First of all a very Happy Birthday (and Wedding Anniversary) to my pal Gaynor (and Phil) !! Gaynor is a much valued supporter of Poorpaws and is the animal welfare person to go to in her village. Not only that, she is listed somewhere on a piece of paper in my house as my future carer, in case of need. This may be sooner than anticipated if my forgetfulness gets much worse !! Sorry G.
So, we’re back in confinement and whilst Ernst and I are amongst the lucky ones with plenty of outside space, I do feel for those stuck indoors with very little outside contact and perhaps children to stop from bouncing off the walls. On this note, let me recommend to you the blog ‘Granny Smith’s Diary’ absolutely brilliant for ideas on keeping children (and adults !) occupied whilst learning at the same time.
In the last newsletter I told you that Marot had gone on a trial adoption and I am more than delighted to tell you that his adoption is now confirmed. His new owner says he is just a dream dog and is encouraging her to get out walking again. Here are a couple of photos, compare Marot now to the porker he used to be, what a handsome lad. They look a very happy team !
We are having a lot of people asking us to take in older dogs at the moment for various reasons, mainly for not thinking ahead, and whilst we will obviously do what we can to help, homing oldies is not easy, so on this subject I would ask those of you who are perhaps not in the first flush of youth and who want to adopt a dog, to please, please, please, look at the benefits of an older dog. Mostly these come from homes where they have been used to living indoors, so no toilet training needed, they need less exercise and are happy to ‘couch potato’ with you (by your feet NOT on the sofa !) if it is raining and a six year old episode of Escape to the Country is more appealing than a walk !! I have recently been asked by a older person (ten years older than me) for a dog but “not an old one as I am in great health and intend to live to 100”. Well, yes, you may be in great health now but who knows what is round the corner ? Here at Poorpaws we have at least two of our thirteen dogs who were adopted from us when young and have come back to us because, unexpectedly, they have outlived their owners. We will not let a puppy go to anyone 70 or over, it just isn’t fair to the puppy who needs to go to a young lively home. How lovely, rather, to give a sad dog, confused because his/her beloved owner has ‘disappeared’, final years of love and comfort.
Adoptions have been great this month, the very nervous Lemon Setter has gone to a wonderful home where she is coming on in leaps and bounds, and Eben the older Cocker Spaniel has also been adopted. We will probably have another older Cocker looking for a home soon, so keep an eye on the adoptions page. It is very urgent that we find a home for Peaches the cat and poor Zac who is a beautiful dog, has been waiting soooo long.
Next time I write Christmas will have been and gone and a very different one it will be this year. Our traditional Christmas Day Fizz is cancelled and my friend Sue who has been coming over every year since God was a boy, will not be coming. So it’s going to be quiet – I will be watching Christmas dvds and reading by the fire (after walking the dogs) and Ernst will be as happy as Larry as I have bought him a huge suduko book, but shhh, don’t tell him. However, you can tell him that I am hoping for a heater for the greenhouse !!
Have a good one !
Sue x