Mon 23rd Jan: This year's Acorn-by-the-Sea

Tiffany wanted to help Dr Tony sign the vaccination cards

It's frightening how reliant so many of us are on our smartphones these days, and for me it's become an essential part of daily life which allows me to combine the dog side of my life with all of the "office" work that goes into running HKDR.  So to leave home and find that I don't have my phone with me is frustrating to say the least, and it's just what happened after Dr Tony and vet nurse Hei had been over to Lamma to rabies vaccinate scores of dogs whose licenses needed renewing this year.

Imogen decided she wanted to be outside rather than upstairs

This is an annual event and one which saves me a huge amount of time and trouble trying to get dogs over to AFCD, and I found that by lumping all the dogs from any particular year into one group it made life much easier.  Still, the actual act of getting each individual to the front gate for their vaccination isn't exactly a walk in the park, and by the time we had done most of them everyone was in a state of high alert and anxiety.  Murphy insisted on being carried, and many others were hiding or behaving unusually such as wanting to go out when they would never normally even agree to it.  Finally I told Dr Tony that the dogs were now too wound up to continue, so I still have a handful that I will need to take to AFCD although not many,  and the pile of dog files that indicated they had been done was very satisfying.  And yes, the bandage on Dr Tony's hand is thanks to a very nervous dog.

With Ottilie still in hospital and not yet showing any signs of improvement, I decided to join Dr Tony and Hei when they left to go back to Acorn and in my hurry left my phone behind. I would have stayed with Ottilie for a lot longer than I did if I had been able to check and reply to emails and other stuff, but as it was I spent as much time with her as I could but needed to do some work.  I felt guilty leaving of course, as Ottilie was so happy to see me and have me sitting next to her stroking her head. Dr Andy had started acupuncture in the hope it would help and we'll give it (and the drugs) a couple of days before making any decisions.

Bertha is laughing!

Bertha the bulldog was picked up by her foster parents, adopters of Zippo-now-Bentley, who felt compelled to help knowing that both bulldogs came from the same breeder and could even be related. It's already a full house so Bertha will need to move to a permanent home of her own, and she is making a fast recovery now that all of the infected parts of her body have been removed (except the worms in her heart which will come later).

Uncle Stanley makes a great pillow

I have to share this gorgeous photo of baby Figgy in her new foster home.  She is obviously very happy and content with her (ex-HKDR) Uncle Stanley.  I'still have puppies that need foster homes, including Figgy's brother Mao, so please let Cindy know if you can help over the Lunar New Year holidays (and beyond if possible).  Her email is foster@hongkongdogrescue.com

Little Jade also needs a home or foster