Everyone must be on their guard ...

In 2010 there were a total of 6 bulldogs taken - only 2 of which were returned. Already in 2011 there have been 8 bulldog reported as lost or stolen and 3 of these have turned up dead (2 drowned) as the breed continues to be popular I can only see this figure rising and despite the many many pleas to get puppies microchipped before they are sold, so many still are not - it's a small additional expense to help ensure stolen dogs are reunited with their owners and we can do it for you here at the kennel or at a show we are attending, if we are there in the van we will have equipment with us so please find me and ask me if your dog still isn't microchipped I will do it for a tenner!!
In the meantime follow some simple rules:
DON'T WALK SAME ROUTE, SAME TIME EVERY DAY
Anyone that is targeting a breed will watch for routine activity
MAKE SURE YOUR GARDEN IS SECURE
Several of the dogs taken so far this year have gone from secure gardens so make a point now of walking the perimeter fence and make sure there's no where an intruder can get in. Make sure all external gates are locked at all times and try and avoid having anything at the front of your property such as statues and window stickers that advertise the fact that there are bulldogs on the premises. It certainly won't hurt to fix up a CCTV camera, they can be purchased very cheaply and either rigged up to your TV or to the computer.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY
In today's Internet culture it's very easy to forget that a face book status can easily advertise that you are not at home!!

So what have we been up to this week? A fantastic little puppy is just about to finish his 5 days isolation and move to a foster home, arriving with Giardia - a highly contagious dioreah causing stomach parasite he's not loved me very much for keeping him separate from everyone and everything and only touching him in gloves, aprons and shoe covers (which are pointless because by the time you come out you look like you've been attacked by a tiger). He's shown no symptoms all week and although the pooh test done this morning gave a positive result his new foster mum is happy to take the risk. Although easily treated it's a bugger to get rid of so lets hope that his 5 days quarantine will soon be a dim and distant memory and if we can prise him away from his foster mum he may go up for adoption soon (but don't hold your breath because something tells me he's already going to his permanent home) Little Cooper is only 11 weeks old and for all you breeders out there - refusing to take a pup back because it has Giardia is not, in my opinion, a good enough reason - thank fully he landed here!

Another little girl here at the moment is Betsy, also on long term antibiotic treatment for severe neglect, she's finally finding her personality and really coming out of her self. She'll look as good as new in no time I'm sure - watch for the web site as no doubt she'll be looking for her forever home very soon.

And of course the news arrived Thursday night that Dizzy and I have been invited to a Buckingham palace garden party in honour of the work we do for rescue - so do I hide the tattoos and buy a posh frock and a hat? Can you really see me in a posh frock and a hat? Although I did dream last night that one of the Corgi's poohed on the lawn and I whipped out a pooh bag from my hand bag and picked it up much to the disgust of the other guests.

Finally, I just want to draw your attention to the work of an organisation called PETA. Probably one of the most dangerous animal rights groups in the world. My background lies in animal rights but not even I ever went this far. Their annual attack on Crufts is comparing the KC to the BNP in that they promote "pure blood". There's a link through to the kennel club list of breed rescues so I guess we all need to batten down the hatches and wait for the car bombs? What do you think? Is this freedom of speech - sharing information that is already in the public domain - or down right dangerous? Please let me know: http://www.bnpcrufts.co.uk/page2.html

Blimey ... she's still alive!

Well only just, almost 2 weeks into February and finally there's an update on the Blog! I do smile at the complaints as I really do find it really hard to beleive that anyone really does care about what I do in my little bubble.

So, where to start, there's been a lot happening over the last 2 months, including a very relaxing Christmas and an increadibly manic January. If you are regulars to the Homes Needed page you'll be more than aware of how many dogs we've had to deal with so far in 2011 and there's plenty more to follow over the next couple of weeks.

I've got several projects on the go including another course, this time in Behaviour and Phycology which is proving to be very interesting and we are at the very early stages of a Breed Rescue Coalition which is basically the coming together of different breed rescues in the hope that we can shout as loud as the RSPCA and the like when it comes to what happens to pure bred dogs that find their way into all breed shelters. We are planning a seminar in May so if you know anyone involved in rescue that would benefit from attending watch this blog for further updates.

As you may have seen if you are regulars to my face book page, Reggie's Den is now an approved premises and is licenced to sell Veterinary Medicine under the distribution category VPS, if you are not familiar with Reggie's Den please do take the time to take a peek at http://www.reggies-den.co.uk/ as not only are we the only Bulldog specialist supply outlet but we also donate 10% of every sale to Bulldog Rescue, we've recently relaunched our dog food delivery service too which was stopped a year or so ago due to the rising courier prices - we're managing some really good prices on dog food too so be sure to sign up, in doing so you're feeding the rescue dogs as well as your own - can't be bad ay!?

Our dear little foster pup Reggie is still with us, getting cheekier by the day and everytime we discuss his rehoming he has a quiet day - although beleive me he makes up for it the next day and still has to learn that taking the plant out of the pot and shaking the soil all around the living room is not something we encourage in this house, so I'll leave you with a pic of him looking very cute and inocent - just remember the camera ALWAYS lies