Gone to the Dogs - Canine Crèche

30/05/2025

Rocky, our newest foster, went on his first coffee date at Urban Grind Coffee. Thank you Raffy and Michelle Port for the chat and the lovely photos. Rocky did really well and greeted all the strangers with a wagging tail. If anybody is looking for a small Africanis with the sweetest nature, please contact Nina Veganley from Africanis Assistance Network. We also have Blossom, another sweet little Africanis. All are sterilised, vaccinated, and chipped and ready for their forever home.

24/05/2025

Marty (Martin) and now Rocky, is our newest foster. He arrived on Tuesday and has settled in so well! Nikita is quite enchanted with him, and he with her, to such an extent that he wanted to share her bed last night. She was fine with it at first but it became uncomfortable later and she was not sure how to kick him out, so I had to take him to his own bed.

10/05/2025

My household 🤣

09/05/2025

FOUR YEARS!

Gosh, I can't believe how blessed we've been to be able to provide all the doggies with the care they deserve for four years. The support we get from our clients - dogs returning and people being referred to us - provide us the ability to foster dogs to ensure they go on to lead quality lives where they are fed and warm and loved.

Thank you so much to our clients without whom we would not have been here today. YOUR loyalty is the backbone of our business, thank you!

11/04/2025

30/03/2025

Nikita is so ready for her new family! From a skeleton in July 2024 to a super velcro dog has been a long journey but one with so many rewards. Please contact Di Hingley or Nina Veganley to give her the forever home she deserves.

10/03/2025

A LETTER OF GRATITUDE TO MY DOGS

Thank you for being the wonderful dogs that you are and for being my support structure in the business. I'm blessed to have all of you in my life, even if none of you were planned, proving that we all happen to be in the right place at the right time for a reason. You were sent to me for a purpose and I'm so grateful that I am the one to give you a good life. You love me on the good days and the bad, irrespective, and for that I will forever be in awe of your perseptiveness and selfless support.

You welcome strange dogs into your space and never have an issue with any of them, even with those who sleep over in our bedroom and on our bed. You make space for those who need to sleep close to me so that they can settle down quicker in their new surroundings. You show no possessiveness or aggression to protect your space.

Thank you for accepting that I need to pay attention to the new visitors to show them that they are in a safe and welcoming environment. You never show any aggressive jealousy to keep them away because you know how hard it must be for some of them.

Thank you for welcoming the new dogs in such a way that they're not frightened by the newness of it all and helping them settle into our routine.

Thank you for sharing your dining space without showing possesiveness over food and allowing the visitors to eat without being harrassed.

Thank you also to the core group of visitors who welcome the new ones and make them feel at home. Most of you have been here almost from the beginning and have grown up before me, developing into the lovely beings that you are.

Thank you to the fosters who, in spite of the incredible challenges you had to endure, have made the effort to fit in and become part of the family, adopting good manners and blooming into dogs who can be homed without reservations.

Thank you for always being happy to see me, whether I was a few minutes or a few hours out of your sight; if only humans acted like that towards each other, it would be such a wonderful world. Your enthusiasm when greeting me overwhelms me every time and I'm grateful for the chaos even if I don't always show my gratitude to the same extent.

Thank you.

06/03/2025

Dog Walkers

Dog walking is growing in popularity, especially in view of so many jobless people - you don't need a certificate of competence, you don't have to show too much previous experience, and just about anybody can do it. Right?

Those of you who have your dog(s) walked by somebody other than you, do you know what happens when that person is out of sight? Whether it's a company or your domestic worker, do you check up on them occasionally by following them without their knowledge?

It's all good when they know you're watching, but are they treating your fluffies the same every time?
* Do they drag them by the leash not allowing them to have a wee or poo or sniff around? And do they pick up that poo when it does happen?
* HOW do they use the leash when walking - is it loose with the dog walking/trotting happily along or are they dragged along on a short leash?
* How long is the walk and is it in the heat of the day?
* Do they carry water and bowl for the dog(s)?
* Are they looking at their phone all the time not paying attention to their surroundings or the needs of the dogs?
* Can they spot people who are intent on doing your dog(s) harm?
* Do they know what to do if they are attacked?

When I am out and about, I notice dog walkers and the body language of the dog(s). I have yet to find a walker who I would trust with my dogs.

So please, if you do have somebody walking your dog(s), check on them occasionally to make sure all is well.

17/02/2025

It's taken me an hour or two thinking about the link below. We have many clients who have bought from breeders and even more who have adopted from various organisations.

While I understand the argument to purchase an animal from an *ethical* breeder, too many times *ethical* is a smoke screen for a situation as described in the article. And although the article is about a breeder in the UK (who showed her dogs at Cruft's, so how bad can she be?), it could just as well have been here in SA.

Please, if you are set on buying an animal from a breeder, insist on seeing the conditions in which the parents and other animals are kept.

Here is the synopsis of the article with a link to the actual piece in the newspaper.
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🔴 (Alleged) Animal Abuser at Large 🔴 | Alicia Jane Woods, 38, a commercial dachshund breeder from Ogbourne St George, Marlborough, Wiltshire.
On 2 February Dachshund Rescue UK - Finding Forever Homes were called to deal with an emergency situation at a cottage in the village of Ogbourne St George, near Marlborough.
Rescuers found dozens of dachshunds at what has been deemed by an eyewitness a "house of horror" where unwell dogs and puppies had been left in unimaginable squalor and without food and water.
In a Facebook post the rescue wrote that the operation was "unprecedented in the size of the numbers involved. This included dachshunds with injuries in need of immediate treatment, whelping puppies needing support, a number of pregnant bi***es, and there were other medical issues too numerous to mention."
The person responsible for the dogs' care, Alicia Woods - a commercial breeder who has shown dogs at Crufts - had been admitted to hospital days earlier. But the witness - a breeder himself - said the state of the home was the result of months of neglect rather than just a few days.
He said that much of the cottage's interior was covered in urine and compacted faeces, with other hoarded junk, mess and paperwork strewn around the home, along with a living room sofa shredded to pieces, and wet flooring from a flowing tap in the kitchen.
Around 35 dogs were running around freely, though some were tied together and others were pregnant.
There were no food or water bowls - the dogs were being fed dried food thrown onto bin lids which were covered in excrement.
He added that a box with three puppies from overseas that had been dropped off by a courier was left near the entrance, some dogs in the bedroom had eye issues, and there was an “overwhelming” smell of ammonia.
Along with the fully-grown dachshunds, there were six litters of puppies around the house, including one in a closed bedroom closet as well as others penned in the annex and living on tarpaulin with underweight mothers who also had eye issues.
The breeder said: “What I witnessed at that property, I have never experienced before and never want to experience again – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the heat, the squalor, and vile conditions, it was overwhelming.
“After some time, we managed to locate and extract our dogs though due to the conditions, the sheer number and poor visibility inside the ruined property, they were not easy to catch to identify.
“Other breeders came, then the authorities along with animal welfare and finally the dogs were all freed."
All of the dogs are safe and receiving care, but, astonishingly, it seems that Alicia Woods is not to face prosecution.
A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said that no crimes have been recorded and the case is being closed with no formal action taken.
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https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/24927622.70-dachshunds-abandoned-without-food-water-ogbourne-st-george/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIfkDdleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHdO-8KDDv3gWmeyCnTfekydvt5-wDcy0ndGU-X7rqpl7vF0ZQyms_VZQRg_aem_9WDjTj-14bWQ1PtRjdiBjw

A Wiltshire dog breeder left dozens of pets without food or water in a house of horrors full of faeces and urine.