Sun 31st July: Don’t believe the weathermen

Fungi (right) has been going to Whiskers'n'Paws every Sunday without success, now 2 families wanted him

It’s been a glorious weekend, and not just because the sun was out, the sky was blue and the breeze was blowing.  We’ve had a great couple of days for adoptions, most of them from our Ap Lei Chau Centre, but my dear little Fungi (poor Mushroom’s brother) finally left for his new home today.  In fact there were two families who wanted him, one of those “I don’t believe it” situations, when after all this time and so many nearlies, I needed a Fungi double.

Campari was a lucky puppy too, on her very first visit to Whiskers’n'Paws.  She clinched the deal by showing her sweetness and extra-good behaviour when I pulled a bag of treats out of my bag for a demonstration of teaching “Sit”. As the other puppies jumped up at me, she immediately sat down – and stayed sitting throughout.  (Her sister, Martini, also knows how to sit for a treat, so they had obviously been in a home before ending up at AFCD).

The others in my class did very well too, particularly Bowie, who strolled over to see what was going on and took about a minute to suss out that if he sat he got a reward.  That puppy is one smart little kid.  He’s also the most amazingly social boy, going from group to group, quietly  introducing himself (no jumping up or other such behaviour), waiting to be patted and admired, and then moving onto the next potential adopter.  I have never seen a young dog behave like this, and he gets so many comments and compliments that I’m sure his tactics will win him a home very soon.

Moppet, the youngest of the 3 schnauzers, and her new family

Over the weekend (if we include Friday), we have seen all of these dogs leave our Ap Lei Chau Centre for their new homes: Mork and Perry (an in-and-out case), Laurelle, Archie (for real this time), all three schnauzer girls who were taken from AFCD only on Monday: Moppet, Sushi and Kimchee, and Snoop the beagle.  That’s eight dogs adopted, and eight lives saved.

We said goodbye to both Pinto, a long-termer who came us to as a puppy while we were at Pokfulam, and her adopter Heather, who has been an amazing volunteer at Tai Po.  They will be going back to the USA, and while I’m really so happy for Pinto it’s always sad to lose a top-grade dog walker who has helped so many dogs, especially the timid ones. Thank you Heather, and well done Pinto (also a quite a timid girl at one time).

Pinto's not just leaving Tai Po, she's leaving Hong Kong

Unfortunately it hasn’t all been such good news.  Nucky the one-eyed peke lost his other eye yesterday, and like Turbo (the shih tzu who is now in a great home) he will have to learn how to cope with being totally blind.  Nucky’s a senior, and I have to admit he comes with the typical white peke attitude, but if anyone can offer him the safety and security of a home, please come and meet him at our Ap Lei Chau Centre.

Button's life hangs in the balance

The chocolate poodle puppy, Button, is extremely sick with what is probably distemper.  This is a tragic case of thoughtlessness combined with ignorance, as it was almost certain Button had never been vaccinated against infectious diseases (we had it done but too little and too late), and he was put down on the ground in a place where other non-vaccinated dogs had been (and probably not for the first time) when he was abandoned in an Ap Lei Chau park.  I find it quite extraordinary that people are prepared to spend a lot of money buying a puppy, and then won’t spend anything further on vaccinations or licensing/rabies shot (which costs only $80 at any AFCD Animal Management Centre), or heartworm prevention.  Of the many dogs that owners want to surrender to HKDR, very, very few have all of these things, and most of them have nothing.  I refuse to accept any dog that doesn’t have an up-to-date license, and hasn’t been vaccinated against infectious diseases, because the former is a legal requirement and the latter is essential to protect a dog against terrible things like distemper or parvovirus.  It’s bad enough that the dogs are being abandoned, but without even the most basic of previous care is unforgivable.