Sun 27th June: Don’t mention football!

It was  a day of rain, more rain, and a blind referee.  I’m referring, of course, to the World Cup and England’s disallowed goal, but that’s the only time I’ll mention football.  Maybe.

Because I knew there wouldn’t be any playing on the terrace at Whiskers’n’Paws, it had to be baby pups only today.  I have a lovely litter that were happy to oblige, plus the two remaining pups from an earlier litter, so the puppy huggers had a good time and Plum, one of the slightly older pups, even found a home.   I was impressed when she and her sister, Bessie, started whining and showing signs of wanting to get out of the pen, and guessing what it was about I put them outside (in the rain) and yes, they needed a poo.  Good girls!

Emma looked a bit like a Jack Russell as a young puppy and has stayed quite small

I’m at the point now that I have to make some decisions about the older puppies that are still living in my bedroom but really need to get out and have more space to run around.  Normally they’d be enjoying their Sunday gallop round the terrace at Whiskers’n’Paws, but they missed out because of the rain.  Pipsqueak and Emma are really old enough to move to Tai Po, but because they’re smaller sized they have got away with staying longer.  Maybe I should give them one more chance, as I did successfully with Doobie last week, but then they really will have to go.

Pipsqueak was a tiny baby

It’s a very difficult time right now, with the approaching summer holidays meaning that potential adopters are waiting until they get back to take a dog, and current dog owners ditching their pets before they go away.  It happens every year so it’s something we expect, but it’s still tough to deal with, and no matter how long I’ve been doing this work and how many times I’ve seen people give up their dogs for whatever reason, the ease with which it’s done still leaves me speechless.  I got an email late yesterday evening with details (“we’ve had her since she was two months old”) and a photo of a very cute little pom in the arms of a smiling young daughter, along with “I’ll bring the dog to Tai Po tomorrow as we’re leaving on Tuesday”.  Wait a minute, do I know you? 

The shelter saga continues as there were reports and comments from Tai Po about dogs being out in the rain and not using the new shelter.  I realised that it was too far away from the main house (and humans) for dogs to voluntarily wander up there to seek shelter, as they tend to cluster down at the bottom of the garden area.  Also some of the more dominant dogs won’t let the subordinates into the shelters, so my new idea is to collect wooden packing crates and cover them in vinyl (from the large ads that we were given) to make individual dog houses.  We have more proper houses in the pipeline, but in the meantime the covered crates should work.  Does anyone have access to discarded wooden packing crates, large enough to use as a dog house?

Willy is so cute

Gorgeous  Willy went off to a new home today, the second time around for him and hopefully the last.  Being a terrier he does have that mischievous streak in him, but he’s adorable just the same.  The pekes at Tai Po will be relieved that he’s gone anyway.  Peke baiting was one of Willy’s favourite pastimes, and he was very good at it.

Bobby, a very sweet peke now safe from Willy and his taunts