Tues 4th Oct: Dogs are creatures of habit

Margie's back in her corner

 I only realised it was a holiday today when I was expecting our driver, Ming, to pick up my Lamma dog Margie from ALCVC and send her back home.  Not only that, but as Wednesday is Ming's regular day off, poor Margie would have had to wait until Thursday to leave hospital and that wouldn't be fair on her, so I went over to Ap Lei Chau myself.  Of course Margie was extremely happy to be back, not only because this has been her home since she was a puppy, but also because she is part of a "Ladies Group" of dogs, females who are always together in the same corner beds, a very tight-knit family.  

I've written before about how it's only the females who form such groups, while males tend to have much looser ties with other males. As always there are exceptions, as I have a pair of males who, although not actually related, consider themselves to be brothers and always hang out together.  There aren't many bonuses to living with a lot of dogs over many years, but one of them is that I have been able to witness  natural dog behaviour and learn a lot from it. 

One of the other things that I know from my personal experience is that dogs are really creatures of habit, something I suppose applies to most animals if they're given the freedom of choice.  One of the signs that tells me something is wrong with a dog is if I notice that they've changed their normal sleeping place, or anything else which is not routine.  Dogs hide their illnesses very well, so it's small things that give away the fact that there's something not quite right. 

Aimi and Sakura are staying together

Shiba inu puppy Aimi's issue was very obvious of course, as she has the bottom of one leg missing, but she was lucky enough to be adopted today along with her mother, Sakura.  When Aimi is fully grown she can have a prosthetic fitted, but for now she can manage on three legs. 

Ichika, the other ex-breeder shiba who came at the same time as the lucky pair, is now in a foster home, as she - like so many others at the moment - needs to have surgery to fix luxating patellas. 

Zippy is staying forever 

I forgot to mention a lovely "foster fail" adoption that took place the other day, that of doglet Zippy.  He has been adopted before but returned after a short time, and the couple of had been taking care of him as a young puppy very kindly took him back. Now he will be staying forever, and we can be sure that this is a very happy home and situation for Zippy. 

July 2020

Many of the ex-breeder dogs that come to us are homeless because they have some superficial conditions that create problems (loss of profits) for the breeders.  A couple of years ago we took in four Scotties who arrived looking a real mess, but they were all adopted and have of course changed completely in the intervening years.  Now one of them, the male we called Hamish, is going to be leaving Hong Kong to move to the UK, and the three families that are in touch with each other are hoping to make contact with the fourth (Flora) for a final reunion.  Let's see if we can make this happen.

These Scotties are perfect now