Donna’s Family Tree

Sep 2014 – The good Janicia of Mango the Sheltie blog recently sent to me some pictures of Donna’s parents that she had taken when she was volunteering with Gentle Paws and Friends. (Gentle Paws is the shelter we adopted Donna from.)

It appears Donna largely takes after her father, appearance-wise where it comes to facial markings.

Donna’s father and mother

No spotty tongues in Donna’s family tree, haha!

Anyway, I guess I’m just so used to Donna’s looks by now that I personally think Denny looks extremely adorable.  Her mother, Dior, is actually noticeably larger than Donna in size. So I guess Donna inherited her small size from Denny too.

Denny

It seems most of this family of dogs have been adopted, but Denny is probably still available. So you’re thinking of adopting a dog, you can check out Denny’s profile here.

[Excerpt] I was a puppy from a breeder farm. Don’t give me that puzzled look! I’m not one of those snotty pure bred dogs. I don’t know why I was found there or what evil intentions the breeders had for me.

Florence from Gentle Paws recently sent me a preview of the 2015 calendar they are selling to raise funds for the shelter.

I’m glad Donna’s father, Denny, is one of the dogs featured in the calendar because they sure need lots of help in the adoption raffle.

I heard that people don’t like black dogs much and I’ve been reminded that black dogs stand the least chance of being adopted… I need people to look beyond my black coat to see the true dog that is in me.  I was a breeder puppy who was given a second lease of life and I’ve all the love in the world to give… if only you’d let me.
– excerpt from Denny’s profile

It’s actually quite true that black dogs don’t stand out. If you were to ask me, the only dog I remember and can pick out from the crowd at Gentle Paws is Mario the white dog! We wouldn’t have considered Donna at all if Florence had not stopped to speak with us.

Here’s another Gentle Paws black dog from the new calendar.

Dookie

Dooki, like Donna, was born at the shelter, adopted out and subsequently returned back to the shelter again.

I was returned to the shelter as my adopter had sold their flat and would be staying at a relative’s place until their new flat arrives. There was no place for me. I was devastated and cried when the volunteers locked up and left the shelter, leaving me with unfamiliar canine faces.

I was amused by this particular line on Dooki’s profile page that mentions Donna:

Instead of moping around and brooding about the past, I will take it in my stride and get over the heartbreak. If Donna can find her happiness after her long pursuit for a place called home, I’m sure my special family is also somewhere out there.

So anyway, it’s kind of hard to know what dog is available at Gentle Paws and what dog is not, if you are like me. I.e. don’t really stalk anything on facebook. Haha! So the easiest way is to just contact the shelter directly. Make a trip down like we did.

Debbie

Writing this post, I did a bit of digging on Gentle Paw’s blog and guess what I found? I might be wrong, but it seems like Donna’s grandmother on her mother’s side was a brown dog!

Note: Debbie’s picture I lifted off Gentle Paws blog. Doesn’t belong to me.
Dior and Denny’s photos are by Janicia

I found out about that titbit of information from Dior’s profile page here.

I came to the shelter as a little puppy from Debbie’s litter. I was adopted once but returned, which means I am house trained. It took a long time to get used to the shelter after experiencing the warmth of a human home. – excerpt from Dior’s profile

Is it me or is returning the dog to the shelter after adoption starting to sound like a common theme around here? People, consider carefully before you adopt! Don’t adopt to abandon… sheesh…

Anyway, I had always thought Dior and Denny were strays. I’m sure Florence gave me some background when we were there, but the shelter was a pretty overwhelming environment so you will forgive me if I was distracted and didn’t pay attention very well. :P

But now I know that Denny was a puppy in a breeder farm and Dior was quickly taken into a shelter with her mother upon her birth. So the grandmother, Debbie, was a stray, but not Donna’s parents.

I used to be a stray wandering the streets of Woodlands. Little kids used to throw rocks at me. The only reason I followed my rescuer Wee up his van was because I was pregnant at that time. I didn’t like humans but I knew what was best for my puppies was to follow the human who had been feeding us all this while up his van. This is how I found myself at the shelter all the way at the other end of Singapore. Though the humans call me the leader of the pack or an alpha female, I’m scared stiff of thunder storms. The only humans who have managed to touch me have done so during my pregnancy or during ferocious thunder storms.- excerpt from Debbie’s profile page

Guess, thunder phobia is in Donna’s genes. :(

Anyway, it seems Debbie was one of the first dogs taken in by the people from Gentle Paws. Perhaps Gentle Paws hadn’t even existed then? Anyway, you can read more about her story here.

Buy a dog calendar

Updated Sep 2015 – The Gentle Paws 2015 2016 Dog Calendar is now available for sale at S$10. How to buy.

In Gentle Paws 2016 calendar, we feature twelve of our more difficult dogs and share the stories of just how far they have come.

We are a small, privately run shelter with limited fund raising options. Our calendar sales is the main source of funds that keeps the shelter operating year on year.

Donna was adopted from Gentle Paws, so happy to help spread the word. Hop over and buy a calendar to support them if you’re so inclined ;)
More about Gentle Paws and Friends on their blog and Facebook.

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