Weekend whirlwind

2 new arrivals on Saturday, oh what fun it was driving an unlined van full of dog crates down an unmade seafront road LOL, especially as I missed the house and had to go back down the road again, it was like sitting in a popcorn machine! Sunday was breed rescue meeting day in Birmingham, this was going to be an interesting meeting without a chairman, but Malc Presland very kindly stood in to fill the void and an excellent job he did as well. I did raise the subject of the van and the backlash we've received which seemed to be met with total disgust. I don't know who said it, but it was by all accounts a comment made after the van was seen at the Junior Bulldog Club show last week. The breed council were invited to see it and they did seem to consider it a necessary item of equipment which was a great relief.
Then it was back via Kent - Birmingham to Kent is not as easy as you'd think, the sat nav sent me just about everywhere except the motorway I wanted so it was hours before I reached Dartford and if you see a bulldog rescue van on Road Wars - yes it was me going the wrong way up a one way street - I've never been so embarrassed as you can't be conspicuous with the phone number splashed down the side of the vehicle !!! Our new arrivals all seemed to be nicely settled and I am aware that the rehoming page is a little out of date, that's my job for tomorrow, but for now there's a huge pile of orders to get through, oh the joys of a Monday morning!

Doesn't matter how hard you try ...

There are always rumours flying around about what Dizzy and I are supposed to get up to, but by all accounts the new van has ruffled a few feathers with people in the breed who think we've spent the money meant for the dogs on the van! Those that know the story are perfectly aware that this money was given to us in grants and could only be spent on a vehicle but I wish these people would talk to me instead of huddling in corners gossipping about what supposedly goes on here. I'm sure if they lived this life for just one day they'd realise how difficult it can be and if they begrudge us the equipment to do the job properly (when they all have signwritten vans of their own) then maybe they're not worth a second thought.

Monday is here again ...

Despite the coughing and the spluttering we had a really good weekend. Went to the Junior Champ show on Saturday with the stall. The Junior always make us feel so welcome and it's such a nice show with a good atmosphere too. The day's judge, Alison Gunson, donated a lovely huge bulldog statue to auction which was great, until Glen informed me that I had to auction it. Needless to say I failed dismally and Glen had to take over but the bidding got very exciting between two breeders and the eventual winning bid was an amazing £350.00!!!
Sunday was a homecheck for sweet little George, well what can I say about his new home except it has 6 bedrooms and his neighbours will be Louise and Jamie Rednapp and their bulldogs! Arriving in my boots and baseball cap I did feel very underdressed for the occassion but the family are fantastic and George is going to love it there!

Fingers Crossed for Claire

I've just left Claire at the vets, today she gets an xray and then depending on what shows up a barium and then 2 hourly xrays throughout the day. She managed to keep her prescription slop down with no problem and she's still as bright and bubbly as ever which no one can really understand. I'll keep you updated via comments so check back later.

Needed this like a hole in the head ...

I had a bit of a sore throat on Sunday at the show and Monday when I went out to collect Claire, I was full of cold but didn't feel ill. Tuesday the cold hit with a vengance and by lunch time I was back in bed feeling like shite, as the afternoon wore on it was becoming difficult to breathe but at 2am I woke up and really couldn't breathe. I had asthma in my 20s but it soon became apparent that I was having an asthma attack and ended up in A&E at 3am on a nebulizer which helped a little. Turns out I have a chest infection and spent all of yesterday in bed with an inhaler and anti biotics!! Needed that time off like a hole in the head, I am so behind with paperwork that being ill wasn't really an option! Feel much better today but need to get Claire to the vet, she's not kept anything down since she arrived so it's looking like there's an underlying reason why she's so thin. Will keep you posted - and if you are waiting for paperwork from me I am so sorry but I'm now even further behind!!
SEE COMMENTS FOR UPDATES ON CLAIRE

The Van is now called Claire

The deal was always that whoever got the first official ride in the van would be who the van was named after, so meet Claire, she was our first official pick up and subsquently the van is now named in her honour. She's a sweet wee thing who needs to put on a lot of weight!!!

She travelled perfectly in the back of the van and is enjoying the fuss and attention that's for sure. We'll keep you posted of course.

The Van's first official journey

We went to the London Bulldog Club show today, gosh it's been so long since we went to a show and it was great to catch up with everyone and see the wash of new faces that have popped up since I was last allowed out in public. It was a bit of a last minute decision to go but we sold a few calendars and some of Ian's keyrings. They asked me to judge the junior handling which was a great honour but very nerve racking too as it's been even longer since I was in the ring, Jason used to do Junior handling when he was 10 - he's almost 20 so I couldn't even draw on that experience either. From the 2 that entered it was very hard to chose, with Junior Handling you are actually judging the handler and not the dog. The winner had a huge dog (almost as big as her) but she talked to her dog throughout and reassure him with a softly spoken "stand". The runner up really impressed me when she poked her dogs tongue back in, but sadly had her dog too tight on his lead. I have no idea who the winners of the main show were though as I was far too busy eating delicious apple cake and gossiping with Gemma. Oh and I actually remembered to put Diesel in the van and not petrol but I'm not promising that will last LOL

Just a normal day ....

Hello: You have reached Bulldog Rescue.

Due to the high volume of calls we have been receiving, please listen closely to the following options and choose the one that best describes you or your situation:

Press 1 if you have a 10-year-old dog and your 15-year-old son has
suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home
right away.

Press 2 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your
150 pound, 8-year-old dog.

Press 3 if you have three dogs, had a baby and want to get rid of
your dogs because you are the only person in the world to have a
baby and dogs at the same time.

Press 4 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having
problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away.

Press 5 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and
cute and you want to trade it in for a new model.

Press 6 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home TODAY
and pick up the dog you no longer want.

Press 7 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the
last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your
dog.

Press 8 if your dog is sick and needs a vet but you need the money
for your vacation.

Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not
active and is going to outlive you.

Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for
their elderly dog because it doesn't fit your lifestyle.

Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up
before I have to go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way
to work.

Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know
you have left a dog in our yard in the middle of January, which is
in fact, better than just leaving the dog with no message.

Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to
take your dog that you have had for fifteen years, because it is
not our responsibility.

Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog
to be euthanized because I won't take it.

Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the volunteers had the
audacity to go on vacation and leave the dogs in care of a trusted
volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet.

Press 19 if you want one of our PERFECTLY trained, housebroken, kid
and cat friendly purebred dogs that we have an abundance of.

Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight
aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your
neighbor's cats.

Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take
personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this
time with a different answer.

Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to
board your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge,
of course.

Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to
deliver an eight week old puppy to your house by 6:30 am before
your kids wake up.

Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby
bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and no longer cute.

Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog who has already had
ten litters, but we can't spay her because she is pregnant again and
it is against your religion.

Press 26 if you're lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel
bad and take your personal pet off your hands.

Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because
it is declawed, but you are not willing to accept the responsibility
that the cat's behavior is altered because of your nice furniture.

Press 28 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house
but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered.

Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor only dog and are calling
because she is suddenly pregnant.

Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and
have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it
is cruel.

Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening
phone number and you left your work number when all volunteers are
also working and you are angry because no one called you back.

Press 32 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because
today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.

Press 33 if your dog's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you
need a different color or breed.

Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too
stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next
month anyway) instead of the dog.

Press 35 if you went through all these 'options' and didn't hear
enough. This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being
shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog
while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his family.

Thank you for calling

Bright Sunny Day

After yesterday's torrential rain, today looks like it's going to be nice and sunny. Was up early this morning in anticipation of the monthly Reggie's Den delivery which up until recently arrived by pallett by courier who would come straight to my door. Recently the company has been bought out and now everything arrives by lorry and this morning the driver refused to bring the lorry up the lane and instead asked me to drive out and meet him - you know there's just something not quite right about taking stuff off the back of a lorry in a layby and putting it in the boot of the car!
The van is as yet un-christened. We've decided that the name of the first dog to be officially collected in it will be the name of the van, a call out to collect a "Claire" today has been postponed until Monday so we'll see what happens over the weekend.

We have a small announcement

Funding has been sought over the last 2 years so Bulldog Rescue could have a purpose built van to operate from Midhurst. Well today it became a reality. You can view the full story at www.bulldogrescue.co.uk/van.htm and we are looking for a sponsor to cover the service agreement - but I hope you love it as much as I do ....

The Law is failing these dogs ....

At 4pm yesterday afternoon a call came in from a local police station, a drug raid on a flat not only revealed an illegal immigrant (who was deported last night) and a canabis farm but a very young and inured bulldog! If he's stolen he's certainly not on our list but the most likely senario for him being there is that he was payment for a drug deal. By the time we got called the police had tried every single dogs home in the area - all said they couldn't take him because he wasn't a stray!!!

There was no question about us taking him, in fact the volunteer that covered that area was already on her way here with a dog, so she was handed the details and sent back home to collect him. At that time we had no idea if he was male, female, pup, fully grown, friendly or what! What she found was a 8/9 month old pup with an injured front leg. He'll see the vet first thing Monday morning to work out whats wrong with him and now he's in our system the chances of him remaining in the drug world with all the awful things that happen to dogs in that fraternity are well and truly behind him but I can't tell you how angry I am that there was NO ONE there to help him. No wonder people dump their dogs if the only way any dog can make it into an all breed shelter is as a stray.

We'll keep you posted on his progress, needless to say he now happily settled in his foster home and a forever home is already waiting for him!

See Comments for update

Compulsory microchipping on the agenda

Compulsory microchipping on the agenda

As you may have seen in the dog papers, it may well be that microchipping becomes compulsory. Personally I feel that this is long overdue and although it wouldn't completely deal with the stray problem (not all chip info is up to date) it would certainly help!!!
What do you think? Should all pups be chipped before they are sold, should it become compulsory.
My vote is an overwhelming yes - what's yours?