Fetcher Dog Diary- 06/06/25-15/06/25

Hello everyone!

We have decided to start a weekly Fetcher Dog diary to keep you up to date with the ups and downs, ins and outs and all the goings on at Fetcher Dog. We hope it will give a little insight into some of the things we do each week as well as bring a little joy to you on Monday mornings. 

Some of the things you see on our pages have been in the works for months in advance and as many of you know, we are currently based out of a leasehold kennels near Wye, Ashford but 2025 is the last full year of our lease and we are looking to get enough money together to purchase a property of our own when our lease runs out early next year. We take in as many dogs as we can from pounds around the country, local owner surrenders and the streets and kill shelters of Bosnia so dogs are moving in and out of the centre every week. This new centre will allow us to rescue more dogs, make changes to the property to make it fit for purpose and provide a permanent sanctuary to those who can’t be rehomed. It is a much needed next step for our charity. So, we are working on lots of fun and exciting things behind the scenes which will hopefully push us towards this goal. Pub quizzes, concerts, online auctions and raffles are in our future so keep your eyes peeled!

We are contacted daily to take in new dogs and this week was no different. Last Friday started with the arrival of two dogs from a pound in the Midlands. There are so many dogs crying out for rescue spaces in pounds that we are contacted about dogs in pounds from all across the country. Friday’s new arrivals were both due to be put to sleep due to lack of space. Because of our track record with scared dogs, we are often asked to take in the dogs that need a little bit more patience and Jimmy needed exactly that. Jimmy was very shut down in the pound, hiding in the corner of his kennel. Luckily, we had homed a few dogs the week before so was able to offer him a space with us. We get no history on the dogs we take in from the pound but it is clear that Jimmy has experienced cruelty in his life despite being only 6-8 months old. Jimmy has already made huge amounts of progress and after he got over that initial fear of being in a new place and learning if we were going to be kind to him, he started to act like a normal playful puppy. He now enjoys bounding around our fields, jumping all over us and causing general chaos like a puppy should. Alongside Jimmy, a small scruffy dog with an underbite also arrived from the pound. Not only do we get asked to take in the scaredy dogs but they know that I am a sucker for a dog with an underbite so I said yes as soon as I saw a photo of him in the pound. He was shellshocked when he arrived, shaking in his crate and avoiding eye contact. Unlike Jimmy, it is clear to us that he has lived in a home and kennels is a completely new and overwhelming experience for him. On his first day I spent some time with him in my caravan on centre and he immediately calmed down in a home setting. He jumped up onto the sofa, rolled around on the throws and climbed on top of the cushions at the back and laid watching the world go by out the window. We don’t know the circumstances of how he ended up in the pound but we hope we can get him back into a home environment very soon. 

A couple of weeks ago we posted about a Mum and 7 puppies that were rescued from horrible conditions. The Mum was so malnourished but she was trying her best to care for the babies and give them everything they needed. They were living in the basement beneath someone’s home and luckily, he let our rescuer take the Mum and babies when she convinced him that they needed a better life. You helped us fundraise towards their care and although we haven’t quite reached our fundraising target the amount raised has helped us transport them to a safe foster home, buy speciality food for Mum and get them all checked over by a vet. The pups were all covered in fleas and needed worming treatment but were otherwise healthy but Mum needed some extra veterinary help. She has an inflamed uterus and her blood test results show that she has an infection, She has been put on antibiotics and extra supplements to help boost her immunity. Her and her babies are now living in comfort and they are all slowly putting on weight. They don’t yet have names so please do give us some suggestions!

Saturday came with a visit from the Ashford Police Cadets who spent their day organising your lovely donations in our on-site barn and clearing anything too damaged to be sold on our online auction or at one of our local jumble sales. There was SO much for them to go through and sort and it will make our jobs so much easier when we plan future sales. If that wasn’t enough they also washed the Fetcher Dog van and made a start on the weeding! The cadets did an excellent job and we are so grateful for their help. FYI- our next online auction is starting THIS WEEK so please keep an eye on our pages so you don’t miss out on a bargain.

Sunday morning started with a call to the emergency vets for Humphrey, a Frenchie we recently rescued, whose eyes had become so swollen overnight that he could barely open them.Taking a dog to an out-of-hours appointment is always a concern due to the massive fees but we just have to stomach it and work out how to raise the funds later when it’s an emergency like this! Our main concern was that this was an allergic reaction which would only get worse as the day progressed. Luckily, after bunches of tests, jabs to help with the swelling and a big old vet bill, we left the vets with a bag of prescription meds, eyedrops and a very happy Humphrey who was already looking and feeling much better. The vets can’t always give us a definitive answer on exactly what was wrong but said for us to keep an eye on him and as long as his eye was getting better, the meds were doing their jobs. Humphrey has been less than happy with us this week as we have to wrestle him twice a day with eye drops but we are bribing him daily with cheese and chicken, his eye is almost back to normal and he’s returned to his normal bouncy and affectionate self. 

Monday was a very special day in which long-term resident Laena headed off centre for a picnic in the park with myself and musician James McVey. We have started a new video series to help us raise awareness for the dogs in our care whilst giving the dogs the best day out. Monday was Laena’s turn! The day started out a little rocky as we got a flat tyre on the M25 on the way there but thankfully the AA rushed to help us and we were back on our way in no time. Laena’s tail never stopped wagging as she had a walk around a beautiful stately home, met lots of people, dogs and ducks and tried her very first picnic which included cocktail sausages (a firm favourite), doggy cupcakes, carrots, strawberries, dog popcorn and dog ice cream. We never know how these trips are going to go as it’s a completely new environment but Laena was so brave and well behaved, she loved having endless cuddles with James and I couldn’t be prouder of her. She had an absolute blast and we are so grateful to James for joining us and spoiling our girl. 

Tuesday may not of been filled with much excitement BUT we did a lot of work around the centre to get it clean and tidy and get rid of the rubbish from the barn clearance as well as the build up of bedding that couldn’t be salvaged for use in the kennels. Anything and everything we don’t need is going in the skip hired from Ashford demo and it’s already looking a lot tidier! These dogs are messy creatures and we always have a lot of rubbish to throw out so a skip really helps us to do a regular clear out and luckily, the skip company does us a good deal. The weather recently has also made the grass grow SO fast and the weeds have sprung up all over the centre so Tuesday was a big day for tackling that too. We have a lot more gardening to get done but we’ve made a bit of a dent in it and we will continue to tackle it as and when we have a little bit of time! If there are any keen gardeners among our supporters that want to help out with weeding and gardening in centre, please do reach out! 

Wednesday saw the arrival of another newbie from a different pound. This time a JRT who had been in and out of the pound a few times before finally being left unclaimed and in need of a rescue space. The pound raved about how he was a favourite among the pound staff and upon his arrival, he did not disappoint. He jumped out of the car taking everything in his stride, greeting everyone he met with a wag of his tail. He has well and truly won the hearts of our team. 

Stephanie also attended an event at Tenterden Community Hub on Wednesday, giving a talk about Fetcher Dog and what we do and introducing Rory, a very cute and affectionate Fetcher Dog, to the staff and the community hub attendees. Rory loves attention and really enjoys going to events like this. Getting cuddles all day is like a dream for Rory and she was pooped when she returned. 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were BOILING on centre so we had to be very careful to keep the dogs cool and calm. Luckily, the dogs are mostly sensible when it’s hot and happily snooze in the sunshine in their runs or stick to the shade of the treeline in the field. Most of our team also hate the hot weather and run around like sweaty messes on hot days so even though I am sure most of you love the hot weather, we are wishing for a milder summer for all of our sakes. Please remember that it will not kill your dog to miss out on a walk on a hot day but heatstroke can be extremely dangerous and can kill dogs so quickly. 

Unfortunately, only three dogs were adopted this week. As we approach summer, adoption numbers are likely to continue to go down as always. Many families opt to wait until after they’ve come back from their summer holidays and it’s the same every year. Please remember that we can only take in new dogs when a space has been made by a dog being adopted! So, remember that sharing our posts and telling your friends about us really does save lives!

Thank you for reading our first ever Fetcher Dog diary entry. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you’ll be back next Monday to see what we get up to this week. 

 
Lots of love, Jordan
xxxxxx