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| Funny/sweet poodle Nacho |
One of the golden rules about dogs (animal) rescue work is that you have to be flexible when making any plans, and to expect the unexpected. For example, we were waiting for the arrival of three new small dogs at our HKDR@Elgin Centre today, one of which was a young poodle, but I shouldn't have been too surprised that they didn't actually turn up and will apparently now be brought on Tuesday. As it happened it worked better for me because I had to be at the dentist today, but I was hoping to be able to share some photos at least.
There are also three more poodles (apparently) coming later in the week, but again they were first scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. I'd even posted on Facebook that we were expecting them, so there are already potential adopters waiting. Some of these are first-time dog owners, and while that doesn't mean that they won't be dedicated to any dog they adopt, I want to talk once again about poodles in particular.
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| Senior poodle Bee is a sweet boy |
One of the reasons that many people want a poodle is that they have a wool coat, rather than hair, so this is helpful when it comes to allergies to regular dog coats. However, as cute and smart as a groomed poodle looks, without daily brushing and regular haircuts, the curls become thick and matted. Many times over the past twenty years we've taken in poodles whose coats were completely solid and could be shaved off as one complete piece. Taking care of a poodle's grooming needs is time-consuming, and expensive if you can't learn how to do it yourself.
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| Another sweet-but-old poodle boy |
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| 10 year-old poodle girl Charlotte |
Poodles are also small sized, unless they're standard poodles who are large, and undeniably very cute. However don't think that their small size means they don't need proper exercise or training, because the breed is energetic and very smart. It's very easy for a bored or under-stimulated poodle to develop behaviour issues, and these start when a baby puppy is bought by someone who doesn't have the time or knowledge to provide the companionship, exercise and training that every puppy needs.
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| Our "Red" poodles enjoying a trip to WNP |
The reason that we know about poodles is because they are one of the breeds that is most commonly surrendered, many for behaviour problems such as biting, but also because they're long-lived and with changing situations their families can no longer keep them. We have a few poodles that fall into the latter category, meaning they're sweet but older, and another one is coming this week (Charlotte).
You will probably know about our collection of "Red" poodles, and I'm not referring to the colour of their coat, which is also called red. These poodles, plus some other dogs, have been staying at our Red Dog Centre in Ap Lei Chau, where many of them have been for years. A couple of "Red" poodles have been lucky enough to have been adopted, but for the most part they will probably stay with HKDR until the end of their natural days. Sadly nothing stays the same for ever, and just as we lost our lovely Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre about a year ago, we are now having to make way once again for the developers who are knocking down every old building in Ap Lei Chau to make room for fancy new high-rise apartment blocks.
With the Kennedy Town Homing Centres full of puppies, the "Red Dogs", along with the sweet-but-old poodles, will be moving to Elgin Street at the end of March, where they will at least have a sanctuary for as long as we can stay there. We know that the time on Elgin Street is limited too, as the whole street and Soho area will be following in the redevelopment footsteps of Ap Lei Chau and will soon disappear. This move is going to be difficult in many ways, not so much in the physical sense of having to pack up and take everything (although that in itself is going to be a mammoth task), but more because we're trying to fit dogs into places that aren't really ideal.
The dogs and puppies that are currently staying at Elgin Street will be moving too, this time to Kennedy Town where they will have more exposure than they do at the Soho base, and hopefully that will mean better adoption opportunities.
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| Lola |
This has been, and is, yet another challenge that we have been facing, along with the financial hardships that are the result of the past few years of restrictions, and so many people leaving Hong Kong. What we need now are homes for the sweet poodles, those like Nacho, Bee and Timber. We also have other seniors in need of homes, dogs like ten year-old bichon Lola, and sweet boy shiba Tomo. You can see all of the dogs mentioned in this post, plus many more who are "adoption-challenged" (meaning not easy to home) at
hkdr_eagle .
These photos include the many smaller dogs staying on Lamma, all of whom found the Homing Centres to be too stressful but who are enjoying the peace and quiet of their island home. They are all available for adoption, but of course they will need a patient adopter willing to give them the space and time to decompress and settle.
The most recent addition to the Lamma gang is Josh, who came to us as a shy puppy and who really never adapted to living in a busy environment like Kennedy Town. It took a while, but now Josh is bouncing around like a typical young dog, and having the time of his life. It's really wonderful to see.
For all adoption enquiries please start by completing the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/
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