Fri 19th March: A mixed bag

Mountie has a home at last!

 As often happens it was a day of this and that, with the expected good news about the fast recovery of the parvovirus puppies, and black fluffy Mountie moving to his forever home.

As for the puppies, all but one are eating and drinking well and were ready to leave hospital, although with nowhere to go one pair had to stay another day at Concordia.   As far as the question of them being infectious is concerned it would be yes, they would still be shedding the virus and couldn't be with other unvaccinated puppies.  

However adult dogs that are healthy and have been vaccinated with DHPPiL (the standard vaccinations given) should be safe, as even a properly functioning immune system would protect against infection.  You would have to ask yourself how all the many unvaccinated adult stray dogs survive if  they hasn't acquired natural immunity to such infectious diseases. If they manage to reach adulthood, which many don't of course, then you know they must have been exposed to these viruses and survived.  In fact even in a litter of puppies that have been in contact with parvovirus, it's very unusual for all of them to develop symptoms and more common for some to get sick (and maybe die) while the others are totally fine.  Over the years I've seen many, many outbreaks of parvo in puppy litters, and I still have some survivors living with me on Lamma.  No adult dogs ever became sick, even when having direct exposure to the infected puppies. 

You may recognise some of these names

Funnily enough, I've been having a major clear-out at home over the past week, and I found a small book where I listed all of the puppies that I took in, remembering back then (2010/2011) all puppies stayed with me as we didn't have space at other Homing Centres.  I have the names and microchip numbers, as well as what happened to those puppies written next to the names, either 'Adopted', 'Died' or later 'Moved to Tai Po', so it's easy to see when there were viral outbreaks.  Thankfully we see far fewer infectious diseases now than in the early days and tick fever is the most common health issue in puppies now. 

Puppy girl Maple arrived at Tai Po

On the subject of puppies we had a new arrival at Tai Po today, still quite young but months old rather than weeks.  Her name is now Maple and she'll be heading off for her health check and vaccination in the next day or so.

As always, please complete the adoption questionnaire if you're interested in adopting.  We have so many lovely, sweet and healthy puppies and adults waiting: www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/

Thurs 18th March: Dogs aren't unthinking machines

 Another reminder while I remember, please check your Spam inbox if you're waiting for an email from any of us at HKDR, as so much mail seems to be filtered out as junk.  It works the other way round too, and I have to check every day to pick out the inevitable "real" messages that are in Spam. 

Some good news today, firstly that the parvo puppies are doing well in hospital and will hopefully be able to leave very soon.  I don't want to jinx anything by speaking too soon but maybe the infection was a mild one and the puppies are strong enough to deal with it. 

Corgi Bean is adopted

The next good news is confirmation of corgi Bean's adoption after a trial with the resident husky.  Like so many smaller breeds that are surrendered to us, Bean had food guarding issues, maybe and probably due to under-feeding as a puppy.  As a result food becomes such a valuable and precious resource that the dog feels the need to guard it, and that becomes a problem behaviour.  Luckily the adopters are sensible and understand enough to be able to help Bean with the support of our trainer Cactus, and now Bean is a happy boy. 

A dog's behaviour is of course affected by many things, from genetics to treatment and training, but it's not something that can't be changed.  Even without any input from me, as my Lamma dogs are given the freedom to choose, they might suddenly alter their habits.  A dog might decide one day that he wants to start going for the daily hike, while another chooses not to go any more.  Rag has recently stopped sleeping on my bed at night while Romeo has just started doing it.  There's obviously a thought process that goes into these behaviour changes but I have no idea what it is.  

We have seen how dogs behave very differently in different homes, with one foster or adopter reporting certain behaviour problems, and the next saying the dog is lovely and has no issues at all. We should never underestimate how sensitive dogs (all animals) are to their environment, and that includes the humans that they live with.  If you're a nervous type who worries a lot, that will be picked up on by the dog and will quite likely show up as neurotic-type behaviour.  If you're a relaxed and easygoing type of character, a dog will also feel much more confident and will be far less likely to have any issues.  Giving a dog credit for having its own intelligence and ability to think and make decisions makes life so much easier for both sides. 

Weds 17th March: Things happen

 As a dog rescue organisation we take in as many adult dogs and puppies that need help as we can accommodate, with the only exception being that we can't accept any that are large and aggressive. Adult dogs tend to come in one by one, and other than almost inevitable heartworm if they're from the New Territories, at least they won't have the dreaded infectious parvovirus or canine distemper virus. These are diseases that come in waves and tend to affect young puppies, so if there's one litter that's infected you can expect to find others.  Both are often fatal, but if I had to choose one over the other I'd say distemper was far worse as it stays in the system and reappears after it seems the puppy has recovered, but parvovirus can also be devastating and can kill very quickly.

It's impossible to know when a puppy is infected with a virus during the incubation period, that is from the time of contact with an infected dog or even environment, and when the symptoms start to show.  The litter we took in the other day were "warehouse" puppies, a situation I've talked about before as being a major source of unwanted litters.   They had obviously been taken straight from their mother so they were chubby and appeared to be healthy, and we sent them to their respective foster homes in pairs within a day of their arrival.  However one of the fosters reported that one puppy didn't want to eat, so the pair were taken for testing and were found to be infected with parvovirus.  We immediately contacted the other foster parent and although seeming to be fine, her pair also tested positive. Both sets are now hospitalised in isolation, which is horrible for a baby pup but the only safe thing to do, and hopefully they will all recover.  The only good thing about this situation is that assuming they all get over it, the four pups will have immunity to future infection from parvovirus. 

The popular Sugerbabes will be held back

Now we are left with the dilemma of not knowing if any of our other puppies have been infected, because even with one vaccination having been given that's not enough to protect against either of the viruses.  I spoke with the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre Manager, Iris, about what we should do to both keep the puppies safe and to ensure that adopters didn't take home a puppy that might become sick. We agreed that we should try to find foster homes for the youngest Homing Centre puppies, and to hold the others back even if they were chosen for adoption.  That means waiting two weeks to be sure that a puppy isn't showing any signs of sickness.  Here are some of the current puppies https://www.facebook.com/HKDR.DOGGIES

If you can foster any of the puppies for two weeks please email Cindy at foster@hongkongdogrescue.com.  Hopefully the puppies will remain healthy and unaffected, and at least we will have caught the outbreak in the very early stage. 

Tues 16th March: Black Fluffy day

This is such a lovely adoption  photo!

 Baby "Black Fluffy" pup Scooter found himself a great home today, and I hope he grows up to be as lovely as the other Black Fluffies I have known.   This "breed" seems to share the same sweet characteristics, even though I hope Scooter won't be as enthusiastic a snake hunter as my ex-Diamond was. 

At the other end of the age scale, senior Black Fluffy Mountie will be moving from foster to his forever home, another successful mission accomplished.  We are grateful for the cold weather we had earlier, as that allowed quite a few of our senior Tai Po dogs to move into temporary care, which in turn let us know how they adapted to being in real homes and gave us an idea of their behaviour and habits.  I think we need to make this an ongoing programme of getting the seniors into transitional foster homes, which will again hopefully lead to adoption one way or another.  You can see some of the seniors-in-waiting here: https://www.facebook.com/HappyWoofHK/photos/pcb.2773473426246244/2773473252912928/

Mountie looking regal in his foster home

I hardly dare mention it, but there are a couple of upcoming events booked in the HKDR diary for next month.  The first is on the 3rd and 4th April when we'll have a booth at The Murray in Stanley as part of the FOODSPORT event.

Then from the 15th to the 18th April we'll be at the Pet Expo, an event that has unhappily been scheduled and subsequently cancelled too many times over the past year.  I really hope that this time everything will go ahead as planned.  

Mon 15th March: Felix and Cider making the big move

We all love Felix, but he needs a home now

 There's definitely mixed feelings when older puppies have to move on from the "nursery" at Ap Lei Chau to the big Tai Po Homing Centre, this time Felix and Cider, both of them lovely boys.  It's always hard to let go when you've seen them grow from being young puppies, and as always it's pure bad luck that they weren't adopted at that age.  

Baby Felix last September

Felix had tick fever as a baby, something that's so common now we feel surprised when puppies don't have it when they arrive, while Cider only has one eye.  Again he came to us like that, at least with one eye so small and underdeveloped that it was useless.  Now they will join other older puppies at Tai Po, and rather than being the "old"ones, as they are at Ap Lei Chau, they will become young again. I know they will be missed by the staff and volunteers, and I really hope they will settle and enjoy Tai Po, but more than that I hope they will soon find homes. 

Funny Cider sits like this so he can look outside

After Sunday's puppy interviews and thinking about potential candidates, Busby was offered a home and will be picked up this week.  That leaves sister Berry as the last of the litter, and I really hope she doesn't grow too big and end up having to make the same move to Tai Po that Felix and Cider are. 

Also making a move from the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre are assumed siblings Gunner and Shandy.  They went to Whiskers N Paws as full time guests today, at least until they're adopted, and as I'd hoped they quickly dropped their shy facade and started to play. 

On a personal note, I'm losing my long-term domestic helper as she returns to the Philippines, so need a replacement.  Obviously she or he would have to be comfortable being around lots of big dogs, in fact would have to love dogs in general, but I'm the one who takes care of that side of things so the work would be cleaning and the usual domestic duties.  The main challenge would be the location and living in a very quiet Lamma bay, so it would have to be someone who loves nature rather than city life.  If you know of any helpers who would be interested and who are honest and reliable, please let me know.  Thank you. 

Sun 14th Mar: Old family photos

 The four new puppy girls were given names before being picked up in pairs to go to their respective foster homes, so they're now the "L" litter.

Following my post yesterday regarding foster homes for dogs whose families have to be quarantined, we received two extremely kind offers from people happy to take in a dog for the quarantine period.  One home is in DB and the other Kennedy Town in case anyone is in urgent need.  

As always Sunday is a busy day for potential adopters to visit, and we had several adoptions  and pick-ups for the lucky puppies concerned.  Dusty had been in a trial home with ex-HKDR Willow, and her forever status was confirmed today.  

Dusty and Willow are now sisters

Puppy Amie left the Homing Centre, as did her sister Alison. She has a trial to see how the resident dog accepts having a youngster in the home, so hopefully that will work out fine. 

Alison

Amie begins her new life

It was also the big going-home day for Josie, a slightly older girl who was held back because of tick fever. 

Josie

One of our regular foster carers has taken in and raised so many babies before seeing them set off for their new homes and lives.  She sent us this lovely photo of her three current foster puppies, two siblings Kiwi and Pasta, and little gem Emerald (so cute!), along with previous foster and now-adopted boy Zack.  We also had confirmation today of Emerald's adoption-to-be, when she's old enough to be on her own.  

Zack visiting Emerald, Pasta and Kiwi

As always it's fun to compare the baby photos with the older versions, like Zack as a new arrival and one of nine,  baby Emerald with her gemstone littermates, also in foster homes, and The Edibles. There were ten in this group of two similar litters, and now just about ready to leave their foster homes. 

Sat 13th Mar: The need to make emergency arrangements

 Before talking about today's adoptions and arrivals, I need to mention something that I know is a huge concern for all dog owners, and that's the question of what happens if you're unlucky enough to have to go into quarantine and your dog(s) also face the prospect of being taken to AFCD kennels.  It's a horrible thought for everyone who has a much-loved dog, and the situation was brought home today when one of our long-term foster dogs had to be returned to Ap Lei Chau when the foster parent was caught up in the health club round-up.  

Otis is not a dog that reacts well to stress, as well as having a very bad heart, so there was no question that we would bring him back to somewhere he is at least familiar with rather than be dragged off by government workers, and I'm sure everyone is worried about being faced with this situation.  As far as possible we'll try to accommodate ex-HKDR dogs that need temporary care but it's really far from ideal for them, so it occurred to me that setting up a reciprocal foster scheme would be the best idea.  I know that many have already arranged with their dog-owning friends that if either side should have to be quarantined the other will take the dogs, so if you haven't already made such arrangements I strongly suggest you do so immediately. 

If we can help to find foster homes we will do so, but as this is usually a last-minute situation with little or no notice, we will need to have homes standing by that would be willing to foster dogs for people who have to go into quarantine.  

Two puppies were adopted from Ap Lei Chau Today, namely Sasha and Leyla, while we took in four more that arrived in the afternoon.   They're not very young babies but still not really old enough for adoption so we'll send them to foster homes for a couple of weeks.  They're also all girls now called Lyra, Lori, Lottie and Loopy. 

Leyla

Lucky older puppy Julius found a perfect home after a very short wait at Tai Po, which wasn't really a surprise as he's a lovely boy.

Lucky Julius

Also leaving Tai Po, but this time after a very long time with us, was Loopy.  She's gone off to be the sister of another ex-HKDR dog Jools, so we  know she'll be in good hands.  She also gave me inspiration for the names of the new puppies, one of which is now Loopy too.

Inevitably as dogs leave others arrive to take their place and today was no exception.  We agreed to take in a dog that was described as a "lab cross", which may be true but it's hard to see it.  I have her the name of Moolah, which is slang for money if you didn't know. 

Moolah was described as a lab cross