Thurs 24th March: So many new faces

So many dogs and puppies are coming in, and today it was the third batch of hillside pups this week, a litter of eight that are thankfully not newborns and already have their eyes open.  They are now the "K" Litter, and as much as I try to come up with a letter of the alphabet that I haven't used to name a litter before, it's impossible.  (As an update on the previous two litters of babies, thankfully all are doing well, as least as far as we have heard).

The puppies from AFCD

The four puppies that arrived from AFCD Sheung Shui are gorgeous, and along with the "Hillside Eight" they were all picked up by their new foster parents today (and thank you for that).

One of the two lookalike sisters

There were also three adults from AFCD, all medium sized, and with two sisters from the same home apparently. Unfortunately one of them has a bad limp so we'll be sending her to see Dr Tony at Acorn to see what can be done about that.  The two girls are incredibly sweet, very friendly, and as we have many potential adopters wanting small or medium-sized dogs, hopefully it will mean that Madison and Nana won't have to wait too long. If Madison, the dog with the limp, needs surgery we'll be asking for a foster home for her if anyone can take her in during her recovery please let Cindy know at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com.  

Buddy

The third dog is a sharpei- type boy, now Buddy.  Again he's just a medium size, and if you're interested in adopting any of our dogs and puppies please start by completing the questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/

 I saw an article (extracts below)  which underlines what we see many times, not so much in obsessive-compulsive behaviour of dogs (the subject of the survey), but in general problems that arise when dog owners don't understand the needs or natural behaviour of dogs.  Two things stand out as being of particular importance in terms of how they affect the emotional well-being of pet dogs, one being having more than one dog in the home, and the other being the amount of exercise provided.  

It should always be remembered that dogs are animals, and although they have been domesticated for a very long time they still retain many of the instinctive behaviours of their ancestors.  For example, how many of you have dogs that circle before lying down, rearranging their blankets if they have them, or even if not scratch and dig at their beds as if making a comfortable nest?  There are many other examples I could use, but what it shows is that while dogs have adapted well to living human-style lives, they are not humans and we can't expect them to think or behave as such. 

If I had to choose the most important of all factors that determine a dog's happiness and well-being it would be that dogs are social animals who would never live alone in the wild.  Companionship is so important for a dog, whether human or another dog friend, and being isolated and left alone for long periods is not natural.

" .....In the new study, the researchers surveyed the owners of 4,436 dogs from 22 breeds.

The survey asked the owners how often their dog engaged in seven repeated behaviours – tail chasing, snapping at their reflection or shadow, surface licking, pacing, staring, spending time near their water bowl, and self-biting.

It also included questions on whether the owner had owned a dog before, how many people lived in the household, and how often the dog exercised.

The results revealed that 1,315 (30 per cent) of the dogs engaged in repetitive behaviours.

Dogs of first-time owners were 58 per cent more likely to exhibit these behaviours than dogs of people who had previously owned pups.

Living with another dog also seemed to have an effect, with dogs who lived with another pooch 64 per cent less likely to display the repetitive behaviours than 'only dogs'.

And exercising for less than an hour a day was linked with a 53 per cent increased chance of repetitive behaviours, compared to exercising for 1-2 hours a day."