Sun 11th April: Are the holidays over yet?

I’m struggling a bit this morning as the gang of thieves have been at it again.  At Murphy’s invitation, Minky, Sparkle and their new accomplice, Little, raided my bedroom and destroyed another pair of reading glasses as well as various socks and miscellaneous items.  They have also taken to dragging clothes off shelves and taking them to the bed for a multiple tug’o’war game. Murphy is the ringleader, but as much as it totally infuriates me I can’t get angry with him.  The way he creeps towards me in slow motion, head down, and an unspoken “sorry” on his face just makes me laugh.  I just wish they would stop, that’s all.

Boo is still waiting for a home. You won't find a kinder puppy than her

As feared, the holiday break was still affecting the adoption “business” today, and I just hope that it will be the last quiet Sunday, at least until the traditonal summer exodus starts.  I thought it would be a total washout at Whiskers’n’Paws, even though I had taken all of the puppies and there was a huge choice (they have such fun there that it’s a treat for them even if they don’t get adopted).  It was almost packing up time when two baby pups who had come over from the kennels were adopted together.  They are the stubby-tailed pair, and they have now gone off to live in a big house with a huge garden.  That’s the bit I love, the rags to riches story.  From facing imminent death at AFCD to living the high life.  Yeah!

Mistral as she was when she first came off Dog Island

Mistral’s is another lovely story.  I took her off “Dog Island” some months ago when she was still a puppy, and I’m sure she is from the same family as Bart, which means Missy and Misto are her (great) grandparents.  In fact Bart was in the running (once again) when potential adopters came to kennels today and chose Mistral instead.  I do hope Mistral is accepted by the resident dog, as she is a sweet and lovely girl, and it would be such a shame if it didnt work out.

One day it will be Bart’s turn.

This was Bart and his sisters when they were babies on Lamma. Why didn't Bart find a home?

Iggy is another dog that needs and deserves a home.  He somehow ended up at AFCD and was sharing a kennel there with a bouncy and ultra-friendly five month sharpei cross puppy.  I thought they were from the same place until it came to getting the license and microchip done, and I found that Iggy had already been desexed so he must have been someone’s pet dog before.  Being only medium sized, he wasn’t the puppy I first thought he was, so when a foster home came up for a dog that fitted Iggy’s description, I immediately suggested him.  It turns out that my assumptions about him were spot on, as he is a very sweet and easygoing young boy, fully toilet trained, and a perfect gentleman.  His current home really is only temporary, but it’s good to know that he is all that anyone could be looking for in a family dog so he can jump straight into our Top 30 list.

Simon is so beautiful

To be honest, the Top 30 is a mythical list as when we all tried to agree on the dogs that should be on it, the list ran into about 100 dogs!  We all have our top favourites, and when yet another name came up to be added, the whole thing fell apart.  In theory we tried to compile a list of our best and easiest dogs, but there are too many.  How can I choose between all of the ex-Lamma doglets knowing, for example, that Donovan’s sister, Stella, turned into the most wonderful dog when she was adopted by Deb, one of our long-standing volunteers?  There’s Lottie, who still goes crazy every time she sees me.  The brothers Simon (so beautiful), Joey (so cute) and Piers (currently in foster after breaking his leg).  All wonderful dogs.  Magic, a super-sweet boy who was adopted as a puppy and then returned because of family allergies.  Not his fault, but he missed the chance of finding a permanent homes while he was still young enough to be cute.  Then all of the doglets in the small field.  I honestly love them all, and couldn’t choose if I had to.

I was hoping that the story about our impending move from Pokfulam, and the disappointment in finding that the Tung Chung site wasn’t going to work, would be in today’s Sunday Post, but it got squeezed out.  I will have to wait to see if it made Monday’s SCMP.  Update:  Story is in today’s (Monday) SCMP and Swire have confirmed end of April as the final day HKDR must leave Pokfulam Kennels.