Thurs 21st April: A brief glimpse of the sun

All of these beautiful youngsters are waiting and hoping

We had a brief glimpse of some nice weather today, the calm before the expected weekend storms it seems, and I'm getting a bit more than fed up with the rain.  It's not that I care about getting wet myself, it's the thought of the coming Sunday and the Whiskers N Paws afternoon and the fact that I have a litter of puppies on Lamma that are growing bigger by the minute and they need to be seen and adopted.  I couldn't even get over last Sunday because of the fog, and in previous weeks I've just come over with a couple of hopefuls, but I'm facing another situation where the pups are going to get too old and too big to stand a chance.  We already have a collection of six month-olds, every one of them sweet and beautiful, and if we could at least move them on into homes of their own I could ship my Lamma bunch over to Ap Lei Chau.

Amos loves to be petted by anyone

Lovely Amos was one of those waiting for a home until very recently, and although he is still currently in his foster home he will be moving out to start his new life on Sunday.  In preparation for the big day I took him to AFCD today to get his rabies vaccination and license, and he showed once again what a fantastic puppy he is.  He's so happy and affectionate and he loves everyone he meets, and I can't imagine that there could be any nicer character than Amos.

Turpin could be either breed looking like this but he is licensed as a schnauzer

I had another new dog with me today, one that had been described as a poodle when he was found as a stray with long and matted hair, but who looked very different after a shave and is actually registered as a schnauzer.  I suspect he is a mix of the two breeds, but whatever he is he is very sweet with people and is still young at not quite six years of age. His name is now Turpin and he is available for adoption, along with our many other smaller sized dogs staying at the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre.

Stardust enjoying a dip last summer

It seems that I'm accompanied by a Lamma dog every time I make the crossing over to Hong Kong Island, and today it was the turn a Stardust, a "border collie" who came to me from AFCD about eleven years ago as a tiny bundle of black-and-white fluff with tick fever.  She wasn't expected to make it through the first night and I was asked if I would prefer to have her euthanised rather than wait for the seemingly inevitable, but I chose to give her a chance.  It took a very long time for her to make a full recovery which is why she is still with me all of these years later, but she has remained perfectly healthy despite her shaky start.  It wasn't an illness that made an emergency trip to Acorn necessary, but a very large gash in her elbow area which I could see needing stitching up rather than just leaving it to heal naturally.  She came back home after the repair work, a bit wobbly but she'll be fine.

Ending with another happy adoption update, this time it's the turn of Yuki, the shiba inu who spent eight years of her life at AFCD being kept as a test dog (used for testing owned dogs for exemption to the "on leash" requirement) before being released for re-homing. She has very quickly settled in to her new home and lifetsyle: "Yuki has been with us for a week and she's settled in perfectly well. We can't be happier with her. Yuki is enjoying her island life with daily hikes and beach runs. She follows us around the house glued to our heels, and is always keen for a fetch game. Despite her age, she's quite a runner! There are a few things she's still getting used to, such as TV and coffee machine noise... But all in all this sweet lady has brought so much joy to our life. We can't thank HKDR enough for rescuing her. Also just a shoutout to those considering to adopt - please give the senior dogs a chance, they have just as much if not more love to give."