Friday 27 February 2009

The rescue of Archie


I returned from Liverpool to find that as i had expected the collie was claimed by his owner. The dog which Roy had gone to see turned out to be a lurcher around 12-18 months of age.Just as the caller had said, he was curled up in a ball outside a block of flats, he was shaking from head to foot and would not lift his head when approached.He had to be carried to the car.When Roy arrived with him the dog would not look at anybody, he hung his head and his tail was held down between his legs, a sign of great unhappiness. When we settled him down in a pen, he just turned his head to the wall and curled up again in a tight ball. His grey wiry coat was dirty and unkempt , this dog was certainly no loved family pet.One of our volunteers has taken him home to foster and we have named him Archie.Lets hope he soon realises that not all humans are unkind.
We have taken on another beautiful collie, Bengy is an unwanted farm dog (is there no end to them?)His problem is chasing cars/tractors etc, he attacks tyres apparently. That should be fun, must try and find out how Mr MIlan deals with this problem or if there are any forums I can look at to see how other rescues/dog owners have coped with this. I may have been doing this work for over 30 years but there is always something new to learn and dog training has never been my forte.Thats why I share my mealtimes with three ancient Yorkies who watch every mouthful I take with such envy I cant remember the last time I enjoyed a meal.I should have changed their habits a long time ago, I am guilty of allowing them to take charge but as they are over 20 years of age it is highly doubtful they will change now! They had bad habits before I took them over a year ago.Thats my excuse and im sticking to it!
Our vets receptionist has rung to ask if we can help with another collie who has been in a road traffic accident, he has a fractured skull and stitches in one of his legs.He will probably need a foster home so I will make some calls tonight.
The feral cat home did not transpire, they changed their minds, this was not entirely unexpected though very disappointing.
Whilst I was in Liverpool Mei has admitted a couple of cats.One is a nice little black female whose owner has died - this cat is very unlucky, she was a stray he took in at Christmas so she found a home and lost it within a matter of months.The other cat is a grey and white stray male, unneutered of course. Both appear to have nice natures which makes it easier for us to find homes for them.The crotchety ones seldom find sympathetic new owners.Personally I rather like those with difficult temperaments, they remind me of me!
The new Inspector for the World Horse Welfare(originally the International league for protection of horses)popped in for half an hour, he was investigating a report of neglect in this area and Norman Brown who has now retired had suggested he came to introduce himself.We had a brief chat about horse welfare and he told me that in North Wales, it was Wrexham which had the majority of neglect and cruelty incidents.I remember that the two major cases which hit the papers this past 12 months were both situated in that area.Appalling isnt it.

2 comments:

Neasy said...

Hi there - re tyre-biting & tractor-chasing; Mr. Millan deals with it using an e-Collar, I'm afraid. We've just watched that episode, where there was a dog (Blue Heeler I think?) who'd lost an eye chasing tractor tyres and was going to be run over any time. Cesar used the e-Collar twice or 3 times and conditioned the dog not to approach the tractors. http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/dwblog/Season3ep03.php

lesley said...

Im a great fan of Caesars methods of understanding the behaviour of dogs, in fact I have used many of his methods successfully in the past( though to me it was using common sense and was long before his programmes were broadcast)) but I draw the line at the collars so need to look at other methods.I suppose the means justifies the end as the dog is now safe but its not a method I would ever care to use.