Ludlow School + Hamish + DoodleAid = Spreading the love

On the 20th November 2020, we couldn’t wait for our interview with Doodle Aid trustee Karen. We had lots of exciting questions to ask and things to find out.

Doodle aid (a charity that help poodle cross breeds) was founded in 2007. However, it has only been a charity since July 2016 when a lady called Caroline rescued a golden doodle called Almo. Amazingly, only 6 people (trustees) work for doodle aid and they are volunteers (don’t get paid), their jobs are: Rehoming, fund raising, accounting and managing the website. So far, they have rehomed 400+ dogs. The reason they help only poodle cross breeds is because the founder had 4 doodles already. Before Doodle aid became a charity, it was a Facebook page known as Doodle Mania (it is still a page and it has merchandise). Sadly, staff aren’t allowed to rehome dogs as they think other people would like them more.

Doodle Aid rehomes 50-80 dogs a year though has only rehomed 28 this year due to Coronavirus and has none currently waiting to get new owners. The longest time a dog has had to wait for a new home is a year, in which they would go to kennels. This would cost Doodle Aid roughly £14,000 annually. The first dog to go to kennels was called Teddy. The most likely reasons people give up their dogs are:

The owner has passed away
The dog is not good with children born before\ after them
The owners cannot cope
The owners are moving far away\ maybe on a flight
Or the owners have new circumstances maybe a job far away so they can’t spend time with their dog.

When Doodle Aid find out about a dog that needs rehoming, they ask the owners about why they want to give up their dog. Next they would ask for details about the dog. Afterwards, the charity would send a questionnaire to the owners to ask about the dog’s food and problems. Next, they would send an advert out on the website and Doodle Mania explaining about the dog. After this, applications would come in – roughly 0-200. Back at the charity, trustees would narrow the entries down to 5, then home check those

houses to find the best one for the dog. Currently due to Coronavirus the home checks are done on zoom. During this time, many will become sad at not being chosen and the owner/s may have to give the dog back in which the whole process would start again.

Doodle Aid lets the owners who gave up their dog stay in touch with them because the founder of Doodle Aid met a lady with her dog, who was upset because she couldn’t stay in contact with her old dog. The cost to rehome and look after a dog depends on what the dog needs, the food and if it needs to go to kennels. Another thing that the dog might need, is groomers, vets and dog behaviourist. If someone wanted to get a dog from Doodle Aid, for a puppy up to 12 months it would cost £320 and for an older dog (over 12 months) it would cost £270. The only reason a dog couldn’t get rehomed was because of illness and they were put to sleep so they didn’t have to suffer. Doodle Aid keeps in contact with every dog they have rehomed and the dog’s old owners still have their dog in their life. Karen told us Doodle Aid has rehomed less dogs this year and the last dog she rehomed was in September. Doodle Aid only rehomes dogs in England, Wales and Scotland.

Karen showed us her white Cockapoo called Ella who was a Doodle Aid dog which inspired Karen to become a Doodle Aid trustee. One of Doodle Aid’s favourite dogs was a little, Mongrel dog called Kenny (named after a famous Liverpool footballer because he was found in Liverpool) who was discovered on the
streets in 2018 and was given to Doodle Aid as a last hope. Members of the public held fundraisers for Kenny and when he was taken to the vets they found he had many illnesses and later found out he was blind. For the
rest of his life he had to have medications daily but he was given to a foster home and sadly he only lived one more year but that was his happiest year of his life.

Most of Doodle Aid’s trustees favourite part of their job, is the rehoming of the dogs and knowing they are happy and in their forever home. The difficult part of the job is dealing with the sadness of the owners giving up their dog as they can’t cope. A funny story we were told was one of the trustees went to the vets with her friend and her dog, as they were early they went for a walk round the park. The dog called Stanley was sitting on a bench and one of the ladies had left her handbag on the floor and Stanley jumped down and pooed in it!

All the money we have raised, will go towards Doodle Aid and the charity will spend the money on foster homes, grooming, vets, transport and food. The charity relies purely on donations and the kindness of people.

It was lovely interviewing Karen and we enjoyed learning about Doodle Aid. One of our favourite times in the interview, was when Karen showed us her white Cockapoo who was a very cute dog. From Karen, we got a good idea of what it is like to be a Doodle Aid trustee.

Reported by the Hamish Newshound Team, Amelia, Hannah, Joe and Luca