The weekends are almost always busy times anyway, but today we had a staff shortage at Kennedy Town and so many new dogs to deal with, either already at ALCVC (Ap Lei Chau Vet Clinic) or due to turn up in the afternoon. That meant me having to put on my (imaginary) HKDR Volunteer hat to be at the clinic when the dogs arrived, as we had several potential adopters or fosters also coming. I also want to thank the staff at ALCVC for their help and patience, and particular clinic manager Rocky, who is amazing.
 |
| Felix had been staying at Whiskers N Paws |
First of all though, I want to announce the adoption of Felix, the last of the "F" litter, the gorgeous boys who first arrived at our Elgin Street Centre as very young and very scared puppies. In the end they all turned into handsome and sweet doglets, and one by one they have found lovely homes, and now we can close the file on this particular story.
 |
| The F litter in January (Felix front right) |
 |
| Poodle Isla was taken home today |
There were four small dogs from AFCD already staying at ALCVC after they arrived yesterday, and the new dogs came in two groups, the first being two poodles and a small terrier mix. The poodle puppy was adopted almost immediately, despite being a mess with matted lumps of hair. The second poodle was two years old and she also found a foster home fairly quickly, followed by the terrier-type, a very sweet boy.
 |
| The poodle puppy was quickly adopted |
The second delivery of dogs turned up without anyone even realising at first. and these were a regular sized puppy, a very scruffy young dog with terribly matted hair, which could have been a poodle but was almost unrecognisable as anything. Luckily he was so sweet that he was adopted quite quickly.
 |
| Limo had already had half a haircut |
Finally there was a larger dog, still only medium sized, and probably the sweetest and most gentle boy imaginable. While I was dealing with the other adopters and fosters, Rocky had furnished a young boy with a plastic stool and a box to catch the fur, so the boy could brush the dog (now called Lewis) while he stood there totally calmly. I'm really hoping this family will end up taking Lewis home, but even if they don't I can highly recommend him for any home with children. Rocky later gave Lewis a bath and took this video of him enjoying a blow dry.
 |
| Roy and Rhonda stay together |
Earlier in the day the two stuck-together (not literally) terriers from last Saturday's intake were picked up from Lamma, where they had been temporarily staying at the Lamma Home for Small Dogs. They have found a lovely home together, and it's the best I could have hoped for. The boy, who is the smaller one, is quite confident and outgoing, but the larger girl is still very shy.
 |
I wrote about a dog that was returned to us after having been adopted as an older puppy, and who had developed behaviour problems that we hadn't been told about. This dog is a poodle, still a young dog at just over a year, and very lovely to look at. However Google is now a biting dog, and I can't understand what happened in the few months between him being adopted and coming back to us. The home and the adopter were lovely, but because we had no idea that any issues had developed, we can't say why things got so bad before Google came back to us.
The reason I'm sharing this story again is two-fold, the first being that we urge all adopters to let us know as soon as help is needed so the problem can be dealt with early on. It's the reason why we have a full time trainer, and a very experienced one in Cactus. The second is to dispel the myth that breed dogs have a better and more reliable character than mixed breeds, because that just isn't true (see the video of Lewis, a totally soft and gentle mix). Poodles are exceptionally smart and active, and they need a lot of mental stimulation as well as exercise. Being small doesn't mean a dog is fine with one short walk, they want and need to be involved in every part of daily life.
Google can't stay at the Kennedy Town Homing Centre, he needs far more space and attention than we can offer there. Ideally he need a garden or outside area like a large terrace, and he certainly can't be around children. As an "only child" who can be exercised until he is worn out, and to live with a single woman, would be the ideal situation. It's a long shot, but is there this home out there anywhere?
No comments:
Post a Comment