Mon 28th March: Last day of Easter

Stunning Athena at Sunday's puppy afternoon

The last day of the Easter break turned out to be another reasonably good-weather one thankfully, and the lucky Tai Po dogs who were taken out hiking had a great time.  I finally managed to get most of my outstanding tasks completed at home, and now just have to figure out how I am going to cram a week's worth of vet/AFCD/office visits into the three-day week ahead.

To start with I have two dogs who need surgery; Safari with the blood-filled "fat ear" and Fido, who has a broken and bloodied tail which looks as though it has been caught in a door or something.  I suspect amputation is going to be necessary unfortunately, because a dog without a tail is a sad thing. I don't understand why tails are deliberately docked, and in countries where this cruel practice is illegal it's so lovely to see cocker spaniels, rottweilers and other breeds who are traditionally mutilated wagging full tails.  As for ear cropping, that's so horrible and so ugly that I'm completely at a loss to see any reason why someone would do this to a dog.

Some dogs have their tails docked out of necessity, like Fido as a good example, and also Bones, who is now called Jones and is settling well on Lamma.  When I first saw him at AFCD he was so emaciated that Bones seemed like an obvious name, but he has changed since then.  Apart from the fact that he had been starved, Bones-now-Jones had also clearly been deprived of companionship and company, and may well have been one of the too-many unfortunate dogs whose lives are no more than a day-to-day existence.  Although not aggressive with dogs, Bones-as-was didn't understand how playing with others worked, and his only form of amusement was throwing a ball around for and by himself.  He also had the typical caged-dog behaviour of attacking his own tail, and it was so bad that amputation became necessary.  His past treatment made Bones a poor candidate for re-homing so he came to live with me.

Bones with a full tail and ribs showing

At first I was afraid that he would be picked on by other dogs, but his solitary habits meant he didn't bother anyone so he was in turn ignored.  I put him with the youngsters, thinking they would more readily accept a newcomer, but Bones made his own way to another group of dogs in a different section.  I call this group "The Sisterhood" because they are all females who have bonded to form a tight family, and from time to time I have introduced others who needed to be taken under their protective care.  Nobody messes with the girls, and Bones has happily settled in with them as the only male.  Once he felt safe and happy he started to eat without guarding his food and put on weight, and that's when I decided he could drop his old name and leave his past behind.  Now as Jones he has even had invitations to play from Apple, one of the picked-on dogs that I moved in with the Sisterhood, and who has now become one of them and a happy girl. I watch as Apple bows and dances in front of Jones trying to entice him to play with her, and although so far he hasn't been willing I know it won't be long before he takes the plunge.  I can't wait for that day.

Treacle and Syrup

The photos from Sunday's Whiskers N Paws puppy afternoon are now up on our Hong Kong Dog Rescue Facebook page, with thanks to stand-in photographer Jimmy Tsang, and to Semirah for her editing and posting.

Lovely Donna was adopted on Sunday