Monday, 4 November 2013

WIN - A signed Leinster Rugby Jersey!

We have a fantastic opportunity for all you rugby enthusiasts! 

We have gotten our paws on a signed Leinster rugby jersey which has been beautifully mounted and framed and we are auctioning it off to raise money for our Rehoming Centre.



This is a fantastic prize and would make an ideal Christmas present for that special person in your life, or you may want to keep it all for yourself! :)

To place your bid, head on over to our website and fill in the form. It's easy peasy!
http://www.dogstrust.ie/az/s/silentauction/default.aspx
The auction will run from 12pm on Monday 4th November until 12pm on Friday 15th November.
We'll announce the winning bid on November 18th 2013 when the person has been contacted and all monies have been collected.

Don't forget we also have our gorgeous vintage-style Christmas cards for sale on our website too! They can be found here http://www.dogstrust.ie/giving/christmascards/default.aspx

Happy bidding everyone!!

Friday, 2 August 2013

Dogs Trust International - Ali's Trip to Bulgaria

Some of you may or may not be aware that as well as the work we are doing here in Ireland and over in the neighbouring UK, Dogs Trust provides practical assistance to animal welfare organisations around the world, who are striving to make meaningful and lasting improvements to dog welfare in their own communities. You can read more about these projects on our International website https://dogstrustinternational.com

Recently, one of our Training and Behaviour Advisors, Alison Ramsay, was afforded the opportunity to travel to Bulgaria and lend a hand at a dog shelter in Sofia..

Here's what she had to say about the experience:

I recently had an amazing opportunity to travel to Sofia, Bulgaria to
help with a four day behaviour workshop. Twenty five delegates from all
over Bulgaria took part in the workshop hosted by Dogs Trust and Animal
Rescue Sofia. The workshop involved two days of understanding the theory
behind our dogs behaviour, followed by two days of practical
demonstrations in Animal Rescue Sofia's Shelter.
The shelter is the largest in Bulgaria and houses 500 dogs. It is
staffed by a maximum of 5 carers each day - this means that each person
is responsible for 100 dogs! The dogs are predominantly street dogs that
have been picked up due to being poorly or considered a pest to the
local community. The Shelter receives no state funding and is completely
reliant on the money they raise from donations and support from
organisations such as Dogs Trust.
The attitude and dedication of the people who work with the stray dogs
in Bulgaria is truly inspiring. They have an overwhelming amount of work
ahead to try and improve the welfare of the streets dogs that are
commonly seen as vermin but they are unfailing in their determination
and passion. Not only are Animal Rescue Sofia micro-chipping,
vaccinating and neutering all dogs (stray or owed) free of charge, they
are finding loving homes for these dogs all over Europe and Bulgaria and
constantly seeking to understand the animals in their care.
The workshop was really well received and everyone was keen to ask
questions and put themselves forward to work with the dogs at the
Shelter during the practical days training.

I consider myself so lucky to have been given the opportunity to go to
Bulgaria. The idea was that I would be able to share some of my
knowledge with the delegates but I came away having had an amazing
experience meeting some fantastic people and dogs.


Here's some pics of the pooches Ali met on her trip











Huge thanks to those of you who are so supportive of our work.
For more information on the different ways you can help suppport the work of Dogs Trust, follow this link to our website  - how you can help



xx

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Super Floyd saves the day!!

Here at Dogs Trust, we are super proud of all our dogs. Whether they still live here with us or have gone to their forever homes, we just think they are all amazing! 
Rascal, a 3 year old Rottweiler cross, came to us last August. He was a super clever boy who knew how to sit and give the paw, and would give his carers a big wag anytime they passed his kennel. We were thrilled to find him the perfect home last October with his new family, Lawrie and Paul, who renamed him Floyd.
Lawrie emailed us recently with a heart-warming story about Floyd. Paul and Floyd were out walking along the footpath at the back of Crumlin Hospital when Floyd became very alert and attentive towards the direction of the park across the road. He is always well behaved on the lead so this was unusual and Paul let Floyd lead him 150 meters into the park and stood to attention with his back to a gentleman who had fallen the ground, bringing Paul's attention to him. The gentleman was a local man in his late 60's and said that he had been there for at least an hour.
An ambulance was called and the paramedics felt that the gentleman may have suffered a dizzy spell and took him to casualty for assessment. This was very late at night, but no doubt they will come across the gentleman again and he will certainly recognise Floyd!
Lawrie says of Floyd:

 “He is so gentle when playing with the local kids that he brings the game down to suit little ones. All the neighbours can't believe we haven't had him since he was a puppy. He's a very intuitive dog. The cat loves him now, which thrills him & freaks him out in equal proportions.
Thanks again for saving him. He's rewarding that back big time!”

We are so thrilled to hear that this gorgeous boy has hit the jackpot with his forever family, and that he is now a familiar face in his local community!
The superhero himself!
If you have any stories about your dog, feel free to share them in the comments below :)


Thursday, 23 May 2013

The Adventures of Angel

Hi everyone! It’s Angel here. You may know me from my ‘Ask Angel’ column in Dog Tales magazine…

Anyway I just wanted to share some pictures with you of my recent day out to Phoenix Park, with my Canine Carer, Sarah H. I had SUCH a great day!

Poor Sarah, I pulled a little on my lead at first as I was just SO excited. I settled down pretty quickly though, and got to meet doggies young and old, big and small, all of whom were greeted with my trademark waggy bum and big wet nose!

We also met some squirrels, ducks and deer (what crazy looking creatures!). I happily met lots of different adults but didn’t really like meeting young children. They're a bit scary.

At the top of my wish list is a forever home in a house with adults, who are strong and can bring me for nice long walks. I am very sociable and love giving lots of cuddles.

I’m just a large lady with a lot of love to give!

If you think you can offer me the home that I'm dreaming of, do pop by the centre and visit me. I also have lots of friends here, of all shapes and sizes, who are looking for homes too. Here's a link to a map, so you can find us!

Be sure to tell your friends about me too - they can 'like' our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @dogstrust_ie or visit our website www.dogstrust.ie.

Talk to ya all later!
xxx



Thursday, 4 April 2013

Brave will win your heart

Every single day at Dogs Trust we meet incredibly courageous and amazing dogs. These dogs have all been given a second chance thanks to our wonderful supporters. We thought we would introduce you to one of these dogs and share his story. Meet Brave.
 

Hi my name is Brave. I was found chained to the fence at Dogs Trust on a freezing February night. I was so frightened, scared and cold as I watched my owner drive off and abandon me. My front paw was badly broken. My owner had tried to use masking tape to fix it but it only made things worse. I was in so much pain as I also had lots of other old injuries that had never been treated properly.

A nice man and woman at Dogs Trust quickly untied me, wrapped me in a big cosy duvet and whisked me straight to the vets. It was lovely to have someone care for me. I never had that before and I nuzzled in for cuddles on the drive.

The vets ran all sorts of tests on me. I have a complicated joint problem in my ankle and wrist and a few small tumours. The vet managed to straighten out my front paw, it feels better already and they operated on the tumours too.  I am also going to need very expensive surgery to fix my back leg in a few weeks time, I’m nervous but I know I’m in good hands.


It is only through the generosity of it’s supporters that Dog Trust can pay for all the veterinary treatment I am going to need.

In a few months my bones and scars will heal and in time so will my heart. Dogs Trust will love and care for me and when the time is right find me a new forever home and for that I am one grateful Greyhound.

Love and hearts
Brave x x x
 

Brave is just one of many dogs who have to undergo life saving procedures each day at Dogs Trust. By supporting Dogs Trust you can help give more dogs and puppies their second chance at life. To find out more about the work we do visit our website www.dogstrust.ie/ 

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Chocolate free Easter treats for your pooches!

Apart from the risks of obesity and the obvious dangers of eating the foil wrapping, the biggest risk of eating human chocolate is poisoning, resulting in an emergency dash to the vet and sadly even death. Our TBA (Training and Behavious Adviser) Catherine has been busy in the kitchen, lovingly creating some delicious, heart friendly goodies for our fab four legged friends this Easter.   It went down so well here, we thought we'd share with you Catherines secret recipe to get tongues lolling, tails wagging and hearts beating for your canine bunnies!

Catherine Says,
Regardless of your dogs breed, age or size, it's important to look after their heart! The following recipe contains heart strengthening, anti-oxidant busting ingredients, all of which are guaranteed to get tails wagging like bunnies! (NOTE: please feed sparingly, the following recipe is designed to be a treat and not substitute a well balanced meal for your dog. Cut into tiny pieces, this makes for an excellent training treat)!



And now for the Science bit.....

Calcium - helps with heart muscle contraction (yogurt)
Potassium - protects the heart from heart disease (banana)
Magnesium - maintains heart rhythm (oats)
Vitamin C - helps protect the heart from free radicals (strawberries)
Omega Oils - a super oil to help protect the heart (oily fish, olive oil)

Ingredients:

2 cups of porridge oats
2 eggs
Honey
1/2 cup of natural yogurt
1 cup of your dogs kibble
1/2 tin of tuna or salmon 
1 mashed banana
Drizzle of honey
Drizzle of olive oil
Strawberries to garnish

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 150 degrees.
- Drizzle a baking tray with a little olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash up your banana, add oats, eggs, tinned fish and bashed up kibble,  squeeze of honey.
- YOU WANT THE MIXTURE TO LOOK A LITTLE LIKE A FLAPJACK MIXTURE add more or less Oat and Kibble if too wet or add a little more egg if too dry.
- Smear and smoosh the mixture onto the baking tray until flat and about an inch thick. Bake for about 20 minutes, depending on the consistency it may need longer so keep your eye on it!
- Remove from the tray and leave cool on a chopping board.
- Cut into little squares and put a dollop of yogurt onto each slice and garnish with a slither of strawberry.
- Prepare yourself for excessive salivating and  willingness to suddenly perform that trick you've been trying to teach them for the past few weeks! :)

ENJOY & HAPPY EASTER :-)

 




Monday, 11 March 2013

A chance to win a special treat for all our registered Women's Mini Marathon supporters!

We have a little treat for all the fab ladies who have registered for the Women’s Mini Marathon before the 31st March 2013. To reward all your hard training and a chance to take the weight off your feet, we have 10 overnight stays to giveaway in any Carlton Hotel of your choice!  All you need to do is register here https://apps.florawomensminimarathon.ie/online-entry/signup.asp and then send your registration number, contact details and t-shirt size to minimarathon@dogstrust.ie or call 01 879 1824 and we will send you out a Dogs Trust sponsorship pack!   T&C’s can be found below. Good luck ladies!

 Terms and Conditions


  • Winning prize is a 1 overnight stay for 2 people in a Carlton Hotel of their choice. Meals and beverages not included. (There are 10 overnight stays to be won)  
  • One entry per registered mini marathon address. Entries must be emailed/phoned through to be included; comments on this post will not be counted.
  • Full name and address details should be provided; Dogs Trust reserves the right to reject an incomplete entry.
  • Entries after the closing date / time will not be counted. The winners will be chosen after the closing date / time and notified by email or phone.  
  • The prize is as stated and there can be no cash alternatives.
  • By entering the competition you grant Dogs Trust and any third parties appointed by it for the purpose of organising and managing the competition permission to use your name, location and story for announcing the winners and for related promotional purposed. (Winning stories are likely to be featured on Facebook & this blog.)
  • Data provided for the purposes of this competition will not be held afterwards by Dogs Trust or any third party.
  • Dogs Trust's decision is final.