Sat 17th Dec: Party time

I'm pretty much a stranger in town these days and would never normally be out and about on a Saturday, but today was the HKDR Christmas Party in Central at Ayuthaiya (Thai restaurant), thanks once again to our wonderful sponsor and supporter the Aqua Group.  I also have to thank long-term volunteer Terry for a very special Christmas present which will go a long way towards helping the dogs.  Terry has also taken in a lot of dogs himself over the years and was threatening or promising (not sure which is appropriate) to bring along his giant ex-HKDR pooch Big Dave, but as he would have filled the whole place I suggested it might not be a good idea. I'd love to see a photo though (Terry?).

Dogs Pie (Piper) and Popcorn joined the party too

We had a great time with lots of wine and delicious food, and thank you to everyone who came along. We missed those of you who were working or walking the dogs, but there's never really a perfect time where everyone can be there.

I would normally use the travel time to check and reply to emails and messages but I had managed to leave my reading glasses somewhere and can't see without them these days, so it was one of the rare times when my phone stayed in my bag and I wasn't working.

Ellis was one of our early HKDR dogs

It seems that there are too many sad end-of-life stories these days, but after so many years of homing dogs and puppies it's inevitable that the time has come for those who found homes a long time ago. We still have many volunteers who will remember these dogs, whether or not they are still actively dogs walking or even living in Hong Kong, so for those of you who were with us during the Pokfulam Kennels era I wanted to pass on the news that Ellis (one half of Pablo and Ellis) left today. His family are very sad of course, but they gave Ellis a wonderful life and home and nobody can ask for more than that.

Sadly there was no hope for this baby

For those of you who have wondered what happened to the Maltese puppy that we took in recently, he too was let go today after it was agreed there was no hope of any recovery and only a worsening of the brain damage.  He was staying in a foster home until the decision was made and was well taken care of, but there is only so much that can be done in such cases.

I'm trying to think of a good name for this lovely girl

There was a new arrival at Tai Po today, an Old English Sheepdog cross who looks like a giant schnauzer.  As is often the case nothing has been done for the dog in terms of vaccinations or heartworm prevention (or desexing of course), so we will need to sort all of that out.

So now there is Sunday to look forward to, and the puppies at Whiskers N Paws.  The following two weeks' puppy afternoons will take place on Saturday rather than Sunday, which will be Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

For the following two weekends we'll be there on Saturday