A Postcard From Blade.....

"Hi, Thought I would drop you a message and tell you how I am doing. I have been diagnosed with a systemic yeast infection (SYI) and my mam's have finally got answers to my skin condition. You can read more about this here: http://www.alternativepets.com/allergies.html

Everyone keeps saying I look amazing now I have a full coat. Its been tough having this problem but everyone held out hope for a diagnosis and persevered with me and boy, I feel good now. I get fed lots of tasty meats.... I have duck, chicken wings, venison necks, rabbit, ox, oh! The list of yummy things is endless!! I'm not allowed any other foods as my body can't process starches or carbohydrates. I am on some special medication but the lady at the vets is happy for me to be weaned off them soon.

I have started this thing called agility. Its supposed to work my mind and get me to focus on my mam (she squeals alot when I do it so I think I'm doing ok). They keep saying they are proud of me.
 I go out on a long line thingy which lets me go further than normal. It's great! They call me back and give me yummy treats. I'm doing good at too.

So all in all, I'm turning out to be a very good boy. I just needed some extra TLC and understanding to enable me to enjoy my life.
See you soon!
Blade"

Alnwick Sainsbury's Charity Of The Year. SHAK Needs YOU.....

We are very proud to of been nominated as one of the contestants of Alnwick Sainsbury's Charity of the Year. After presentations last week I am delighted to announce we have gotten through to the final and are one  of 3 charities up for the prestige opportunity to be Sainsbury's Alnwick store charity of the Year.

This though is as far as we can take it, and its now that we need your help. Please vote for SHAK next time your in the Alnwick store, or click on the link below, select Alnwick as the store (by entering the post code NE66 2JH if you don't live locally) and then pick us! Simple.....

https://www.sainsburyslocalcharity.co.uk/

Thank you in advance for your wonderful support, winning this really will help us save even more 'Dogs On Death Row'

A Truly Inspirational Boy.....

And another very special boy that we're all very proud of is Buddy.  I really need to pull the video together so you can appreciate his story fully, but having recovered from spinal surgery after being found emaciated and disabled seeing him in such beautiful photos as these really are truly amazing. 

Thanks again to Melissa and David not only for the photographs but for giving this incredible little man such a fantastic new life. 

Chico And Rocco Having Fun.....

Two boys who are coming along really well and have both had big stories in real life and on here are Chico and Rocco.

You can search their stories on here in the search bar at the top left of this page,  but all I ask of you when you look at them below is to remember that both  Chico (black and white) and Rocco had appointments made with a vets needle.....

Thanks to Melissa and David for the pictures.

Time Never Forgets.....

They say time is a great healer, but one thing is for sure, it never forgets. It's 5 years today since a big old boy died in my arms. I can still feel his last breath and whilst it was over in seconds it has lived with me for the last 5 years..... And will Big Z will live with me forever.....

5 Years ago.....

SHAK lost one of it's old gents this morning as I arrived at The Rescue Place this morning to find Zac collapsed in his kennel. I tried to get him up, and had to carry him to my jeep to take him to the vets, but he passed away in my arms.

We are not sure the cause, possibly a mass in his stomach or even a twisted stomach, and it was decided that the money it would cost for an autopsy would be put towards saving more lives. Nothing is going to bring Zac back.

Zac arrived with us because nobody else would take him. Despite being a handsome old boy, he wasn't Rotti enough or German Shepherd enough for a breed rescue to take him. I was called 2 hours before the pound he was in were going to take him to the vets to be destroyed. Thanks to Peter (you know who you are) he travelled north to us instead.

Zac had the deepest bark you have ever heard. He was a real old fashioned crossbreed in my eyes. Big, black and tan and just loved the simple things in life. Seeing him half heartily running up the fence barking at another old timer, his kennel neighbour Smokey, is something that will always bring a smile to my face. He was young at heart, just his body didn't quite have the same spirit.

Run free at the bridge Zac, I'm sure you'll be cocking your leg on everything you can. I will miss you, as will all of SHAK, but I know Smokey will miss his sparing partner.

Pugs: going down the tubes

This pointed 'joke' is lifted from a Facebook page called Emergency Vet Tech Memes. 

For those that don't know what they're seeing - this is an endotracheal tube, used during surgery to keep the airways open and deliver oxygen (and anaesthetic) to the patient.

Normally, ET tubes are whipped out once the patient comes round enough for the swallow reflex to restart - and not least because they're uncomfortable.

But this little dog clamped down on the tube, preventing the vet techs from moving it, so they left it in for a while longer. As you can see, he looks chilled. That's because the tube ensures the dog's airways are open. In brachycephalic breeds, coming round from an anaesthetic with an ET tube still in place can mean the first truly clear and unhindered breath of their waking lives.

Just as sad and telling are some of the comments from other vet techs in response to the pic.

� "Hahahaha!! I know that's right! Never fails! Best SPO2 of their life!"

� "Bahahaha true, yet terrifying when you de-tube lol"

Don't be put off - this is black humour; a way of coping when a fair proportion of your working life is spent trying to fix problems inflicted on dogs by people who think defect and deformity is attractive.

Many vets will tell you similar stories of happy-looking Bulldogs and other brachcephalic breeds running round with the ET tube still in place post surgery.

As vets Martin Kennedy and Lesley Smith write here: "Breathing through the endotracheal tube often provides less resistance to air flow than a brachycephalic dog�s upper airway, thus the work of breathing is reduced by the endotracheal tube."

In this very sad piece, UK vet Nick Marsh describes doing a C-section on a Bulldog called Heidi assisted by veterinary nurse, Sam.

I look sadly down at [Heidi]. Her whole life is a struggle with her own body � whenever she tries to walk, or eat, or defecate, or breathe, she has to wrestle against her own bizarre anatomy.

Placing an endotracheal tube is difficult too � Heidi�s soft palate is too long for her mouth, and it takes some searching before I manage to locate her epiglottis � but the moment the tube is in place, Heidi�s tongue loses its alarming bluish tinge and turns a reassuring pink. 

�Probably the best lungful she�s had for a while,� says Sam.

In truth, I've run out of novel ways to say we shouldn't be breeding dogs that live their whole lives starved of oxygen.

But I don't mind repeating myself.

Shar Pei: tacky, tacky, tacky

This is a Shar Pei pup being sold online currently in the UK - one from a litter priced at �700 - �1800 depending on colour. All KC registered.

Now I know some will hyperventilate about the non-standard colours. But for me the main issue is that these dogs have needed surgery before they're eight weeks old - what's known as "eye tacking". It's a procedure to prevent the eyelids rolling in and ulcerating the dogs' eyes and it's necessary when you're breeding very wrinkled dogs to meet a market oblivious to the suffering this causes.

In this case, the breeder of these KC-registered pups boasts that the puppies' eyes have been tacked by Shar Pei expert, vet Iain Fraser (of Rufford Vets in Southport).

I realise this is a tough one for vets. If they refuse to tack, the pups could end up going blind - and their first priority must be to alleviate the suffering in front of their own eyes.

But of course,  in doing so, they help perpetuate the problem - and also implicitly endorse the breeding of dogs this dreadful  As you can see, Iain Fraser's name is used as kudos in this ad. 

I don't know what the answer is here. But I know that that people should not be breeding dogs that looks like this. I also know that while vets agree to treat them without at least recommending that the dam is spayed, and while the KC continues to register them, the suffering will continue.