very young baby he had trouble standing and coordinating his legs, but as he has grown he has got better and better. Now he loves to run and play, and he and Bitsy, the bichon puppy with the paralysed back legs, play all the time. Toto is very beautiful with a double-coloured coat, and just a typical sweet-funny poodle pup who happens to wobble from time to time. I can't believe nobody has taken him home yet.
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| ItsyBitsy is Toto's playmate |
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