Thurs 15th Dec: Lucky Olive, unlucky Carol

Funny/Lucky Girl, just right

Do you know what makes me really happy?  It's when someone asks about a particular dog and I (or we) say that dog may not be suitable but please take a look at this other one who would be a good match, and the potential adopter listens and the right dog gets adopted and everyone lives happily ever after.  This is how Funny Girl ended up in her forever home and I received the following message "Lucky girl is settling in fine by the way, thanks for the recommendation, she really is the perfect dog for us."

Olive, now Skye, with new sister Kayto

There's something else that makes me very happy too, and that's when a foster family fall in love with the dog they're looking after and make it a permanent arrangement.  This is what we call a "failed foster", or for short a "Flopster", and we love them.  Volunteer Jamie and her husband have just joined the Flopster Club with the adoption of (Lamma) Olive, one of the dogs I took over to Whiskers N Paws on Monday to meet their dog Kayto, also an ex-HKDR girl.  Olive had become one of the many "left-behinds" despite being a very sweet and loving dog, and although never forgotten these dogs just become one of the too-many.  When I was trying to think of who might be a good match for Kayto, Olive came to mind, and although initially Jamie offered to foster so Olive could get her skin problem fixed,  she was such a good girl from the moment she arrived that she will now be staying as a permanent family member.

This Yorkie boy is a tiny teacup size

I took the new breeder dogs to AFCD to have their licenses checked, and found that the Yorkie had no microchip and the poodle's chip wasn't registered to anyone so I was able to become their official owner on the spot.  I'd been told that the Yorkie, a teacup size, was a year old but his teeth suggested he was a bit older.  I had also been told that a misplaced injection had caused him to become paralysed, although he can just about stand by himself if not actually walk.  We'll wait and see what happens and if he recovers, but if anyone would like to foster him it would be a great help.  Email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com please.

The poodle was suspected to have a badly luxating patella but Dr Andy said it was his hip that was the problem, and strange as it might seem that's actually good news because hip surgery is a relatively simple procedure and recovery quite fast too.  Frisbee is a sweet dog and less than a year old, so we won't have any trouble finding him a home.

It could be good news for Frisbee

I was also able to take three of the five pups-with-mother out of AFCD and send them off to a foster home, so now I just need a foster home for the remaining pair of four week-olds and I can take the mother.  Ideally of course the pups with be with her for at least another couple of weeks, but this isn't an ideal world and the pups will be fine as long as they have each other.

We are all desperately sad about Carol

I have include the very sad news that sharpei Carol died early in the morning.  It happened so fast that nothing could be done to save her, and we are all extremely upset that this lovely young dog never had a chance to find a family and experience happiness away from the breeder.  These things happen from time to time, fortunately rarely, and it's always hard.

Otis (left) and sister Jolene

Events like this just make me want to try harder to find the other dogs their family homes, and maybe this lovely brother-and-sister pair will be lucky soon.  Otis and Jolene have obviously come from a home situation as they are clearly ex-pets, although Otis has heartworm whereas Jolene is clear.  If anyone would like to meet this handsome couple they are at our Tai Po Homing Centre, open every day from 10am to 5pm.