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| Lola is now at Elgin Street |
I wrote about the bichon frise that was adopted from HKDR a few years ago, and who was surrendered back to us today after the birth of one child and the imminent arrival of another. Lola is ten years old now, and while I'm not going to voice my opinion of the now ex-owners here, I can certainly think it.
One of the questions on our adoption questionnaire is specifically aimed at potential adopters who are currently childless, asking if a dog would be included in the family should children arrive. Anyone who is young and single, or young couples, really need to consider the fact that their situation may well change but a dog shouldn't just be discarded to make way for any human additions. Preparing a dog for the arrival of a baby is something all expectant parents should consider, and we can recommend trainers who are specifically qualified for this situation.
Additionally, parents who adopt (or buy) a puppy for their young children to play with must also consider the fact that children grow and lose interest, or their time is taken up with school or extra activities, while the dog will always remain at the same level of need. In many cases it's the domestic helpers who are left in charge of the dogs, with mixed results. Some helpers are really good, better in fact that the dog owners, while others see a dog walk as an opportunity to meet with friends to sit and chat for a few hours. Make sure your helper is one of the good ones if they're going to be left in charge of your dog.
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| Due to arrive on Sunday |
I mention this particular scenario because a young chihuahua is being surrendered, precisely for the above reason, that no one has time to take care of him. This dog is due to come to us on Sunday.
Dogs aside, we're so grateful for the help and support of our volunteers, many of whom have been with us for years and who turn up regularly day after day, week after week, donating their time to take care of the dogs and puppies. Without volunteers it would be impossible to run HKDR, so my thanks are heartfelt and sincere.
We have applications all the time from people wanting to become volunteers too, in fact there's a waiting list for orientations at the Tai Po and Kennedy Town Centres because the instructors are themselves volunteers and can't be there every day. Many people also try to jump the line by emailing me directly, but I'm not in charge of the volunteers or scheduling so I can only forward the messages. I can say that anyone who is available to help during the week will be fast-tracked, while weekend-only applicants will have to wait for an available slot.
You might think that with so many would-be volunteers waiting to be allocated an orientation space we would be overflowing with helpers, however very few of those who attend the orientation actually come back. In a way that's one of the points of the orientation, to weed out those who think that volunteering means playing with puppies and cuddling dogs from those who understand that it's hard work, and there's a lot of cleaning and other physical work involved. The drop-out ratio is very high, and it's frustrating to know that these one-off visitors have taken the place of others who could turn out to be really good volunteers, but that's life I suppose.
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| New boy Scruffy's stay should be a short one |
We don't require volunteers at our Elgin Street Centre to undergo orientations because the training is done on-site, and the number of dogs and puppies is usually low enough not to require a high number of long-term volunteers. That changed somewhat after the big intake of puppies last month, but at least the adult dogs usually only stay with us a short time before being adopted. However, once again, the disappointment is those who sign up to be there on a certain day and time, and then simply don't turn up. We try to keep the shift numbers to three volunteers so people aren't just hanging around with nothing to do, but when there are no-shows it puts a lot of strain on the others who are there, especially first thing in the morning. All we ask is that if you have signed up to help then you actually come to do just that, and here's the link for those of you (over 18's please) who would like to volunteer at 22 Elgin Street: https://docs.google.com/spread
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