NWESSR

Alfie is a 12 month old Liver and White male working type Springer who is house trained and vaccinated up to date; he is also micro-chipped. He is used to children from the age of 8 years upwards and is fine with other dogs but has not met cats or livestock.

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Alfie was given to the Services by his previous owner who found him a bit too much for him, the idea being that he would be trained as a working dog but he has failed his exams because his working drive is not strong enough. He used to live inside but during the last two months whilst he was assessed he has been living out and is not very happy about it and if the house door is left open he races inside. He is accustomed to being left for approx. 4 hours and is not destructive or noisy. He pulls quite hard on the lead but his recall is good and he travels well. Alfie is a good natured affectionate dog but somewhere along the line he has learnt to food guard and when eating growls if anyone comes near. He is best given his meal and left in peace until he has finished with it.

In the light of this we would not home him with young children who might wander up to him when he is eating; he has never done more than a warning growl and has not bitten but we like to be on the safe side so no young children thank you. Alfie loves to carry things around in his mouth and will retrieve but he does not always give back immediately when asked. Alfie is a nice little dog who has been pushed about a bit for a 12 month old - having had 2 homes already. He needs stability and consistent handling by an experienced family. He also needs plenty of exercise and some training and socialisation.

Millie is a 4 year old Liver and White spayed Springer female with a docked tail. She is house trained and used to being left for around 4 hours sometimes 5 and is not noisy or destructive. She is used to being left in the kitchen and also sleeps there at night  Millie does not live with a family who have children but there is no reason to suppose she would be a problem however we would only home her with older children just to be on the safe side. She is friendly with other dogs when she meets them but has not lived with a cat and has no experience of livestock. 

Her manners on the lead are not very good and she pulls but her recall is ok and she does come back but not always immediately. Millie enjoys playing with her tennis ball and she does retrieve and will drop on command. She has not travelled much in the car because her owner doesn’t drive.

Bobby is a 7 month old Liver and White, neutered, working type Springer who is partially house trained but used to living in a pen outside during the working day, though at this young age he should not take long to become fully house trained. He is used to children from the age of 9 upwards but is lacking in socialisation; his experience of other dogs is limited, he has not lived with a cat nor been around livestock. He tends to chew if allowed but we suspect this may be a combination of boredom and just being a pup. He can pull like a train on the lead but has reasonable recall. 

He travels well in the car and is affectionate and loves attention. He was looking for a home with his sister (Molly 3867) because their owner’s work required him to move into rented accommodation, his sister has now been rehomed. He will certainly need further socialisation and training classes would be a good idea to teach him some manners on the lead.  

Although they have grown up together Bobby and Molly did not need to be re-homed together because the bond they have at this age is not particularly strong. From a training point of view it is easier if they were in separate homes because having spent long days alone together they had become self sufficient as a pair and focused on each other rather than human interaction. This can make training hard going because they would tend to relate to each other and not to you and you would need to be quite experienced and committed to deal with this. (Sister Molly rehomed 15May2010-refer also to May rehomed Dogs for details)

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Crunch is a 2 year old Liver and White spayed Springer female who is house trained, vaccinated and micro-chipped and is being spayed after having a litter of pups last October. She does not live with any children in her present home but we understand that in her first home she did and that they tormented her. She is used to being left for a couple of hours but is left out in the back yard. She pulls a bit on the lead but her recall is good and she travels well in the car. Crunch has had little in the way of socialisation and has not met cats or livestock she is also the only dog in her home so unless she is walked she has not had much experience of other dogs.

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Molly is a 7 month old Liver and White working type Springer who are partially house trained but used to living with her brother Bobby in a pen outside during the working day but at this young age it should not take long to fully house train her.  Molly is spayed  and used to children from the age of 9 upwards but is very lacking in socialisation; her experience of other dogs is limited, she has not lived with a cat and have not been around livestock.   Molly tends to chew if allowed but we suspect this may be a combination of boredom and just being a pup.  She pull like a train on the lead but has reasonable recall and  travels well in the car.  She is affectionate and loves attention. She is looking for a home because her owner’s work requires him to move into rented accommodation. She will certainly need further socialisation and training classes would be a good idea to teach her some manners on the lead. 

Although she has grown up with her brother they do not necessarily need to be re-homed together because the bond they have at this age is not particularly strong.  From a training point of view it would be easier if they were in separate homes because spending long days alone together they have come to become self sufficient as a pair and a relationship like this does not really need a human imposed because they focus on each other.   This can make training hard going because they tend to relate to each other and not to you and you would need to be quite experienced and committed to deal with this. .

Tess is absolutely desperate for a home, she has been in kennels for 5 weeks since her elderly owner was admitted to a Nursing Home suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and Tess is breaking her heart deeply distressed and becoming withdrawn and close to giving up.. 

She is a lovely 10 year old Liver and White Springer who is vaccinated up to date, spayed and micro-chipped. She is house trained and very good with her owner’s grandchildren who range from the age of 2 upwards. She has not mixed a lot with other dogs but is ok when she meets them but has never lived with a cat nor experienced livestock. Tess was bought for her owners 70th birthday; her Dad died in 2004 and her Mum is now in a care home. Poor Tess who has been a family pet is now alone and depressed pining away in boarding kennels. Living with elderly people she has not been left alone much and becomes agitated. She has been their constant companion and is used to constant company and sleeping in the bedroom. Tess is a very lively lady who does pull on the lead but her recall is good and she travels well.  She has never shown any aggression to anyone and will be a delightful and devoted friend to her new owners.

Monty is a lovely affectionate 6 year old Liver and White Show Springer who is house trained and well behaved in the house. He has now been in kennels for a few months and is desperately looking for a loving home.  

He was used to sharing his home with a Border Collie but chases cats and has no experience of livestock. Monty is fine being left for about 4 hours and is used to sleeping in the kitchen in a cage with the door open which he uses as his bed. Monty occasionally barks for attention but is not noisy or destructive. Like most Springers he is full of energy but unfortunately his owners, who have only had him 12 months have never managed to establish a reliable recall so they no longer let him off the lead.

We have discovered that Monty is deaf and could be trained to hand signals or  trained to return for a treat using something such as a humane (vibrating) remote control collar , if required NWESSR can provide such a collar indefinately to a new owner.

It would be great if Monty was rehomed with another dog so that once again he can share a loving home with a friend who can hear. He is very affectionate and is fine with children and with other dogs but not used to cats. He loves water and also enjoys a nice warm bath. He loves to play with his toys or a tennis ball but will let you have it back if you swap for a treat otherwise he hangs on. He doesn’t growl or anything, he just won’t let go.

Montys owners have lost their jobs and are moving south but they cannot take the dogs. The Collie has been re-homed to a friend but with Monty being a Springer he is a little more demanding and needs a home with people who are experienced with working breeds. 

What he really needs above all is a special home where he can settle in slowly with an owner(s) who will understand his deafness and adapt to it, giving him the quality of life he deserves.

Chippy (registered name Mr Black Jack) is a terrifically handsome Black and White 4 year old (5 in May) neutered male Springer who is house trained, vaccinated up to date including kennel cough and micro-chipped. He is in good health with no known medical problems but he did have a pin inserted into his front leg following an accident when he was 6 months old when he fractured his leg.  This does not cause him any problems at all. Chippy is a much loved family pet who is used to children and in fact grew up with his owner’s son who was two years old when they bought Chippy. He is fine with dogs but has not lived with cats. He is generally fine with livestock but will chase lambs if not on the lead and is generally submissive with other dogs except when on the lead when he tends to guard his Mum. He is used to living inside but in good weather does occasionally go in a kennel and run when his owners are out. He pulls a bit on the lead but his recall is good and he loves to travel in the car. 

His favourite occupations are chasing his Frisbee which he will do for hours if he can find someone to throw it, going for long walks and carrying things around in his mouth, he particularly likes his Mum’s slippers but will carry plastic bottles, drinks cans and anything he can find. He also loves to roll over on his back and have his tummy tickled. He is not destructive and does not chew. Like many dogs he does not like being cornered or feeling trapped particularly by strangers and unfortunately a friend of the sons came round (someone Chippy does not know) and he ran at Chippy, grabbed him round the neck and hugged him very tightly; Chippy was alarmed and probably very uncomfortable and he nipped the child on the chin then ran into the house and hid. He has never shown any signs of aggression before and this really was not his fault he acted out of surprise and alarm. This was completely out of character but unfortunately his owners have been very shaken by this and the parents of the child have reacted badly and are not prepared to accept that their sons' behaviour may have been partly responsible for this unfortunate incident.