Fri 24th June: Big surprise for a little puppy

Suzie wasn't her usual lively self last Sunday

I had meant to take puppy Suzie to be tested for tick fever earlier in the week and had actually got as far as the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre with her, but that was the day that my air conditioner had died and I needed to buy a replacement urgently.  In the end with all the back-and-forth that ensued, Suzie never made it to Acorn, so today was another trip over for her.  It turned out that she did indeed have a very low red cell count and ended up staying in hospital. It's a real blow for both Suzie and me, because she is - or was - a puppy with a good chance of finding a home this Sunday and now that won't be happening.

Another Lamma puppy had been sent for desexing earlier in the day, one of a very lovely litter of three who had been taken out of AFCD a few months ago.  They had turned out to be very timid, and as I have to keep all smaller puppies out of the way of my blind dog Roley, I didn't see too much of these three because they would just hide.  I worked out that the female at least must be due for desexing even if she was still just shy of six months, because I didn't want to risk any chance of her becoming pregnant. When Dr Tony called me about her (Loopy) to tell me that she too was slightly anaemic and asking if I still wanted to go ahead with the desexing surgery, I asked how old he thought she was, as if she was still only five months I would wait.  I was very surprised to learn that as she had all of her adult molars she was more likely to be around eight months.  So when I went to pick her up later in the afternoon and saw this very small puppy who is actually closer to being a young adult, I sent a message to Andrea at Ap Lei Chau asking if there was space for Loopy in the Homing Centre.  I got the reply that yes, as long as she didn't mind mixing with the other puppies there was room for her, so that's where she now is.  I have no idea what mix these three puppies can be to be so small, but I really hope being at the Homing Centre will change Loopy's behaviour.  Then I can move her brothers over too.

Charlie is 4 years old

I had to go via AFCD on the way to Acorn, to drop off licenses that needed ownership information changing, and left with a very happy and friendly poodle boy who is now called Charlie. He's not a small poodle, more medium sized, but he wants to be everyone's friend and appears to be toilet trained.  That's a huge bonus as so many small dogs that come to us have never been taught even the basics.

It's really hard to understand how anyone can expect a baby puppy to teach itself, especially as so many are kept in cages where they are forced to pee and poo in the same small space as they are also made to live and sleep.  I hate cages with a vengeance, and it is really sad that so many dogs have to spend much of their lives locked up.