Mon 29th Feb: The Chung Hom Kok collie

Some of you may remember one of the "breeds" I invented, the Chung Hom Kok collies, very distinctive and beautiful dogs that came from the same family group who were loosely owned by a man living near Stanley.  Over the years he surrendered many puppies to AFCD while countless attempts to encourage him to have the dogs desexed failed, until finally one woman got him to agree. She was the one who took the dogs to a vet clinic to be spayed and neutered, and that ended the reproduction cycle and the supply of this majestic "breed".

The Chung Hom Kok collie is so distinctive that when I took a dog out of AFCD today I immediately recognised it as being one, and knowing that the line had ended when the last dogs were desexed I was curious to know where it had come from.  All I was told was that the dog had been adopted as a puppy from HKDR,  and I knew that he had been passed to AFCD by the SPCA, as is standard in all cases of microchipped animals.  AFCD had been unable to contact the registered  owner, so eventually the dog was released for re-homing.

The wonderful thing about microchips is that they stay in the body for ever as identification, so even if the dog is deliberately abandoned there is a way of tracing the registered owner.  That could be done via the Hong Kong ID card even if the address and telephone number have changed, although AFCD don't go that far unfortunately.  In this case however, I still have all the email correspondence with the adopter from 2012 when Big, the dog's name, was taken home as a puppy, so I was able to send a message by late afternoon, asking if Big had been lost or surrendered/abandoned.  So far I haven't received a reply, and since the poor dog has been sitting at AFCD for some time I can only assume the latter is true.

Chung Hom Kok collies are, I think, a cross between a collie and golden retriever, and they are as lovely in nature as they are beautiful. (The photo shows Marley, from the same bloodline). Big is no exception, and at three years of age he still looks like a young boy and is as friendly as it is possible for any dog to be.  He loves everyone and wanted to play with all of the dogs that came into Acorn while I was waiting to see the vet.

In fact Big didn't need to see a vet in the end as he had been a patient at Acorn so all of his records are there, and I know that his license was only renewed last October. (I should add that I wasn't given any private information by the clinic due to privacy laws, but I already had the microchip number which was all I needed).  It seems strange that a family would abandon a dog so soon after having all vaccinations updated, so while part of me is hoping that he is only lost, I have to wonder why all attempts to contact the now ex-owner (by AFCD and Acorn) have failed, including my own email.

So now Big is at our Tai Po Homing Centre and available for adoption, and all I can say is whoever takes this gorgeous boy home will not only automatically join the very exclusive group of Chung Hom Kok collie owners, but will also have a fantastic family member.  If you are interested and we don't already have your details, please contact me as soon as possible.

I also took a lovely poodle boy, now called Curly, from AFCD and it was very sweet and funny watching the two dogs together as I took a taxi to Sai Ying Pin from Pokfulam.  Curly, being an entire (not desexed) male was doing his best to mate with Big while making no impression whatsoever.  I know for sure that Big is good with any size of dog, and I assume with cats too.

Curly (pictured getting his health check by Dr Hazel at Acorn) joins our growing poodle collection at Ap Lei Chau, so please come and meet them all if you have space in your home for a lively and smart little dog.