Things at EGLR HQ are as busy as ever, dogs are still coming in thick and fast. On the up side, rehoming is holding up. We have rehomed a couple of our long stayers (Casper & Amber) and all but 1 of Amber's pups, and we have definately saved the best puppy for last, Lily is a little sweetheart.

We are in urgent need of more volunteers, as the rescue is getting busier we are struggling to keep up. We have plenty of opportunities, even if you can only spare an hour here and there. We are crying out for someone to help us with our sponsor dog scheme. this helps us raise vital funds for the rescue, which at the moment are desperately needed. We are seeing more and more dogs coming in to our care who have been kept in horrific circumstances, which has meant a sharp increase in our vet bills (which were already fairly depressing!).

We also need more foster homes; with more and more dogs coming in we are having to use kennels to get them to safety which is also costing us money. So, if you have the time and space in your home to help keep these dogs safe and loved, or for more information on any other volunteering opportunities please give Pip a call NOW!!

We rely entirely on volunteers for everything we do so even if you can only spare a few hours to transport some dogs or organise a fundraiser in your area please give us a call.

Hi all,

We have recently been contacted by and artist who is looking for rough coat / long haired lurchers. She wants to paint these dogs for an exhibition in March and will donate one of the pieces to EGLR to auction to raise funds. So, if you live in the London / Hertfordshire area and fancy seeing your dog's picture adorning a gallery wall please get in contact with the artist www.katewyatt.co.uk

Every Christmas its the same; all rescues struggle with too many dogs, not enough homes, dogs being put down in stray pounds and no space to get them in. But this Christmas was definitely the worst I have known in our 21 years.

Hi all,

This week has been just as manic as last with dogs coming in thick and fast. Please keep an eye on our adoption pages to see what we have coming in. We are trying to keep the adoption pages as up to date as possible but if there are no suitable dogs on there please call us. We may have your perfect dog but haven't managed to get them on the web yet.

Thank you all so much for your kind donations of indoor kennels and food. We now have 5 indoor kennels (hurrah) but unfortunately have no where to put any more! We do still need food though (hint hint) the pesky dogs just keep eating it!!!

Phew! it's been a hectic few weeks and is showing no sign of letting up. I think we're going to have a busy Christmas!!!

2 lurcher X collie pups 1 male 1 female

Snoopy, an adorable whippet springer cross, 14 weeks old, black 15" to the shoulder, good with cats

Storm a 2 year old smooth coated greyhound lurcher, brindle, needs to go with another dog

Penny a 5 year old whippet lurcher

Dora a brindle smooth coat - 2 years old

Sparky a 5 year old deaf white lurcher

All of these have either just arrived or will be with us by the end of the week. As you can see from our adoption pages, we have an awful lot of dogs in at the moment and are stretched almost to breaking point. I know I keep asking, but we urgently need food both dried and tinned, adult and puppy. If you would like to donate something for Christmas please consider sending us some food or a donation. We have foster homes all over the country so you don't need to be local to drop of a bag of dog food, we may well have a foster home near you.

We also desperately need a large indoor kennel, all of ours are in use at the moment and if we get another sick or injured dog in we have absolutely nowhere to put them!

So if you're feeling like our own little Santa please donate a large indoor kennel - or a big stack of cash!!!

The 2010 EGLR calendar is now on sale. Check out our shiny new shop to get your copy.

You will also find some lovely 'little dog laughed' stationary and cards and some great lurcher related books like the hilarious Walking Ollie and Michael Morpurgo's heartbreaking tale of the life of a racing greyhound 'Born to Run'. Not only will you be supporting our work, but you might just also find the christmas pressie you've been searching for.

We have been very lucky with rehoming recently, even my beloved Ariel has found a loving new home where she is absolutely loving her new life. Thank you to everyone who donated money towards the operation she needed on her leg. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you.

On the flip side we have not been so lucky with the poorly dogs and September's Vet bill was £4250 (deep intake of breath!) so if you can make a donation no matter how small it would be very much appreciated. We know finances are tight and we do all we can to keep costs to a minimum. We are run entirely by volunteers and the majority of our food is kindly donated and we couldn't keep going without this support so thank you all. However, unfortunately it never ends and just as we get one dog mended and rehomed another comes through the door so your ongoing support is desperately needed.

Okay we have had a very busy manic few weeks. Luna came in with a broken wrist, Katie came in with mamory tumas, Suzie still kept bleeding when she shouldn't be, long after her season should have finished. Dougal the puppy came  in with sarcoptic mange, really bad. We have also had a bitch in with bad teeth, a hermaphrodite (he/she) that has got to have an op next week, and so on and so on, our bank manager will be having a flying fit with the amount of money going out.

Food glorious food?!? not enough of i'm afraid particularly Butcher tripe mix (we have one dog that can only eat Butchers or it gets a bit messy!). We're worrying about what x-mas will bring if more of this this is what to expect, it's all a bit of a nightmare!

Fosterers you are amazing dont know how you do it. We got a very good response to our first newsletter (well done sophie). Please get those draw tickets in if you havent already every bit will help,and it's not too late to get in touch and get more draw tickets if you need some.

Golden oldies are definately this months must have! check them out on the dogs to adopt section of the website, i'm sure you could find space for one or two, and they so deserve permanent homes.

But seriously please try and help us any way you can, every little helps.

On a happier note we would like to say a huge congratulations to John and Debra, and their EGLR dogs Millie and Gracie. Millie and Gracie were the first ever lurchers to enter the Grand Prix finals at East Midlands Agility Club and Both dogs and owners did amazingly well, Gracie even finished 7th in the primary agility finals - well done all!