Fri 15th April: Poodles as dogs, not toys

Imogen is just one of my many wonderful companions

I had the luxury of a day at home today, not having been able to enjoy my usual free days recently for one reason or another.  Of course there's always work to do but my dogs appreciate the company as much as I love having them around while I'm sitting at my work table, or wherever I happen to be. Once thing's for sure, you're never alone when you live with dogs.

I knew the shiba inu Yuki wouldn't be staying with us for long as the breed is very popular and she is such a sweet little dog.  I don't even think anyone had time to take a photo of her before she left the Homing Centre, but she looks like any one of her type, with a sharp foxy face and a permanent smile.

Jackson is staying in his foster home for ever

I have to admit I get confused when trying to identify individual poodles at the Homing Centre because they are all small, red (for the most part) and with curly coats, and I have to ask Andrea or Iris to remind me who they are.  They also look quite different after they have had a haircut, so when I was told that Jackson had been adopted by his foster and was sent a photo, it took me a while to run through the catalogue of poodles in my head to be able to place him.

Like all of our misunderstood poodles, Carrot just needs to be loved and to have fun

Of all the breeds that is most misunderstood and subsequently abandoned, the poodle tops the list for sure. Given the choice these smart and extremely energetic little dogs would spend their days hiking, swimming, playing with friends or doing things that stretch their mind, but instead they are treated like babies, dressed up and made to wear shoes and silly clothes and even pushed around in prams. Many are never walked in case their paws get dirty, and the result of this is a frustrated and badly behaved animal that bites. Who can blame them for lashing out at the stupidity of the humans who deny them the ability to be nature intended, or rather what they were bred to be? Their thick and curly coats were made for swimming, not for styling into pompoms.  

We have a lot of poodles at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, and admittedly almost all of them came to us with behaviour issues and are therefore not suitable for homes with young children.   They need to have what they have been denied in their previous lives, and no doubt multiple homes too, and that is to be real dogs.  Some of them, like Carrot for example, have been with us for far too long when all he needs is someone who will understand him and give him the attention and exercise that he needs.