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Hugo’s Story – Written by his New Dad

Hugo’s Story

Percy and Dexter, our two miniature Dachshunds are our first Dogs and are the loves of our lives.

Percy and Dexter

We had thought about getting another Puppy but decided against it and we said we’d only get another Dog if one ever needed a home.This is when I registered our names on The Red Foundation database after having contact with Sharon and hearing so many good things about them. It’s one thing registering interest, but, nothing quite prepares you for getting that phone call from TRF admin say there’s a Dog who needs a home – can you help?

This is what we signed up for so I asked Helen to send me the details. She told me he was a big lad for 19 weeks, with his present owners for only 4 weeks, unfortunately their marriage was breaking down and couldn’t keep him. They had taken great care of him and he wanted for nothing, he wasn’t a rescue, just needed to be re-homed.

I discussed this briefly with my wife Amanda and we of course said we’d take him.

That was the moment I promised to look after him forever.

Our first photo of Hugo as a Puppy

Before going to his first owners, Hugo had been smuggled into the UK from a Hungarian Puppy Farm and sold by a backyard puppy seller as a miniature – he certainly wasn’t a mini!  Thankfully he’s in great health, but I can’t stop thinking about his poor Mother.

The day after Helen called we got Hugo’s address and arranged to pick him up.  This in itself was a difficult thing to do – it was a massive decision for his current owners and I hadn’t realised how emotional it would be for all of us.

I kept thinking about Hugo, how he was waking up as normal, but, that day his life was going to change forever

We took Percy and Dexter into the house to meet him on his territory, I went into the house first, Hugo was in the back garden and came running in wagging his tail to greet me, he looked so happy, all I could say was “hello mate”

Such a beautiful looking lad, very friendly and full of fun.

It was a tearful goodbye as they obviously loved him – the last thing I said to them was I promise to look after him and love him forever.

We got him home, took him for a walk on the beach and he settled in very quickly. His only issue was his runny tummy, he came to us on Royal Canin and Hills Vet I/D food to try him settle his stomach. I started him immediately on a Raw diet and his stomach symptoms cleared up straight away – he’s never looked back!

I was filling in Hug’s adoption papers, I looked around and he was looking at me like this.

After a few teething problems, mainly to do with having three male Dogs, Hugo’s become an amazing part of our family.

He’s a beautiful Dog, so big and strong, 12kg of solid muscle, amazing temperament, so friendly, he’s loved by everyone, he loves everyone. Every day is a new adventure for him. He loves running on the beach, through the woods,barking through the window, playing with new friends – the bigger the better – he loves a bit of rough and tumble.

Hugo loves life and it’s such a pleasure to enjoy it with him. We couldn’t imagine life without him. We all adore him and absolutely love him. He’s a helluva lad.

Amanda and I are eternally grateful to The Red Foundation for bringing Hugo into our lives.

We are incredibly proud to give him his forever home and to be part of this amazing organisation

Thank You xxxxx

Percy, Dexter and Hugo Dawson aka The Sausage Brothers

He’s a big lad!

Dawson Family Vacation

The Main Man

Frankie’s New Home

We were contacted by an admin of one of the Dachshund Facebook groups who advised one of her members was looking at having to rehome her miniature dachshund and could we help. We arranged a call with said member and had a good chat about her current circumstances and unfortunately due to a relationship break down, being forced to move and trying to build her business she didn’t feel like she could give frankie the life she wanted him to have anymore. It was an emotional call with tears all round and we promised to find Frankie the perfect forever home. Frankie now has a big brother, a standard silver dapple called Trev and has settled in nicely with his new owners Sue and Simon. Here they both are. Am sure you can guess who is who!

The Red Foundation Christmas Cards & Gift Bags

We are extremely excited to let you know that we now have our very own Christmas Cards for sale on our site.

ALL PROFITS will be going towards our mountains of expenses. We have been hit hard by vet invoices this year, with 3 IVDD cases on the go as we speak :O so this will help us out a lot.

The amazing Jordan Hempstead turned our design idea into a complete work of art and we can’t thank her enough.

If you would like to order a set of 10 xmas cards visit: https://theredfoundation.net/…/red-foundation-christmas-card…

You will receive 10 cards & 10 plain envelops within your pack. The cards are all one design and blank inside for your own festive message.

Postage is charged at 0.99p – This is for delivery in the UK for delivery further afield please email [email protected]

Unfortunately we get charged by Paypal, so for that reason our cards are £5.50 however if you would like to order through bank transfer please email [email protected] and we will come back to you as soon as possible.

Please allow time for delivery – we are all volunteers and relying on spare time to package and send these 🙂 but you will certainly get them long before xmas.

**URGENT ONLINE RAFFLE** FOR AMBER

**URGENT ONLINE RAFFLE**

Unfortunately one of our Surrenders has been diagnosed with Cancer. She has had blood-work and fine needle aspiration of the area – has x ray booked for this week as well as hopefully removing the lump and spaying her.
We need your help to cover the vet costs as they are bound to reach rather high limits!

Her wonderful new family have donated some items for us to raffle off in hope of raising £800+ towards her fees.

For 5 raffle numbers – Please send £10 to The Red Foundation | Sort Code 309915 | Account Number 26911068

OR http://paypal.me/theredfoundation but preferably bank transfer so we don’t get charged fee.

Please reference ‘Amber Raffle’ and pop us a message or email once you have donated so we can match numbers up to your name and email address.

Prizes include:
Used Mulberry Bag worth £495.00
Mulberry men’s coat wallet black barely used worth £295.00
Dachshund Pyjamas New (Sizes limited) worth £20+
One Urban Pup Harness of your choice worth £15+
One Urban Pup Collar & Lead Set of your choice worth £18+

The winners will be selected at random and will get to pick their prize in order of being selected.

Raffle runs til Sunday 2nd April – PLEASE DONATE URGENTLY!

 

IVDD in Dachshunds

Dawn Shaw-Moir – Roo – 5 Years old.

Please please please, be aware that it could be that as many as 1 in 4 dachshunds have an episode of IVDD some time in their lives. Intervertebral disc disease symptoms happen when the jelly like content of the disc between vertebra squeezes out and presses on nerves causing severe pain and damage.

Early symptoms are easy to miss or mistake for something else and If action is not taken quickly the dog may be permanently paralysed.

What to do:

1. Get to know the symptoms
2. Restrict movement by confining in crate, box or small baby pen until you see vet
3. Be prepared to challenge your vet if they say it is simply muscular, especially if the dog is aged between 4 and 6, the biggest risk period
4. If in doubt, insist on a referral to a practice who can MRI. This is the ONLY away to accurately diagnose the extent of the issue. An X-ray is NOT enough.
5. Many dogs can be treated ‘conservatively’ with extended crate rest for up to 8 weeks, but the longer it is left or the more severe the symptoms, the less chance of fill recovery.
6. If surgery is needed, it will cost upwards of £4-9000.

Above all, if you have a Dachshund, take out insurance, or put money on one side. If you are saving up for a Dachshund then save up for insurance too. The risk is simply too high not to.

More information here. Please particularly read the section on symptoms.
http://www.dachshund-ivdd.uk/

Written by Gill Key, Pet Adviser, Health and Welfare Subcommittee, Dachshund Breed Council

Jo Evers-King – Darcey Doodles – 2nd IVDD Op
Cathanie King – Minnie – 2 days post op
Julie Austin – Bella – 10 days post op
Wanda Eldridge – Demi – IVDD Post Op
Janet Irwin – Darcy – Post Op
Yvonne Brannigan – Paddy – 1 Days post op
Tena Caple – Roxy – Post Op
Abbey Norman – Mr Sizzle – Post Op

Emergency Dachshund Rescue UK?

The Red Foundation emergency dachshund uk logoHave you been wondering why we are classifying ourselves as the ‘Emergency Dachshund Rescue UK’?

We thought long and hard about our tagline and we agreed that The Red Foundation as a name didn’t really show what we do.

We act instantly on any case of a Dachshund in need i.e the ‘Emergency’ part. We have fosters and transportation links all over the country ready to help in situations where the family or owner does not have much time on their hands.

We realised in the very early days of The Red Foundation, that even the most loving of dog owners end up in scenarios where they must rehome their dachshund and sometimes even with a 24 hour time frame.

Our team is made up of not only dachshund owners, but knowledgable and rescue experienced ladies.

With that being said, we have connections to a network of trustworthy experienced dachshund owners who are capable of rehabilitating and working with troubled dachshunds too.

We are really chuffed that you’ve come to this website and had a think about what we do and offer.

If you can we’d really appreciate you popping a donation our way. We are taking in dogs with considerable health issues, behavioural issues, transport requirements, as well as running this website to keep people informed and advised on the breed. Which racks up some fairly massive bills!

paypal.me/theredfoundation

Thanks again

 

What is ‘Rare’ about this Dachshund being advertised?

This week we’ve had a crazy amount of people online talking about the advertising of Rare Dachshund colourings. Generally if the dog is being advertised as a ‘rare’ colour it may mean a lot more about it’s health and you are likely being ‘ripped off’.

Blues

Blue Dachshunds are not registered or recognised is this country. However there have been a lot of imports over 2017. Generally speaking if a dachshund is being advertised as rare and you can visibly see it is blue/grey in colour it has probably come from a terrible life of puppy farming and has been illegally imported.

These blues appear beautiful, but at a later stage in their development they are likely to have terrible skin issues including reactions to food and sunlight as severe as boils on the body.

Please contact us if you see a advert for a blue Dachshund we may be able to look further into it’s situation and even advise you on the health issues we believe will arise. That way you can be fully prepared before your purchase.

Here is a link to the breed council PDF on coats and colours! 

Double Dapples

Image of a Double Dapple Dachshund that The Red Foundation Rescued in 2017

Another colouring that is being advertised as ‘Rare’ is the double dapple. Generally a DD won’t be advertised as Double dapple and instead as a dapple. The way you can tell them apart is that a Double Dapple is likely to have very large patches of white on their colouring.

Double Dapples come with more health issues than we can list, but the most important is they generally speaking will lose their sight and hearing at a very early age.

Again you are welcome to contact us for advice if you come across a advert and are unsure on the dog.