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OCTOBER 27TH - OOPS, IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

Where have the last 5 weeks gone? It's time to recall the goings on of the last few weeks.  If you've read our Latest News you'll have seen that long term foster boy Coady has a new home.  By all accounts he has settled well and David and Elaine are beginning to see his cheeky side emerge.  He's been going for runs off-lead and having a thoroughly enjoyable time meeting dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Unfortunately Freckle's off-lead runs proved a little too stressful for her new family.  She really does run like the wind and can almost disappear as a dot in the distance, though she does come back, it's in her own time.  Her new family were too worried that something might happen and didn't want her to go off-lead.  At the sametime they knew she loved to run and didn't want to deny her this freedom so they decided to return her.

We have decided that Freckles should remain permanently with us here and she's thoroughly enjoying her daily runs with our girl Lily.  They make a good team, with Lily setting a good example and comes back to us when called and Freckles follows suit.

Lexi the lurcher puppy has now officially been adopted.  All homing paperwork was completed this last weekend.  It was amazing to see her and how much she'd grown. She looked stunning with a gorgeous glossy coat, a real credit to her owners.

Still not too big for a cuddle.

Her Mum and Dad have been taking her to puppy classes and last Saturday I went along to watch.  She certainly had lots of fun with her best mate being a puppy ridgeback.  Equally she listened and paid attention when her Mum asked and her sits and down were very impressive.

Apologies for the poor quality, but love this photo showing
Lexi watching her Mum very intently.

Our 14 year old whippet boy Oscar had to have a dental today.  It was a tough decision with him being older, plus with the recently diagnosed nerve problems in his back.  However, all his life food has been the most important item on his agenda, so to see him begin to pick at his food we knew something wasn't quite right.  His teeth had deteriorated badly over the last year so we made the agonising decision to go ahead with the op. Pre-anaesthetic blood tests came back fine, so today was D-day.

He did have to have some extractions and since coming home his back end has been very weak. At the moment I really am quite worried about him and I just hope that a good nights rest will help return him to his usual self.

Our Oscar in the front, with brindle boy Coady and Harlea

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I'm pleased to report that Sable and Shamare mentioned below have now found a home.

SEPTEMBER 16TH - HAVE YOU HEARD OF AN AZAWAKH?

I can often be found searching the web, participating in forum chat and looking at other rescue sites.  Interestingly I came across Croftview Retired Greyhound Trust who have 2 unusual residents.  Have you heard of Azawakhs?  Croftview have 2 of them looking for a home. They are in fact a member of the sighthound group, though not many people are aware of this.  Actually I am still amazed by how many people still ask me what a sighthound is and why are we called Sighthound Rescue and do we assist dogs with poor sight - this is a bit ironic considering our new boy Elvis!

Back to the Azawakhs - Here's the link to Croftview's Dogs Needing Homes page, look out for Sable and Shamare: 

http://www.rgtcroftview.co.uk/RGTCroftview/TheDogs.htm

Here's a link to an Azawakh information page:

http://www.champdogs.co.uk/guide/azawakh.html

SEPTEMBER 12TH - ARRIVALS, DEPARTURES & MUCH GENEROSITY

 I have to confess that I didn't get anywhere near completing my last blog entry.  I was on a set of night shifts and that coupled with daily vets visits, walking all the guys, nursing poorly dogs, trying to squeeze in some sleep (all this being the reason for my high blood pressure) time just wasn't on my side.  I've told you about little Foxy joining us, well her prognosis wasn't looking favourable but since then she's had an xray which showed her lungs are clear of metastasis, we all breathed an absolute sigh of relief.  But she was running a temperature so we couldn't proceed with the removal of the tumours.  She was on 2 lots of meds to combat infection which certainly did just that, so back we went for a 2nd attempt at tumour removal.  Once again it wasn't meant to be, pre-op blood tests were showing up possible abnormalities with her liver.  More bloods were taken to be sent off to the UK.  I have to say I really was thinking the worst BUT results have come back today and all is well.  I had tears of joy and am over the moon.  So Monday is 3rd time lucky!!

Despite being a little under the weather Foxy is still looking for tummy tickles.

Back in March Fletcher the saluki x greyhound went off to his new home.  I'm so sorry to say that this poor lad is back with us under circumstances I would never have dreamed of.  Fletch came from the pound and was the subject of a prosecution which sadly didn't materialise.  He'd had a tough time, and things seemed to look up when he was offered a new home over here.  You might say he was a victim of the recession, but a matter of not bothering with pet insurance played a vital role in his return .  Fletch moved to England with his family and all seemed well till I received a phone call saying that his leg had been swollen for 2 days and now it had burst open.  It transpired that a couple of days earlier Fletch had been bitten by another dog and the puncture wounds had gone unnoticed resulting in massive infection - hence the swelling.  The result was a large open wound which would need multiple attempts at surgery, intensive nursing and frequent visits to the vets.  All of that = A LARGE VETS BILL.  That's why we take out pet insurance isn't it?  Unfortunately Fletch's family hadn't taken out insurance for him and could not afford further treatment.  So here he is back with us and despite his ordeal he's still a very happy chap.  This whole situation has put the charity under strain emotionally, financially, resources and time-wise, but Fletch is our number 1 priority as is the case with any dog in our care.

It's times like these that you lose faith in what you do and ask yourself many questions, but equally it's a time when you realise how many friends you have and the unconditional support you receive from special people.  On this note I have to say many many thanks to:

Gail and Malcolm Hickmott of Greyhound Rescue who kindly organised and carried out Fletch's flight back to Jersey (for those of you who don't know I'm a wimp and don't do flying!)

The Nicholas Family from who we received a letter from Wispa the deerhound lurcher boy on all their behalf saying how they'd had a family pow wow and that with some of the spare money they had they would like to make a donation and contribute towards Fletch's operations.  Wispa himself has had a really tough time of it and he said how he knew what Fletch was going through. 

Cathy (Cody & Zak's Mum, not forgetting Tilly, Amy, Monty & littlie), Karen & James with Cindy and Angela who held a car boot sale at St Martin's last week and very kindly donated their takings. See Latest News for photos.

SEPTEMBER 5TH - WHAT A WEEK

It's probably fair to say that the blood pressure's probably running a little high this week!  More about that later.  But first I must share with you another special little pound girl that has come into our care.  She's an older girl with mammary tumours who was on the put to sleep list.  Initially her prognosis wasn't great and it was expected that the tumours may well have spread to her lungs - the visisble tumours underneath her have been there months if not years - so unnecessary. If she does have limited time then we want to make sure that she's in a loving environment with all the home comforts she could wish for. Here's our little Foxy:

Foxy making herself at home on the sofa. 

 
 The largest of her many mammary tumours.

AUGUST 30TH - NEW ARRIVALS

 Over the last month I've been trying to help a family friend find a rescue yorkie.  My search led to a dog pound in England which I visited to meet the dog.  Sadly it wasn't meant to be for this little lad, but while there I was made aware of a lurcher puppy and a black greyhound whose time waiting to be claimed was up and they would be moving to the 'for sale' block.  I'm sure the puppy would have been homed in no time, but to who?  With no home checks in place I was so worried that this girl could fall into the wrong hands.  The greyhound boy was of equal concern.  With greyhounds two a penny all over the country, what would this boys fate be?  Added to this, the fact he was black.  Known in the trade as a 'bin bag' black and easily disposed of.  I'll never forget the day I first came across this reference, I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

Long story short, both these dogs came home with me.  I named the pup Poppy and the black boy already knew the name Elvis as it transpired he'd been handed and had known a home environment.  Poppy had been picked up by the dog warden as a stray at only 10 weeks old.  Meet Elvis & Poppy...

Elvis and Poppy meeting for the first time

I'm pleased to say that Poppy already has a home offer and will be joining her new family on Tuesday, 1st September.  Her new name will be Lexi and we have been using that name to get her used to it. I will be honest and say I'd forgotten what hard work puppies are, but so worthwhile, she's such fun and is as cute as a button.  I look at her and my heart melts - you don't know how much I would love to keep her, Tuesday is going to be such a difficult day and I know already that there will be tears.

Elvis has his vet check this week and then he'll be looking for his new home.  Elvis has been such a good lad, he's so easy and it's as if he's always been here - clean, sensible and no bother. He has rapidly become a Daddy's boy.  Where as I've wanted to keep ALL our fosters, John has accepted their homing more easily.  But Elvis already has a special place in his heart and I know he's going to find it tough to let Elvis go.  Elvis gets so excited when he sees John, they really have a special bond.

Seeing where these 2 dogs have come from and learning of the work of a very special lady who helps hounds like these 2 by buying them with her pension money and then finding responsible rescue places for them, I now feel compelled to raise awareness of 'pound hounds' as well as funds to assist these dogs to safety.  Many people now know of the plight of the racing greyhounds, the problems with sighthounds in Ireland and Spain, but how many people realise that there are pounds all over the UK crammed with dogs with such uncertain futures.

 There was every size, shape and breed of dog you can imagine.  It was so frustrating and upsetting.  One little nervous mongrel dog was on the put to sleep list - she hadn't been give the chance to prove herself.  I think about my little Lily when she arrived.  Her issues were far greater than this little mongrel's.  She's been given TLC, time and patience and you would never guess what she'd been like.  When people come to meet the dogs everyone falls for Lily.  If Lily had been in the pound she would no longer be with us. I know you can't save them all, but I feel that we need to do our bit.

Our new initiative is going to be called the 'Save A Sighthound' campaign.  Funds raised will be used to buy dogs out from pound situations and ensure a safehaven for them.  Funds will also be needed for emergency kennelling as well as veterinary treatment.  If you have any fundraising ideas, please do get in touch.  As soon as time allows I will set up a new page showing our own dogs which are poundies plus hounds saved as a result of our campaign will be featured.  Just like Poppy & Elvis some of these pound hounds will be coming to Jersey to find loving homes that they so deserve.

AUGUST 21ST - CATCHING UP.

So many things have happened since I last posted, definitely time to catch up with every day goings on - some good, some bad - all of which I will share with you.

Many of you will know that Greyhound Rescue and ourselves work very closely together and we are indeed good friends with Gail and Malcolm.  When we suffer our losses, which sadly are inevitable we also share each others grief.  If you have lost a much loved pet you will know how much it hurts.  Our loss of Callie was closely followed by the loss of Gail and Malcolm's Turk, and then the sudden loss of Flynn (see Latest News)

People often say they don't know how we do what we do as they couldn't bear the losses.  But we have to put our feelings aside, if we don't then we're being selfish.  If we can help more dogs have a taste of the good life no matter what they're age, condition or the time they have left, then so be it.

Generally a month doesn't go by without a visit or 2 (& the rest) to the vets.  July was no exception.  Coady returned to the vets as he was still only using 3 legs.  We decided to try hydrotherapy.  Off we went to St John's where Coady was placed in an 'extra large' fish tank which filled up with water.  To say he was unimpressed was an understatement.  It was a blistering hot day and that coupled with the stress of a new situation was all a bit too much and he was panting furiously.  He did have a walk on the travelator in the pool but it was still on 3 legs, we decided to call it a day for the 1st session.
Session 2 was far less stressful for Coady, but he was still determined that he wasn't going to use his leg, so it was time for a rethink.  We'd contemplated various options and then John had a brainwave - tape a bead under his good foot so that walking was uncomfortable and it might tempt him to share the weight with his other leg.  BINGO it worked.  So every day we were securing the bead and taking him for a walk.  We are now at the stage where he uses the leg for a walk without the bead.  However as soon as you increase the pace he's back to 3 legs.  You'd be amazed how quickly he can shift on 3 legs.  So the next stage is to use the bead and get him jogging.

Magic also visited the vet as for a while now he's been lame on his front left.  Rest and pain relief han no affect, so we needed to investigate further.  Xrays showed a calcification in his shoulder and he was given an injection into the affected site.  We were hoping that this plus more rest would do the trick, but it hasn't been the case and he is once again on Rimadyl.   We couldn't have Magic going to the vets on his own, so Harlea accompanied him to have her pearly not so whites cleaned up.  You'll see below, they are now much improved.

Magic the whippet sporting his shaved shoulder after his injection, and Harlea the greyhound with her newly cleaned gnashers.

Just this last week 2 of our girls were booked in for ops (Wednesday 19th Aug).  Lily had her stop pad removed on her front left.  Whether it was weakened from the days she was a stray and had been hit by a car I don't know, but everytime she ran it was tearing so our vet recommended it's removal.  She has a foot like a golf club with a whopping great dressing on the end of her tiny leg.  But it's doing the trick as she is a nibbler.  Tootsie joined Lily for a dental, fortunately no extractions were required.  Toots really is a smiler, so it's great to see nice white teeth.

On Wednesday I phone the vet to see if the girls were ready for collection (I was at work) and was told they'd gone but Harlea's having her surgery now.  I wondered what on earth had happened?  Harlea had come in from the garden with a tear on the inside of her front leg, so John whizzed her up the vets and she had to be stitched, in the meantime the 2 girls were ok to come home with him.  AND would you believe while all this was going on, our parrot was at the Le Hocq surgery having his beak tended to - an expensive day all round!!  Thank heavens for pet insurance.

It's always a pleasure to see the dogs that we have homed, so when we were asked about doggy day care for Willow while the workmen were in at her home, we were only too pleased.  It was so lovely as she returned like she'd never been away, but equally was very pleased to see Mum and Dad at the end of the day and happily toddled off. 

Here's Willow sharing the bed with Magic.