31st January

Daisy, Honey, Oscar, Doris and Luci are all climbing the walls today, driving me mad! Having had to go to the doctors, something that is the last resort for me. As I suspected I have a chest infection and ordered to stay in the warm until the antibiotics get into my system, which is 24 - 48 hrs. After today I will be going out as I cannot stand the look of disapproval and anticipation in their faces.
Luci was spayed on Thursday, where she was as good as gold. She did not bark, howl or whine whilst there even though she was crated. When I bought her home she waited at the bottom of the stairs looking up, she actually wanted to go to bed. I carried her up and she went into the crate and remained there for a few hours, this is something that I could never of imagined in those early days. Luci is on lead walks only for 10days post operation so I have been taking Luci out on her own, whilst Stuart if able takes ours out, otherwise it is two trips. For those of you who do not know Mitcham Common it is a glorious place to walk with dogs covering 460 acres with different habitats, wetlands, grassland, woods, and landscaped areas.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitcham_Common.  Yesterday I took Luci up onto the hill by Seven Islands, (the picture above) and there was not a dog in sight! Here on a clear day you can see Wembley, The Gherkin, and the Shard looking in the opposite direction you can see Crystal Palace radio tower. The end of August sees the annual hay harvest which is sold to local stables. Many rural locations do not have the walking facilities for dog and man, other than bridle ways that we have. Here our dogs run till there hearts content and we come back exhusted!

On Sunday Poppy went on a two week trial to her potential new home. Stuart has not long retired, whilst Margaret still works. Stuart found that he was not getting out enough and had always promised himself a dog when he retired after long discussions between himself and Margaret they both agreed to look for a rescue Stafford. To our delight they enquired about Poppy. So far all is going well and Stuart and Margaret have fallen in love with her expressing how gentle and loving she is. The neighbours who had owned a Stafford untill it died went into see Poppy and they think she is fantastic. Lets all hope that all goes well and Poppy gets her new family.

Author:- Valerie

30th January

My this is a long month and still a day to go.

Our fence panels were delivered today. We lost two panels in the strong winds and our garden has not been completely secure since. The bottom panel left us open to the footpath, so we replaced it immediately. In the end it took four of us, we had to ask our daughters to help, Sara is still complaining, someone, well that would be me,. had the bright idea to take Spryte and Khan, I don't know what they thought was happening but they kept jumping onto the compost heap and out onto the footpath, making what was already a difficult job, even harder

Boycie is back with us.

Our thanks to Sally, Simon and Saffy for fostering him so well for so long.

Sally and Simon had hoped they may have been able to adopt him, but although Saffy tolerated him she was not really happy. He also needed to get on with Sally's Mum's dog as he would need to stay there on occasions, this certainly did not work with them having a run in on Christmas day. So much for peace and goodwill!

They kindly brought him down to Discover Dogs as our representative where he was a complete star.
He had become very attached to them as we found out at Discover Dogs when they left him with me to look around the event. He completely changed, becoming very depressed and curling up on a chair until they returned. So this is not easy for Boycie or them.
However, he has slotted back into the routine here and he is eating and enjoyed a game of ball. I have given him a cuddle but he does keep giving me those 'puppy dog' eyes.
 Lets hope he finds a home of his own soon.

27th January

Ali Taylor was on Thursday's 26th January Alan Titchmarsh Show with a lovely Battersea Stafford called Marcel.
The item was informing viewers what to do if you or your dog were attacked by a dog. Considering that, they managed to turn it round into a very positive piece for Staffords and the numbers looking for homes, what good family pets they make and the need for responsible ownership.
Dogs Trust were also there with a gorgeous young puppy and another oldie.
 Three lovely well behaved Staffords, all of whom I would love to take home, even though I am buried in dogs here.

Marcel now has his own facebook page.

26th January

Today I went to see how Jade had settled in her new home.
She went there just under two weeks ago after I had a call from a girl who works with another rescue who said there was an elderly gentleman who came highly recommended, looking for another dog, who said the best dog he ever owned was a Staffordshire x Alsatian.
I arranged to see him taking with me a selection of dogs.
He had an elderly German Rough Coated Pointer female, which rather put me off putting in another female but it soon became obvious the two young males would be too much, so we tried Saffy who was a bit too crazy and growled at the Pointer. Then we tried Jade.
Jade's biggest need was a home where she would not be left. 'Jade just likes to be with you,' I would say. I should know as she has barely left my side for the past two and a half years!
Mr Hammond is very experienced with dogs and his wife who he lost eighteen months ago, was a legendary horsewoman who was part of the British Olympic Dressage team.
He has a live in housekeeper, scores of nieces and nephews and a whole community doing various jobs around the place. One room is bigger than the whole of the downstairs in my house and it has underfloor heating and two acres of well fenced garden.
Despite feeling this was ideal for Jade, two and a half years is a long time and I cried all the way home.

Phone calls revealed she was settling well and everyone was happy.
This morning I saw for myself.

They are delighted with her and as for Jade? Well just look at the pictures....

25 th January

Stop Press Ali on Titchmarsh Thursday 26th Jan 3-4pm

Firstly apologies! Anyone looking for Ali on Alan Titchmarsh would have been disappointed as we were! We still haven't found out what happened. Facebook appears to be playing up too which is not helping in gaining info, when we find something out we will let you know.
The bit of Titchmarsh I did see he was introducing Seal's apparently 'live,' interview by saying it was in fact recorded and that although the singer spoke lovingly about his wife in the interview mean time she had filed for divorce!
So it seems this apparently 'live' show isn't, so Ali could appear at anytime really. Confused? You're not the only one! Won't be rushing home to watch you again Alan. (Well will be now if Ali is on.)

Chance

Death Row Dogs. 24th January BBC1 10.30pm

This programme was flagged up to us last week as an anti Bull Breed programme.
 Dogs Trust had taken part and then been taken out. We were asked to write to the BBC to complain.
Hysterical Chinese whispers then went round Facebook like wildfire where it was described as 'Staffie Bashing.'
I was feeling rather fed up with this over reaction which was why I wrote the blog before it was shown, last night.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but personally I thought the programme very good. I saw nothing in it that was detrimental to Staffords.
 It was about The Dangerous Dog Act and how in its present form it is not working, stated clearly by the Police Officer at the end.
People are very upset that it showed a dog being put to sleep but this was meant to shock and upset to show that innocent dogs are dying because of the DD Act the way it is at the moment.

I do not think this programme will have a detrimental affect on Staffords or their owners or make homing rescue dogs any harder than it already is.

On a more positive note we are planning another Stafford Walk for some time in March.
We have had a few ideas tonight and I am already looking forward to it!

24th January

Stop Press  Our friend Ali Taylor is on The Alan Titchmarsch show today 3pm - 4pm with a Battersea Staffie discussing dog bites and dangerous dogs.
http://www.itv.com/alantitchmarsh/

Alan Titchmarsh on ITV1

www.itv.com

               
I am purposely writing this before the programme goes out tonight and everyone has their say on that.
I want to let you know where we are as a rescue at the moment and about the two phone calls I had today.
Tara is keeping me company snoring over by the radiator.

Tara

For some time now, weeks that became months, we have had far more dogs than we would like and can comfortably deal with.
The problem is that re-homing has slowed down so much that dogs are staying far longer than they used to, we have also had some returns, which we never refuse as we keep our commitment to each dog we home.

Boycie

We are bombarded by requests to take in new dogs everyday, most of which we refuse but as someone said to me recently, you cannot claim to be a dog rescue if you never take in any dogs, and so there are exceptions and the numbers increase.
Jade's home appears to have worked out so we have had one dog less for 12 days but Boycie is coming back on Sunday. Sally and Simon with Saffy have fostered Boycie for several months, they had hoped Saffy might accept him but this was not the case, they have hung on to him far longer than we had hoped but no home has been found and he is coming back. We also have Sandy in kennels and a puppy in the wings.

Sandy

So we are overdrawn by four dogs! We cannot return to a reasonable quality of life until we home four dogs (and don't take any more in!)
Having so many and one in kennels is a huge drain on our resources and when we pay the January kennel fees we will have all but run out of funds.

That is the situation, now let me tell you about the calls:-

The first was from a lady up north. She had an eight year old female Akita and had recently lost a lab x Lurcher. She heard of a Staffie cross which had been found wandering the streets so she offered him a home. It had taken a long time but she had won his trust. However, the other day she came home to a bloodbath where he and the Akita were fighting and now he had to be caged so she wanted him to go to a new home where he would be the only dog.
We, of course, were unable to help as she was too far away, the dog was a cross and we have no spaces or homes especially ones for only dogs.
She had tried lots of other places, hence trying us despite the distance.
Someone had suggested having the dog 'put down,' and she said she would rather be put down herself but she couldn't keep him caged like he was at the moment......

The next call was on my doorstep.
It was a girl who had rescued a dog' from a mate,'else he was going to the RSPCA and she felt sorry for him.
She got him back to her flat and he didn't like her cat. So she was having to crate him so he was no better off than in his other home plus he was making the most awful racket ( I heard him) and the previous owner was not answering her calls
So she wanted him gone....

This is how it is everyday. Sometimes you feel sorry for the people, mostly we worry about the dog, but you cannot help them all, especially when you are struggling to cope with the ones you have.
So lets see how this programme fits into the equation, let everyone jump up and down defending their breed and signing their petitions, as for me, well, I have dogs that need to go out....

23rd January

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16687487

I am sure we all feel dismayed by this dog attack on the six year old girl.
It has still not been confirmed what breed the dog is despite it having been seized, but it is hardly relevant.
Having seen the area where it happened, an area where it seems reasonable a dog would be off the lead, I personally feel this could happen to any of us. I wonder if we will hear more details and ever understand why the dog attacked.

Meanwhile we will have to continue to be responsible owners and not take any chances, even if it means restricting our dogs for a while.

The anti-bull breed programme is tomorrow night at 10.30pm on BBC 1

I enjoyed walking the two oldies again today. Tara went mad in the woods tucking her tail under her and charging flat out, before executing last second hand brake turns. Lexus tried to ignore her concentrating on eating his Ground Elder (do any other dogs eat Ground Elder?) none of our others do. Every now and again Tara would charge into him, trying to get him to play eventually giving up and tearing up a stick instead!

Mad moment over, they pad home at a more sedate pace befitting their age.