The Farmhouse
Fen Bank, Friskney
Lincolnshire
PE22 8PS
Tel: 01754 820593
Tel / fax: 01472 822979
Newsletter
Summer 2006 The Archives
It has been a roller coaster ride since the last Newsletter with an astonishing number of people visiting the kennels and the website and I was stunned when adding up the dogs homed for the Trustees Meeting to discover that we have homed over 50 so far this year and NONE have come back!!
I think we can be proud of this for the dog’s sakes and it is also a tribute to the professionalism and dedication of the kennel staff who are very good at saying no to unsuitable people so that when I do the home checks it is almost always a pleasurable experience!
Increasingly we are finding owners who understand that Greyhounds like company and come along for one dog and then take two! One of the most satisfying homes recently was when the two latest girls from Irish PAWS both found lovely homes. They were 9 years old and had lived in a field all their life and we knew it wouldn’t be easy- they didn’t like kennels, wouldn’t stop nattering at everything in sight and generally took quite a lot of work to settle down, but were extremely loving. Morag went first to Two ladies who have 3 of our dogs, are very good friends of the Sanctuary and now Trustees who having lost the lovely Crispin to cancer, found they had a space or two at the fireside! She took a lot of work but with patience and a lot of love and tolerance has finally settled into her new home and spends most of her time upside down, so you can’t see her ears are two different sizes! Megan went down to Fen Bank and kennelled with the lovely Benny whose new owners took one look at Megan and fell in love. They said they wanted two and two is what they got!
Another really satisfying departure was that of Russ who was destined and indeed on his way to the vet to be put down when Shaun took the leads out of the owner’s hands and said “oh no you don’t, we’ll take him!” and after a lot of work an apparent maniac has turned into the most loving soppy date of a dog who brings joy everyday to his new owners. He still barks at other dogs, but no longer wants to kill and is in most respects the perfect pet and greatly missed at Fen Bank.
Classical Dan has gone too, to a lovely home where the owners know exactly how to handle this complicated but so rewarding dog.
We could go on for pages…….. every dog is special to us and our owners are in no doubt that they are blessed in the choice of a Fen Bank dog- even if it is a pup like Muffin !! who plans to continue his diary now that he has a partner in crime, Bloobell, to keep him company!
We owe a debt of gratitude to Daphne and John Ledward Hands for not only taking these two off my particularly busy hands, but also for providing a fundraising opportunity at their Open Weekend where we made four hundred pounds and received a hugely generous share of the profits from the weekend as a whole…. The kennel dogs will continue to eat a little longer!!!
In fact the dogs are not even getting on to the website before they are homed at the moment and we are sure the bubble will soon burst! But for the moment we are full again with another 28 lovely dogs all looking for that special home! And meanwhile we enjoy their company.
Down at the kennels the girls have acquired a tiny terrier called Tinker so that we can assess our dogs more easily on site with something exceedingly small. She is full of character and doesn’t take prisoners and is also a natural mouser- we have yet to see what she will do with a rat of which we are thankfully free at the moment as a result of Richard’s expertise in baiting!!
Kelly’s Show Pony Magda allows us to accustom the dogs to horses and is a beautiful addition to the kennels and her Guinea Pigs still live after 2 years – although the dogs aren’t allowed near! Shaun’s Puddy Cat does her duty by occasionally hissing and spitting from a safe distance when a cat friendly dog is required and the house dogs greyhound Oliver, Dalmations Megan and Zak and Ellie a terrier mix provide other breed experience unless something bigger like my Peggy, Great Dane, or Dylan, the Uncle Bulgaria of all Rottweilers are required to step in!!
NEWS OF THE CHARITY
Our shop at the south side of the Market Square in Alford continues to do well and we are hugely indebted to Wendy Joiner for hours of dedicated work in keeping a team of ladies to open up every morning except Sunday between 9.30 and 1.00. It is very hard work to find volunteers and we are extremely grateful to all the ladies for their generosity to the dogs.
We are now members of the National Association of Charity shops as we felt we needed a bench mark against which to measure our practises and this is proving extremely useful.
The Trustees have been strengthened by the adoption of two new members Joyce Owen and Denise Clark who are dedicated and hard working friends of Fen Bank and have already taken on some responsibilities and have made life a lot easier! And although extremely busy we all feel that things are going well for the dogs.
We have already had some very successful “Meet and Greets” which have resulted in several homes for the dogs And some new supporters to help however we are now planning our BIG DOG SHOW and would appreciate anyone reasonably LOCAL TO GET IN TOUCH if they have some time to help on the day ,the evening after or the day before- THERE IS LOADS TO DO! We have some exciting new attractions and interesting stalls for people to visit SO WATCH THE WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS! Also our timetable of Greyhound events which always seems to need updating as we receive more and more invitations!
JOBS
We are looking for short term additional summer help in the kennels and again we need to say that we adore volunteers!!! During the Summer, the dogs day is 14 hours long between getting up and going to bed and extra hands are always welcome. We can offer accommodation to the right person wanting a summer holiday job, so do get in touch if you are interested!
The dogs are coming in from everywhere and we are as full as ever- just today there was an urgent appeal for a place for a beautiful white and black girl who had killed a neighbour’s cat and who wanted her put to sleep- fortunately we had one space with me or rather our RSPCA latest referral. 10 year old Laddie, and tonight she is snuggled up with her sugar daddy safe from vengeful neighbours! She is a gorgeous girl and I am sure we won’t have her long once we send her down to Fen Bank which is bursting at the seams!
A NEW HOME?
FINALLY does anyone want to live next to us? Our neighbours for the past 9 years are moving and leaving their spacious, comfortable and newly built 5 bedroom bungalow with 2.5 acres and outbuildings.
We have promised to try and help them sell the property which is literally next door. It is a lovely bungalow and they can tell you how quiet our dogs are! If interested please email the website for contact details! It is a real bargain at around £325,000.