Weds 24th Aug: Lovebug Lotus

I love being busy if the emails I’m replying to are adoption enquiries.  I do try to respond as quickly as I can, within twenty four hours maximum and more often that not, much quicker than that.  Getting our dogs into homes is a priority, and sometimes it can be a really fast process if the home and dog are right for each other.

Lovebug labalike Lotus

Lotus was one of those,  the perfect pup for the job, and it took a very short time to secure the deal.  Lotus was the Tai Po office lovebug, so we know she’ll be happy to be part of a family with young children.

Zizi’s another lovely girl who has been turned down in the past for being too sweet!  We have recommended her to so many potential adopters and finally she passed her interview and will leave Tai Po for her new home tomorrow.  This was one adoption that was long overdue.

Stephanie looks like a new dog now that she has a coat

When Stephanie was presented to us at the Sheung Shui AFCD Kennels, she was a pot-bellied, almost bald and quite extraordinary-looking dog.  I don’t get to choose the dogs that are available for re-homing there, so I was a bit surprised that Stephanie has passed the assessment, but her sweet nature had obviously saved her life.  At first the Tai Po volunteers insisted that she must be pregnant, but it was a swollen spleen that gave her the big belly.  Her baldness was caused by demodex, or demodectic mange, mites under the skin which can only be killed using long-term oral medicine, or (poisonous) dips.  In most cases demodex affects young dogs and puppies, and in adults is indicative of an underlying immune system issue, so the treatment is prolonged.  Stephanie was lucky enough to find a foster home where she has been staying for many months, and she has been transformed from a (have to say it) very funny-looking animal into an almost-golden retriever (in poor light).  And now she has a home!  Hooray for Stephanie, and thanks to her wonderful foster parents for their loving care.

I had to make a trip to Central in the afternoon to collect the cheque from the Li Ka Shing’s ‘Love Ideas Hong Kong” programme, and thank you again to everyone who voted for us.  The money will pay for our Education and Community Outreach project which is already well into the development stage under long-term volunteer-turned-full time staff member, Kat Kuok.  The aim of this scheme is to offer pre- and post adoption support and education, for both families and children,  to help reduce the number of dogs being abandoned because of a lack of basic knowledge and understanding about dogs.  We will be offering a variety of workshops and programmes throughout the community, and details will be made available as soon as we have everything in place.

The doggie "cold" started in little String's group but has passed to Oprah (next to String) n\and all of the top floor puppies

After a long spate of kennel cough in the Lamma puppies which prevented a lot of them going to the Sunday adoption parties, the infection finally passed and for the last few weeks all of them have been in top shape.  Then wouldn’t you know it, by Sunday evening one of the young puppies had a runny nose, and now almost every one of them is coughing again.  It’s not a serious infection, and there’s no change in the appetite for both food and play, but it’s very annoying as I can’t take them to Whiskers’n'Paws with snotty noses.  Luckily there are a lot of puppies in foster homes, including the remaining Whippety Pups, so I won’t be short of a supply on Sunday afternoon, but it does mean another week of ankle-biters at home and the tedious task of multi-medicating.

Whippety Shanti, the only brown one, will be at Whiskers'n'Paws on Sunday