April already – my goodness! Where has the time gone! It’s moving so fast we didn’t even get a February newsletter out! (I know how you all noticed and missed it!)
It’s difficult to remember all that has gone on these last couple of months but it has been busy. Dog numbers are up to 968 now.
Obituary
As some of you already know we lost a valuable member of our GSD family recently. After a valiant battle with cancer Ian Bellringer lost his fight. Since Ian and wife Marlene adopted their own lovely girl Hazel, Ian participated in many aspects of GSD rescue doing home checks, follow ups and assessments. His contributions were recognised by 12 GSDs providing a guard of honour at his funeral. Thank you Ian for all that you did for rescue; I know Marlene is still very proud of you as we all were.
Dog Registration Fees
Submissions against the proposed hike in dog registration fees officially closed March 24. There has been huge activity and rallying against this ridiculous proposal and I’ve since heard whispers that the ‘super’ council is having to rethink their proposal! GSD rescue delivered 450 submissions to council regarding dog registration increases! Well done everyone who helped grabbing those signatures and submissions.
GSD Rescue Website
The next time you visit our website you will see some changes it’s being given a major overall in design and content update - yes the content update is way over due. Our Facebook page is being linked via our website too. Thanks again to Danny for all the work he does with our website. Facebook might be the modern social communication tool but our website is still extremely valuable to us. Check out the faces of rescue! If your dog is not in there let Denise know BUT for goodness sake don’t floor her with Emails saying “yes my dog is there’. I think she knows because she’d loading all the photos. The website is not complete and is a work in progress so keep checking back to see what’s happening next.
Dogs in Foster Care.
Even though there are no dogs on the website currently we do have 5 dogs in fostercare recovering from desexing surgery. They will soon be ready to go on the homes needed page. As a heads up we have:
• In Auckland - a 14 month old standard coat black/tan male – he’s all feet so would be best with older children
• a 12 month old semi long coat black female who, seems unbothered by two house cats,
• a 6 1/2 year old standard coat black/tan male
• Gisborne - a 6-7 month old female - recent intake, exceptionally skinny and very frightened. Will take some time to build up and feel secure
• Waikato - 18 month old long coat female who is gaining weight slowly
Pet Magazine
Some of you will have been subscribers to this wonderful magazine for many years - I have every single issues since it was first published. It’s sad to learn that after 15 years Pet Mag will be no longer. They say they’re taking a break! But the good news is that the last issue featured an article on GSD Rescue. It’s a pretty good article (even if I do say so myself!) and features some lovely photos of some of our rescue family.
Weather – rain and cold
Wouldn’t you know it, we’ve had a crappy summer but it hasn’t been that wet. We’ve waited 20 years to get new carpet in our house; it’s down 2 weeks and the rain starts – typical. The girls are getting tired of me wiping their bellies dry all the time!
My little Shelby is 13.5 years old now and I can see her little legs straining sometimes to keep her upright. I know this winter is going to be tough on her and those of you who have senior dogs or dogs with joint issues should seriously consider how you might best meet their needs in winter and how to keep them comfortable as their aches and pains increase with the cold and rain.
Do you have a coat for you dog – for the rain and/or cold?? Seriously it’s the best investment I ever made. They don’t have to be poncy, fru-fru things – a basic, plain coat to keep put the elements is all you need.
Consider their bedding – if you’ve been for a walk on wet roads but not necessarily in the rain, their bellies can get quite wet with the water flicking off their feet. Dry them off before they get on their beds! You don’t want them sleeping on damp bedding.
Consider adding supplements to their diets to support them through the colder months. Canine flax seed oil has done wonders for a lot of the rescue dogs.
And don’t use the bad weather as an excuse for not taking your best friend out for a walk. Most of us go off to work every day so we see other people, talk about different things and generally change our environments. Your dog will sit at home all day just waiting for you to come home and go for a walk with him or her – don’t disappoint your best friend!
Don’t forget the Animates (Glenfield) Fund Raiser this week (the first Saturday of every month). It would be great to see some new faces and furry bums there!
Take care and be kind to one another
Colleen Johnson
On behalf of the Trustees
She is very dominant over other animals. So she only has a few friends that can handle the roughness/dominance. But hey we cater for that. Her new favourite place is the beach here in New Plymouth and she has never missed a shift at the Rescue Helicopter hangar! Yell out if you need anything done for the GSD Trust here in Taranaki I am more than willing to help out. Jay.
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