LabraDOG
Rescue and Rehoming

I can not wait for Sunday for more reasons than one!  Obviously the Million Paws Walk is exciting but I will also be thrilled it is the beginning of a new week because I must have been very bad to have deserved the week I have just had!  If it coud go wrong it has, thinking I was pretty organised for our stall I had four full days at work where I didn't do much at all to get ready for the weekend.  With so many labs about though it's a task to keep everyone fed and entertained!  I was late to work one day, slept through my alarm the next, left my phone at home Thursday and just couldn't get it together.  I ordered some things for the weekend, the first was the wrong colour so I was up last night at midnight still trying to sew new sleeves onto a doggy shirt.  To add insult to injury I went to have coffee but we had no milk.  Actually we had nothing of anything really.  Plenty of beer and chicken mince but that was about all.  Not because we are broke, just because I am hopeless!  The Guide Dog Centre were sending me a donation dog to arrive last week.  When I phoned Wednesday tto see where it was the lady who had been sending it was away so I asked for one to be sent express.  I went to the centre to collect it Thursday but it wasn't there.  Today I had expressed a parcel to have it for the weekend and they have sent me the wrong item, like totally wrong!  I was heading out at 9am for half hour just to drop some things to the printer and I got home just after 5pm - in time to feed some muppets!  Whilst I was out without having had a shower and with my chewed thongs on (thanks Lil!) I got a call from AWL.  They had a labbie who needed out of the centre ASAP.  Now do you think I had anywhere to put him?  Ah, no.  But when I heard his story he really needed to be given a chance to find his feet and the kennel wasn't an option for him.  Kudos really to the staff at AWL, there is no way Storm would have made it out of there in years gone by. 

Storm is a 6 and half year old boy.  He was surrendered with his Shihtzu X "sister"  Storms dad had terminal cancer and his mum was set to be hospitalised with dementia.  Sadly Storms sister was euthansed for health reasons.  Storm was struggling in the kennels.  I would suggest he probably had never been out of his home much and certainly not without his older sister.  Storm was to be temperament tested today.  As he was headed back to the kennel he got away from his handler.  It took seven staff to contain him and stop him from getting to the main road.  There was no way he could pass a temperament test as stressed as he was.  When we are asked to take a dog the centre holds that dog for as long as we need to make space.  When I am asked to move a dog ASAP I know that dog is really doing it tough.  So in my clean car and chewed shoes (thanks Lil!) - because remember I was just going out for half hour - I headed to the centre to collect Storm.  Although I wasn't in anything LabraDOG, which is rare for me, it seems I can't deny my obsession with my dogs and I run around sporting their names!
 

I struggled to get the very overweight Storm into the back of the car.  Once he was safely harnessed a raft of AWL staff and volunteers came by to wish Storm well - he had won some hearts and everyone was thrilled to see Storm given the chance at a new life.  The pork chop travelled without incident and is obviously still somewhat unsure of his new surrounds but I am hopeful that he will continue to settle well.  Looking older than his 6.5 years we will work towards getting Storms weight down and building his confidence with the aim of stripping the years from his expression.  I am sure Storms stay with us will be a journey and I will make sure to update the blog regularly with his progress for those of you who wish to join us along the way.

 

Yep, we are lining them up!  Jen has been at it again - her pics are fantastic and when we happen to have a dog at Wags 2 Whiskers and Jen photographs them - often before I have met them - it's a real treat.

First is Baxter - Jen mentions he is too skinny but is a lovely mature boy.  We can thank Sarah for his name - I understand that when she collected him for me she was put on the spot a bit by the girls at the pound who wanted to know his name.  It seems "Big Balls" Baxter was the first thing to come to mind! 

 

Next up is an equally lovely boy and when I saw him impounded I had to look twice - he reminded me so much of Richie.   Not so much in this pic but in his pound shot they looked very similar.  This boy could do with a name if you have some suggestions:
 

How cute is this cheeky beast?  I saved the bed this day - for one more day!  It was gone soon enough!


 

I couldn't find the pic the day we seperated them after GB was desexed.  We were told to keep her quiet so she stayed on the deck and Max was locked off.  Anyway he forced his way onto the deck and the destruction was unlike anything I had ever seen!  Not the day they removed those pieces of lattice in the pic above but a mess none the less! 
 

And Richie Rich (aka Winston) too!  Truth be known I think he is just living up to his super cute new name!



Oh dear!  Lucky we love them!

All is well in labbie land!  There are LOTS of labbies but apart from that all is well!  Tim has been away for a few days which gave me a fantastic opportunity to get some things sorted here and begin the preperations for next weekend. 

Although it's been cold at night the days have been beautiful and I was able to catch up on my dog washing.  I picked up Kulas mats to wash them and discovered her "loot"  It seems every time she goes back in there she takes a new toy!
 

Whilst I went about cleaning up after her it made sense that she would grab the bear and find a sunny spot to relax.  Despite having a range of beds to choose from it was the sunny tiles that was the spot for the day!

 

The preperations for the Million Paws Walk are coming along well.  My house looks like a dog shop but my plan is that by Saturday all I will have left to do will be bathing Lily and Kula.  Here's hoping anyway!  A big  thanks to Kim who has kindly offered to help me get ready - I may still put you to work yet miss!

A huge thanks to Sarah and Paul for taking Hunter into their home!  This handsome fellow is a little bit of cheeky, a little bit of silly and a whole lot of naughty rolled into one well rounded chocolate ball!  Foster caring is hard so we don't ask often but both the girls in Canberra and I have taken in more than ten labs each in the last week!  Hunters family were returning to the UK and whilst he was loved and treated well he could do with some more manners and some leash work.

It's getting cold up here at night so there is nowhere else you would rather be than hanging out in front of a toasty fire!
 

 

I have had Sarah doing a whole heap of running around this week!  Here's Baxter as he was dropped at the kennels the other day.  This lovely boy had a few people who had placed their names on him to adopt but all failed to follow through.  I can't tell you how difficult that is for us - to believe that a lab is safe only to have to make space at a drop of a hat.  I have no clue why anyone would ever put their name on a dog to adopt them and then pull out at the last minute.  Baxter is the only labbie in our care still to be desexed.  Hopefully we can coordinate that this week before bringing him here.
 

Obviously I was keen to get Buddy out and about.  As I mentioned he never caused me much of a problem - I knew he was a little excitable and didn't show any sign of having done much lead work before.  He left us with instructions on continued lead work and socialisation in a controlled way.  The pork chop apparently behaved like an absolute menace though so I figured it could be along haul to get us back to where we were.  Anyway as I mentioned in an earlier post it will be controlled interaction for now with cheater people.  After speaking with a friendly behaviourist the advice was to do short stints of desensitisation and to always end on a positive.  Well I am thrilled to report that I was pleasantly surpised by Buddy on the weekend.  First we had a walk on our own and then I had arranged for Sarah to walk past us on the opposite side of the road with Pancake.  Buddy was interested but we just kept moving and he was fine.  We turned around to follow up behind Pancake and as we slowly caught up to them we would both just stop for a short while to calm his excitement before moving closer.  The meet with the chocolate beast was great and he was even well behaved with the stray oodle of his size that wandered up to Pancake.  I thought of ending things there but half hour later the Special Agent was waltzing past us with her mum.  Again the meet was fairly straight forward and here are a few pics of Buddy chilling out with the Special Agent about 5 mins after meeting for the first time.

 

It's likely that his craziness in his old home was due in part to the excitability of the approaching dog as well.  For now I understand that he has met female dogs who I knew would be unreactive so I'm not trying to pretend he is perfect but for our first outing he was great and I am sure he will come along well.

A big week ahead and hopefully some doggy adoptions.  Some large doggy orders this week so special thanks to Jen, Wendy, Sonia and Deb who I think has bought half the LabraDOG Shop!  Your doggy orders are in the post with Lotsa Licks!  Some big changes in the shop this week my goal is to have them sorted to coincide with the Million Paws Walk.  Have I forgotten anything?  Probably!

 

Black Max the second has also joined us - Apparently Max was adopted from the pound by people who weren't treating him so well so a lovely lady took him home.  Max was living in a poorly fenced rental property and was getting out so his mum was receiving fines she couldn't pay.  We were asked to take him on.  Max is incredibly soft and sweet but takes a short while to warm to new people.  I'm sure he will come along beautifully.
 

 

We have also taken Miss Roxy from the AWL shelter.  Roxy was placed in a home with her litter sister but the pair were returned for normal puppy stuff.  Siblings are never ideal together so when I was asked if I would take them I said I would take the one coping with the kennels the least and see how we go.  Roxy is very sweet and obviously passed her behavioural assessment in the first place but after being bought back they go through that process again.  In all liklihood she would have passed at some point but out of the kennels and away from her sister she will be able to find her feet.  In the event that we find Roxy a home and her sister is still waiting we will look at her then.  Roxy was down as a Bull Terrier X because of her markings but she just has splashing which is classic lab mismarking so probably from her labbie side!

The crazy crowd!



More on the others as we have pics and info!