I am so excited. Today I learnt that I can sponser a dog at one of our local shelters. My sister said that she would also like to sponser a dog too. You get a photo of 'your' dog and can take him for walks and on outings.

I can't wait to do this. I would dearly love a dog, but as we have 2 elderly cats that are a little nervous, a dog will have to wait until their demise. One is 18 and the other is 17. We have very long lived cats and most live until their 20s. I don't want them to depart this world just for me to get a dog, but I can't wait to sponser one.

Whoopee do, whoopee dee, a doggie for me.


joss

That's wonderful news that you're going to be a sponsor!  You should post a picture of the little guy (or girl) when you go to visit.  I love dogs too, but also have two cats and I'm not sure what they would do if I brought a dog into the house!  That's wise of you to consider them - especially since they're 17 and 18!  That's great!  Do you feed them anything special?  Are t hey allowed outdoors?  I hope my cats live that long!  They are so special - each with their own little personalities! 

-Mallory

Ah thats a great idea joss! Goodluck with the new friend :D

Wow, that sounds like a fantastic scheme. Do you know whether you get to choose your new friend Joss?

I used to volunteer cleaning kennels in my local RSPCA and it was easy to build special connections with some of the dogs. I used to take puppies home some afternoons and gosh they would wear me out so much (perhaps like children) that I would be glad to give them back at the end of the day. It was so much fun though and I'm sure that if that shelter had had a sponsoring program heaps of other people would have been into it too.

Its unbelievably good for the dogs to have outings as it is hard to excersize dogs in the shelters because you often can only have a few out in a yard at a time (coz they will scrap with each other). So if it was like the shelter I was helping at then the dogs had to stay inside their metal/concrete cages for the most part of the day
 
Anyways, good on you Joss.

smiles,
Perilla.

Ain't that the truth! My girl is a bullmastiff/staffy X. The staffy-x cross-breeds can be extremely challenging. The trainer who came to help me with Daisy when she came home from the RSPCA took one look at her and said 'that is about the worst breed combination you can get' (in terms of dominance/obstinance/difficulty to train etc). A lot of people get these dogs for their looks and then find them so difficult to handle that they give up. They require a true commitment to firm, loving and persistent training. Then their genuinely good qualities such as undying loyalty and amazing affection come to the fore, and you have a truly wonderful dog who is also great with children. These dogs however have a tendency to not be good with other dogs which is another problem that leads them to end up in pounds.

The staffy x is also a favourite of backyard breeders and pig-dog operators. Many backyard breeders enthusiastically decide to breed these dogs and then can't sell them so give them up to the pound. Pig-dog breeders choose to cross breeds like the staffy & bullmastiff because of their strong hunting instincts and the way they pounce on the back of & go for the throat of prey. Many pig-dog breeders find themselves under the scrutiny of the RSPCA for animal welfare concerns, and the dogs end up getting siezed. Daisy was one of these. I often look at her while she enjoys a comfortable life with walks, games and cuddles, and think of the life she would have had if she was left with the pig-hunters.