Sun 5th May: Dodging the rain again

Dudley, Jenny and Rosie enjoying the terrace at Whiskers N Paws

One of the best things about being at Whiskers N Paws on Sundays is that the puppies get to play on the terrace outside, something they really love - and so do I.  Nothing beats watching puppies having fun, and even after so many years I never get tired of the games they play.  We were dodging the rain today so had to stay inside most of the time, but there were still periods when the rain stopped and the older puppies could move outside.   Jimmy Tsang, a regular volunteer, was today's photographer and here is his lovely set  Puppy Adoption Day 5 May 2019 — at Whiskers N Paws (Hong Kong)

Beautiful Teddy 

There were two adoptions by the end of the afternoon, with brothers Teddy and Milky sadly having to say goodbye to each other, and little Bert also leaving his siblings behind.  Two of Bert's sisters went to their own foster home together, as did Petra and Tomlin (separately), so it wasn't a bad result at all in terms of puppies leaving.

Bert was the first of his litter to find a family

It wasn't an afternoon free of exasperation though, as during a break from the crowds inside I went out to the terrace to watch the few bigger puppies playing, and they had been joined by some other already-owned puppies that would normally be on the other side of the fence.  One of these was a beagle who had, I was told, been adopted from somewhere else, and I was pretty sure I recognised the owners as being a couple who had been to see our puppies before.  However I'm really not at all good at remembering human faces so I could be mistaken.  Anyway the couple started to ask me questions about training their beagle baby, and it quickly became clear that they really had no idea at all about puppies or training, and that they had chosen a breed about which they also had no clue.

Beagles are very cute to look at (unfortunately for them) and are usually happy and friendly dogs, but many's the time I've heard beagle owners saying they would never have another one.  Why? Beagles are relentless in their desire to search for food, and they have an exceptional nose that means they can smell a speck of anything edible from miles away.  On top of that, beagles consider anything and everything to be edible, so rubbish bins, inside the home and outside, are targets, as is everything left on the street, from used tissues to discarded chicken bones.  Even our old beagle Stinker never lost this annoying habit of picking up disgusting things from the ground and then hanging onto them for dear life while the volunteer walking him tried to prise it from his mouth.

Stinker never really got over being lost and starving 

As many of you will already know, Stinker passed away during Friday night, relieving us of the very sad task of having to have him put to sleep ourselves.  He had never really recovered from his days of being lost when he was without food for a long time, and over the past couple of days his condition had suddenly deteriorated.  We had to accept it was time to let him go, so it was a relief in a way that he spared us that.  We will always remember Stinker with fondness, but I have to say a beagle is still a breed that I would never choose to have myself.

I'm incredibly proud of our mixed breed puppies and the fact that they come pretty much toilet (potty) trained, and are smart and special.   Why choose anything else?