Story
<p>Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to have a look at this page. Our story is a long one, so here's a summary of it.<br><br><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The People</strong></span><br> <br> In case you don't know us personally, here is a little info. Neither of us are fitness freaks who spend our lives in the gym, we are just normal people who want to raise money for a charity that we care about. <br> <br> Jo has been fostering dogs for Pro Dogs Direct for 5 years. In this time she has had a variety of dogs for different lengths of time. She currently fosters Robbie and Jack, a JR and a GSD X. Jo also has 2 labradors, Rommie (chocolate) and Remus (black), 1 cat and 5 hens. <br> <br> Laura has been training dogs professionally for 3 years, teaching agility for 1 year and has lived with dogs all her life. She currently has a ginger cat that thinks he is a dog. Laura has been involved in animal rescue for many years and has often taken in stray or abandoned dogs. <br> </span></p>
<p><span class="text_exposed_show"><br> <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Charity</span></strong><br> <br> Pro Dogs Direct is a charity that runs exclusively by volunteers from around the country who share a love of dogs. They carry out home-checks on potential new adopters, foster and help to find homes for rescue dogs all over the UK. Although these people give their time for free, the cost of rescuing and rehoming a dog is high. Many need urgent vet care, all must be flea treated, wormed, microchipped and neutered/spayed. Obviously none of this comes cheap, so they rely on donations from the public to enable them to help dogs. This is where we come in. We want to raise as much money as possible and help them to continue to support the dogs who desperately need it.</span></p>
<p><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>The Event</strong></span><br> <br> In November 2012, we will be heading to Borneo for a 10 day trek through the rainforest for the charity Pro Dogs Direct. We hope to raise at least £8,000, which will go towards covering the costs of rescuing, fostering and rehoming dogs like Albert (profile pic) who need expensive vet treatment. <br> <br> For those who don't know, November is monsoon season in the Borneo rainforest which means <span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">that it will definitely not be a holiday for us. With few basic, home comforts, we will be sleeping in tents wherever we stop for the night. Over the 10 days, we will be covering about 150 miles in heavy rain and high humidity. Add a phobia of insects and the possibility of serious coffee withdrawal symptoms and you get a very tough challenge for both of us. </span></p>
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<p><span class="text_exposed_show"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Some of The Dogs</span></strong><br> <br> Albert is an 8 year old English Bull Terrier. He arrived at Pro Dogs Direct with a severe flea allergy and has since been put on antibiotics to help his skin. He has to be bathed daily to help him recover faster. He is currently in foster care with several other bull terriers. So far, his treatment has cost £700. Pro Dogs Direct operates a non-destruction policy and will continue to pay for Albert's treatment until he is fit enough to be rehomed. Since arriving, the changes in him have been incredible. </span></p>
<p><span class="text_exposed_show"><br> Doodle is an 8 month old Labrador x poodle (Labradoodle) who was repeatedly returned to his breeder due to a 'shoulder complaint'. After he was passed to Pro Dogs Direct, x-ray's were carried out and it was discovered that he had FMCP. Fragmented medial coronoid process (FMCP) means that he has fragments of bone in his elbow joints, making any movement extremely painful for him. On top of this, Doodle has hip dysplasia making his life incredibly difficult. It will cost around £4,000 to get him the operations he needs in order to have a pain-free life. Pro Dogs Direct are dedicated to doing this, but need our help to be able to.</span></p>
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<p><span class="text_exposed_show">Please help us by donating money to our cause. We are giving up every comfort for 10 days in order to raise as much money as possible for the charity. We're not asking for huge donations (although those would be nice too), we're simply asking that you donate whatever you can afford, however little that may be. You can also help by sharing the link with others and encouraging them to donate. <br> <br> The more money we raise, the more dogs Pro Dogs Direct are able to help, including Albert and Doodle.</span></p>