Weds 15th Feb: The results of having some time

A day spent at home on Lamma gives me the chance to do the things that I normally don’t have time for, such as updating all the dog records following the vet visit the previous day and grooming some of the hairier types.  Bali has some schnauzer in him and his coat gets knotted and matted quite easily, and Murphy is always up for a haircut.  I gave him a “slim trim”, which means shaving the hair off the sides to give the illusion of him having lost some weight, something he needs to do but which he struggles with.

I also had time to do some reading about a woman called Temple Grandin, having watched a film about her the previous evening.  It seems just about everyone else already knew about her and the amazing work she’s done, but just in case here’s a YouTube link: http://youtu.be/3pwI8ti6Jhk

What I find really sad, depressing really, is that there are people like this (and she has been around for a long time) and a lot of other research being done into the intelligence and emotions of animals, and the conclusion is the same: animals (and I include birds in the term) are far more aware in every sense than they are given credit for.  The more science is proving this to be true, the more you would hope that the treatment of all living creatures would improve accordingly, but we all know this isn’t the case.  In fact I have just decided to take time off from my personal Facebook page so I don’t have to see images of the appalling suffering that is inflicted on animals as part of daily life in many places.

Cute Cotton was adopted and returned twice because she wasn't understood. Now in a lovely foster she has behaved like an angel from the very start. It's not the dog that has the problem, it's a lack of understanding

Closer to home I despair at the ignorance that results in, admittedly unintentional, cruelty to pet dogs (and other animals).  There is so much information freely available on the internet – and even here on my blog or our HKDR Facebook page and website – that there is really no excuse for not knowing that dogs are (pack) animals and not human babies, and that as such there are certain things that are really important to them.  Company is one and exercise is another.  For heaven’s sake, how many questionnaires have I read where a golden retriever will get a daily twenty minute stroll (assuming it’s not raining, that is), or a few times a week.  What sort if life do people lead that they think they can have a dog and only get off their lazy butts to walk it “sometimes”.  I wonder how much time these people spend glued to their computer or watching television?

OK, this is not cruelty as in stringing a live dog up and slowly strangling it (in full view of other dogs waiting their turn) and we are not savages, but nor is there a right to keep a dog if you can’t put in the hours to give it what it needs.  The time people spend on shampooing or grooming could surely be spent on walking, and the money paid buying frilly dresses for pets and/or sending them to the beauty parlour could be spent on paying someone to walk the dog if the owner can’t do it.  If you’re at work all day and can’t arrange for someone to at least give the dog a break from the hours of solitary boredom, then don’t have a dog.  Volunteer, or get some fish or any other animal that doesn’t need company.

Many of the small dogs that come to us may have behaviour issues, almost all of them fear-based.  It could be fear due to being smacked (very common) or fear due to never having been taken outside – ever – so they have had no experience of anything beyond the four walls of their home.  It doesn’t even matter if there is a garden, because that too is as lacking in stimulation after a short time as any other place that is overly familiar.    If you have dogs you should understand them and make the effort to do some reading.

Chimney had already had 2 hours of grooming when this was taken so can you imagine what he looked like before?

I’m feeling particularly sensitive about all of this because we have just taken in a lovely young black poodle boy, Chimney.  He came with a long and matted coat (poodles absolutely need regular grooming which is very time consuming), and thanks to our Ap Lei Chau Manager, Iris, who is a trained groomer, Chimney now looks very smart and happy.  It was my mistake to post him on our HKDR Facebook page because, of course, lots of people want to adopt him but he is one of those dogs that has been in a home just as described above,  and he is very fearful.  He needs a new home with someone who understands dogs and their needs, as well as positive training and a lot of patience, but I have yet to receive an enquiry from anyone who has offered more than one daily walk of thirty minutes.  I’m sure these potential adopters are very nice and caring people but poodles are not only very intelligent, they are also very active and thrive on lots of walks and playing ball games etc.  You can walk a poodle for hours, and they really love it.  I also have another young poodle on Lamma, Billy, who is even worse than Chimney in terms of fear.  I can only imagine what he went through in the first year of his life to make him so afraid, but I’m sure it involved a lot of whacks for being “naughty”, and probably a small cage too.

Oh, there was a poodle under all of those knots

Seal’s story continues with more good news.  He is still going for his daily acupuncture sessions and today he was even running.  He can’t get up on his own and needs to be lifted up to get him started, but there’s improvement every day.  Now we need to find this lovely, happy and brave puppy a home.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.