KAYE’S BLOG
Poorly Pups
We’ve all had our fingers crossed for the last few days (which makes feeding dogs very difficult!) for 3 tiny pups that have made their way into Lurcher Link’s care from a pretty rough start in life. They’ve been in and out of the vets several times over the last week and are currently being given lots of TLC by Sue and Rob “Applechilli” and family.
They’re not up for rehoming yet, as they’re still too young and too poorly - but say hello to Harvey, Harley and Hope
Fantastic news - fingers crossed!
The news of the moment is that Odd Job, who’s been with us for over 2 years, is on a trial run atm. It’s very much a day by day thing as although he’s fab in the home and with dogs he knows, he can be a real handful when out and meets strange dogs. It’s nervous aggression, hopefully will get better with time, patience and when he feels more confident, but because he’s such a lump of a dog, he can take some holding when he lunges. Fingers crossed that the people can deal with it and he calms down about it all…….it would be such a lovely home for him!
2021 Calendar Competiton
Just in case you’ve missed it :
The Lurcher Link Calendar Competition is BACK!!
We are asking for YOUR photographs to be included in our 2021 Lurcher Link Calendar.
You don't have to be a member of the Lurcher Link forum, or have a Lurcher Link dog. You just have to have a keen photographic eye, and fantastic photos you think suit the different seasons!
We need your photographs to show how amazing our community, and the dogs we all love are!
If you are interesting in joining in, we have a google forms document where you can upload your photos. We are putting a limit on 1 entry per person this year, but you can enter all 4 seasons and the front cover!
We need PORTRAIT photographs for our FRONT COVER.
We need LANDSCAPE photographs for WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, and AUTUMN.
You can upload your photos on the following link: https://forms.gle/x3DwtXt5GhwmxNue7
We will be creating photo albums where we will be uploading the entries so you can all see what photos we have
The competition will run until Sunday 19th July.
Get snapping!
(If you have any difficulties with uploading photos, please contact kaye@lurcherlink.org)
This is what the 2020 Calendar looks like :
Good news
A bit of good news - despite the lock down, we’ve managed to rehome a few dogs. Lady and Rex who were both on trial runs, have fitted in so well with their respective families that they’re staying with them. Winnie and Taffi have both wormed their ways into their fosterers’ hearts and are being adopted by them. Plus we had a dog (well named) called “Swift” come to us as his owner needed to rehome him. He ticked all the boxes for a family local to me, so he was here and gone in about an hour. Swift indeed!
We’re still finding our way with homechecks, transport and Covid 19 restrictions, but at least we’ve managed to find homes for a few. Lady certainly seems happy about it:
Home Checks Update
With the restrictions from Covid 19 being lifted slightly, we’ve decided to try re-starting our home check procedures albeit in a sightly different form. Obviously we can’t ask our volunteers to go into strangers’ homes with all the current guidelines in place, but we are asking people who are interested in adopting dogs to provide us with some photographs or videos of their homes and gardens and to complete our homecheck questionnaire.. We’ll then see if we have a local volunteer who can go to have chat with them in the garden or something (at a safe distance).
This is going to very much be a “ horses for courses” process involving face masks, hand sanitizer etc and we will not ask anyone to do anything that they are not comfortable with. So please bear with us and we’ll just try to do our best.
On-Line dog show
Our annual show this May has been cancelled due to the Covid 19 restrictions….but Kt, one of our brilliant supporters, has come up with an alternative :
www.lurcher-link.org/news/2020/5/16/ll-on-line-fun-dog-show
It’s an on-line dog show with a difference - there’s all sorts of things that we would’ve had at our “ normal” show - such as the Long Jump and various stalls etc.
Please do come along and take part and pass the word around your friends.
Musings whilst on lock down....
Ongoing veggie garden project
As some of you know, I’m “ house bound” for the 12 weeks lock down period, which is mostly OK as I’ve got the dogs to look after anyway, but I am getting a little stir crazy at times. My veg garden is coming on, but as I have arthritis in my hands, back and knees, there’s only so much physical work I can do. So I’m spending a fair bit of time knitting bits for LL - some dog “snoods” for the online auctions and some bits and bats for people too now.
I decided to try some cowls as I think they’re more sensible for dog walking than long scarves (less likelihood of ends being dipped in poo as you bend to pick it up!) and I’m doing some fingerless gloves as I find them easier to cope with on dog walks too. At the mo, I’m just keeping an eye out for nice yarn on special offer (mostly easy- care stuff) and my plan is to put some things in the LL shop on this website so folk can buy them if they want, throughout the year, rather than a mad dash for Christmas. The prices I’m going to put them on for will cover the cost of the yarn and everything else will be a “profit” for LL. I’m not charging for my time knitting as it’s keeping me slightly saner anyway.
I’ll add the P&P into the price marked, as it’s easier for us to process it that way, but obviously if anyone buys a few things, we may be able to refund P&P on one item or something. Please bear with us as it’s going to be a bit of trial and error…. there won’t be a production line, it’ll be individual bits as I get them finished. Maybe a few seasonal items at Christmas, but mainly small things as I get bored quickly!
Keep safe folks :)
Chunky Cobalt blue winter cowl and fingerless gloves
New ONLINE course from Jim Greenwood
Jim's offering a new on-line course, specifically aimed at sighthound owners, as he's unable to do face to face courses atm due to Covid19. This is what he says:
Our new course "Training leads to freedom" Foundation launches today.
A must for anyone with sighthound in particular as could not help but base it around the needs of the sighthound. Don’t worry if you are not fortunate to have a sighthound the lessons work for any dog. Join us and give you dog the skills to be free and make those walks something special.
In these strange times in an attempt to help 10% of profits from course will go to sighthound rescues who have lost many of their fund raising opportunities
Help your self and others at the same time
Stay safe everyone “
And for anyone who's not familiar with Jim and his work, I'd recommend you go and have a nosy at his website. Plus, he's kindly donating 10% of his profit from this course to Greyhound Gap and Lurcher Link
Not a lot (dog wise) to say really...
I’m on the 12 weeks lock down / house arrest coz I’m in the “vulnerable” category for Covid 19. so it’s “same ‘ol, same ‘ol” here for the mo. I’m managing to get some gardening done and have started a little veggie patch - we have radishes, spinach, squash, onions, potatoes and some herbs and strawberries growing atm. I’ve got some fruit trees and bushes to put in when we’re certain there’ll be no more frosts and can borrow No 1 son to dig some holes for me. Odd Job is a big fan of radishes and spinach, so he’ll be happy when they’re cropped :)
One of our regular kennel volunteers has been poorly. so we’ve had to tell her to stay away for 14 days just in case, but Lu and Keiron have been sorting the rota out between them, so the kennel dogs are still being looked after properly. I’m trying to keep the house dogs entertained and as No 1 son has his dogs here with him, he’s in charge of the dog/s in the office (Scooby and his 2).
Himself.com is going to fetch our food from the pet shop once I’ve rung and ordered it and he’s venturing to the supermarket if necessary but we’re trying to avoid that as much as poss. We got one of the Morrison’s Delivery Boxes yesterday and they seem quite good value plus you can get them delivered within a day or so in most places. Trying to get a delivery slot at most supermarkets seems impossible at the mo, but I’m hoping |’ll be included in the new “vulnerable people” lists they’re formulating and it’d be great if we could do a “click and collect” shop……dream on eh? :)
The only thing we’re running a bit short of is rice for the “ Lurcher stew” I make up for their meals, but we’re using other things ( couscous today) to make it stretch further. It’s just purely there’s no bags of ( cheapo) rice on the shelves when Nick gets into the supermarket (50 min queue last week!!!) but I’m sure things will improve soon. I’ve got enough for the next week anyway and they certainly won’t go hungry.
So, that’s it really - no dogs in or out coz of the lock down and I’;m having to say “ Sorry no can do” to a lot of folk wanting to give up their dogs, but we simply don’t have the space until we can rehome some….I expect we’ll be doing some more online fundraisers soon as we’ve “ lost” the money we’d have raised for the rescue by having to cancel our show and being unable to have stalls at other peoples’ shows, so keep your eyes skinned for new and inventive methods of fund raising!
Plus I’d just like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone involved with the Virtual Greyhound and Lurcher Walk on Easter Sunday, organised by the Sighthound Social Club - that’s raised £190 to LL from your donations…..that’s 6 and a bit bags of dog food…..so THANK YOU ALL :)
Odd Job waiting for some radishes :)
Just checking in...
A few folks have asked how we’re coping at LL HQ with the kennels and the house dogs, so I thought I’d let you know we’re doing OK.
We have a rota system going for the kennels, so the dogs are always looked after, but nobody needs to “meet” anyone else - all info is passed on by texts and notes on the white board down there. Luckily most of the dogs down in the kennels are fit and healthy (touch wood) so the fact the vets are on lock down too, shouldn’t be too much of an issue. It does mean we can’t get vax, boosters and neutering done at the mo though, as they’re not classed as “essential”.
Our local pet shop (Phoenix Pets in Queensbury) is still open so I can get the Healthy Option kibble we use once a week, as well as any treats / bones etc to keep the dogs busy. They’re not getting as many walks as they’re used to, but thank goodness we have our little paddock for them to have a quick zoom and a play in.
We’ve had a few people asking if they can foster a dog whilst they’re off work, which sounds like a great idea, but realistically it’s quite difficult to implement. We can’t do home checks at the mo ( although we’re looking into doing virtual ones) and the main problem is we can’t get dogs transported to new homes as it’s not deemed “ essential travel”. This, in turn, means we can’t take any new dogs in because we’ve not got space…but most stray pounds are also on lock down and not moving dogs. If members of the public need to rehome a dog, we’ll just have to try to come up with a solution to help.
Obviously having to cancel our show in May is going to be a big disappointment to many, but we’re going to have a Online Dog Show through our Facebook page, which should be fun. We’ll be trying to think of various forms of fund raising as we can’t do a stall at other people’s shows, coz they’re also cancelled, so if you have any ideas, do give us a shout.
Lastly, on a serious note, if any of you with LL dogs find yourselves in difficulty through this enforced isolation, or have to go into hospital and are worried about your dogs being looked after, PLEASE do get in touch and we will try to help out. If you are a single person with no near family, it might be a good idea to write out what should happen to your dog/s if you do have to go to hospital, as that’d be one less thing for you to worry about. I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone, but it’s as well to be prepared (yes I was a Girl Guide! :) ) You can get hold of me on kaye@lurcherlink.org or leave a message on the answerphone at 01422 240168…. but please ONLY use that for emergencies.
Mudz says it’ll be OK, he’s got his dinosaur and his blankets to keep cosy :)
CORVID 19 News
This awful virus means that we can’t have any groups of visitors to walk the dogs at LL HQ, we’re not able to carry out home visits in person, which means we’re not easily able to place any dogs in foster or rehome dogs to adopters. This, in turn, means we’re not able to accept any new dogs due to lack of kennel space.
If anyone local to us (Halifax) who’s adopted one of our dogs finds themselves in difficulties with their dogs (eg if they have to go into hospital and have nobody at home to look after the dogs) please get in touch with me (kaye@lurcherlink.org) and we’ll try to sort something out.
Please stay safe folks.
K
Well, it's been a while...
I just haven’t had much time to post on here or much to say really - it’s been “same ‘ol. same ‘ol”. :(
However, we’ve had to close the kennels for the last few weeks because of the horrible virus that’s sweeping the country. We had a few dogs that showed signs of the symptoms, but all have recovered now and thankfully, we managed to contain the bug in the kennels, so none of the house dogs were affected. Lots of barrier nursing, changes of clothes and foot baths at every door.
Most of the dogs who’ve come down with this vomiting virus seem to make a recovery after about 48 hours. The main symptoms seem to be general lethargy, no appetite and then some vomiting and occasionally diarrhoea too. Ours didn’t have a temperature, just seemed very “flat”. The vets gave anti-sicnkess meds and some rehydrating salts to go in their water. However, if your dog comes down with this bug, I’d advise you to contact your vet, especially if the dog’s old or infirm, as there have been a few dogs that have died as a result of this virus.
Hopefully, we’re on the way to being all clear now, because of the lock down. Sorry to disappoint anyone wanting to visit, but “better safe than sorry” !
THANK YOU
To everyone who helped organise the Epworth Show: to everyone who came : to those who helped over the weekend and to those who couldn’t come but supported us by sponsoring classes etc, etc.
There’s so many brilliant photos on the LL FB page to go through , it’ll take forever : https://www.facebook.com/groups/930736200340168/
Calendars
The Lurcher Link 2020 Calendars are literally hot off the press…………..thank you to The Calendar Company for all their help https://www.facebook.com/TheCalendarCompany/
Sponsor Dogs
Sadly I had news last week that Greta, one of the LL Old Timers, had passed away. She’d been a LL sponsor dog as she came into rescue with a metal pin in her back leg (which she was unable to bend) from a previous ‘incident’ and as she got older this leg caused her some problems. She was on various Meds and rescue covered her vet bills as her insurance became a ridiculous amount as she got older.
As some of you are aware. Bubba, who’d been a LL resident and also a sponsor dog had to be PTS in June, as he lost the use of his back legs and was very distressed………..so we are “renewing” our sponsor dogs because we have a few oldies who’ve come to us and gone into “permanent foster” homes. This way they get the comfort of a home of their own and 1:1 care, instead of being stuck at the rescue HQ, and the lovely people who take them in know they will have back up from the rescue, both financially and with any problems they may have.
So let me introduce you to the new kids on the block :
CHUCK
Chuck is about 11 now and came back to LL after his owner became very ill and unable to look after him any more. This is Chuck's original rehoming thread in 2009: http://www.lurcherlink.org/llink/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=62878&hilit=Chuck+bull
He's more of a "Chunk" than a Chuck these days (is on a diet!) but he still does his little tap dance at food times He now has a permanent foster home, where he can spend the rest of his days in peace and comfort, rather than having to be cooped up in our noisy, busy house with all the other dogs.
ROD
Rod was signed over to LL after his owner was admitted to hospital and couldn’t look after him any more. He’s nearly 12 years old and wasn't vaccinated or neutered, but as he had some absolutely rotten (literally!) teeth that had to come out, he had everything done at the same time. He had all of his canines out plus a couple of his carnassials, and can eat proper food again now, instead of mush. His breath no longer knocks people out when he wants to kiss them too!
He had a RTA as a pup, resulting in his left front leg being broken and repaired and having some metal work left in it. This could cause his problems with arthritis as he gets older. He’s now gone to a new home on a permanent foster agreement, so LL will be responsible for his vet bills for the rest of his life.
HETTY
Wendy (now "Hetty) came to us as an owner surrender as she was being picked on by the other dogs in the household. She's a young adult of around 3-4 years, but sadly Hetty /Wendy has been diagnosed with kidney failure - not too bad atm (Stage 2) but it's still a shock as she's so young
Because she has to have a special renal diet and meds plus regular tests etc, Lurcher Link will be responsible for those expenses as her new owner won't be able to get insurance for her to cover that. Obviously we didn't realise she was ill when she was rehomed, but are going to treat her as if she was still in our care, as she'd still need all the treatment if she was here with us. So we will be having Wendy / Hetty as one of our Sponsor Dogs to help raise funds for her treatment
GRETA
BUBBA
CHUCK
ROD
HETTY
The Epworth Event is nearly upon us
Not long to go now - if you’re planning on camping, make sure you’ve booked with Fiona
Scared of loud noises?
My dog is scared of loud noises, what can I do?
At Lurcher Link we quite often get people contacting us for advice about how to help their dog when they're scared of loud noises such as thunderstorms or fireworks, so I thought I'd write a little bit about what you can do to try and make their life more bearable – especially around Bonfire Night/ Season.
It's quite common for dogs' hearing to change as they get older and although some dogs might become a little “deaf” which can be a good thing if they can no longer hear loud bangs, sometimes they actually become more sensitive to different sounds. So a dog which has been absolutely fine about fireworks going off all its life, might suddenly become a shaking wreck for no apparent reason. Obviously go and get your dog checked over by a vet to make sure there's no health problems, but there are steps you can take at home to try and help.
1) If it's fireworks which are the problem, consider going away somewhere really remote for a short break if you live somewhere there will be a lot of displays happening near your home.
2) Start early (NOW) and get one of the “fireworks” noise desensitisation CDs or downloads from the Internet and follow the instructions, starting quietly and gradually and slowly building it up. The Dogs Trust have a good pdf on their website which you can download:
https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-behaviour-health/sound-therapy-for-pets
3) Close all your curtains, put the lights on in your chosen room, turn the TV or radio up loud (maybe warn your neighbours in advance!) and make a “safe place” for the dog. If he wants to hide under the table or behind the sofa, put a bed their for him or set up a crate with covers over it, so it's like a “den”. Give him a juicy bone or a filled Kong to try and distract him and just be there to reassure him, in a “matter of fact” way, that everything's OK. You don't need to ignore him, or mollycoddle him, just be a reassuring presence for him if he wants to snuggle up with you. He may choose to hide away, but if you're in the room too, it will help him.
4) Some dogs benefit from wearing a Thundershirt, a tight fitting T shirt or a TTouch body wrap – using a crepe type bandage. This provides a comforting “hug” which settles them, much as swaddling comforts a baby. (See diagrams below)
5) There are various types of medication you can use, from herbal remedies such as Rescue Remedy or Scullcap and Valerian tablets through to sedatives from your vet. It depends on your dog's anxiety level as to how much of what medication is effective – but be aware that some sedatives can practically “paralyse” your dogs' movements, whilst they're still fully aware of the scary noise happening, so if your dog is really frightened, seek professional advice, don't get get something off a bloke from the Internet!
6) Learn some Calming Techniques such at TTouch and Calming Signals from Turid Rugaas (http://en.turid-rugaas.no/calming-signals---the-art-of-survival.html) – it's surprising how effective a bit of yawning and lip licking can be.
7) Thunderstorms can be more unpredictable than fireworks, but you can still use coping mechanisms such as a “safe place”, turning up the volume and using Thundershirts or body wraps as well as TTouch and Calming Signals.
8) Find a good behaviourist and seek their advice if you're worried you can't do anything yourself. Sometimes all you need is someone to show you how to cope with a situation to give you the confidence to deal with it – and that's exactly what you'll be passing on to your dog.
Kennel stuff update
We’ve been busy lately having the floor replaced in the kennels - lovely porcelain tiles now, easier to clean !!! It’s also now at more of an angle to enable pee to run down into the drains and the dogs have new raised beds with easy clean mats (for them that don’t chew!)
New kennel beds being fitted - have a heater underneath and waterproof padded mattress to go on top.
Then we went mad and decided to get running water down to the kennels too. This involved much digging of trenches , fitting of water pipes, filling the trenches back in and general tidying up…luckily I knew of a man with a mini-digger.
So all the hard work’s been done now, just a bit of tidying to still do - mainly just rebuilding the drystone wall where the water supply’s gone into the kennels - and we no longer have to cart bottles of water up and down the hill every day. Big thank you to Danny Keegan Plant and Excavation Ltd for the sterling work and to Edward Johnson & Sons for fitting the new bucket sink in the kennels (and moving the electric socket which was right next to it!!!) and also for giving our staff/ visitor loo an overhaul after some kind person reversed their vehicle into the party wall, causing a big crack to appear! Hopefully we’ll now pass muster when inspected by ACDH.
We had an on-line auction to raise funds for this work and I’d like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone involved with it for enabling us to crack on with getting this done……….thank you so much chaps :)
Lurcher Link Brighouse Show Sunday 19th May
I hope we’re all looking forward to the LL Show next Sunday as Welhome Park in Brighouse - and praying for good weather after the last weeks !!!
See you there folks!
Wear a Hat dog walk on 30/3/19 at Shibden Park, Halifax
We’re having a little stroll in Shibden Park, Godley Ln, Halifax HX3 6XG on Saturday 30th March in order to raise some funds for Brain Tumour Research.
BUT… you have to wear a hat (doesn’t have to be a funy one, just a hat) and it would be good if your dog does too in order to attract attention and hopefully make others donate towards Brain Tumour Research.
It’ll be a child friendly walk, there’s a kiddies’ playground there, plus a cafe and loos so please make sure your dog is kept on a lead in public as there will be some people around who don’t like dogs and we need to be good ambassadors for Lurcher Link (so bring poo bags!!!)
I’m planning on meeting up around 12 noon in the area near the Lower Car Park ( also bring cash for parking metre - max £1.50) but I’m sure we’ll be pretty visible anywhere in the park if you’re late and want to catch up. There’s no agenda, just a walk around wearing hats…..please come along and support us - and raise some funds from your friends / family / coworkers if you can get them to sponsor you to do it.
See you there
