Tues 2nd Oct: Being honest

Ivory enjoying the drive to Acorn

It's a busy week for me, especially as there was a holiday on Monday, so I wanted to start taking the waiting dogs out of AFCD.  The poor things have been stuck there for some time because of the typhoon, and today it was the turn of a young female from Stanley Barracks.  It's been a while since any dogs from that location have turned up at AFCD, and now-Ivory has obviously been well treated by the PLA soldiers because she is a very sweet and happy girl.  Of course she was nervous initially and it took a while to persuade her to jump into the back of the van, but once we were on our way to Acorn she climbed over onto the front seat between myself and driver Ming, and enjoyed every minute of the ride.  After that she was very relaxed and happy to greet everyone, and at only a year old I'm hopeful she'll find a home soon.  She does have entropian in one eye but that will be fixed at the time of her desex surgery.

Ivory is such a loving and happy girl

There are several more large-sized dogs waiting to be taken out from AFCD, but it will have to be on a one-by-one basis, or possibly two if there is space in the van and it's not full of other dogs coming and going to the vet and back to their respective Homing Centres (like Russki and Gina today).

Russki the 2 year-old Malamute was a short stay Ap Lei Chau visitor before going back to Tai Po

Rottie pup Gina was one of the dogs in the van today

Tyke in happier days

It hasn't been a good time for dog sicknesses, and as we have always known would happen a lot of our dogs are now in their senior years and facing terminal conditions, including two of my Lamma group.  I had to let Chippy go today as her condition had deteriorated quickly and drastically, and also Tai Po boy Tyke, who had been in hospital for a while.  We had thought he was recovering but he slipped back down again, and there was nothing left to do.  Another Lamma boy, Hay, came back home with me after his hospital stay which included a blood transfusion, but I'm not optimistic that he will get better either.  I really just wanted to give him his freedom rather than leave him in a hospital cage.

These deaths are part and parcel of animal rescue, and while every one of them is a very sad event, especially for the staff who have been taking care of that specific dog (like me and Chippy), it's life and there's nothing that can be done to change that fact.

Although when our dogs die it's obviously a sad time, there's something else that makes me very angry and in a way even more upset because it's out of our control. I'm talking about people who lie on their questionnaires, meaning dogs that are adopted suffer the consequences.  Billy, who was recently surrendered back to us as an adult after having been adopted as a baby pup, was one such case. Despite the promises of long daily walks, in fact he was never taken out, as it was deemed to be unnecessary.

Billy is a really lovely boy, now back with us at Tai Po

Now there's another almost identical case, with the adopter wanting a trainer for her badly behaved young adult, forgetting that good exercise had been assured when the poor boy is getting twenty minutes a day.

This is what we tell potential adopters, and if you can't provide this then get an old dog or don't adopt at all.

"Adequate exercise and the opportunity to socialise with other dogs and people outside of the home is very important for a dog's mental and physical health and wellbeing . The actual exercise amount required varies depending on a dog’s age, breed and personality, but as a general guideline it is suggested that an adult dog should be exercised 2 - 3 times a day, with at least one walk being long or intensive enough to tire him/her".