Sat 7th Sept: It's never too late for a dog to learn

 It's funny how things happen without any planning or intention, and I'm lucky in that I've been able to adapt my life and schedule to accommodate such changes.  What I'm talking about is my new group of walking companions after all but one of the older dogs retired, or died.  Some of these "new" dogs have been at HKDR for years, initially living at our then-Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre as office dogs, while others came to Lamma later when they were too shy, or just couldn't cope with the small Kennedy Town situation.  Now they stay in their own house with a very large garden area, so they have always had the space and freedom to roam, or do whatever they wanted to other than leave the compound. 

When I first decided to start walking them, I chose Hetty and Simone to come with me, and they were soon joined by the two young brothers, Lennox and Lewis.  Then one by one others wanted to come along, at first just for a short way along the path, then later for the entire walk.  Alicia, for example, had been one of the Ap Lei Chau group, and had later suffered paralysis in her back legs, which she recovered from even though she walks quite stiffly.  Gumbo, Piggy and Alex were also from the same office group, while Florence has been with me since she was a very scared puppy.  Corgi Boomer (Bubu) came as a very timid young corgi who had never been for a walk in his life, while little Theo was even more timid when he arrived.  

Now my merry band are always waiting for me with excitement, dashing out as soon as I open the gate.  They are all ages, small to medium sized, and completely different in looks and everything else. The reason for me writing about them is that I want to stress that it's never too late for a dog to learn, and they're never too old to enjoy going out, even if it's just to explore and sniff all the interesting smells.  It's given me tremendous joy too, to see them so happy and having so much fun, and I'm only sad that for some they have missed out on their younger years. 

Back to the Homing Centre dogs, I was very happy to see another one of our Tai Po girls being adopted. this time Emma.  The same applies to our Homing Centre residents as the Lamma dogs I've just written about, and I know that once they have settled and adjusted to their new lives, it will open up a whole new world for them.

Kara was the Kennedy Town dog who was also adopted today, while two others were taken for a trial to see if they can both stay (no names yet as usual).  We had some other potential adopters coming to meet the dogs, and I think (hope) that Sunday will see more leaving.

Of course we also have our Puppy Party taking place on Sunday at Whiskers N Paws, so you can go along to meet all of the hopefuls from 2pm to 4pm.  Please remember to complete the adoption questionnaire in advance if you haven't already done so, and you can find it at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/.