NWESSR

Duke is an 8 year old neutered Black and White Springer who is vaccinated, house trained and micro-chipped. He is sociable with other dogs but has never lived with a cat and but is regularly walked through livestock (on his lead).  Duke is used to being left for reasonable periods (about 4 hours) he is left and sleeps at night in the kitchen. 

Duke walks well on the lead and his recall is good he travels well in fact usually goes to sleep. He has good basic training and is fit and active enjoying walking, swimming and larking about in the water (he lives near the coast so often goes in the sea). 

He enjoys retrieving his tennis ball but he is not keen on being brushed and is terrified of the Hoover. He does have one unfortunate habit in that he likes to bring you live hedgehogs, though he doesn’t hurt them. 

He has been in the same home all his life and is used to children from the age of ten upwards but his owners have just had their first baby and Duke is clearly jealous of the baby and his Mum. He takes no notice of the baby if someone else is holding it but is definitely uncomfortable when his Mum is giving her attention to the little one and has grumbled a couple of times. His owners feel that for 8 years he has been their baby and he is not going to cope with suddenly being pushed down the pecking order so they have decided he would be better off in a family who have older children and where he does not have the same strength of bond with just one person.

Duke is a lovely dog and has never shown any aggression before and so they don’t want to put him in a position where he feels any resentment to a newcomer arriving in his home, taking "his peoples" time and attention from him.

Update 29-06-2010 After finding a potential new home for Duke the owner decided that they could not bear to part with him after all, he is now staying at home with his Mum

TOBY is a 3 ½ year old Liver and White male Springer who is house trained and castrated. He is used to living with children from the ages of 6 to 11 years and is a friendly boisterous young fellow who is used to being left for between 2 and 4 hours and is not noisy or destructive. He is a lovely family dog who has never shown any aggression towards people and is fine with other dogs except occasionally when they are on the lead. He does however have a strong working drive and will chase and sometimes catch rabbits, ducks, wild birds and cats with the inevitable results. His owners neighbours have lots of small pets such as rabbits and Toby managed to escape into their garden and catch one of their rabbits. 

His owners feel they can not take the risk of this happening again and have decided that he needs a new home away from temptation. Toby loves his walks and will retrieve and give back his ball when it is thrown for him but will not drop it, you have to take it out of his mouth. We are looking for an experienced home for Toby with a family who can commit to spending time with him and making sure that he gets the exercise that he needs. He is a very intelligent dog who comes from working stock an active home where he can use his brain as well as his legs would be ideal. Some further training would not go amiss   

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Hugo needs a very special home because he has had a truly awful time. Aged only 12 months he was found abandoned in a flat when the Police conducted a drugs raid. He had been there without food or water for 5 days that we know of. Some kind people took him in but unfortunately he did not get on with their dog. Hugo is a delightful if somewhat nervous young fellow who is house trained and very sociable once he gets to know people. 

He is still very under weight but has improved since being rescued and with good food he will continue to do so. Obviously we don’t know a lot about his past but it can’t have been good. He loves to travel in the car and is great with humans but not comfortable with other dogs and goes on the defensive and is an unknown quantity with cats, livestock and furry and feathery things. He is not good on the lead but his recall is good and he loves to travel in the car, go for walks.

Flyn is a 6 year old Liver and White neutered male Springer who is house trained, vaccinated and micro-chipped. He has been bred from working stock and on his Sire’s side has many Field Trial Champions which gives him a strong working drive and would readily take to agility or Fyball perhaps because he really needs to use his brain as well as his legs. Flyn is used to sharing his home with another dog but is not accustomed to cats or livestock. His owners do not have children at home but he has always been fine with visiting children and those he meets when he is out and has never shown any aggression to anyone. He does pull on the lead but his recall is good when let loose however he hunts rabbits and if he can catch them will not let them go so we would not want to place him in a home with small furry things nor because of his lack of experience with children in a home with young children although there is no suggestion that he would be a problem with kids. Flyn loves walks and playing with his toys and as you can see by his photo he is a great swimmer who loves water. Flyn lives inside and is fine left for reasonable periods but has never been an only dog so ideally a home with another dog for company.

Cassie is a 9 year old Liver and White female Springer who is spayed, vaccinated and micro-chipped. She is house trained and accustomed to living with her owner’s two year old child. Cassie has always been an only dog but is fine with other dogs in fact she has a very laid back attitude to them but is a little afraid of boisterous dogs. She is accustomed to birds and livestock (although no dog should be off its lead when walking where there are sheep) but has not had anything to do with cats so we do not know what she would be like. Her health is good but she did have surgery to her right ear (removal of the inner ear) to cure an intractable and severe ear infection some years ago. This means that she is deaf in her right ear. Cassie can be safely left for reasonable periods and has the run of the house; she walks well on the lead and her recall is very good. 

Cassie is a bit of an excitable traveller and tends to whine. She loves her walks in the countryside and like most Springers is particularly fond of mud.  Cassie is looking for a home because recently someone startled her when they touched her (possibly because of her hearing defect) and she grabbed their hand with her teeth. She did not break the skin and has never done anything like this before but her owners are concerned that as their two year old son becomes more mobile and friends begin to come to play and life gets more hectic this may become a problem. They have therefore decided to seek a quieter home for her where she is not likely to be put in this situation.

Jaffa is a 6 year old neutered Liver and White male Springer. He has been in his present home where he was placed by NWESSR when he was 12 weeks old. He is a very handsome chap who is used to children and is fine with cats and other dogs but he will kill hens if he can catch them and chases sheep which is why he is now looking for a new home.

Recently some sheep escaped into the woods where he is usually walked and Jaffa chased, caught and injured one. The Farmer has threatened to shoot him if he catches sight of him again and as he lives in Wales, where he is surrounded by sheep, his owners do not feel that they can take the risk of him coming to a sticky end. Jaffa is used to being left for reasonable periods and he is shut in the kitchen when his owners are out. 

We can explain Addisons disease and its treatment and prognosis to you in more details should you be able to offer him a home. We will arrange for your Vet to be put in touch with his present owners Vet. 

Below is an extract from an article on Addisons; 

Outlook for Affected Dogs

Addison's Disease is a very satisfying disease to treat for a veterinary surgeon. Most cases of Addison's Disease return completely to normal with treatment, and those that are not completely normal have a more than adequate quality of life. However, it is a potentially life threatening disease, and you have to be vigilant. Dogs die with the Addisonian Crisis. All dogs with Addison's Disease require lifelong treatment. It is vital that the medication is given regularly, even when the dog looks better.

Update 16th June 2010; Since Jaffa has been looking for a home his owner has decided that she cannot face parting with him, plus the upheaval of being rehomed may not help his condition. Thankfully - with a change of arrangements - Jaffa will now be staying at home with mum