Sun 23rd May: Hot weather foster homes needed!

 

While I'm waiting for the photos (by Rodger So) from today's Whiskers N Paws session  Puppy Adoption Day 23rd May 2021, here's a funny video of sweet Alison having fun with the pools that were provided for the puppies to enjoy.  Alison is staying full time at the store until she finds a home, so you can meet her there any day. 

After having warned about the very hot weather and the risk of heatstroke in dogs, there were two cases today that underlined how easy it is for this to happen.  One involved Tai Po senior Macadamia (Mac) who was sent to Concordia as an emergency case which turned out to be just the heat, even though he hadn't been doing anything.  With the temperature at a record high for May today, it's hardly surprising that it's too much for many outdoor dogs. 

The other was one of my Lamma dogs, Sumo, also a senior and one who insists on joining the morning walk even though he struggles and has to lie down a lot.  I wish he'd stay home but he's determined to come along, and I'm keeping the walks short these days for all the dogs' sake, including Sumo.  When we get back I take the dogs to the sea for a paddle or swim, as they choose, and Sumo likes to stand in the shallows to cool off.  Today while the rest of the dogs had finished their swims and wanted to get back to the house, Sumo was still enjoying the water so I left him there while putting the others inside, a matter of a couple of minutes.  When I returned for Sumo he was nowhere to be seen, even though he'd been struggling after the walk and was quite exhausted.  I searched everywhere for him, all along the stony beach, which is actually quite difficult to walk on, and it was about fifteen minutes later that he eventually came staggering up the path from the opposite direction and dripping blood from his paw.  He must have become disorientated and rather than walk the fifty feet back to the house had wandered off, cutting his paw on some glass on the way, and eventually hearing my calls had found his way home.  Happily he's fine now, but it took a good few hours for him to recover from his ordeal, and I will make sure he doesn't come for the daily walk while the temperatures are so unbearably high. 

We thought we had a new foster home for yet another senior, Otis, but that fell through and now we have just a week before his current foster leaves Hong Kong.   

Otis is a very sweet boy and deeply loved by his current foster mom but she is having to leave HK by the end of May. Otis is 11 years old with heart problems so he definitely needs a quiet home instead of coming back to centre with so many dogs and visitors. Can you offer him a retirement home ?

Otis' heart problems are now controlled well with medication. If you are fine to take care of an easy senior dog and don't mind giving medication and bringing him for checkup about once a month (medical cost on HKDR). Please email foster@hongkongdogrescue.com

Otis is best suited to a quiet home with no children, although he's fine with other dogs.

Given the record high temperatures we can expect this summer following today's blistering heat, and the number of seniors we have at our Tai Po Homing Centre who are so vulnerable to suffering heatstroke, we're in need of foster homes for these dogs specifically.  If you can take in a lodger for the hot summer months please let Cindy know by emailing foster@hongkongdogrescue.com, thank you.