Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Puppy and Nano found a home

Pupy was adopted in Germany in December 2010 and they are extremely happy with him. He is living with two shy galgas now and immediately made himself at home.

We are the dogs with the big feet, the long ears and the sensitive noses that want to share your couch! We absolutely love people, children too. We love to play, and also we like sleeping. We are relaxed, and promise to be good dogs if you tell us how to be good dogs.

We are about 8 months old, castrated, 55 cm/20 kg - although a bit thin they say - but healthy.

We were "dumped" at the small "perrera" in Infiesto where they had no space for us, so we just stayed around until they found a temporary solution for us, which involves a big meadow, other dogs and people to see! Still, we would love to have a home for ourselves, together or separately. Another dog in the house would be nice, or lots of dogs in the park to play with!



PUPPY_NANO_grifon_ag2010

Golfo, grifon/sabueso puppy - found a home

Update: Golfo will be going to Germany in December 2010 where he will be adopted just over the border in France, in a loving home with a big meadow to run in and other canine friends.

Golfo is a typical example of his breed: a calm and very kind hunting dog. Grifons are obedient dogs that can be taught to walk off the leash without running away. He is an excellent pet, as he showed with the children that visit the "casa rural" (B&B) of his foster home.
He ended up at our volunteer Pedro's house recently - obviously not a good hunter and they knew about Pedro. He has no space for any additional doggie so he sleeps putside under the "horreo" (Asturian barn). At first he thought he was lost and would walk home again, but no - he just stays there…

He is still a puppy and needs education: he is not yet trained to walk on the leash or to live in a home, he can bark enthusiastically to greet you with this typical hunting dog bark. Experience with other grifon/sabueso dogs we placed (Telma in Spain and Kas, Alma in Germany) though tells us they adapt very quickly.


Golfo_grifon_ag2010

Lio, perro de aguas found a home

Lío is a biggish "perro de agua" pup. When he ended up at the perrera end July 2010, nicely groomed though, he had not learned anything yet. In his two foster families in Asturias he managed to learn a lot - a very active and playful dog outside, and inside the house very quiet, just loves to lie at your feet.

In November Lío went to a foster home in the Netherlands and found a new home almost straight away!

The two pictures are Lío in August at his foster family in Spain and in November just before traveling to Holland!


He was adopted through www.villazwerfhond.nl

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Pol does not understand the world anymore - in memoriam

In memoriam
Sadly, we have had to say farewell to Pol on 13 September 2010 - when he was in the veterinary clinic it turned out he had lung cancer in a very advanced state. We could only offer him a painless way to go - hasta siempre, Pol!


His owner had managed to dump the dog less than a month before by approaching an unsuspecting council worker and then disappeared - the telephone numbers and address on the documentation were not current anymore.
He did tell the dog lived in an apartment - we noticed he was a real nice boxer, used to people and very sociable. His "owner" must have known his dog was terminally ill, had we only known before ...

Suddenly he found himself tied to a cart outside the perrera, as there is no space in the perrera. Luckily we took him to the vet to be castrated - he never left the clinic after that...

He left this world for a better one, accompanied in his last moments by our vet and volunteers Pedro and María. We hope he knows at least we did love him.


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Helena, young shepherd found a home

Helena is a young German shepherd mix. She is well-behaved (not counting leaving her alone in the kitchen to investigate) and gets along fine with people and other dogs of all sizes. She just wants to play and learn. She is house trained, she'll sleep in a corner and make herself invisible to she is a "good dog" - she'll lie next to you for hours in the study - to become a puppy again outside.

Helena is slowly getting used to people, she is very much attached to her foster mother but she does not yet know how to show it. She has probably had little socialisation so travelling in a car and things new are still a bit frightening.
She so desperately wants to be a good dog, she just never learned how to do that.
Helena wants to play, play, play - only the other dogs don't always appreciate that. But she gets on well with males and females, big and small. She is afraid of very overbearing dogs and will avoid any confrontation.

She is a bit rough trying to play with medium-sized 10kg dogs, smaller dogs she ignores,
She will benefit from another dog that knows how things work. She'll often find comfort tucking in behind Luna, the older shepherd mix I have.

Helena is now adopted in Asturias (Lugones) - 24/08/2010

Helena_Ag10

Monday, August 16, 2010

Nerea, a tough old lady













This is Nerea, or Mrs Grumpy as we call her. She is a typical German Shepherd: she is happiest when she is lying next to you and she feels responsible for your well-being. According to the vet she is from 2002 but we think she may even be a few years older than that. She was left tied up at the perrera and she spent the first few days crying as she must have missed her owner terribly. She had puppies in the past, and was probably used for breeding as well. As she is an old dog she had quite a few breast tumours. Our first action was to have her operated to take those tumours away. 50 stitches! The biopsy has shown they are benign, which improves her chances. She has the typical wobbly hindlegs of a pedigree German Shepherd ;), which will probably only get worse, not better.


Nerea, however, is a very strong dog with a strong character. And she is absolutely devoted to 'her' people. She is obedient. She is ok with the other dogs although she can be quite bossy. She is a no-no with cats, she chases them and they will never get along.

We are looking for someone who does not mind that she is such an old granny, who does not go for too long walks - she is happiest around the house really, in a house with a garden preferably. She will be absolutely devoted to you. She loves coming for a drive in the car, even if you sometimes have to help her in. She can be with other dogs if they are sociable and relaxed, preferably male dogs or really small female dogs as she is not very sociable herself. She does not like it if other dogs are playing in "her" garden.

Nerea's videos:

Nerea's first video October 2008:


Nerea October 2009 - 1


Nerea October 2009 - 2


Nerea in the snow


More photos:


Nerea_2008_2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Kerria, labradormix found a home


Kerria is living in Belgium now, although she travels frequently to the UK!

Kerrie is an older and very friendly and quiet labradormix. She has probably been chained up as she has the typical lesions at the end of her tail from wagging her tail against a fence or similar. She is not used to other dogs, especially if they are big - but she is learning now in her foster home with 9 other dogs, where she is getting to know the rest from her kennel, a safe place for her where she sits happily in her basket. She enjoys going out for short walks several times a day, where the smaller dogs have started to accompany her. With a shoulder height of 60cm she is a large dog, but she folds herself in a corner of the basket ;) The second picture is taken 5 days later, her first "free" walk running in the woods which she thoroughly enjoyed. She now does not even mind that Helena, the young shepherd tries to play with her - Helena just gets ignored ;).
This older lady has made an incredible recovery!