The chihuahua I picked up from AFCD yesterday was lucky to find a foster home to go to today, so we drove to Tai Po via Tseung Kwan O to drop him off (actually to drop both dog and foster off as we had met at Aberdeen). Bibi is a very sweet little dog and I’m sure he’ll find a home very soon.
Arriving at Sweet Garden (the Chinese name of the Tai Po house), there were several new dogs there that I had never seen before. A lovely golden retriever, four years old, never been outside his home before, never walked, vaccinated or licensed. It’s even worse than the chihuahua, Bibi, who at least had a vaccination record and was microchipped. What are people thinking when they keep a large dog and never walk it? The dog’s name is Lucky. How ironic.
There were two Wanda-like dogs as well. By that I mean they are big dogs with short legs, an unfortunate coming together of a small breed and a village dog. They have a sad story too, as all of these dogs do, but they are safe now and being only knee high they should stand a good chance of being adopted.
The professional workmen are still busy putting up new fences and building enclosures, but I wanted to make my own fence outside the entrance to the house so that the resident small dogs could get out freely and not have to pee on the (tempting) armchairs. It didn’t take long using puppy fences and the incredibly useful plastic cable ties (how did we manage before they were invented?), and the dogs were very happy with their new space. Patsy the
This was Patsy's favourite spot before
schnauzer, Steve the peke, Pinny aka Brownie the miniature pinscher and even long-term Luca spent the rest of the afternoon out on the terrace where they have a clear view of everything that’s going on. Not that Pinny has a clear view of very much, as his eyesight is very poor, but he’s happy enough.
Big boy Otis, who until now has been in what we call the puppy section (although it has several adults in there too), finally decided he’d had enough of being cooped up and pushed his hefty way out of the gate when I was leaving, and into the main part of the garden. He seemed to be very pleased with his new-found freedom, and he can stay outside with the others now. Gradually we hope to move all of the adults out of the puppy section as they get used to being with us. They’re all dogs who have had some bad experiences, or who have been under-socialised, so they would find it too hard being with the main group.
Now Audrey comes down to investigate
One of them is Audrey, the golden retriever mix (so we were told), who was never walked and was confined to her 350 square foot apartment (along with the several family members). Not surprisingly her behaviour became difficult, and she was ultimately brought to us as a very scared and confused young dog. It’s going to take some time, but Audrey is already changing and is coming to sniff and investigate along with the other dogs when I (and others) go into the enclosure. The most important thing with dogs like this is to give them time and space, and not to try to push them too fast. When Audrey is ready for actual contact, she will let us know.
The dogs seem to be fine sharing a dormitory
It’s just been pointed out to me that it’s exactly a year since my first blog posting. Wow, time flies.
Hong Kong Dog Rescue 
May 12, 2010 at 12:03 pm |
Hi
I adopted Parsnip and Hazel from you 4mths ago, just would like to say that the old guys are doing very well. Parsnip is called Pickel now, he has come out of his shell and stopped biting me, he has learned to trust and know that we are not going to hurt him ever. He is such a good old guy. He is even learning to play with his two new sisters, they are only 2 years old so he can show them a trick or two(manley barking at them), but he is learning that life can be good. He will never be moved on, he is here for life however short or long that may be. His heart is not good but the doc said he should be fine as long as he keeps on the pills. Hazel is called Lilly now, she is so addorable, she is coming out of her shell aswell, she comes for a cuddle every night now without me having to go get her out of her bed, she sleeps a lot, but she is about 12 the vet said. She has bad atheritis? so we take her for a walk with her 2 sisters and brother Pickle, but she has to go in the push chair when she gets to tied. Dont think she minds this at all!! Everyone who sees us thinks she is so cute. I have a lovely picture of all the dogs in the pushchair! which I might add lilly was not inpressed at sharing, but it was very hot and they had been for a very long walk. LOL They all get on so well, I would love to send the photo for yu to have a look, where would I send it. And thankyou for giving me the chance to make a difference in 2 little dogs lives. I may not hav them for long but they will get a life times worth of love.
Christine
May 13, 2010 at 8:27 am |
These are the stories we just love to hear. A dog is never too old, and it is never too late to save a life. Thank you Christine.
May 13, 2010 at 1:22 am |
Actually,she is a good girl, just she have a bad feeling at b4.Last week i went to kennel and meet Audrey . She will walked near u and stay around u..or heel around you…..but when u move…..she will run away as fast as she can!
I think she will be agood furry member atnew sweet home asap………just give her a big wish and pray!
May 15, 2010 at 1:47 pm |
Actually I did not realise it was Audrey that I gave a pat to as she came sniffing around me yesterday until I re-read this post. I am sure given time she will be fine.
May 17, 2010 at 9:30 pm |
Hi, i think this cause is just amazing. I wanted to ask why you refer to Luca as the long term-er?
I’ve just recently followed this blog. 🙂
May 18, 2010 at 8:51 am |
Cat,
We call dogs that have been with us for a long time “long termers”. Luca would do very well once in a home, but he is timid at first and it tends to put potential adopters off. Ideally he would like to have one friend that he can play with, but he’s very scared of big dogs as he was attacked once.