Sat 22nd Feb: Sunny Saturday

Charlie is in foster care now

I called the new curly-coated puppy boy Charlie, a name that just popped into my head and seemed to fit.  He's gone to a foster home with one of our very regular and reliable volunteers, Rose, who has looked after so many puppies for us I've lost count. Charlie has already started to relax and allow himself to enjoy being petted, and I'm sure it won't take long before we see a happy and playful little boy.

Full and happy

The baby "panda pups" are doing really well now that their bichon frise mother is producing milk to feed them, and there's something very satisfying about watching puppies busily suckling without a care in the world.  I'm happy that the owner of the bichon came to us for help because these babies will never know what it's like to be unwanted or unloved, but I do need to remind anyone who's asked about adopting that we don't know who or what the father is and we won't have any idea of the pups' final size or type of coat until they're older.   This is exactly the situation I've written about before with the other poodle-cross breeds like labradoodles, meaning not all of the puppies will have the poodle coat (or in this case bichon) or be small-sized.

I also need to emphasise that this was obviously an accidental pregnancy and this is exactly the reason why we insist all of our dogs are desexed, and puppies, females especially, spayed at six months.  There is really nothing cute about unwanted lives, and it was pure luck and chance that the owner of this bichon happens to live very close to our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, and that we found a foster home within an hour of the pups being brought to us.   The pups would otherwise have died without a doubt.

It was a beautiful sunny day today and I saw that many people headed out to the countryside to enjoy fresh air and physical activity, so remember that you can sign up as a dog walking volunteer at our Tai Po Homing Centre and do this type of thing any day of the week, and with a dog for company.  Just visit our website for details and an application form at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/volunteer/
(please not you do have to be over 18 years of age).

We'll also be out in the fresh air of the Whiskers N Paws terrace on Sunday with all of the puppies, so come along to meet them all.  The cafe serving delicious food, snacks and drinks is also open at the store so you can enjoy luch there too.