Sharing your life with a deaf dog

Owning a deaf dog can be both a rewarding and educating experience. Owning a dog that has good hearing and sight can often lead us into being a little lazy, when it comes to establishing effective patterns of communication between us and our pet. For the most part we struggle through with a few voice commands and maybe the occasional hand signal, that often change depending on the situation. Fortunately, in a lot of situations our dogs learn to navigate their way around our impromptu communication style and, begin to ‘catch on’ to what it is we want from them. Read more »

Tips For Training A Rescued Dog

Training a dog takes patience and dedication. To achieve the desired results in rescued dog will take double the dedication and patience. However, the rewards will be worth the effort.

The practice of neutering and spaying of dogs has been around for many years but unplanned births continues to be a reality. As a result of this there are just not enough homes for all of the puppies that are born. When we add the number of dogs that get lost or wander away, rescue missions and shelters everywhere are filled to capacity. For many of these dogs being euthanized will be the sad reality. Read more »

A breed that I would consider adopting is the Irish Terrier.  This is a breed sometimes known as the daredevil of dogdom.  The Irish terrier is brash, bold and always ready for action and adventure. These dogs like to chase anything that appears, and run and hunt and explore.  They need plenty of  physical and mental exercise every day, in a safe area. If you have to go for long walks with your terrier you can take the ipods as long as you stay aware of distractions around you and keep him on a lead.  Given sufficient exercise, these dogs are surprisingly well-mannered and dignified indoors.

The Irish Terrier is closely related to the Wheaten Terrier, also to the Bedlington Terrier, Border Terrier,
Cairn Terrier and the Dandie Dinmont Terrier. The closest relative is, of course, the Airedale Terrier, to which the Irish Terrier bears a very close resemblance.

We have just returned from a holiday in Turkey and although we had a great time, I was very sad to see a number of stray dogs in the streets and on the beach at our resort.  Some of these dogs looked very ill, with badly healed old fractures and no sign of any animal rescue service to help them. In fact, one of the dogs was walking around close to the only vet’s surgery in the area: the staff could see hime clearly from their office furniture.  Fortunately Turkish meals are very generous, as I fed most of my meat to the dogs in the evenings and early mornings.  It is a tough call when you witness a situation like this. I certainly don’t go with the idea of taking one of the dogs back to my home counrty with me – the cost of the journey would keep six dogs alive for years!

The Obamas have finally welcomed their Portuguese Water Dog, named Bo, to the White House.I am a little disappointed that he is not actually from an animal; rescue centre.  It is true that his first owners gave Bo up because things were not working out with their existing dog, another Portuguese Water Dog. They gave him back to the breeder, and this was the breeder from where Ted Kennedy bought his own Portuguese Water dog.  The Senator  was obviously on the lookout for a dog from this breed, it was he who advised the family to get one.  The Portuguese Water dog sheds very little hair, making it suitable for anyone with allergies – also for people who do not want to clear up mats of dog hair every day. The Portuguese Water Dog is set to become known as the “Hypoallergenic Dog Breed” now the Obamas have given it such prominence.

Bo is still a puppy – just six months old – so he has had some upheaval in his short life. He was born in Texas, his first owner lived in Washington, DC, he returned for just a day to the breeder, then spent a month being trained for his new role in Virginia, before moving on to his new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Before his arrival at the White House the First Family’s dog spent a month with a dog trainer. Was this necessary? Hard to tell: a trained puppy can be allowed to stray into more public events, I suppose.

It is not always necessary to buy from a breeder if you want to adopt a specific breed.  There are plenty of rescue organisations who rehome one breed of dog, and a quick search online should find you a rescue organisation for the kind of dog you would like to own.  While there are so many dogs available for adoption, it makes no sense at all that breeders are producing so many puppies – many of whom are rejected by their owners in later life. And the Kennel Club continues to rubber stamp this culture.

The RSPCA is appealing to people living in the South East of England  who can offer a new home to one of more than 100 St Bernards which were removed from kennels in Northamptonshire in December 2008.

Since then the dogs have been cared for in private boarding kennels on behalf of the RSPCA. While they remained the property of their former owner, the Society was unable to rehome them.

Now, ownership of the St Bernards has been signed over to the RSPCA and so good new homes can be sought.

The dogs are being rehomed in small groups through various RSPCA animal centres. Priority will be given to potential owners who live nearest to where the dogs are currently being cared for to limit how far they will have to travel to their new homes. In the South East region, priority will be given to people living in Kent , as the dogs are being cared for near Maidstone. If you would like to offer a home to one of these wonderful dogs in the UK, please call 0300 123 8000.

Please note that a donation will be required in return for rehoming one of the dogs which helps cover the cost of their neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and veterinary check

St Bernards are large dogs and, as these particular animals have lived in kennels all their lives, they are not used to walking on leads and have not been house trained. They will need experienced homes where there is a reasonably large amount of space. They will also need regular grooming.

Paul Williams, RSPCA animal welfare manager in the RSPCA’s east region, said: “These dogs will need special care and patience. They all have good temperaments but their kennel background means that they will need owners with the knowledge and time to help them settle into their new homes.

“So far,  caring for these St Bernards has cost the RSPCA around £100,000 and all donations, however big or small, will be gratefully received. If you would like to rehome one of the dogs or make a donation so we can continue to care for animals like these, please call us on 0300 123 8000.”

The majority of the dogs range in age from two years to eight years and older and should make very loyal and rewarding pets for those able to give them the care they desperately need.
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