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| Nineteen puppies appeared at once |
The puppies at our Elgin Street Centre arrived in one big drop of nineteen little furry bodies on the ninth of February, almost five weeks ago now. I remember that day and the panic of wondering what to do and how we could cope with so many arriving at the same time, but somehow we made it through, thanks mainly to the volunteers that signed up to help, and still do.
This was a huge challenge at the time, as the Elgin Street Centre wasn't supposed to be used for holding large numbers of puppies, and in any case dealing with so many in a single group would be difficult in any location. For various reasons even getting good photographs of the puppies seemed to be almost impossible, but eventually things started to settle, photos were taken and published (two sets of them), and some of the pups were lucky enough to find foster homes.
Groups of four at a time began attending the Puppy Parties at Whiskers N Paws on Sundays, and a couple have since been adopted (Annie and Amos), but there are still many left at Elgin Street and they're growing fast. Looking at the most recent photos HKDR Puppies @Elgin (March 2023) I know that even these are already out of date as all puppies change so quickly, even week by week.
It's not only the looks that change, but the individual characters start to become more evident too. There are the outgoing and confident ones, and the shy ones, but even they have opened up a lot since they first arrived as very scared youngsters. From the very messy early days the puppies are now using the newspaper for their toilet needs, and Kuranda (trampoline-type) beds have replaced the towels and soft bedding that meant piles and piles of dirty laundry every day.
The bad news is that what often happens when you get a large number of dogs and puppies sharing the same space is that kennel cough appears, a viral infection that results in a strange cough which sounds as though there's something stuck in the throat. As a virus there's no treatment for kennel cough and it almost always just runs its course, the same as a common cold does in humans. However it's also infectious and very annoying, because it means the puppies can't attend this Sunday's Whiskers N Paws event, and even those that had foster homes offered where there are already other dogs or puppies present can't now go.
If your dog is affected with kennel cough, you may notice one or more of the following symptoms:
- a strong cough, often with a “honking” sound – this is the most obvious symptom
- runny nose
- sneezing
- lethargy
- loss of appetite
- low fever
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| Ali last Sunday |
My top-favourite puppy at Elgin Street is Ali, and she has similarly charmed everyone at the Sunday puppy parties, moving from person to person to ask for belly rubs and attention. Check her out in the photos from last Sunday's event Puppy Adoption Day 12th March 2023. She was due to go to a foster home today, the same foster that's currently looking after Pepper and Paulie (Instagram @why_i_foster) where she would have had the best life possible while waiting for her forever home.
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| Pepper and Paulie |
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| Melody is one of 3 dachshund-cross siblings |
In fact there are too many absolutely gorgeous puppies waiting for homes, and as I was just scrolling through the album from last Sunday I was reminded of them all. Please take another look and you'll see what I mean.
You can also meet puppies any day of the week at our Kennedy Town Homing Centre (as well as 22 Elgin Street), but please start by completing the adoption questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/
For fostering enquiries please email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com.
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