Life of Pikelet, Kyneton (2025)

01/09/2025

Last night I went through the 70,000+ photos and videos on my phone. I was stressing about how to get some momentum in rallying the troops (you guys) into helping us complete our Go Fund Me.

My stress levels are beyond explainable, financial stress is one of the worst, I’m sure just about everyone reading this can 100% relate.

I’m stressed for myself, but I’m stressed for this rescue.

For 5 years running, we have had a decreased volunteer rate, decreased adoptions, decreased social media engagement and decreased donations and funding.

My many attempts to close the rescue have been foiled by urgent neonates and multiple pregnant mamas with litters, having no one but Life of Pikelet to turn to.

We have 5 dogs in care that have all been in care for almost 2 years. Not a single adoption enquiry for the 4 remaining Wolfhound x boys nor for Parmigiana (our spina bifida bulldog babe).

Today I was hopeful, but guarded. I never know when a call out for help with funds is going to go gangbusters or fall on silent and burnout ears.

I am grateful that while it wasn’t a huge amount, we did receive $171.88 in bank and PayPal donations combined. Nothing on our Go Fund Me since prior to my post.

I know your feed must be flooded with requests for support and donations, mine is. I personally rarely follow an animal account on social that isn’t rescue based or advocating rescue. And I don’t know any out there right now that doesn’t need funding and support.

So what can a girl do? I’m just going to keep chipping away this week with little reminders and requests throughout each day.

Today, it’s all about memories. I’m not sure I ever posted this video of Pikelet and his last Christmas dinner back in 2023.

I didn’t film this for social, it’s noisy, chaotic, unscripted and just real life. All my pups including fosters, got Christmas dinner, they always do.

And here we are, the bit where I ask you for a donation, big, medium or small, I’m grateful for it all ❤️‍🩹

GO FUND ME https://www.gofundme.com/f/12-in-memory-of-pikelets-12th-gotcha-day-adoptaversary

PayPal is [email protected]

Bank transfer
CommBank
Acc Name “Calley Gibson”
Reference “Pikelet’s Legacy”
BSB 063-097
Acc No 8334 0591

30/08/2025

Okay, so here is another quick tube feeding video!

This is not a “how to” tutorial, I do try to explain something, but as this is a sped up condensed 3minute video of the process, it’s impossible to go into depth.

Tube feeding neonate puppies is a skill. It’s not something that I would consider easy as a first timer. Though there are many rescuers, vets/vet nurses and breeders right around Australia that can tube feed (and do), there are really only 5 registered and experienced rescue organizations in Australia that specialize in neonatal care of puppies born with congenital defects, illness or injury.

This rescue, Life of Pikelet, is one of the 5 in the whole of the country.

Being the founder/director of the rescue, means that I am the primary neonate carer. With a full ICU neonate nursery set up in my home.

Puppies as young as hours old, come into my care all year round.

Tube feeding is a technique where we feed the puppy via a tube that goes straight into their belly. These tubes are designed for this, so they do not hurt or damage the puppy.

This baby chihuahua girl was surrendered into rescue care at 3 days old, she was failing to thrive and not wanting to or able to, drink off her mum.

Now at two weeks old (today), she is thriving. And although she does not have a birth defect that we are aware of, she is being tube fed because feeding via a bottle, syringe, miracle ni**le or any other way, is causing her to regurgitate. This is dangerous as she may aspirate and die.

Tube feeding in this case, is the safest option and has not been a problem for her.

My last video on tube feeding had a lot of people on TikTok confused, people almost telling me that it was “animal cruelty” to tube feed a full cleft palate pup… it’s wild that people don’t read captions.

So this time I’ve tried to narrate as I go and explain bits of the process.

Please enjoy baby girl being fed her lunch, earlier today 🍼💘

29/08/2025

No this isn’t a still frame from a Disney movie, it’s the real life setting here at the Life of Pikelet Rescue Orphanage 💘✨

Teeny 2 week old (tomorrow) chihuahua girl “PERFECT POCKETS” is fighting to thrive!

It’s been a bit of a downhill spiral for fundraising for our rescue ever since Covid hit back in 2020.

We are a rescue that still insists on rescuing the difficult and significant cases, but our ability to fundraise, just like the rest of the rescue community, has drastically changed.

In fact we are now bringing in donations at 94% less than we did in 2019…. And that’s about the same time that we started taking in harder and more medically compromised cases with larger vet bills.

So this Friday morning we have a little fundraiser challenge for you.

I’m going to try and explain it the best I can, but bare with me as I’ve been on round the clock 2 hourly feeds for over a week and I haven’t had much sleep at all.

Here goes:

You know when you look at your bank account, and you have an odd amount, say like $347.83?

Our Pikelet’s legacy challenge today is to take that small odd amount of “$7.83” and donate it to our little special needs rescue.

Any amount, it all makes a difference. Think of it as your bank accounts “loose change”.

Thoughts? Does that make sense? This way you may not even notice the amount gone and we could hopefully fundraise some much much needed funds.

So! If you’d like to support us and our little house mouse here, please donate via the following ❤️‍🩹🙏🏼

GO FUN ME https://www.gofundme.com/f/12-in-memory-of-pikelets-12th-gotcha-day-adoptaversary

PayPal is [email protected]

Bank Deposit/Transfer is

CommBank
Acc Name “Calley Gibson”
Reference “Pikelet’s Legacy”
BSB 063-097
Acc No 8334 0591

25/08/2025

Well it’s true! We raised enough to cover TWO big boi operations and then some.

This Friday these two staffy nugs are going in together to have their boy berries banished.

Mr PizzaPie has an adoption pending (foster fail) and Mr Pampoenkoekies will be on the look out for a forever home of his own.

We are over halfway to our funding goal, we had so many generous donations last week but that was super generous that we’d like to thank the donor personally… only we don’t have their contact details.

So if the lovely Katharine S Cahill is reading this… THANK YOU 🙌🏼

But also, all the donations, big, medium and small, they all make a difference and help us immensely. So to ALL our donors and supporters THANK YOU 🙌🏼

The wheels of rescue keep turning and each day that goes by we end up with something else that we need to fund or pay off.

We have 39% of our funding goal on Go Fund Me to raise.

If you would like to help this special needs rescue, please consider donating or sharing 🤍

WAYS TO DONATE TO LoP RESCUE

Go Fund Me - https://www.gofundme.com/f/12-in-memory-of-pikelets-12th-gotcha-day-adoptaversary

PayPal is [email protected]

Bank Deposit/Transfer is

CommBank
Acc Name “Calley Gibson”
Reference “Pikelet’s Legacy”
BSB 063-097
Acc No 8334 0591

Once more with feeling…. THANK YOU! Your support and donations over the years have kept this little underdog rescue going. Even during this dark financial time, your generosity keeps us keeping on. For that, we are eternally grateful 🙏🏼❤️‍🩹

19/08/2025

Can you say:

PAMPOENKOEKIES?

I mean, neither could I at first but I’ve had to learn fast because that is the name of the newest LoP foster kid!

Pampoenkoekies is a delicious pumpkin fritter dish from South Africa and also a delicious 4 month old American Staffy boyo who has found himself at Life of Pikelet HQ.

For anyone wondering, this is the best way to say his name “Pump-poon-cookies”

Snuggling up next to him is PizzaPie who we saved a few months ago from a NSW country pound.

For anyone wondering, this is the best way to say his name “Pizza-pie” 😜

This sweet pup Pampoenkoekies, was being given away for FREE on Gumtree. I was alerted to the ad by a number of concerned people and within 16 hours, he was sitting in my living-room.

So far this pup has shown he has a gentle soul, snuggles are top tier staffy quality and wants nothing more than to be someone’s little baby cutie pie.

Now, here’s the deal, I took this kid in despite the fact we have serval dogs who have been in foster care for almost 2 years without any applications. We have bills so large, debt piling up and no respite in site.

If we can find 272 people to donate $12 for Pampoenkoekies and $12 for PizzaPie who are both posing here with their best puppy-dawg-eyes, then we would meet the rest of goal of $6000 in “Pikelet’s legacy” fund. Both boys would then have their vet needs covered and we can pay off some other bills. Deal?

That’s a $24 donation 🙏🏼❤️‍🩹

DONATE HERE https://www.gofundme.com/f/12-in-memory-of-pikelets-12th-gotcha-day-adoptaversary

BUT if you find PayPal or bank deposit easier here are the deets:

PayPal [email protected]

CommBank
Acc Name “Calley Gibson”
Reference “Pikelet’s Legacy”
BSB 063-097
Acc No 8334 0591

We have both Mr Pampoenkoekies and Mr PizzaPie booked in for their big boy appointments next week, together. ✂️🥜

PizzaPie has an adoption pending but Pampoenkoekies will be adoptable super soon!

11/08/2025

Barely a difference between 1st puppy vaccinations & 2nd puppy vaccinations…. Right?!? 🫠

A HUGE thank you to the amazing team at VetCare Woodlea who know how to put our orphanage baby dogs at ease when the needles come out.

First vax and health check were perfect!

And while the twins have gone off to adoption already, second vax and health check were also perfect!

08/08/2025

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Two favors I need to ask…

1) can you please watch puppy Rhino (Pecorino) while I use the bathroom (I’m a quick pee-er).

2) we are S T R U G G L I N G for donations.
Yesterday’s call out yielded just under $400 and all up our current outstanding food bill is back up to $4000!

Please help us once again! We keep getting so close to getting on top of things and then the universe throws another curveball our way.

We have MRIs to fund, a handful of desexing surgeries and vaccinations in the immediate future booked, hounds that need kibble, our paddock rescue babes need vet care and attention to their hooves and our little ICU nursery REALLY needs an upgrade so we can continue our work.

So yes, MANY thanks to everyone who donates and donates again and again, we are SO grateful 🙌🏼

$18,000 is out combined goal, so with yesterday’s donations (1 x bank transfer donation, 2 x PayPal donations, 4 x Go Fund Me donations) we are still urgently needing $17,600 😱

GO FUND ME 1 https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-chihuahua-golden-bulldog-bull-arab-walk-into-a-rescue

GO FUND ME 2 https://www.gofundme.com/f/12-in-memory-of-pikelets-12th-gotcha-day-adoptaversary

If you can’t donate via GO FUND ME, here are two faster ways to help us with funds.

PayPal is [email protected]

Bank Deposit/Transfer is

CommBank
Acc Name “Calley Gibson”
Reference “Pikelet’s Legacy”
BSB 063-097
Acc No 8334 0591

06/08/2025

So sometimes I have adoptable puppies that don’t make it to adoption profiles… and I know this can sometimes upset supporters of this rescue because they feel like they weren’t given the opportunity to adopt from us. I get it.

Pepperberry and Parsnip, our identical twin cleft lip English Staffordshire Terriers have been

If I’d held them back, put their profiles up and waited till more people could apply to adopt, I would have picked these same forever homes anyway, only they’d have had to wait a few extra weeks for the process to unfold.

Pepperberry has gone off to live her forever life with LoP Rescue alumni Porkbunns. Their mama Jules is a very longtime supporter and volunteer for the rescue. The dedication of Jules to LoP, has shown us that every year for many years now, she drives from South Australia to Victoria and stays at HQ, sometimes multiple times a year. Each 9 hour drive, Jules brings with her a car packed to the brim with donations that she’s collected all year round. And then Jules spends her stay outdoors sorting out our big shed, fixing fences, gardening, removing dangerous branches and all kinds of things to help HQ.

Parsnip has gone off to live his forever life with Lisa and her Husband Tim. Both of whom have volunteered for the rescue, but Lisa has been consistently volunteering on a regular basis for many years. Often doing the worst jobs of cleaning p**p off bedding before they are washed, cleaning out p**ped kennels and helping with every move. On top of this Lisa took Pikelet in for a vaycay when he was first going through testing at PenVet down in the Mornington Peninsula. She also took him to chemo a few times.

These two adoptive families would have been our choice regardless of other apps. I hope you can understand why?

I’m a person who values loyalty at its highest. I’m incredibly fortunate to have many people support this rescue and in turn, me, so very loyalty. Real rescue dog people ❤️

Once you adopt a LoP pup, you are forever front of the line should you want another, and another… it’s just how we do things. Sounds a bit cringe, but LoP is a family rescue. Every animal I’ve ever fostered, rescued & rehomed, I consider family for life. I try really hard to select adoptive owners who will stay in touch with our rescue for life.

Life of Pikelet

01/09/2025

30/08/2025

29/08/2025

25/08/2025

19/08/2025

11/08/2025

08/08/2025

06/08/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share