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?

Chip n Dip!

Woodrock had such fun on Saturday at our super successful Chip and Dip day held to raise funds for "Daschunds in need in South Africa"

A huge thank you to all those who helped out, participated and had an enjoyable day with us!! 

Much love 

Woodrock

Addicted to rescue

For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting my mother you know that her life is hectic. She is forever on the move with two cellphones, an ipad and a dog in hand at any point in time. She has unfortunately been struck down with the flu today!

So in order to get her to stay in bed today I asked her to write a piece for our blog about her addiction to rescue and her intense workaholism! So here it is! Ps please hound her to recover and stay in bed!!

The love for an animal can get out of hand at your first rescue. The euphoria and excitement of saving a dog is effervescent and contagious. However, in my personal opinion, the rescuer needs to be a certain type of person. One needs to be level headed, have the ability to make rational judgements , work with the reward if successes and not spend too much time beating yourself up for the failures and for the dogs who fall through the system.

Rescue is not for the faint hearted. It is all consuming and can definitely become addictive. Some signs that you have a problem are the following:

1) waking up at 3 am to check Facebook.

2) recalling your rescue dogs names before your own children's

3) always having to answer ones phone!

Having said all if this, i can honestly say that once the bug has bitten it is very difficult to return to the mundane mediocrity of daily life! The challenge and the reward are interwoven and I love making the difference I can even if it means feeling terribly guilty to lie in bed instead of making a rescue dog's bed....

Vespa's voyage!

Stella's story.

Vespa came into my life  around September of 2013. The day I met her I knew this girl was special. She has this happy bouncy demeanour and has no idea that she is actually disabled. The first thing I noticed was that she wants to take part in everything- including catching flies- she just hates flies!!!  

Vespa's mom rescued her from the SPCA a beautiful healthy girl. About a year ago Stacy ,Vespa s mom got home from work and noticed that Vespa was struggling to walk and she looked uncomfortable and sore. After a while she took Vespa to a vet who referred her to a specialist. Within days Vespa had a back op..........

With this kind of injury time is our enemy, every minute counts. The sooner that dog gets onto the table the greater the chance that the animal will repair and walk normally. 

Vespa is not one of the lucky ones. She has never been able to use her back legs again. Ironically her name describes her movements. She scoots around dragging her back hind quarters. 

Stacy really did everything in her power to get Vespa to walk. Vespa spent Mondays to Fridays at a physiotherapist who worked tirelessly to improve her ability to walk.On the weekends Vespa went home with Stacy. Vespa loves people and needs to be monitored. With Stacy working all day and getting in late from work she realised that this was the best she could offer Vespa 

I just fell in love with this darling and knew that woodrock was the better option. At Woodrock there is constant supervision and medical attention if need be. Vespa really enjoys the company of other dogs and can socialize in a safe and monitored environment.

Vespa's future looks bright. She will be able to get her much needed wheels and be able to take part in daily life at woodrock with our Woodrockers. 

I want to thank Stacy for opting to adopt and doing the very best for Vespa. You have not failed her. It was a brave of you to surrender her to Woodrock. For this we commend you.

Please follow Vespa's story of recovery and repair and how she copes when she is on wheels!

To help:

Banking details

Woodrock Dog Rescue

Standard Bank Rivonia

Account number: 425 369 161

Business Checque Account

Branch code: 001255

Swift code:SBZAZAJJ

A final farewell to 2013- a beautiful piece from Stella

 

> As we say goodbye to 2013

> I am often told that I will be blessed for the work

> I do. I have to say that and I am sure I speak for all rescuers this

> is not why I do rescue. This is a calling and a talent. Not everyone

> is able to let go of an animal that they have nurtured back to health

> rescued from awful circumstances. My take is if not me then who. If I

> did nothing and was able to help I would be failing myself

>

> The saying that I am not in this for the applause rings very strong

> for me. When my world is in disarray and I am rescuing a dog in the

> midst of the night- I am not posting to get attention. When I miss

> family functions cause there is a call out. When I am late for a

> meeting after chasing a lost dog. I am not asking for applause

>

> In my travels over the years I have met the true heros of rescue. People who I can only stand in their shadow. We each do our best.

 

> I would like to make my fellow rescuers smile at this point when I

> list the following

>

> - I can't visit the shelter as I will get too upset

> - I can't visit the shelter as I will want to take them all home

> - if only I had more space I would take them all

> - where do you get your dogs from

> - who pays for all of this

> - ah I love these dogs,but  truelly I am not a cat person....grr

> - oh I am not a duschund/ Labrador/poodle ect fan

> - i heard that ...... Are not great with children

> - is the dog house trained

> - can you give me a little more of the dogs history

> - how big do you think he will get

> - our pets sleep outside

> - they have a big yard at the back there is no need for us to walk

> them

> - we gave our last dog to our gardener.....he grew out of control and

> became agressive

> - should I bring my dog along to greet and meet

> - mm that dog is not talking to me , there is no connection

> - our dog ran away

>

>

>

> The surrender stories I will not be touching on as we have heard them all. Each one of us no matter how kind gentle sweet even tempered you can be , has us all infuriated and at our wits end - with our jaw hanging open ,pulling out our hair and being reduced to tears.

>

> The real point of this bidding fair well to 2013 is to salute you

> all...  who continue in spite of what comes our way. We wake at

> ridiculous hours and off we go into the battle field.

>

> Rescue  is not a competition between the various shelters. People get

> a bit bashful to tell us that they are off to (where ever)....... To see what they have got. I want emphasis that every homeless animal that gets a home is a victory for me. I get pleasure reading FB success happy tails. I love the out reaching to the communities and get thrilled at the work done in schools iro education.

No shelter is an island. Rescue is not a money making operation. It's not a race to the finish. It's not a 9 to 5. To fund this money pit we all do various means of fund raising. Albeit it golf days or SMS lines. It's really no fun... It's not for us - it's for the animals. And the lengths we have to go show our appreciation. When in fact it's mans obligation - it's a social responsibility. Giving must come from a space where the giver wants anoniminty and doesn't expect thanks. But no .. Please send a thanks to.... Grrr. I like to think of myself as well mannered and try always to remember my manners Yes we all want to rehome the desperate manged dog that has spent ages in an enclosure. Rescue is team effort.as cliched as this sounds.

> Together we can do this.

It's true to say we have different opinions and different tequniques. But in the final take its about the well being of the animal. The human element is something we all have to deal with.

>

My wish for everyone of you continue to be brave to face that force as

best as we can. Be kind to one another smile and let's stand as a

united force with integrity love