Here is a lovely letter to Care for Dogs, giving us a good feeling and encouraging us to find homes for more homeless dogs and puppies.

Hi Karin, Sarah, Amandine and the rest of the carers,

Well, Ivory, India and Spotty have settled in and taken over their new home, although it took them a little time, perhaps two hours.

They are now in charge, but we are starting to train them, or are they starting to train us?

Within minutes of bringing them home, India managed to squeeze through the bars of our gate, something she could could not do now, notwithstanding we have had to cover our fence and gate with wire, to prevent Ivory from going walkabout. India has put on so much weight, she couldn’t get through the fence if she wanted to.

You warned us that Spotty, being the eldest, might want to exercise her authority and become leader of the pack and we thought that was happening. However, she is very gentle and when we saw her and India having a spat, we thought Spotty initiated the action, but not so. India is extremely possessive, particularly where our housekeeper Be is concerned and if Spotty happens to be in the wrong place, India will attack her. Spotty, however, weighs in at about 19 kg and quickly retaliates, but all things considered, the three are great friends.

Spotty needs attention all the time. Ivory is the real boss of our house and us. India and Spotty love her and we think India might be a bit jealous, because Ivory was her long-term friend.

They spend a lot of time upstairs in our bedroom when we are working or watching TV. They all like riding in the car, although Spotty was nervous at first, but has now settled down. If we happen to leave the car doors open for any reason, the three will pile in and it takes a lot to get them out again.

They had their first visit to the vet on Saturday 19 April. It was generally good news, but we have some concerns about Ivory. She might have Autoimmune Disease, affecting the face. We are monitoring her at the moment. We noticed that she had a dry nose, but for the past week she has been normal, so we are hoping that she is going to be okay. As discussed with Sarah, I am sending you something on autoimmune disease that I downloaded from the Internet. The pictures that the vet showed us of a dog with the disease, were not very pleasant. It showed watery eyes and nose, affecting the skin around the eyes, and generally on the face. We try to keep her out of the sun, as that can be adverse.

Ivory is otherwise very healthy, extremely active and on Monday 28 April she was sterilised and when we brought her home, she was a bit quiet for about 24 hours, but today she is back to her normal happy, and naughty, self. She has spent the last two nights, as have India and Spotty, sleeping in our bedroom, although Spotty took over her bed made with several soft baby quilts, that are also great to rip to pieces, so we found out. We placed them in a cage, so she could get away from the other two if she wanted to.

India and Spotty were diagnosed with Malasseza Infection in both ears, but that has pretty well been cleared up. Their ears were checked when Ivory went on for her sterilisation and there was little or no discharge.

We’ll look under the microscope again when we go back in tomorrow to have Ivory’s wound checked. We covered the dressing put on by the vet with a waterproof dressing, something we learned in Australia. It stops her licking the stitches and prevents infection. It also negated her having to wear one of those dreaded plastic collars.

They go for a walk most mornings and evenings, on a lead of course, but we had to buy chains, as Spotty takes a great delight in chewing through her lead and everyone else’s.

The 3 are very protective of us and our, or should I say their, home, Ivory of course is the loudest and most vocal.

India and Spotty are very jealous of other dogs. Often we eat at a little footpath cafe in Hang Dong Road and sometimes we take the three girls, as Elvrina calls them. Not dogs, not puppies, but three girls. The owners have a beautiful, gentle, very overweight bitch, who doesn’t like the three girls visiting her, nor do they like her very much, so when we take them down there, the owner has to lock up her dog.

Speaking of eating, they have chicken rice and vegetables for breakfast and raw chicken, including the bones, every night, although, as from tonight we are starting to vary their meals and will give them that only once or twice a week.

In Australia, feeding dogs cooked chicken bones, or for that matter any cooked bones, is a no-no, but our vets there recommended raw chicken, which gives them plenty of protein, calcium and keeps their teeth very clean. I know Sarah expressed concern about feeding them raw chicken bones, but the vet in Chiangmai also said it was okay and they have presented as being extremely healthy, thanks to the care you guys gave them and the care they now receive and demand.

Karin mentioned that you could recommend a good trainer and although they are responding well to our training, Spotty and Ivory have selective hearing and we could do with some help. Ivory is so bad when we sometimes called her, we thought that she might have been deaf, but not so. One night we called out to her through the closed window of our upstairs bedroom and she had no trouble hearing, hence the selective hearing.

Finally, they are a joy and spoilt rotten by Be and Elvrina and just a “little bit” by me. We have no regrets choosing them, but regret we could not take one or two others, such as Jess. Our hectic lives have changed, to even more hectic, but we wouldn’t swap them for anything.

I’m attaching a few pix

Regards,

Neil and Elvrina