The story of Lilly

Lilly joined our family from BTW on 06 May 2010. When she arrived she was under weight and rather unkempt and in season. We were lead to believe that she had lost a mate and was pining which had caused the weight loss.   We have 3 children as well as another boarder and as such were concerned that Lilly may not fit in given her reported back ground.

After a few minutes of acclimatisation we were amazed to find Lilly fitting right in. She played in the garden with the children and was very keen to meet Billy, our boarder (who is complete). This was obviously a meeting that would have to be well supervised.

Lilly was allowed to settle in for a day and kept in a cage at night (as is Billy), the next day she fed well and appeared to be very happy. She had settled so well that I decided to try and groom her. Her fur was very long and un kempt and I thought I may have a struggle on my hands however I was astonished to find that she sat and let me strip her. There were of course a few tender moments but I was very pleased with her allowing me to handle her after such a short time in our care and what a pretty girl she turned out to be.

The next day we started with some basic handling training. We had been informed that Lilly had never been allowed off the lead and we needed to understand the extent of the training she had had if any. Lilly responded well to her name and to sit commands. With some treat encouragement her recall was good (within the confines of our garden.) This lead us to believe that while the training she had had was basic she would respond well to positive methods.

Over the next week we have walked her on the lead which she does very well and continued basic handling training to which she is responding well. She has been micro chipped and checked by the vet and is now a fully integrated member of the Wilson family and happiest with her best friend Billy. 

There are of course a few issues: Lilly appears to be very dog aggressive which is something that concerns us given that she is 3, this not unusual in the breed and we believe that with sufficient socialising we will overcome this minor character flaw.

As part of our socialising program we took Lilly and Billy to a local dog show on Sunday and to surprise Lilly walked away with 2 rosettes: 3^rd in the best rescue dog category and a fantastic 2^nd in the prettiest bitch category. Not bad given that we had only had her 10 days

The story Of Betty

We have always liked Border terriers but my main breed is Labradors I have shown them since 1982 and Rescued them since 1990.

Five years ago in November we went to look at a litter of Borders at a farm nearby.  All the pups were outgoing and coming to meet us  but I saw a small face right at the back  of the kennel just peeping.  I asked about her totally ignoring all advice about choosing an outgoing puppy.  I asked about the pup and the farmer said she was shy and that he wasn't sure if she was ok or not.  She curled into a ball like a hedgehog.  In fact apart from the colour she didn't look a typical border. I asked what would happen to her and he said as most people wanted them for working she would most likely not attract anyone and would be put down.

We bought her home with us after paying £250.  She was very shy but we had other dogs so she took to our  German wirehaired Pointer Ned but we noticed she had little dizzy like fits and held her head to one side. Sometimes she would fall over so we took her to the Vet and had tests done.  She wasn't epileptic  and the Vets felt her brain could have been starved of oxygen at birth.

She settled in our family very well.  She is the most gentle girl.  We cannot put a lead on a collar on her neck as she just falls over so she has a harness and happily walks on that.  Occasionally she  has her wobbly moments if she gets too excited  and we just stop and after a few minutes she is fine.  She is a funny girl.  We are lucky enough to have an acre of garden with access to acres of walking.  Sometimes she will come with the gang for a walk and sometimes is a bit of a recluse and stays by the fire. We also have a static caravan in the lakes she likes to come there too.

I often wonder if fate took us there that night because we only saw the litter on the notice board at the local corn mill when we went to stock up on food and went to see.  We certainly didn't need another dog...

We wouldn't have changed her at all.  She was meant to be with us and happily lives with a Labrador Nell, a Giant Schnauzer Golly, and a bossy little Pug called Pat.  Sadly her buddy the GWP Ned, my lovely boy, passed away with Cancer aged four years when Betty was two.

Glenys Fryer

Labrador rescue and Fullwell Labradors.

 

 

The Story of Thomas

I just wanted to tell the story of Thomas, who has a very sad tale to tell.  My precious little old boy Toby died on the 23rd January 2009 after a long period of illness, he was 16 and I rescued him as a 12-year-old when his family had gone off to France and decided to leave him behind!!  He had a nice last few years of life with me and was treated with dignity and respect but lost his battle against liver disease and following a period in 'dogs hospital' he had a fit early one morning in my arms.  I was devastated as he was my best friend.  I still have his ashes under my bed as cannot bear to bury him outside on his own.

I called the Rescue Centre to tell them of the terrible loss, in tears and through my tears said that I would love to give a home to another little dog if one came along, not for one second thinking it would be the very same day.  I spoke to a friend who said a Puppy Farm had been closed down and they had rescued several caged Border Terriers.  They had one 5-year-old male who had been caged all his life and was the stud dog.  He was 'rather overweight' and in desparate need of a home and some serious TLC.

So needless to say, I said 'I'm on my way to get him'... We travelled over 200 miles in deep snow and there he was, my little Thomas drying off from his bath in front of the fire living with his BTW reps.  The most lovely little boy with the biggest roundest brown eyes you have ever seen but he was scared of his own shadow.  I loved him immediately and took him home.

He now shares my life, follows me everywhere and he sleeps at the side of my bed on a bean bag as is afraid to be on his own.  He has two beds -one for the day and one for the night!! -very spoilt.  He has been with me now for nearly a year and is getting a bit more confident now but a long road.  I am up before work walking him at 6:30am and my mom looks after him all day (and spoils him!!) and then he waits for me to come home at the end of the day to go on an adventure to see his big brother (Reiver my horse!!).

This year he was crowned Reserve Champion Lorry Dog of Great Britain at the Royal London Show (where I was competing with my horse -how funny!  (Thomas was not impressed that Reiver was Champion in his class though!!).  We had to run around a huge indoor arena in front of a big crowd to 'Who let the dogs out'.  Thomas was wearing a bow tie and was covered in glitter -bless him.  He had such a fun time.  He loves coming to the shows and loves to sleep in the lorry!  And steal food from the BBQ -all vegetarian of course!

I am honoured to have found such a remarkable little dog, who against all the odds has turned out to be the most gentle, faithful and loyal little boy and I thought I would share our story.

Donna-Marie