Mon 25th Jan: Celebrating the seniors

Elvis in his own home

 The best thing about the worst weather is that dogs who would normally never get noticed end up in foster homes, and from there - if lucky - move on to their forever retirement.  Some of these I've already mentioned, but there are more to come, including long-termer Elvis, who was sent to the Ap Lei Chau Vet Clinic (ALCVC) a while ago with a head tilt and circling.  We feared a brain tumour but it turned out not to be so and the vet, Dr Denise, not only treated Elvis but also found him a home! 

Porto is another long-termer who looks set to be lucky, but more about him later. 

While on the subject of older dogs waiting for homes, I wanted to share this sweet video of another foster dog, this time Jenny.  Just take a look at how lovely she is, and maybe if she's lucky she'll win someone's heart.  If you're interested in meeting Jenny, please start by completing the adoption questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com, or if that's already been done you can email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com.

I also talked yesterday about a new dog that was possibly arriving, not wanting to share details in case he didn't turn up.  It wasn't a surprise then to be told that he was coming, and later that he wouldn't be after all, followed up by a message that he was on the way.  So this very handsome and friendly young boy turned up at the last minute and although he doesn't have a name yet I suspect he'll find a home pretty quickly. 

There was another dog who was supposed to be coming, an unusual staffie-type, and this was another of those yes, no, yes, maybe situations until it ended up being a no, for now anyway.

As a reminder we still have quite a collection of sweet and friendly smaller dogs at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, although not youngsters.  The corgi Bean is currently the most junior, but he can't be in a home with children or inexperienced adopters. 

Bean

 I think I do need to mention a very impostant point about these dogs, and that's that just because they're small it doesn't mean they don't want or need proper exercise.  I suppose a good example would be to ask if you think short people need less exercise than tall people, because of course that's not true.  Some small dogs are very energetic and fully capable of enjoying long hikes and everything that a larger dog would do.  What makes a difference in terms of exercise needs are more to do with build and shape, like the bulldog breeds who have short noses that impair breathing.  Giant breeds are also not built to be able to tolerate excessive exercise, so really size has nothing to do with it.