The Freak Show starts again

Crufts starts today, sadly it's looking highly unlikely that I'm going to make it but if you are reading this before 4pm on Thursday 10th March I've decided to give my 2 complimentary tickets to whoever bids the highest donation to Bulldog Rescue - so if you want them, tell me how much you are prepared to donate via bulldogrescue@btinternet.com

With Crufts comes the usual rounds of Pedigree dog bashing, something that has really riled me is an email I received from the RSPCA this morning - please correct me if I'm wrong, but surely the job of the RSPCA is to help animals that are mistreated or need rehoming? Here's an extract from the email:

Dog shows like Crufts, which starts today, use breed standards to describe how a ‘perfect’ example of each breed of dog should look as the main judging criteria.

We believe these standards encourage the breeding of disabled dogs with exaggerated features. They also encourage breeding from closely related animals, which can result in puppies that have a higher chance of suffering from inherited diseases.

Is this really what they are on this planet for? Bearing in mind that this could open the flood gates for many more pedigree dogs to suddendly find themselves homeless, I bet they are still more than happy to keep any pedigree that makes its way into one of their shelters and sell it for several hundred quid rather than ask the breed rescue to help.

I'm sorry but I really don't think this is within the RSPCA's remit, there's several journalists out there that I'd expect nothing less from but the RSPCA? Surely their job is to rescue and rehome abused and abandoned dogs? Not to put themselves on a pedistall and start creating panic amongst pedigree dog owners.

What do you think?

On a lighter note, our Mabel is 10 years old today, it's a bitter sweet birthday for us as we tend to lose our bulldogs at 10, but fingers crossed the madam and her nappy continue for many more years to come.

Bulldog or Cross?

Something that is becoming a real issue these days is the subject of cross bred bulldogs. We've known for a number of years that it goes on but in the last three or four months it's starting to become a real problem, to the point that where as before we were seeing maybe one in 25 dogs we were asked to rehome turn out to be a cross its probably now as many as 1 in 10. With the dog breeding laws as lax as they are its a problem I can only forsee becoming worse.
I think there are several reasons why it happens, apart from people jumping on the "bulldogs are unhealthy" bandwagon I think the main reason is simply money. Put a bulldog male to a staffy bitch and the result is a free whelped litter that look a little like a bulldog with no up front c-section or stud fee costs, a bitch that's much more likely to rear her own pups and a price tag of anything around the thousand pound mark. These dogs are now finding themselves homeless with owners who really think they have a bulldog. Ann Warwick at american bulldog rescue has helped us out with a few but she's also snowed under with problems far worse than ours and it is now starting to become a genuine issue and I'm not entirely sure what we, as breed enthusiasts can do about it. Some of these dogs are very difficult to tell and long gone are the days when all we had to go on was a leggy bulldog. A combination of long tail, button ears and lack of nose wrinkle is usually how we go about deciding but we can all think of at least one known purebred bulldog that has at least one of these features. Thankfully it is still fairly easy to spot a long bulldog tail against a full staffy tail but having said that we did have a dog with a very long tapered tail, who, if his kc papers were to be believed, was pure bulldog through and through.

For Dana ;o)

For the first time since I took over Bulldog Rescue, I'm seeing people gift in several dogs on a regular basis, this was something that had only happened once before when a family gifted in their entire breeding stock before emigrating, but in the first 2 months of 2011 we've already seen three breeders decide they can no longer continue and ask us to find homes for their kennelled dogs. The increase in dogs will no doubt be reflected in the end of year figures which are due at the end of March but I can't help but feel that we've lost some very caring people in a breed that needs all the caring people it can find! As a direct result of this increase in dogs Annie is now in every day as opposed to three days, long gone are the days when I could run this rescue single handedly and if things continue to grow as fast as they are I'm not even sure I can continue to do what I'm already doing around a full time business and a choice may soon need to be made ....

In the meantime, I've spent this morning shaving all the fur off a poor little scabby girl. Although she looks twenty times better than she did when she arrived, she's now as bald as a coot. Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind and very much enjoyed her bath. It'll be a while before she's looking for a home but she seems to come out of herself more each day and she's is a real pleasure to have around the place.

Very quickly, I'd like to thank everyone that has supported Reggies Den's move into VPS products, I was very concerned that after all that training there's be no extra custom but I'm pleased to say that things are ticking over reasonably nicely and remember that if you are a member of Reggie's Newsletter there's currently a 5% discount running on all VPS products until the 5th, so be quick and join up at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ReggiesDenNewsletter/?yguid=82641684

Thank you all again for supporting Bulldog Rescue at this very busy time and this blog is dedicated to Dana who very kindly rang and asked if I could update just for her .... so I did ;o)

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

Lets Talk About the Weather

That good old British tradition ....
I've had a few people enquire this morning if it's OK to let the bulldogs out in the snow. As a general rule, as long as you don't let them stay in it for too long they love playing in the snow. Having said that I know that some hate it and for those dogs I suggest you just don't even bother trying to get them out for a walk as it could lead to problems walking them once the snow has cleared - remember dogs learn by association, they may not put two and two together when the the cold wet stuff has disappeared and as there are many bulldogs out there that will use every excuse under the sun to get out of a walk, you don't want to be adding to their reasons LOL.
Obviously if your dogs are kennelled ensure you have heating because living in these sub zero temperatures can be detrimental to his health and well being but when it comes to just a good old fashioned run about in the snow for 20 minutes isn't going to do them any harm as long as they have somewhere warm to go to afterwards.
And if you don't feel like trudging through it then I'm sure your bulldog will forgive you a few days off as this doesn't look like it's going to melt any time soon which leaves me without a kennel maid today but as everything round here is frozen solid I'm sure it really isn't going to make much difference to the smooth running of things.
Have fun out there and stay safe

Touch wood ...

.... I don't have a headache. I'm almost scared to say it as Tuesday AND Wednesday I had full blown migraines which were the last thing I needed and not only put me out of action but has put me a long way behind on my work. But so far today we're doing OK. The weather is amazing though and everything is under 3 foot of snow. Cleaning the kennels this morning was near on impossible - even the mop is hiding somewhere under all that snow, but the dogs didn't mind as they got to play in the snow for an hour - in fact if Cooper had his way he'd still be out in it now!!!!


Cooper is loving it loving it loving it

Baxter says: Who wants to play football ?

The three new arrivals wondering what on earth has happened

Teddy soon works out it's all good fun though