"Have you come back to get me?"

Rescuing Trond



Going to the Large Animal Clinic @ Ullò is always eventful and more often than not, disheartening and sad. By the side of the road one can always see loose dogs in varying states of neglect and the decision to take them or not is always a difficult one to make with several aspects to take into consideration. However, upon seeing "Trond" today there was no doubt in our minds that this was his last shot at life.

Trond was straying at a busy road crossing with trailers and other cars going by at a fast pace. Whenever a car stopped to give way, Trond ran towards it, wagging his tail. One could speculate that he had been taken to this area by car, because his approach to each vehicle was with such excitement and anticipation, looking up at the drivers window as if to say:

"You forgot me didn`t you?..... Have you come back to get me?"

At the time of seeing him Caroline and I were in a minibus with a few of our class-mates on our way back from a farm visit with the obstetrics department and we could see that it was only a matter of very little time (a few hours) before this dog became a lifeless being at the roadside, something one so frequently sees along the busy roads here in Hungary.

We went back to collect Trond in Thea`s car and my heart was pounding all the way. I was seriously worried that we were already too late because this dog seemed to have no regard for the traffic in his frantic search for the car that he was obviously looking for. The one that was coming to take him back home. But as we approached, there he was standing at the side of the road. As our car came to a halt, his ears perked up, his tail started wagging and he immediately trotted up to meet us.

Was this the car that had forgotten him?

It wasn`t. But it was the car that had come to take him home all the same.

Trond`s terrible state became even more apparent as we saw him up close. His body covered in crusts and lesions, his bones visible; he was famished and thirsty and obviously in desperate need of medical treatment which is most likely the reason why he has been placed on the streets in the first place. Upon seeing a dog with this skin-condition it`s important to seek specialist care before anything else. It just so happened that we were driving directly back to campus to attend an elective in Dermatology so Trond received the medical check-up he needed from the dermatologist. Lucy, one of our previous foster-carers, kindly offered to help us by taking him in for a week. Proving yet again that we would be at a total loss without the kindness and help of everyone pulling together for these poor dogs who have done nothing more than be born into an existence and a world where nobody seems to care whether they live or die. The questions we so often are confronted with:

"what, realistically, is another dog? What good will it do when thousands are being abused and neglected as we speak? And why do you care?"

Well today, "another dog" is Trond. And the difference lies in what we can do for him and the heartbeat in his chest and the dignity in his being. And the reason why we care where others might not? Who knows. Maybe we are genetically wired to do so? Maybe we want life to be about something greater and more meaningful than just ourselves? Or maybe it is because we simply cannot find it in us to not care.

Wishing everyone all the best,

Anouska

NB! We are looking for a fosterhome for Trond and cannot take him to kennels due to his skin condition and the medical treatment he needs for two weeks in the form of baths every second day.
In spite of his physical state, Trond is an extremely sweet natured, loveable and adoring dog. We hope that we can get him better soon and give him the second chance he needs. Trond is a relatively young dog, between 1-3 years old, aprox 20 kg. and is calm indoors, and just a really sweet and friendly young boy. He seems well adjusted and extremely loving and will not be problematic in fostering at all.

Thank you Thea for letting us take him in your car from Ullò to the city and Thank you Lucy for selflessly offering to take him in on only an hours notice. We are very grateful!

Castrations on a Conveyer Belt

A few days ago the Budagirls, Thea and Runa, set out to do some castrations. With the supervision of Viktor, Budadogs' own veterinarian, three of our Budadogs were castrated. Now that all three dogs are fine, and no post operative complications occurred, we feel it is safe to blog about this event. In this way our followers can see some of the work the Budagirls do:)

Thea

Runa

As a policy, our organisation castrates budadog males in need of castration. We are careful not to castrate new Budadogs "too fast". This especially counts for dogs with behaviour problems such as anxiety aggression, or just timid and more careful males, as there may be a chance of increasing the problem. This theory is yet to be explored completely, and is currently a hot topic in the field of domesticated canine behaviour.


First man out: Paulie.
Thea sets the i.v. catheter, while Viktor, Budadogs' own veterinarian, holds Paulie, reassuring him that "he will be fine"

Thea is surgically preparing Paulie. On preparation Thea found only one testicle. This is a relatively normal condition in dogs, and is called cryptorchidism. In crypotorchid dogs the "missing" testicle remains in the abdomen from foetal life. The remaining testicle can cause development of cancer and should always be removed. Cryptorchidism is inherited, and all cryptorchid dogs should be castrated to prevent inheritance of the condition.

Runa castrating Paulie

Sambo, second man up

Castration of Sambo

Stanley, last man "standing"

Thea getting ready for her first castration

Thea's first testicle preparation. It is more difficult than it looks!!!

Thea's first spermatic cord transection :)

Sambo waking up to a new life. A new dawn, a new day.


By Thea and Runa

A Budadog- day-trip to the kennels that actually went smoothly:)

Finally we're home after a day of minor wrong turns only. In addition to this we also succeeded in NOT forgetting the drugs for the dogs out at the kennels, NOR did we take the wrong dog out from kennels and into foster care. More surprisingly, we even managed NOT to cause any damage to the car :)
(KNOCK ON WOOD!!!)

A couple of times every week some of the girls will take a road trip to the kennels to either collect or deliver dogs, or to give drugs (such as dewormers, spot-ons etc).
The road trips are in fact real roadtrips! The kennels are situated only one hour's drive outside of Budapest, but for certain reasons (...) a Budadog-daytrip is in fact a DAY TRIP!

Ida enjoying a fresh nice apple, made only for her, while blessing this day - praying for no unplanned events to occur... :D


Runa after arriving to the first kennel. She probably cannot wait to bring out the doctor's box!!!

Ida after arriving to Jenő bácsi's (Uncle Jenö's) kennel. The kennel lies in Monor, which is a village 45km south-east of Budapest. This kennel is what we call the "Dog Hotel", as Jenó spoils the poochies to pieces.
Ida's extreme joy here is due to the approaching puppy.

Jenö and the puppy that made Ida's day :)

Ida and the puppy that made Ida's day :)

From left: Amanda, James and Dougal "Kiraly" (King)

From left: Dougal "Kiraly", James and Amanda

When we opened the dog yard to let Benny out for vaccination the poochies broke loose, and had a little spin around in Jenö's own yard. As usual, when this happens, good hearted Jenö gets some nice, tasty, canned soft-food to lure the doggies back into the dog yard.



Vaccination of Benny - Ida is being "taught" how to do it. Here she is comforting Benny, who is not really happy with the situation of having to be poked and bothered when he was planning on having his five minutes of running around in bácsi's yard.




After poking and annoying Benny, bácsi gladly let him run free a bit before putting him back into the dog yard.
"Here comes Benny!!!!" Completely and utterly filled with happiness!


Jénö's anya (mother) at the front porch throwing some treats down to Benny

Apparently, Benny was not the only one who got treats from Jénös anya today :D


Me and Ida got freshly baked Hungarian buns. Mmmmmm :)


A "few" hours later we're driving home from Feco's kennels in Dunakeszi, a village 20km north of Budapest.
At Feco's we did blood samples and collected dogs that went into fostering today :)
Rex - the gorgeous little puppy man who was found together with his mum (Reena, also a budadog). They were tied up to a short, short chain, starving, with a bowl of frozen water;
Xena - the beautiful woman with the prettiest face;
Twiggy, the wise :)

"May this day continue as smoothly as it started"


Rex, the gorgeous little puppy man, wants to sit on Ida's lap.


ALVIN!!!! Alvin gets his foster-mum back, and Faye gets her foster-baby-boy back :D
It is always fun to see reunions of happy foster-parents and happy foster-poochies when their foster-parents return from vacations :) :) :)
Twiggy and her brand new foster-mum, Christina.
When we were at the kennels in Dunakeszi today, and Feco went to get Twiggy he turned around to us, looked seriously at us and said "Twiggy, nagyón jó kutya" which means "Twiggy is a very good dog". When coming from Feco, and the way he said it, we believe that it is absolutely true : ) : )


By Ida Aksnes and Runa Vintervold

Photoshoot in City park

Exam period is over and it is time to update the pictures of some of the dogs:

Junior:









Truls:




Bailey:








Timmy:





Sylvester:







Susanne Karlsen