Dave & Rachel

Apologies

I would like to open this newsletter by apologising for the long delay in writing it.  My only excuse is that we have had a number of extra pressures on our normally hectic schedule and that has left me very little time to put this together. Hopefully things will be back to “normal” shortly and you will all forgive me.

Frankie

Frankie is the main reason I have been short of time. Soon after arriving here in March I began to suspect that Frankie had a little secret. By April it was obvious that we would soon be hearing the patter of tiny paws so the whelping box was made ready and Frankie moved into the maternity ward in the house to wait for the happy day. 

Saturday 16^th April: Frankie refused to eat her tea and started nesting so we felt she was possibly getting close.

Sunday 17^th April: On her first morning walk Frankie was trying to dig a den under the big tree in the garden. She also refused to eat again and was very restless and panting. We felt she could well be starting labour so we phoned Maria, our chief volunteer, who very kindly gave up her Sunday morning to come and do the kennels for me so I could stay with Frankie. I sat by the whelping box and waited…………….and waited…………….and waited. By tea time she was still fretting and panting but nothing was happening to I left her for a while to do the evening feeds. Bedtime came and still nothing so I got the sun lounger and a sleeping bag and tried to get comfy next to the whelping box.

Monday 18^th April: Still panting and fidgeting but no contractions. Took Frankie’s temperature and spent the whole day checking on her several times an hour whilst still trying to get on with the normal routine duties. Phoned the vets at lunchtime and they said she sounded fine but to bring her down in the morning and they would check her over unless something happened in the meantime or we were concerned. Bed time and it was back onto the sun lounger.

Tuesday 19^th April: Still no signs of labour so off down the vets.  The vet examined her and said that there were definitely live, healthy pups in there but they were still several days from being born. She felt that they would probably arrive some time between Friday and Sunday. She said that the reason for all the panting was that Frankie was carrying the pups high in her abdomen and they were pressing on her diaphragm. Still on sun lounger at night.

Wednesday 20^th April: Nothing. Still on camp bed

Thursday 21^st April: Nothing. Still on camp bed

Friday 22^nd April: Frankie had her walk and breakfast as normal. I was due to take Max to the vets for the snip for 9.45 so I checked on Frankie at 9.15 and went to put Max in the car. At 10.05 I was sitting in the vets when my mobile rang. It was Dave to say that Frankie had produced her first pup. Typical!!!!! I sleep with her and spend practically every spare minute with her for nearly a week and she waits till I go to the vets for an hour and starts. By the time I got home just before 10.30 there were two pups. Because Frankie was being very protective I decided to wait till number three was on the way before removing and weighing the two earlier pups but even at this point Frankie became distressed if I removed one of the pups so it was a very quick check over and weigh of each pup as they arrived. The last pup arrived at 14.35 and Frankie did really well with all of them. She was a fantastic mum right from the start but very protective. The only person she was happy to have around was me and I spent the next few nights by the side of the whelping box on the camp bed to keep an ear out during the night (or that was the plan). Unfortunately Frankie got an upset tummy so I ended up spending three weeks in there so I could let her out at night when she needed to go!!

In case anyone has not seen the details on the web site, the pups were: -

1. Martin - male. black with white chest, back feet, right front toe and tail tip. 385gms
2. Twist - female. black, large white chest, white hind and right front feet, tan under tail. 340gms
3. Steel - male, black, tan points and sides of face. 385 gms.
4. Ben - male. black & white. 240 gms
5. Frieda - female, black, 420gms
6. Misty  - male, chocolate with white chest and 4 white feet. 400 gms
7. Dotsie - female, black, white hind toes. 380 gms
8. Zipper - male, black, white chest and stripe down belly. 385 gms

The pups were named for friends on the Irish Animals ‘Board’  who helped Frankie out of the pound in Ireland and to safety with us.......... We don’t usually name pups, its hard enough to part with them without a name !  But for these wonderful people who work so tirelessly in the never ending quest to save the abandoned dogs, it was the least we could do to show how we appreciate them!

The pups are doing very well, they are now 9 weeks old, have had their first vaccination and are ready for rehoming. Frieda has already gone to her new home and is doing really well. We have put new pictures taken at 7 weeks old on the website.

Aramis

Aramis is a very handsome white GSD. He originally came in to us last summer in a poor condition. He had bad skin, what appeared to be hip problems and we were told that he had two undescended testicles. Aramis had every test and x-ray the vets could think of, as well as major surgery for his castration and eventually was given a clean bill of health. We found him a lovely home locally with experienced GSD owners and that, we though, was that.

Unfortunately at 11.30 one night a few weeks ago, we got a phone call from his new owners. Aramis had had a fit after they had gone to bed. He became very disorientated and aggressive and trapped them all in the bedrooms. They phoned the Police who couldn’t help but gave them the emergency vets phone number to ring to PTS. The vet refused to visit (Thank God) and eventually the family managed to get a very stressed Aramis out into the garden.  Dave got round there just after midnight wondering how and what he was supposed to do with an aggressive and disorientated GSD. Although still very stressed at this point, after about an hour Aramis had calmed enough for Dave to put him in the van and bring him back here. Whilst waiting, Dave had spoken to the vets who had said that there was nothing they could do at that point as Aramis was over the fit so it was arranged that Dave would take him in the following morning for a check up. The vets found nothing wrong and as it was the first time Aramis had fitted they did not prescribe medication. We were told to monitor him and if any further fits occurred then they would give him tablets.

The aggressive behaviour Aramis had displayed during the fit meant that his owners no longer felt comfortable with him in the house so Aramis is back with us for good and so far we had seen no signs of this happening again, fingers crossed it was an isolated incident.  The family were very attached to him and asked that he be allowed to stay here; as he was one of Dave’s favourites and a very nice dog, it was easy to agree.
 

Lucky Lenny

Most of the Irish pound dogs are pretty lucky to get out of the pound at all. Many only make it by the skin of their teeth, thanks to some very hard working rescuers in Ireland but Lenny is unusual. He is the only dog to make it out of the pound three days after he was put to sleep! Let me explain……………

Lenny, Ashton stray reference 516, came into the pound in early May. We watched his thread and watched his time tick by but we had no space. Generally when the dogs run out of time it is noted on their threads but Lenny never made it onto a put to sleep list so we never panicked about him. Other dogs came and went but Lenny, for some reason, stayed sitting there. Finally we had spaces and two dogs booked to come but there was a mix up over neutering dates so one was not travelling. Marie asked if we could take 516 and we agreed. Monday morning Marie phoned the pound to tell them she was picking up 516 only to be told that he had been put to sleep on Friday. Marie was both upset and angry, why had she not been told he was at risk so she could have got him out in time. She planned to get another dog out in his place and arrived at the pound to collect. Pound staff were not sure which dog she wanted so she was asked to get it herself. As she walked into the kennel block she could not believe her eyes, the dog in the first kennel was 516, Lenny. She got him straight out and on her way out of the door she asked one of the girls why he was still there when he was listed as having been pts on the Friday. The girl explained that he was such a nice dog that she could not bear to see him killed so she had put him in one of the empty kennels out the back so he got missed.

Lenny is now here and looking for a home. He has a wonderful nature and we are very grateful to the girl at Ashton for caring enough to hide him and to Marie for working yet another miracle at Ashton. All we need to do now is find Lenny a home where he will be loved and cherished and have the chance to live the rest of his life that he so nearly missed out on altogether.

Website shop

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has purchased items through the “Buy-at” link on our website. So far we have received over £150 in commission since Hazel introduced the page on the website.

If anyone has not yet had a look at it, please do so. The  site features many of the major on-line retailers and the prices are the same as going direct to their websites but the difference is that we get commission on the purchases. It really does work and particularly now when the more organised amongst you are starting to think about Christmas shopping (sorry!!) we thought it was worth a reminder to check this out before going elsewhere. The other good thing about this site is that it has a Product Search facility on the main page. This means that you can compare descriptions, prices and amounts of commission paid through a number of different retailers before choosing your item.

Meet and Greet

Poplar Farm Kennels held its first public event on the 18^th June 2005. This was a “Meet and Greet” event held at Huntingdon Garden and Leisure centre between 1.30 and 4.00pm. The idea was for several of our supporters and their dogs to meet the public and hopefully spread the word about who we are, where we are and what we do.

The weather was glorious, almost too nice, and the dogs found it a little too warm to be bothered with too much attention and fussing. Luckily Maria had provided a gazebo which gave welcome shade to both dogs and people. Feedback from the public was encouraging and a large number of leaflets were given out so hopefully this will bring in more enquiries and possibly donations.

We would like to thank Katrina Edney, one of our “Friends of PFK” who organised this event and for the other “Friends” Maria and Mel who attended to help.

First thoughts were that it was a definite success and hopefully more will be planned for later this summer.

Fund raising / Appeals

In addition to the Meet and Greet we are hoping to start a number of other fund raising ventures to help with the never-ending vets bills. The first of these events was a stall held by Katrina in her garden during the Needingworth Sale Trail event. In addition to her own stall Katrina and Andrew (with a very little bit of help from me) had a second stall selling items on behalf of PFK. This stall raised a total of £33.80. The plan is to hold further car boot stalls to raise funds and we are asking anyone if they have any saleable items that they would be prepared to donate to go on the stalls. We have updated our “wish list” on the web site with the addition of materials needed for the new kennel block in case any one can help. I would also just like to add that, thanks to the generosity of well-wishers, we now enough washing powder to last into next year but we are running very short of dishwasher powder/tablets. We are also very short of tinned dog food due to having several old/ill/fussy dogs at the moment. Any help would be very much appreciated as always.

Retford pound dogs

In April we responded to an appeal on a forum and offered a place to two oldies who were running out of time at Retford pound. These two dogs had been signed over to the dog warden as their elderly owner was terminally ill. At the last minute we also offered to take a third dog, a Lurcher, who was also on borrowed time at the same pound. Transport was arranged and a very kind lady gave up her Sunday to collect the dogs and bring them to us. On arrival, none looked to be in the best of health so they were all booked into the vets for check ups and vaccinations.

Chamois went to the vets for his castration and microchip. It turned out to be a little more complicated (and costly) than anticipated.

Whilst giving him the pre-med, the vet discovered that he had a retained testicle. This was a complete surprise to everybody as none of us had picked this up at his check up and vax last week. In fact the vet came out to check that I had not brought the wrong dog as she knew we had a dog booked Thursday for surgery on an undescended testicle (Max). Wouldn't like to guess what the odds of two out of three dogs from the same place both having this problem but the vet was VERY surprised.

The retained testicle turned out to be in the abdomen so poor Chamois had a routine castrate and abdominal surgery. He also had around 1 inch amputated off the end of his tail as it was so badly damaged. Needless to say this all added to the cost.

Chamois recovered well and by the time I collected him he was play bowing in his kennel when he saw me go in to fetch him. For a dog that was initially nervous he really is the most amazingly affectionate dog.  Chamois came home and seemed fine in himself but unfortunately the bandage came off his tail on the Sunday morning. This meant a trip through to the March vets for a bandage change and then he went back to see our vet on the Monday.

The news was not good. The stitches had not held and the skin was not healing because it was so badly damaged and in such poor condition. The vet tried dressings and antibiotics but after a few days it became clear that further amputation was necessary.  He went in with instructions to take as little as possible but enough to make sure the second operation was successful. When they clipped all the hair off you could see that there was no decent healthy skin till just above the base so unfortunately, to give him any chance of healing properly they had to dock him. He came home with a little bandaged stump but it certainly did not spoil his enjoyment of life and he still wags everything from his shoulders back so you can still tell he is happy.

The problem with the skin was more widespread than we first realised and it meant that his abdominal stitches from the castration did not hold together properly so the wound took longer to heal but he was put on antibiotics and supplements to help with the skin so hopefully it will improve with time. The vet feels that there is no medical reason for the poor skin, just long term bad diet and neglect. His overall condition is improving daily so fingers crossed all will be well in time.

The good news is that the tail and the abdomen healed brilliantly and Chamois is now doing really well and is ready to look for a new home.

These two will DEFINITELY have to be rehomed as a pair as they are very close to each other.

Sherlock

Sherlock, our aging and semi-retired stunt cat, has decided it is time that she made an appearance in the newsletter. On the Sunday morning that I took Chamois to the vets for his tail bandaging (luckily our vet has a normal clinic Sunday 10 – 12) Sherlock got in on the action. I got back with Chamois about 12.15 and put him back in his kennel. I then let Softy out into the main kennel run so he could have a run round and I could fill his water up and change his bedding. Sherlock was sun bathing in her favourite spot, 8 feet up on the roof of the kennels kitchen, watching the world go by and Softy, who is not cat friendly, ran over to have his usual bounce around below her. Today it all went wrong. Softy ran down at full speed and bounced off the fence at the end of the run. Somehow he managed to push himself off and turn in mid-air and got high enough to grab Sherlock off the roof. Sherlock screamed and I came running. Dave was also running over from the other side of the yard. I got to him first, shouting like mad and threw a bucket of water over him but he took no notice and continued to shake Sherlock. I hit him with the empty bucket and he let go. Sherlock lay still for a moment but before I could grab Softy, she tried to make a bolt for it up the fence but Softy grabbed her again. Dave and I both grabbed him and he let go. Dave stayed with Sherlock whilst I put Softy away and phoned the vet. Sherlock looked dreadful and was bleeding and limp. The vet said to take her straight through and I brought the car round and we put her in a crate in the back and I shot off to the vet. At this point I was convinced that she would be dead before I got there but 10 minutes into the journey she was standing up in the crate and shouting to be let out. I was somewhat reassured by this but then to my horror she managed to worm her way out of a tiny hole in the crate and was loose in the back of my car. Sherlock can be tricky to handle at the best of times and scared and in pain I thought I had no chance. How on earth was I going to get her out of the car? I got to the vets and edged quickly out of the car and fetched the vet nurse. Luckily the nurse managed to reach down the gap between the seat and the crate and catch Sherlock and took her inside.

The vet examined her and found that she had lost several teeth and had puncture wounds inside her mouth. They also felt there was some damage to her shoulder. She was put on a drip and admitted for observation, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. They x-rayed the following day and found a chip in the bone of her shoulder but nothing else too major. Sherlock stayed in the vets for 5 days then came home on cage rest. She is now fine and back to normal and appears not to have learned anything from her experience. We are still having to try and discourage her from hanging over the edge of the roof. Softy is not allowed anywhere near and we are looking for a home for him with no cats in the vicinity!!!

Between Sherlock, the Retford dogs and other routine stuff our vets bill for April/May was almost £2000.

Long stay dogs

Unfortunately, at the moment, we seem to have quite a number of dogs who have been stuck here for ages. Freddie, for example, has been here almost a year and I really don’t understand it. He is a lovely, friendly, attractive dog with all the basic training in place. His only fault is that he doesn’t like to be left alone and will bark. He also barks at night if left downstairs but will settle happily if allowed to sleep beside the bed. Surely there must be families out there who want a nice, lively dog and who would be happy to have him sleep next to the bed. We also have two of the four Lurcher pups left. These lads are 9 months old now and really need homes of their own. Ok, so the house training is not 100% neither is their lead work but the two that have gone have both turned out really well and it would be great to see these two into proper homes as well. Their dad is still in his foster home and again, not a sniff of interest. Chico is almost perfect and just needs someone to love him. There are lots of lovely dogs on the web site at the moment so if anyone reading this knows of anybody who is looking for a new family member, please point them our way.

Photo Competition

Poplar Farm Kennels is pleased to announce that we are planning a photo competition. Full details will be released shortly but briefly there will be two classes. “Most Appealing photo of a PFK Rescue dog” and “Most Appealing dog photo” open to all other dogs. Entries are £1 per photo, there is no limit to the number of entries. The winner in each class will receive £150 of holiday vouchers and the runner up will receive a food hamper. The prizes have been very kindly donated by two of our supporters and all proceeds will go towards helping the dogs here at PFK.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

We can be contacted at: -

Poplar Farm Kennels.
Sutton Gault
Ely
Cambridgeshire
CB6 2BJ  UK  
Note New Telephone Number
08707 669 637