Not having a website for some time now has made things very difficult for us, or more accurately the dogs. By not being able to show individual profiles it's taking away the chance of a dog being noticed, which would result in a visit to one of the Homing Centres and adoption, maybe not even of that dog necessarily.
Many people have a set idea in their minds of the size and type of dog they want, then end up taking home something completely the opposite. Having an unrealistic idea of the needs of certain breeds or being unaware of the exercise needs of any young dog, means that in many cases the pre-selected individual may be an unsuitable fit for that particular home. It's our job to introduce those that will be compatible with the lifestyle of the would-be adopter, even if it unfortunately means losing a home if the family are dead set on one dog. We have lots of enquiries about the young husky Arrow, for example, but this is a dog that needs a very special adopter, one who can give a dog a lot of exercise, training and attention. Arrow has never had any of that and as a result has attention-seeking habits that make him difficult to handle for anyone who doesn't really understand dog behaviour.
Misinterpreting "naughty" behaviour is one of the most common reasons for a dog to be given up, and it's why we place so much importance on education and training - of humans. A dog knows what it's trying to communicate but the problem lies with the human not understanding. A growl, for example, is so often misinterpreted as a sign of aggression when it's just a warning. The dog is indicating that it's not comfortable with the situation, and asking that whatever it is stops or goes away. It could be a child that is jumping on it or hurting it in some way, or another dog making it scared or many other reasons, but punishing a dog for giving a clear signal is wrong in every case.
I often see owners giving a harsh rebuke when their dog is clearly very uncomfortable or scared, and it takes a lot of willpower to stop myself saying something. Unfortunately the old-school ideas of being the dominant master are still very strongly ingrained, but hopefully over time this type of "training" will disappear, just as beating children did.
One of the important benefits of adopting a dog or puppy from HKDR is that we provide excellent (if I say it myself) post-adoption support for anyone who needs it, covering anything from puppy training to older dog settling-in issues, and all for free.
Going back to the website, we are now in the process of building a new site which we hope will be up by the end of this month. In the meantime please visit our Homing Centres at Tai Po or Ap Lei Chau to have a look at our dogs, or come to Whiskers N Paws to meet the many lovely puppies available.
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