Paws For Thought Magazine

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April 2017 Issue 01

FOR THOUGHT

Our visit to Leigh Cats and Dogs Home

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How to spot breeders, from the BAD If dogs could talk...

How to find your new best friend the right way

Dear Reader, At Paws for Thought, our mission is to ensure every dog has the life it deserves.

For dog lovers, everywhere we hope to bring you stories of joy as we find dogs who have found their forever home, whether it was their first home, or their third.

As we travel across the country hearing from dog owners, registered breeders and rescue shelters we hope to not only entertain you, but also educate you on the dangers of puppy farms, unlicensed breeders and puppy smuggling.

By encourage our readers to adopt from rescue shelters or buy from licensed breeders to ensure healthier and happy puppies, we hope to one day see all dogs in a happy, and loving home!

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In This Month’s Issue...

April 2017 3 Join Paws For Thought on their visit to a no-kill shelter and see what they had to say about adopting a dog.

9 A conversation

with Kennel Club registered labrador breeder, Claire Bridge.

12 Meet the dog who

travelled 1,511 miles to find his forever home.

14 It was third time lucky for Jess the rescue dog.

Tia, the Rescued Boxador

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ADOPT, DON’T SHOP!

As a nation of animal lovers we’re always looking for that new best friend to take home with us, but do we always do it the right way?

O

verbreeding of bitches and the establishment of puppy farms is an ever-growing problem both in the UK and abroad, however you can do your bit to help end this unnecessary cruelty.

With thousands of dogs overcrowding kennels across the country there are options on finding that special little pooch before turning to the internet and simply googling “puppies for sale”. Now not every dog on the internet has been bred from abuse but the trap is easy to fall in to.

Keep reading to find the best way to find your new four-legged friend and how to avoid the dangers of puppy farming.

At the non-profit organisation Leigh Cats

and Dogs Home they offer a temporary home for rescue dogs, and once they’re healthier and vaccinated, they become available for adoption. Joanne Eccles, who helps run the shelter, emphasises how they believe in a no- kill policy for all animals that come to them: “We never put a healthy dog down.” Their vision is that there is a suitable home for every dog and cat, a home where they will be loved and respected for all of their life. Being a dog owner herself, Joanne highlights that the benefits of rescuing a dog from a shelter, compared to puppy shopping, is that the dog is more than likely fully grown by the time of adoption; “You get to see the adult

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behaviour, size and temperament”. This is a huge factor to consider when adopting a dog as a common reason for dogs being abandoned or sent to shelter is that they get to big for

“YOU GET TO SEE THE ADULT BEHAVIOUR, SIZE AND TEMPERAMENT” their home environment and the owners could not cope.

Having worked with dogs the majority of her life Joanne speaks from experience and advises all her customers on how to best adopt their new four-legged friend. Firstly “check the amount of time they would be able to spend with the dog” so the dog does not become lonely if a person works long hours.

This is particularly important in younger dogs that need more attention: “If they are left alone for long periods of time they may get

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VISIT LEIGH GS ND DO CATS A AT HOME ANE, OAK L AD, GR AVE CS RO N A L T EAS LEIGH SE WN7 3

stressed and chew or bark for attention.”

This is not only good advice for the benefit of the dog, but it also protects your pillows form being their favourite toy. However, this doesn’t mean if you have time-consuming routine you can’t have a dog to come home to, older dogs usually do not mind resting hours alone. However, even with older dogs she advises to get a friend or a neighbour to let them out of the house for a short time, again meaning you’re not cleaning up puddles after a long day of work!

However, adopting a puppy is more time demanding with training, feeding and them simply needing more attention. Puppies are considered to be more desirable than fully grown dogs and have a “cute factor” that everybody wants but they do need someone to spend most of the day with them in the earlier days! When speaking to people adopting puppies from her establishment Joanna also explains “that unless they are prepared to spend some time, effort and expense they should not

take that dog”. This is a sad but very important fact which so many people do

“UNLESS THEY ARE PREPARED TO SPEND SOME TIME, EFFORT AND EXPENSE THEY SHOULD NOT TAKE THAT DOG” not take seriously when adopting puppies, sometimes meaning untrained and dogs that are considered too much effort get returned to shelters, or simply abandoned.

At Leigh Cat’s and Dogs home all the staff are passionate about animal welfare and they treat all their animals with respect, care and love. However, everybody sadly does not believe in that important cause.

People who home breed without the correct amount of knowledge, or those who run illegal puppy farms, risk illness

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and abuse for both bitches and puppies.

Home breeders can be a very suitable place to adopt from but not every home breeder is as safe. Some unlicensed breeders will sell puppies too young, with false vaccination records and illness without telling the new owners, possibly leading to some unforeseen vet bills. With pedigree dog breeds being in high demand it is important people know how to find one correctly. Joanne recommends avoiding unlicensed breeders as of the high risks that some pedigree breeds can have: “westies often have skin problems and shiatsus and pugs can develop breathing problems due to flat noses.”

She also highlights pedigree dogs are known for being interbreed that can cause

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severe health problems later in their life: “Unless people know what to look for in a pedigree they would not know until the dog reaches certain age what problems have arisen”.

Joanne Eccles is passionate about her job and explains how Leigh Cats and Dogs Home hope to ensure the best outcome for everyone animal and one of their many values as an establishment is that each animal is given every care and attention necessary to suit its needs. It is clear to see the staff who work with these animals 365 days a year love their job. For more information or to see some of the dogs waiting for new owners visit www. leighdogsandcatshome.co.uk or visit them in store to see their other facilities.

Puppy Loving

Our visit to professional breeder Claire Bridge, and her advice on spotting the good breeders from the bad

Buying a puppy is easy. Buying a puppy the right way to potentially prevent unwanted vet bills needs a little bit more research. The Kennel Club is responsible for doing checks on licensed breeders and making sure the correct safety precautions for both mum and pups are being done. We met with licensed breeder Claire Bridge and her new most recent litter of retrievers, more commonly known as black labs.

With nine three-week-old puppies to look after Claire explains how documentation is key to ensuring healthier, happy puppies! After being registered as a licensed breeder for six years now, Claire has now bred three successful litters, even keeping two puppies, Nelly and Poppy, to become her own family pets! After meeting Poppy’s first litter Claire shows us how she she weighs each of the puppies every other

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day and keeps track of who’s who by using different coloured collars. This way she can “check they’re all growing at a healthy rate”. Unlike some unlicensed breeders, Claire has already arranged to get each puppy professionally vaccinated at eight

“Dogs are pets first” weeks old before being sold to their new homes.

A warming part to Claire’s story is that she emphasis how her “dogs are pets first” and not simply an economic gain. She first started breeding when her and her partner decided to breed their pet dog Jen six years ago and they have continued ever since: “We breed when it’s the best time for us, when the puppies are born all our attention goes to them.” The puppies

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are kept in their own little room, and will also stay in here till they are four weeks old when they can be introduced to Claire’s other dogs.

When being registered with Kennel Club the bitch gets registered with a name allowing potential buys of that litter to know it’s a pure breed. If a breeder has a Kennel Club certificate it also proves that they have agreed to accept the jurisdiction of the Kennel Club and undertake to abide by its General Code of Ethics, basically meaning the puppies are bred safely and to a professional standard.

This is much safer for potential buyers as they know they are getting healthy puppies. When meeting with Claire she showed me all her well-kept documents of all her bitches and litters with Poppy most recently getting the Kennel Club name “Waterygate Poppet”.

Raising them at home the puppies are “man handled” allowing them to become adaptable to different environments. This is important for Claire as she hopes that

“Giving them the best start in life will hopefully lead to the best life they can have”

“giving them the best start in life will hopefully lead to the best life they can have”. Buying puppies from breeders such as Claire means that you are almost guaranteed healthy puppies which isn’t always the case when you buy from unlicensed breeders. Unlicensed breeders can sometimes sell puppies with illnesses and aren’t actually pure bred. Claire recommends to “ask to see the mother” and also any Kennel Club certificates.

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If dogs could talk...

M O R F U O Y K N A H T A PItoPfi!nd his forever home...

ney r u o j g n o l One dog’s

M

y name is Pip. I am a border collie terrier cross and I was rescued by the shelter Los Infiernos Perrara in Spain almost five years ago after I was found on the streets as a puppy. I now live in Warrington with my mummy, Laura.

Laura is a very passionate animal rights activist who works in a dog groomers and she has given me the best forever home I could ever ask for. Mummy’s job isn’t very glamorous but she is a massive animal

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lover so just being around them all day gives her the best feeling, she couldn’t ask for a better job.

After being in Los Infernos for almost four years my rescuers decided it was time for a fresh start else where and sent me to W.A.W, Warrington Animal Welfare centre in England. After just one week in this shelter Laura and her partner took me home and I finally got a family. I am

a loyal and loving dog and my new family love me just as much as I love them. By rescuing me from a shelter mummy loved that she was’t helping to fund puppy farmers and breeders, she tries to encourage people everyday not to think about themselves, but the animal they are buying; if everyone adopted instead of shopped, lives would be saved.

Laura has given me the best home I could have imagined, and I have come a very long way to find it! I thank her for it everyday by being the loyal and loving best friend she deserves! My only hope is now that other dogs like me get rescued and rehomed. I think an important thing to remember when you’re interested in buying a dog is to think of the animal first and not yourself, as a huge animal lover this is what Laura thought about when she found me!

This is where I live now, not to far from Warrington Animal Welfare Centre. I was only in the Centre for a week before Laura and her partner scooped me up and took me home but the staff took very good care of me making sure I was fit and healthy before put up for adoption.

My journey was long, and a little scary, but the volunteers taking me took good care of me giving me plently of food and water along the way!

This is where I started my journey in southern spain, rougly 1,511 miles from my new home! To find out more about my rescuers, who still save stray dogs every day, visit http://www. losinfiernosdogs.org/. You can even donate via this website and help them continue their work!

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THIRD TIME LUCKY K nocking on the front door of Carol and Jim’s home, I was greeted with a wagging tail and the curious eyes of their little rescue dog Jess. After a rough start at life, “Jessy 4 beds” as her owners call her, has now found a home that loves hers as much as she deserves.

In the photograph below she is relaxing after a morning in the sun in her “muddy bed”, one of her four new beds she can chose from in her new home. When Carol

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became aware of the amount of animals needing a new home, and the dangers of unlicensed puppy breeders, she chose to adopte a rescue dog instead of a new puppy. After previously owning a rescue dog they knew sometimes dogs could come with difficulties: “I love staffies but I know they can come with problems due to people using them for fighting and I knew I didn’t want a dog that would have aggression problems.” This is sadly the case with many

dogs who have had a traumatic background and because of this have serious problems getting rehomed. Luckily this was not the case for Jess.

When Carol first decided she wanted another dog she began researching and this is when she became aware of the cruelty of puppy farms: “I was positive I was going

“Don’t get too emotional”

to get a rescue dog and not a new puppy.” Understanding the difference between buying from licensed breeders and adding to the market of “backyard breeding” is where people make mistakes due to lack of awareness. New puppies are considered more desirable than older rescue dogs but knowing how to find them correctly is key to ending puppy farms. However if someone is wanting to adopt a rescue dog Carol recommends researching shelters and dogs first, but also not “to get too emotional”. There are so many heart breaking stories it becomes easy just to take the first dog you see without properly thinking the situation through.

When Jess was one her owner sadly died and she got rehomed to a family with four young children, which according to Carol “affected her in quite a few ways”. When Jess was collected from the family after two years she

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had no belongings but a bowl and collar that was too big for her, suggesting the busy lifestyle of a family of six probably

“She had no belongings but a bowl and a collar” meant Jess became somewhat neglected.

She also didn’t like dog toys suggesting she “was told off for touching the children’s toys” making bonding with Jess when she first arrived slightly more difficult.

Despite Jess now being what would seem the perfect dog Carol warned that sometimes rescue dogs “can come with their own problems”. Similar to how puppies need to be trained, rescue dogs need time and patience to adapt to their new environments.

For Jess she took

“She rescued us right back” advantage of her new peaceful and relaxed home by sleeping most of the time!

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Despite this raising a red flag for Carol and Jim, after a quick trip to the vets this is just what is described as “shutting down” and apparently is a common thing for dogs that move from a noisy environment. Luckily this was one of Jess’s few problems. After living with her new owners for two years it’s clear to see Jess is happy, and she has certainly enriched the lives of Carol and Jim: “As much as we rescued her, she rescued us right back.”

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