Friday 7 May 2010

Florence has accepted Baby-Maud!

I am so happy to announce that Florence, the female terrier mix who was rescued not long ago with three puppies of which one died, has accepted our little Maud.
Maud was found in a card-board box at Keleti railwaystation some days ago by a Hungarian vet. student who asked us to please take on the little girl. Maud is only 4-5 weeks old and much too young to have been separated from her mother. Our plan after her deworming and vaccination was to introduce her to Florence and her puppies Lou Lou and Jumble. Although these puppies are a few weeks older than Maud and I thought Flo`s milk might have dried out it would still be good for Maud to get the physical contact and crucial social-skill development from the rescued family.

We brought Maud to Amanda`s house yesterday where Florence and the pups have been living in the garden with Amanda`s own two dogs, Winston and her adopted Budadog Moby. At first Florence was not too happy about the little newcomer so Amanda kept them separated and let Maud interact with the puppies and Winston who seems to take surrogacy in his stride. Maud however was craving the maternal attention Flo potentially could offer so with some subtle manipulation Amanda thought she might be able to persuade the young mother. She placed daughter Lou Lou and newcomer Maud wrapped in Florence`s own blanket under her own jumper to mix up all the different smells into one "Happy family scent". Great job on Amanda`s part and it seems Florence still has some milk left over for baby-Maud. The pictures speak a thousand words and we are of course delighted! :))

Thanks to Amanda for the amazing job she is doing with these dogs!




"I`ve still got some milk left for you, babe"




Florence and her new surrogate baby, 4 week old Maud




Florence and all three babies, Jumble, Lou Lou and Maud



Uncle Winston simply loves his role as Nanny




"Myyy you`ve got a big nose, Uncle Winston!!!"

Thursday 6 May 2010

Wednesday 5 May 2010

The Lion and his girl

What I love the most about this work is the before and after. I can`t help but get weepy everytime I recieve a photograph where the dog I once knew looks so different I would never have recognized it on the street. One such case is "Løve" - one of our very first rehomings - and his girl Venja.

Løve came to us from Illatos, chosen specifically by his new family in Norway who saw him on the website. Ironically I named him "Løve" which means Lion in Norwegian and is as far from his character then as one could imagine. He was full of tangled, filthy fur and looked like he had lost the will to live. When we collected Løve he was apathetic - he lay down, refused to move and ignored any attempt at contact. He was too scared to contemplate accepting the love that was offered him. He would, however, gaze up from his lying position and gain eye-contact and he had such a tenderness in his eye - as if to say "just give me some time - I`ll be okey".

Løve went into fostering with Illatos rescue Venja, a sweet, young female with not much dog-dog social skill, but a great love for humans. Together they were the "deaf leading the blind" - Løve loved dogs, Venja loved people. The unlikely duo formed an inseparable bond as as the days and weeks passed they grew stronger in their own ways. Løve decided walking on all four legs without his stomach touching the ground wasn`t so bad afterall and Venja realised other dogs were, infact, a source of some amusement and not only there to poison her day.

Seeing as Løve had a family from the very beginning we were just at the point of advertising Venja when Løve`s family contacted us about getting a dog for their mother-in-law. She wanted a calm, soulful dog to share her life with and really, there was no better match than Venja! So the beautiful story goes that The Lion and his girl flew to Norway together and they could not have asked for a better life. The most striking change is the look in their eyes. No longer the look of fear, bewilderment and hopelessness. Now just a peaceful grace....


When Løve first came to us he didn`t want to stand up...







There is no similarity between the then....



And the Now!! Who is the Lion?




Venja - The frightened and soulful little girl at Illatos



Now quite the lady with a slightly different look in her eye too


Løve and Venja running "hand in hand" in Norway:)

And the Saga continues because today a new adoption took place and The Lion and his girl will get a new addition to their pack - namely the most loving and heartbreaking little lady with a very sad story - and now an amazingly bright future :)And that is our gorgeous little Sally! I`m so delighted!!

New kid on the block - Johnny






Mudi Mix Johnny has been left to fend for himself in a village a few hours from Budapest. His hips are abit wonky so we will x-ray them but first we must get him cleaned up and into a fosterhome.

Johnny is aprox 5-6 months old. Unfortunately there is a trend to throw dogs out onto the streets if there is anything wrong with them rather than get them the necessary veterinary care. Thankfully Johnny needn`t worry now :)

Monday 3 May 2010

Lonely Ulrik needs a fosterhome



poor Ulrik was going to be euthanised when his elderly owner died so we said we would take him on. He was kenneled but escaped and ran many miles back to his old, empty house looking for his owner.

Ulrik is in kennels at the moment and needs fostering. He is extremely sweet, well behaved and devoted. He is a black, middle-aged dachshund mix. Anyone looking for some calm, quiet company for exam period ?

Two lovely but sad boys need fostering





Louis (bottom) and Dio (top) are our newest arrivals and currently at kennels. Both dogs were abandoned and Louis had a collar which had grown into the flesh of his neck.

Louis story as described by his rescuer:
The dog has stayed at a factory site just outside of my town for a week. The women who is the secretary of the manager of the company called me and asked for my help. I went to see him yesterday but he was too scared to catch him without any forcement so I decided to go back every day specially when the company is closed so there are no people around to feed him. I went back this evening again to spend some time with him and trying to make friends. It went quite well, I could even stoke him so I decided to set off and leave but Louis started following my car. I stopped 3 times and tried to catch him but he was too scared to let himself cought. I thought I would set off very fas so he would not be able to follow but I was wrong. He started running after my car like hell and I had to stop at a point because there were cars coming on the road and it was very dark so Louis must have been hit by a car if I don't stop. So all together it took me 2 hours to catch him but I did it finally. It was almost 10.00 p.m. Right now he is staying in a traveling crate in the kitchen of my sister but I have no idea where I will put him. We are full of dogs

Dio is a foxterrier mix. He was found abandoned and taken to a kennel but escaped twice and was not safe. Now he is in our kennels and waiting for a fosterhome.

Both boys are really sweet.