BLAKE... is a golden teddy bear in need of cuddles - and firm but fair handling.
Blake is 18 months - 2 yrs old. medium-sized and he is a... well, we’re not sure, really but we think there’s GSD and collie in there. We’ve never seen anything quite like him and it was his extraordinary good looks and the very lost look in his eyes (see pic bottom right) that made us offer to take him when he landed in Dunboyne Dog Pound last summer .
Blake arrived with us shortly afterwards and was making great progress in foster when he fell ill. The vets didn’t know what it was and It was really touch and go for a while but with a lot of TLC he pulled through and has been fine since.
His only “blip” was that although he good with other dogs off-lead, on lead he could sometimes lunge and bark and this was the reason his first home returned him after a week.
Back in a fabulous foster home, we did lots of work with Blake on this. (It’s something we have to deal with fairly regularly.) He also spent a bit of time with us at BRX HQ and got on just fine wtih all the dogs here, after a small initial hiccup where he “rolled” one of the younger dogs. We discovered that with firm but fair handling, he behaved perfectly and so he went on trial to a lovely home in Surrey with a gorgeous young and very active young male flatcoat.
The two dogs get on fabulously - playing together all day and curling up with each other at night - but Blake does still occasionally lunge at dogs he doesn’t know when on-lead and, off-lead, he will sometimes charge at and roll another dog. He has never been in a fight but it is the reason he is still looking for a permanent home. Well that and the fact that the two dogs have wrecked the garden playing (but we promise that is mainly Freddie the flatcoat’s fault, not Blake’s!)
At home, Blake is a fabulous dog - soft and chilled. He settles well and does not fuss if left for a couple of hours. And he’s fine when out most of the time, too. It’s just that occasionally Blake wobbles if he meets a new dog or new people that are unsure of him. We are confident it is lack of confidence, not aggression, for Blake has never bitten - but a barking, lunging Blake can be, understandably, a bit scary for those that don’t know he’s a pussycat really.
Once introductions are made, Blake is cool. With dogs, he usually wants to play (and , indeed, he goes into kennels where he mixes with a variety of other dogs with no problems at all). With people, he’s a very sweet, cuddly boy.
So we know Blake has it in him to be the most fabulous family dog as he is already that dog 95 per cent of the time. It’s just that he needs a home with a bit of experience and someone who can nudge him on to the straight and narrow permanently.
Blake’s situation is now extremely urgent as we need to find somewhere for him in the next couple of weeks. Ideally, that would be a potentially permanent home, but we’d also be interested in hearing from anyone who might be able to help foster him.
If you are interested in Blake, please email info@blackretrieverx.co.uk asap.
There is an adoption fee of £150 + VAT (total £180) for Blake, which includes the cost of his transport from Ireland, vaxing, flea-treating, microchipping and neutering.
