Sat 16th Jan: Small but brave

Patrick is losing weight in his new home

 While corgi Patrick had his adoption confirmed after a short trial period, we took in another corgi to take his place.  Both of these dogs had come from bad homes, and by bad I include cruelty through ignorance as well as physical abuse.   In Patrick's case he was surrendered to AFCD as a hugely obese dog even though still relatively young, and with long nails indicating that he was never walked.  I was told his ex-owners "trained" him by throwing food, and I don't think they thought there was anything odd about this, they just had no idea how a dog works, physically, mentally or emotionally.  Patrick was lucky to find a new home quite quickly and he's doing very well, but many - if not most - of such dogs stay with us for the whole of their lives.

Bean

The person who surrendered new corgi Bean to us was his second owner, and he told us that Bean had been hit and starved in his first home resulting in guarding behaviour (hardly surprising).  We know that pet shops recommend that puppies bought from them are fed the absolute minimum, to the point of actually counting out the individual pieces of kibble, which is why so many of these dogs are desperate to guard their food.  We've seen it time and again, and it seems to be worse in breeds that are genetically tough and brave anyway, like corgis and shiba inu.  Bean is handsome, and again still quite young, so we'll see what happens and whether his behaviour can be successfully modified.    As with all of these dogs who show guarding behaviour of any kind, they can't be in a home with children.

Wilfred

We don't know anything about handsome Wilfred's background and why he can also be temperamental except with those volunteers he knows and trusts. but we hold out hope that the right home will come along one day.  He's a fantastic little guy who loves hiking and adventures, and he has the energy to tackle anything. Again of course he can't be in a home with children.

Now for the best part of every day, the adoptions. As already scheduled puppy Mandy left with her new parents, and I hope she doesn't miss her best friends Freddie and Doddy too much.  

You can see how small Mandy is here

Also starting his new and well-deserved new life was poodle Barton, and I think he'll be getting all the love and attention he's missed in his previous years. 

Barton has a big family now