Boxer Rescue (UK)

Newsletter

November 2000

Boy, have we been busy this last few weeks, and there is no slackening in the demand for us to find homes for dogs, or in the numbers of prospective homes contacting Boxer Rescue (UK) via our redesigned Web site, or by telephone.  Our grateful thanks are extended to David Baggley of 'Boxer Babes' for his help and generosity in creating this new Web site for Boxer Rescue (UK).

The annual MOT test was done on our poor old van this week.  It passed, after a few repairs.  I've driven 30,000 miles since the last MOT - most of it for Boxer Rescue.  We certainly get around - from Aberdeen right down Hampshire, and all points in between.  We need to think about a new van in the not too distant future - perhaps Peugeot would donate us a brand new Peugeot 'Boxer' panel van - just the job!

Our SAM, the ice cream eating white dog known personally to all our new or prospective homes, has accompanied me on all the trips.  He is a great companion for me, and is more than filling the gap left by the sad death of ZACK, his predecessor.  SAM arrived on rescue as a 10 WEEK old cruelty case - the children who owned him had already killed a kitten.  When ZACK developed an aggressive form of cancer I needed a dog to work on Boxer Rescue doing home checks, and SAM was the only suitable dog for the role - so he stayed!  We have cuddled up together in the back of the van for a rest on many a long slog home up the motorway after a successful rehoming of one of our doggy friends, and he loves his job!  His one problem is he hates cats, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters - see them, eat them.  We've had cages on the floor and their occupants in a panic with Sam's attentions!

Boxer Rescue never runs smoothly.  We get calls at all hours - civilised ones or not - to take in a dog from a police station, off the streets, or from owners whose 'problem' dog needs to be found a new home - right now usually.  Sometimes we do our best for the old owner, find their dog a new home, only to be told when we are about to start moving that they cannot bear to part, which is understandable, but frustrating for us on rescue.

ABBY was such a dog recently.  She had been diagnosed as having 26 skin allergies, and her tearful owner, after haranging me at length on numerous occasions about where I could place ABBY, on her continuing treatment, etc., backed out when I had a home arranged.  Similarly, we have had two sets of two Boxers looking for homes in the last few months.  Two dogs are always more difficult to rehome together, but each time we actually had excellent homes willing to take the dogs, yet their owners refused to release their dogs at the last moment, costing us time and money in the process.  Oh well.

A small part of my Boxer Rescue work, and one which I would like to expand when I complete my BSc degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, is behavioural work with 'problem' animals - not just dogs - exotics, domestic animals, etc.  Most of the work is routine - inappropriate urination and defecation (posh terms for a lack of house training!), separation anxiety, possessiveness of toys or food - are the usual ones I deal with.  Aggressive or unpredictable dogs are becoming an increasing part of the work, though.

I was asked via a vet to see if a Boxer could be seen recently.  The owner already had a behaviourist 'on the job', but needed a Boxer 'specialist', ie. me - to help.  TILLY was only 12 months old, but from a pet breeder with a known reputation for producing Boxers with questionable temperaments - pups advertised in the paper with KC registrations and excellent pedigrees, but no paperwork ever appears, sold at what looks like a bargain price.  I call them the 'bargain basement' breeders, and the poor public are taken in by them, with disastrous results sometimes.  TILLY was sadly,one of those.  Very anxious and wary on first contact with me, she progressed to being relaxed and happy to be handled.  However, part of my assessment of any dog coming into rescue is to push them to the limit to test their temperament.  TILLY suddenly reached her limit, her whole manner changed and she went for my face.  I reacted quickly enough, but she sunk her teeth into my head, leaving four deep lacerations which poured with blood!  That afternoon I had a routine hospital appointment to go to - with blood all over my neck and shoulders, I looked a bit worse for wear - and felt it.  The inevitable result for TILLY however, was to be humanely destroyed on the instruction of her owners.  Never ask me what I think of breeders who produce the TILLY's of this world!

I get some very strange telephone calls from people enquiring about having a Boxer. A recent one went like this:
"Hello is that the Boxer Rescue? I'm enquiring on behalf of my daughter. Can you tell me what Boxers are like? Are they good with children? Are they vicious at all?"  I patiently ran through the usual explanation of our work and what Boxers are like.  This lady didn't appear to be listening to me, though, because her next question was:  "Are they tame?"

What does she think I am - a lion tamer or something?  Granted, it feels like it at times, and I have the bites, scratches and bruises to prove it!

We are waiting at the moment for a break in the weather to start preparing the mud patch in our garden for paving.  This will eventually become an exercise run, with a large shed for keeping dog food and equipment in. Fred, the owner of what must be the most acrobatic of our Boxers, BRANDY - she can do flick flacks! - doubles as our odd job man.  Fred's already done some soundproofing of the party wall in our house, and is also working on moving our kitchen and making a better dog room for our family (of dogs!).

Short of winning the lottery and buying our dream home and subsequent rescue centre, we are having to carry out a great deal of work on our existing home to accommodate all the dogs - our own, the permanents who stay because they can never be rehomed, and the transits, who are just 'passing through' whilst I find them a new home.  We have no kennels - all the dogs live in the house as family.  Life here at the 'Funny Farm' is never dull, but at least the dog are happy!

Rescue work is very stressful, and it isn't unusual for people like myself to suddenly decide on a whim to disappear off for a break. A few months back I went to Marrakech in Morocco - for a day!  I left home at 5am, SAM thinking we were off on rescue again, only to be left behind.  He retaliated by eating one of our last bits of decent furniture, I found out later.  It was sleeting with gales when I left home for Manchester Airport, the van rocking with the force of the wind.  The weather forecast on BBC Online was for 28°C and sunny, so I packed the Factor 15, but took a fleece top as a precaution.  What I should have taken was an umbrella!  Marrakech was cold and windy - more like 5°C!

I had been talking to a group of snake charmers in Medina Square about my pet hate - Manchester United - when the torrential rain started.  They pulled me into their tent to shelter - thank you Man U - and were very surprised at my willingness to handle their emaciated snakes - even the cobra.  Unfortunately, animal welfare is not important in Morocco.  Donkeys pull heavy carts laden with goods, their feet unshod, their backs lacerated with saddle and harness sores.  Horses pulling the carreshes (carriages) for tourists have sore mouths from badly fitting bits, and hobble burns on their legs.  They are also very wormy and thin.  Whips are used unmercifully to beat their charges into working.  I found in the souk a basket full of tortoises - right next to a stall making ornaments out of their shells - no need to work out their fate.