Woodrock- a home away from home where lifelong friends meet

Long term boarding can be an immensely straining time. Responsible animal owners often see benefit from removing their loved animal from traumatic moves and or stressful life situations. Woodrock whole heartedly support this and we at any point in time have one or two long term boarders amongst our ranks.

Maaitjie is one such dog, a charismatic yet misunderstood Jack Russel. In his normal environment Maaitjie is a solo dog in his home and is doted on by his family- although Woodrock is a home away from home when he arrived he was shocked and took a long time to acclimate to his surroundings showing aggression and aloofness as a result. 

Woodrock's team knew they had to act quickly in his acclimation process and so he was paired with another slightly misunderstood dog called Jamie! Two boys, same breed and similar temperaments was a risk but after a supervised introduction these two just clicked and hit it off! For the extended period we looked after Maaitjie- him and Jamie were inseparable. The bond formed was so strong that the one would no longer go on out walks without the other even when Maaitjie's owner came for a visit.

Fast forward 6 months and what started with the arrival of a loner independent alpha dog has concluded with Maaitjie and his new friend Jamie going home TOGETHER to their new stable environment. 

Boarding with Woodrock Kennels is supporting change you can see. The equal love care and devotion to every dog within our care from boarder to rescue often has surprising results. 

So to Maaitjie's very special family- thank you for not giving up on your baby even when life was tough and thank you for opening your home and opting to adopt!

Do you remember me?!

As most of you know my boyfriend Sean aka Lavender's daddy returned from overseas. 

The whole Meldau clan was really as to whether the munchkin would remember her daddy after a year... This is what Sean had to say....

Today a story from someone different. 

You have probably heard a lot from Lavender's mom, but I am her Dad and I have been in the UK for the past year. I arrived back this time last week with fear and trepidation that my child would have forgotten me. I climbed up to my room ladened with bags and gingerly opened the door. I was greeted by the the little monkey face of my puppy who stared at me with a blank glaze to her eyes. Then I saw recognition blaze across her visage and the flood of joy and excitement spilling from that tiny dog was truly breath taking! What ensued was a twenty minutes bout of kisses, cuddles, playful nips and plenty of grunts and snorts. I could not have asked for a better welcome back from my girls!

The waiting game

Life as we know it

By Stella

You get up organize the house

And your dog waits for you

You make calls and plan your day

And your dog waits for you

You race around make food for the family

And your dog waits for you

You rush out to keep deadlines attending meetings

And your dog waits for you

You get the children from school and get them to sports

And your dog waits for you

You rush home to start dinner

And your dog waits for you

You sit down ready to watch a tv programme

And...

The hop-along hound herd!

We unfortunately live in a society that is plagued with lack of education, finances and opportunity and this often tends to make us feel like the under dogs. The one's who are always hobbling behind. As a rescue group, we focus on resolution in place of blame. We also believe in giving every animal as much of an opportunity as possible.

Woodrock is a shelter that focuses on the less fortunate dogs. We tend to have dogs with issues and disabilities. My observation is that the dogs that have the easiest times are the physically disabled dogs. The nervous agressive and emotionally damaged dogs in my opinion have a far more difficult time fitting in than a dog with a physical disability. 

I am referring to Woodrock's very own amputee's. It happens that because we do outreach work,ie going into the townships where money and education in animal care is sorely lacking. It is here that dogs live miserable lives with broken limbs that become lame due to lack of care.

Hence I firmly believe that these dogs who are picked up by do-gooders and are in such pain tend to act out. Unfortunately these animals are given three possible options 1) death 2)bone reconstruction or repair or 3)amputation. Over the last year we have had numerous legless wonders come through our doors and we have made a striking observation- That dogs with 3 legs do not feel hindered.Once they have been repaired or have had their limb removed they shine. Their whole personality changes and they become our jewels. 

Three legged dogs or physically disabled dogs are special. They race around and teach the damaged dog the joys of life! We learn from them more than we can begin to say!

So if you are a special person who is looking for a special guy in your life why not adopt one of our three legged angels?