Lakota, what a beautiful boy! Yesterday I visited Lakota and his new mum Lisa and what a happy boy he is! He was pleased to see me but was contained and polite, he would seem to really be enjoying his new home! He is hardly recognisable as the dog we first met (See the video page).

He is eating his raw diet well and is holding at a nice weight, coat is shining with a contented look in his eyes! Lisa (his new mum) is doing a wonderful job in providing him with a stable, well rounded home with excellent leadership in place - Lisa has taken on board all of the Dog Listening advice offered and Lakota is flourishing. All of this is allowing Lakota to settle in and gain confidence in his new home.

Lakota is still a little jumpy at times as he learns to trust Lisa and his new environment, we always new that the change of a move would be a scary one for him. His new mum went to great lengths to help the transition from my place to hers with daily visits to Lakota for nearly two weeks prior to the move.

We miss Lakota in our home, I find myself looking for him where he would normally be! However.. We have a new project / rescue, a Cockatoo called Charlie!

Charlie is a 37 year of Cockatoo who's previous owner didn't have time to dedicate to him (they are extremely social animals), and consequently he has been stuck in his aviary for the past two years with minimal interaction.

He now lives indoors while we socialise him with our dogs (Charlie has lived with dogs his whole life), and we are getting him out of the bad habit of biting! He is also lacking muscle tone - so his wings don't work properly -  and his is over-weight. We are trying to pull together the money (personally) to buy or build him a big flight aviary in the once was vegi garden! He will always be an indoor bird but on a nice day, when we are not home, I think he might enjoy space to fly and exercise his wings!

Charlie is going to remain a permanent member of the pack/flock and we hope he will enjoy a long and happy life with us!

To update, Monty is doing well in his forever home, healthy and happy, also on a raw food diet, we are still hoping to get a story from the  owners perspective on this wonderful little boy!

Finally, Lakota is visiting today as Lisa (mum) is going to be out for part of the day. I will take some more photos of him so you can see just how well he is doing!

Until next time..


Luke.

G'day all,

Well over the past week I have met several people interested in Lakota after he went up for adoption. I met some wonderful people but in the end I have to pick just one home. 
After much deliberation Lakota's new home has been selected and we are beginning the process of getting him ready to move. His new mum is visiting daily so that he gets to know her before the big day, Lakota is enjoying playing with her and the bonds of friendship are already strong. 

It is a difficult time for myself and my family as we prepare to say goodbye, Lakota has lived with us for about three months and in that time he has come from a terrified dog, scared of life to a happy, smiling lad who enjoys every day. We are very grateful that we have had the time we have, it has been an honor to help this boy.

This month Funds4Paws is running a wine drive, we have selected wines from popular wine regions for you to enjoy! The order form will be available for download in the near future, and our clever graphics guru Glynis has even managed to include a profile shot of Lakota on the label. These bottles of wine will make a great gift for friends and family and are also ideal for those office christmas parties. Delivery to your office can be organised for orders over a dozen. 

A wine tasting is currently being organised at Stop 'N Paws grooming salon in Hampton if you would like to come along and meet some of the team please let us know and we will organise an invitation for you and your friends. 

We will let you know as soon as we confirm the dates! And we will also have photo's for you of Lakota in his his new home next week! 

Until then,

Luke Williams

G'day all,

Tomorrow is Lakota's day to the groomer! His two little westie mates will be joining him for support and I will also be on hand if required! All going well tomorrow should see some new photos of Lakota, looking better than he ever has since we met him.

We are also now taking tentative steps towards finding Lakota's new forever home. His new owners would need to be true & patient animal lovers committed to the well being of this beautiful boy, only the best will do!

Check back soon to see Lakota looking handsome and fresh, ready to face the challenges of his new life!

Please keep in mind our beautiful Monty (sml staffy x), his sister is enjoying her new home and has settled in beautifully Monty needs his special forever home. Feel free to email Montys details to your friends & family as we move forward with the life that is our special bush fire survivor.



Funds4Paws has also received a new dog looking for a home, he is an 8 year old Portuguese Water Dog, details soon to come!

 G'day all,

As promised here are some photo's of our rescue dog Lakota, as you can see he now enjoys playing in the back yard and has excellent recall (he comes to you when you call him).

I hope you enjoy the photo's as much as I did playing with him to get them!

 It is certainly time for a new post! It has been a busy month for Funds4Paws (and Fun4Paws), as we moved to wrap up all outstanding orders from the bush fire areas. We have one kennel more to be delivered and it is currently undergoing a renovation to be ready for the german shepherd puppy that awaits, (we have supplied them with an interim kennel to ensure pup was kept safe and warm). 

We are currently extending our fundraising efforts to prepare for the coming bush fire season, though I am sure we all hope that the circumstances will be less sever than the last. Keep an eye out on facebook for our new fundraising appeal! We are always seeking donations to assist us in the upkeep and care of our dogs and efforts, every $10 makes a difference. (you can donate from our main page - look for the 'donate' button to the right). 

Many people have asked for updates on our beautiful Lakota so here we go! It has been an intensive and fruitful time and is indeed on going. Lakota will soon be ready to find his new forever home, however he will require a true dog lover who is able to take the time he needs to come out of his shell.

Lakota is now a happy and mostly relaxed boy at home, loves playing in the back yard with his mates the westies, and enjoys his raw food. He is still not confident going out the front of the house or walking, but this is his last hurdle before his new home. Lakota looks for constant reassurance of leadership and of course receives calm and consistent answers, his new owners (who ever they might be) will receive a comprehensive Dog Listening consultation to ensure they are equipped to lead this special pup forward.

Today Lakota went to see the vet for a full health check up. He was a very good boy, particularly as he was frightened and allowed the vet to check him over. He was even brave enough to have some acupuncture needles to assist his liver function. He travelled very well in the car and enjoyed the one on one time with me, as did I. 

We enjoy daily play sessions in the backyard and Lakota is very good at playing with smaller dogs! We have one of Lynne's dogs coming to visit next week to built his confidence with the larger breeds! I will be taking some new photo's in the next couple of days and I will be sure to load them up and let you know when they are online! 

Until then,
Luke

I met Lacota and Monty for the first time yesterday. Both are lovely boys, with extreme stress levels. They are very fortunate to have found a carer like Luke!

Monty is a sweet little guy, who wants to be friends, but can be a little over the top. He started out having trouble keeping all 4 paws on the ground while being treated-seemed to want to be the equivalent of a canine necklace for the first 5 minutes or so :). He settled well, particularly after Lacota came over to him and told him off for jumping on me, and then licked his face when he settled. Very sweet. Monty reminds me of a tightly coiled spring-he will probably take a little while to unwind totally, but took big steps in the right direction in his first session. I can guarantee there are people working long hours in the gym to get the sort of muscle definition Monty has!

Lacota was almost completely the opposite to Monty, both energy wise and body wise. He was pretty toey to start with, but as Luke said, became a "puppy puddle" on the floor within minutes. It is rare to see a dog respond as quickly to Craniosacral Therapy as Lacota has, but an absolute joy to behold when they do! REALLY made my day working with him. Lacota certainly has a lot of emotional baggage, but with Luke's wonderful care, some more bodywork and some flower essences I think he'll respond brilliantly and show the world what a wonderful dog he is.

Warm Regards
Caroline Pope
Animal Communicator & Craniosacral Therapist
www.caroline-pope.com

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his love, his life, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, until the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. Anon.

 G'day all,

We have been progressing slowly with the two boys (Harley & Monty), some days we make big steps forward (play bows in the yard, chasing a toy) then other days we take steps backwards. All in all, things were moving forward slowly but nicely. Yesterday we were fortunate enough to have Caroline Pope who is a CranioSacral therapist come to visit us. Caroline assisted us free of charge during the acute period after the bushfires.

We asked Caroline out to work on all of our dogs (Monty, Harley, Haggis & Clyde) and I have never seen such a difference in my dogs. Caroline worked on each dog for about an hour, they all sat beautifully for her allowing her to work on them almost without issue. I was unsure of how Harley was going to cope with a) a stranger in the house (this would normally result in him hiding away) and b) being touched by a stranger especially for any length of time. Initially Harley was indeed frightened, I had to put him on a lead to bring him into Caroline's space, she put her hands on him and the change was almost instantaneous, he turned into a relaxed puddle of fur on the floor, enjoying the work she was doing with him. In almost 10 days I had not succeeded in providing this boy with the level of internal calm that Caroline provided in literally minutes, I was absolutely thrilled to see him so happy. Amazingly the calm has lasted to the next day and hopefully will continue as we move forward, I have asked Caroline to come back and see us again next week to continue the work she does. It is obvious that Harley loves the work she does (see picture below).

Caroline also pointed out that the name Harley was not particularly suited to such a shy quiet boy, instead she presented Lacota as an alternative and our beautiful boy seemed to take to it instantly. So moving forward, the beautiful Lacota (or Cota for short) has a new lease on life, new name and new hope!

Caroline offers these two boys a discounted session at $50.00 each (a hefty discount), unfortunately we will be unable to maintain these session for very long without some assistance. If there is anyone out there who would like to sponsor or contribute to the ongoing care of these two very special animals, please get in touch, (there is also a link on our main page to our bank account details for donations).

We will update you on the progress as we move forward, we hope that they enjoy reading about the dogs we are so privileged to be able to assist.

http://www.caroline-pope.com

 G'day all,

The past few days have been busy ones in our house, Harley and Monty arrived on Friday nervous and scared after their car trip. Lynne and myself attempted introductions between my own dogs (Haggis and Clyde) and Harley and Monty, we quickly abandoned introductions as it became evident that the two new boys needed time to settle in. 

I would like to give you a description of each dog and the problems we are working through. 

Harley -  German Shepherd cross, is a very timid boy who is 18 months old. he is frightened by anything new including noises, new people, big spaces, new dogs etc. 

Monty - Staffy x kelpie, is currently food aggressive and unable to play appropriate. Monty launches himself at new dogs in his version of play, unfortunately this can be perceived by other dogs as aggression as he throws himself at them in over exuberance. 

On the 'Video' page on our website you can see two movie clips of Monty and Harley, there is a running commentary on the clips that gives more of an insight into the dogs and their behaviour. I hope you enjoy and join us on the road to rehabilitation. 

Luke.