Mon 21st March: There's the right home for every dog

Stick 'em up!

 The photos of the six newborn puppies made me smile because they look like hostages with their little arms in the air. Anyway they are all safe and now in foster homes, and hopefully doing well and drinking their milk like good boys and (one) girl. 

On the subject of puppies, thankfully we've been reciving suitable enquiries about some of those already old enough to be adopted, and I included the word "suitable" because not every home is realistically in a position to have a dog, and particularly a puppy.  It's not a phenomenon exclusive to Hong Kong, as there was a massive increase in puppy buying during lockdowns and working from home situations across the world, and now that most countries are getting back to normal there's a corresponding surge in pets being given up.   Even here in Hong Kong there must surely be a loosening of all restrictions at some time, and when that happens I really don't want to see our own HKDR puppies being returned as adult dogs because the adopters no longer have time to take care of them. 

I ventured out to the Elgin Street location today as this is currently serving as out temporary office space, so Ka Yan and "Little" Eva (Loo) are camping out in the middle of a mound of office and other equipment.  Yannie was there too, along with shiba inu Goji, who she's currently fostering.  Unfortunately for Goji his time at our old Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre office was always restricted due to his dislike of the other dogs, but not only is he fine with Yannie's own two larger dogs, on his own Goji is actually very easygoing and well behaved.  Environment and other situations make all the difference to a dog's behaviour, something that we have seen time and again with dogs that don't do well in one home but are perfectly suited to another.  This applies to so many other dogs that we have, including the shibas staying on Lamma (Damson, Donny and Gumbo), cocker spaniel Phaedra, and those like terrier River who's an extremely timid dog but incredibly happy having a safe garden to play in with her best friend Rumble.  One thing that all of these dogs have in common is that they need space, and that means that we would never consider them to be suitable for smaller homes with no outside area.  Sadly that disqualifies a large percentage of potential adopters, but having tried and failed we know that it's not fair to put these dogs back into homes where we know they'll be unhappy. 

Another requirement for all of the shy dogs is that they have another dog in the home.  Again we know that this means losing out on many homes that only want a single dog, but understanding dogs and their needs is a large part of what we do, so putting them into situations where they would be alone wouldn't be right or fair. 

Plum is one of these dogs, and we've just received this very happy update from her foster home.  As some background, Plum ended up at AFCD as one of several dogs involved in a cruelty case, and as I understand it this involved many dogs being kept in a small space and in very poor conditions.  It takes a long time for such cases to come to Court, so Plum and the rest of the dogs spent almost a year at AFCD, by which time most weren't suitable for re-homing.  I asked to take Plum because she seemed to be sweet, even if scared, and she did well at the Homing Centre as one of the "Shy Squad".  

Plum in her wonderful foster home

"Plum is shy with humans but plays very well with my dog. They will wrestle all day if I let them. She loves treats but has selective teste, although she will try everything once. She's not crazy about vegetables, but loves chicken and fish.  Plum enjoys people stroking her face, loves it in fact.  She hates our sudden movements, but doesn't mind sitting next to you on the sofa.  She doesn't like car rides, even short ones, but she loves being out and walks very well on the leash and doesn't pull at all. She's amazingly fit and easily can do a 2-hour hike.  We have tried giving her lots of different experiences like meeting other people and dogs, going to a mall, hiking on the trails, steps and car rides. She follows other dogs well and will do best in a home with another dog as company."  

This is why we love foster homes, because it gives dogs like Plum a real chance to shine. 

Plum is a smaller dog, and if you're interested in offering her a forever home please start by completing the adoption questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/