Sun 25th Dec: A lucky Christmas for some

A very happy family with two lucky pups

 A puppy is for life of course, not just for Christmas, but when a family loses a dog to old age and wants to give a new puppy a home, then why not adopt two?  Adoption is really a matter of luck and timing, and that was exactly the case for brothers Dodi and Diesel who had just come back to us from their foster home, and happened to be in the right place at the right time.  These are really very lucky pups.

Cici (right) has a home for life

Also choosing Christmas Day as the right time to confirm adoption of their foster dog Cici, this wonderfully kind couple have given her a forever home despite Cici not being in the best of health. 

Christmas and New Year are times when we tend to receive updates on ex-HKDR dogs and puppies, and they're very welcome of course.  It's lovely to see pups as happy and healthy adults living the best of lives, especially those whose future would most certainly have been desperately hard had they not been rescued as babies and come to HKDR.   Here are three such puppies, now year-old adults, meeting up at Christmas to celebrate. 

"Wishing you a merry Christmas, and want to bring some updates to you on the “W” pack of 3 puppies a year later:"

1. Willow - Black, 2. Ponzu (formerly Wiley) - Light brown, 3. Leia (formerly Winkle) - Dark brown

As you recall, they were taken in by HKDR back around November 2021 (see photo of them in the crate).  Ponzu and Leia were adopted together in January, Willow was adopted in February by me and my wife. We tracked down the dogs and had our first dog siblings reunion back in March 2022.

The puppies have grown up now to just over a year old, and we just did a Christmas reunion for them this past week.  Attached photos and videos for your amusement.  They are super happy to see each other thanks to the volunteers and hard work of HKDR. 

Thank you again for bring such joy the the dogs and to our families.

Sat 24th Dec: No WNP Puppy Party this Sunday (but still plenty to choose from)

 Merry Christmas everyone!

Who will pick this sweet Cherry?

Just as a reminder, we won't be holding our usual Sunday Puppy Parties at Whiskers N Paws for the two holiday weekends, although the store is open as usual and we do have two puppies staying as full time guests. 

 Maybe this will be a lucky opportunity for them, because sometimes having too big a choice makes picking just one very difficult.  This is what happened today at Kennedy Town when some families came to meet the puppies and everyone liked a different one.  In the end they had to go away to discuss, and to decide who the lucky one would be. I'd also find it difficult to choose, so maybe we should just blindfold potential puppy adopters and let them pick without seeing.  The first puppy to come to them is the one they take home.   What do you think?  

Here are just some of the available puppies, with photos taken at last Sunday's Puppy Party  Puppy Adoption Day 18th December 2022.

Apart from Whiskers N Paws staying open throughout this Christmas a New Year holiday period, of course all of our centres are also open every single day of the year.  It's a tough job, especially at the big Tai Po Homing Centre, so if you're a registered volunteer and can spare some time, please do go to offer  help.  Eva (Sit) is taking a short holiday too, so we're even more short-handed than usual and the dogs would really appreciate volunteers taking them out.  There's always a group outing over the holidays so several lucky dogs can enjoy a day away from the Homing Centre, and it's always wonderful seeing the photos of them having such a great time.

I think I mentioned that one of the HKDR@Elgin dogs has already been chosen to go for a short trial with the resident dog, so Honor is off the available list, and hopefully permanently.  All of these dogs were quite shy when they first arrived, but they have all slowly started to unwind and settle and we're seeing more of their sweet and playful side coming out.  Some of them took a while to accept walking outside, and Hetty is still quite scared of outdoors, but overall there's been a huge change in their behaviour. This is a short rundown on their characters so far:

 Hetty

Hetty is friendly and playful, she loves being petted and will always welcome you with a big smile. Since walking outside is new to her, she may need more time to learn walking on a leash as well as to get used to the outside world.

Hector

Hector is a very sweet, gentle and friendly boy with a long body and short legs. He loves cuddling and will give you kisses as rewards. He is easygoing and food motivated who loves all kinds of treats. He loves exploring the world outside and taking his time to enjoy his walks.

Harlow loves belly rubs

Harlow

Harlow is a fluffy queen who is friendly and will welcome every human. She loves belly rubs and being cuddled. She also enjoys going out and walks really well on leash so she is quite easy to handle. 

Helen

Helen is quite shy, but once she knows you she will follow you everywhere and sit next to you quietly. She enjoys being petted and cuddled in a quiet space without disturbances.

Helga

Helga is a terrier cross girl who is sweet, gentle and loves chilling on her bed. Going outside is still new to her but

she manages to walk quite well on the leash. If you are looking for an quiet and calm adult, ask for Helga.

Hester

Hester loves going out for a walk to explore the world and she walks very well on leash. She is super friendly to humans and just loves being around you and always asks for a cuddle. We know she will be a wonderful companion.

Hope

Hope is a bit on the timid side and is looking for a family that is willing to spend Come meet Hsome time to earn her trust. Once bonding is built, she will show you her friendly and playful self, and she loves tummy rubs.

Fri 23rd Dec: Better late than never

 Yes, I know, today's post is very late so I'll make up for it by sharing only good news.  The first is that missing dog Maeva was found shortly after I shared that she was lost, so that's another lucky lost pet reunited with her family.

Adorable Christmas baby Odile

Adorable foster puppy Odile melted her adopter-to-be's heart, so she'll soon be heading off to start her new life.

Zach

If Zach looked familiar to you, he also resembled ex-HKDR dog Ziti so much that he'll be joining the same family back in the UK.  All that's needed now is a confirmed flight and Zach will be on his way to a whole new experience and a wonderful home.

Ziti

I hope I manage to get my Christmas Day post up early tomorrow so I can head off in good time for a traditional lunch with friends.

In the meantime please remember that we'll be open at all Homing Centres every single day from 10am to 6pm.  Gifts for the staff and the dogs are very welcome!

Thurs 22nd Dec: Please make sure your dog is safe

 Another small ex-HKDR is lost in Sai Kung, and I don't want to blame anyone BUT many of these cases are preventable. If you're walking in an unfamiliar area where your dog doesn't know how to safely get back home then you must take extra precautions, such as having the double non-slip collar plus secure harness combination.   It's very easy for a scared dog to slip out of a collar, or a harness that isn't one of the kinds that is almost impossible to get off.   Unless you know for sure that your dog is confident in all situations and will never be spooked, then attach a tracker.  These cases of lost dogs happen all the time, so please don't think that it won't happen to you.  This particular case is in an area where there are lots of dog lovers who can help with a search, but as I wrote just the other day on the same subject, when a dog is in survival mode it may not respond to any calls, not even from the people it knows well. 

"HELP! We need help desperately. 

Maeva (previously Ava) ran off while my helper was walking her at around 5:00pm today at Tai Mong Tsai area BBQ site14 BBQ area. The whole family is devastated. She was spooked by two men who suddenly appeared - her leash (red colour extendable lead) is still attached to her harness. She has a collar & a name tag with our phone nos.  Four of us have been looking at that area for 3 hours but no luck. She is still shy with strangers especially men."

This short video showing HKDR@Elgin dog Harlow out for a walk clearly shows the collar/harness safety combination that we use with all of our new dogs.  If one fails, then the other can save the dog's life. 

Please don't post any critical comments about this situation, what we want is for Maeva to be safely reunited with her family and for others to take note, and to make sure that this doesn't keep happening. 

Weds 22nd Dec: Meeting the Elgin crowd

Updated photo of the Elgin crowd

 The first of the HKDR@Elgin dogs is due to leave soon, after a meeting with the resident (and very similar) dog went well.  This one is Honor, a very cute girl who should really  have been called Patch because of her black patches on a white body.  

Hector

Cam has been making videos of all of the dogs, and you will see them posted on our Facebook and Instagram pages, starting with Hector.  His shape and size is exactly that of a corgi, and he's a very happy and friendly boy.

Some of the Kennedy Town puppies

It's been very quiet on the adoption front in the run-up to the holidays, but please remember we are open every single day if you want to meet the dogs and puppies, even on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.  As these are both Sundays we wold normally be holding our Puppy Parties at Whiskers N Paws, but for the coming two weekends we won't be there. If you're interested in meeting any of the dogs or puppies we have, please start by completing the Adoption Questionnaire Direct Link: https://hongkongdogrescue.com/.../adoption-questionnaire/...

Tues 20th Dec: What an incredible result!

 To prove how smart, resilient, amazing and everything else that is good about dogs, Speedy-Lalo reappeared today back at the place he had run away from!  If only he could tell us what happened and where he had been hiding, but of course that will stay his secret.  The best thing too is that he wasn't injured and was just happy to be reunited with his carer.  What a relief!

The days the "H" dogs arrived

With Christmas just a few days away I was on a mission to buy some Christmas crackers, which seems to be very much a British tradition as nobody knew what I was talking about or what they are.  Anyway my shopping expedition took me to Soho and Elgin Street where I stopped to say hello to the dogs that are staying there.  I has seen them when they first arrived, scared and confused, and they're quite different now, happily greeting visitors at the fence and wanting to be first in line for attention.  Cam has also been walking them outside, and while some were a little bit reluctant, others like Harlow were obviously used to streets and noise.  It's a sign of the looming holidays that there haven't been many enquiries about these dogs yet, as usually when the smaller sized dogs arrive they're quite quickly adopted.  

Lots of people ask about shy Fabian

0ver at Kennedy Town the "F" puppies are gradually opening up, but as potential adopters for these gorgeous boys find out when they come to meet them, they're still quite shy.  Luckily we've been able to provide alternatives that are just as lovely and also friendly, so if you love the look of Fabian (and who wouldn't?), you might want to consider Rosie instead.   It's always good to keep an open mind when you're looking for that perfect puppy, because it's often the case that families come for one and leave with someone that's completely different.

Friendly Rosie

Liam was still very much a puppy in October

When I scroll though our Facebook and Instagram pages, I'm reminded of the amazing dogs that we have waiting for homes.  There's often a flurry of initial interest in the newcomers, but then others come along and everyone gets pushed down the line a bit.  There's Liam, for example, who's still a doglet and so sweet, and puppy Trudy who was adopted as a baby and then returned at six months of age.  There are so many dogs of all ages, looks, colours and temperament, and not one of them deserves to be homeless.

Meet them all at our Tai Po Homing Centre, open every day including holidays from 10am to 6pm.  

Trudy came back to us in November

Mon 19th Dec: What to do when you lose a dog

Helga

I want to talk about the small-medium dogs staying at HKDR@Elgin, because now they have settled and are showing their individual characters it's time they started meeting potential adopters.  They're all friendly, both to humans and each other, and they've started being taken out for walks so we can see how they cope with noise and traffic.  Some are doing better than others, but I think we can assume they have come from rural areas where there isn't a lot of traffic.

 

There's a small "garden" at HKDR@Elgin

Hector is the shape and size of a corgi

I can't stop thinking about little Speedy-now-Lalo, also an ex-Elgin Street resident, who got spooked and ran away when he was taken to a strange place in an unknown area by the helper who was looking after him in his family's absence.  Usually a dog that gets lost in a location that's familiar will stay in the general area, but Lalo has no landmarks or scents to follow.  He was also seen being hit by a car so we don't know how badly injured he is, although being so small I imagine he's hurt.  Having just been through my own lost dog scenario, which was untypical in every way really, shows that we can only say "usually", because things can happen that will upset the normal behaviour pattern.  

My recently lost dog had no experience whatsoever of anything other than the immediate area of my house so she was easily disorientated.  Even so, she found the most important things for survival, the first being water and the second food, as the beach she ended up at was covered in dead fish and had a natural water source.  Despite having lived with me for eleven years, she stayed quiet when I was only a couple of yards from where she was hiding, so even calling a dog's name can be a pointless exercise. It's hard to imagine that your own dog will not want to come running to you, but once the survival instinct kicks in, which it does very quickly, the natural and most basic rules for the dog are to trust no one, stay hidden, and only move around at dusk and dawn when you won't be seen. I should add that as soon as Kirsten, my dog, got home she reverted to her old self and you wouldn't know that anything has happened. 

So what can you do when you lose your dog?  The first thing is to post a photo and contact information on all of the pet-related social media sites you can find, giving the location of the place that the dog was lost in. Make sure you add as much detail as you can in terms of collar or harness, the dog's size, and whether it's friendly or shy.  Inform AFCD and SPCA in case the dog is picked up, even if there's a microchip (which of course there should be). What's needed as a start is a sighting, and then you at least have an idea of where to start looking.  Once there's that first clue you can start putting posters up in that area, although they will inevitably be taken down again by the cleaners or someone.  You will just have to keep replacing them. 

Finding a lost dog that's not in the area that's familiar is really a matter of luck.  I wrote about Kirsten's story, and her rescue came down to chance and that there was a party on the remote beach where she was staying. Some stories have happy endings, others very sadly don't, but the worst thing of all is not knowing.  I really hope that Lalo will be found one way or another, and ask that anyone in the Tai Po area keeps eyes and ears open, and either call or WhatsApp, or even leave a message on the Hong Kong Dog Rescue Facebook page. Lalo was lost in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, on Sunday 18 Dec, and was reported being seem running towards the rubbish station near Chung Ku Tsuen after being hit by a car. If you see this little dog, please call 95829084 immediately, or WhatsApp 59278676.

At least there's good news too, as the five "J" puppies who were hospitalised after testing positive for parvovirus are doing well, and look set to make a full recovery.