LEO... is a handsome retriever /collie x boy who is in the same Sligo rescue as LOLA and we think he is her brother. He is similar, except for a white tip to his tail. 


Leo was rescued from a grim situation in January - found living outside with no shelter in very cold weather.  As you can see from the pix below, this is a chap that likes his creature comforts although we hope it might be possible to prise him off the armchair on occasions...


Leo is about 20 months old and is a an easy-going, biddable, well-behaved boy who loves his food and walks.  He gets on well with other dogs and seems fine with cats, too. He is good with children but might be too big for little ones. He is house-trained and settles well at night.


Leo is vaccinated and will be neutered, wormed and flea-treated before going to his new home.


UPDATE 22/6/10

Finally, some new pix of this lad  - the only ones we had before were the very lo-res ones of him in the chair (below) - a black blob (although we did our best to sing his charms!)


Leo is not Lola’s brother (a case of mistaken identity) but the two dogs do get on very well and we hope to at least keep them together in foster when they first arrive to assess how much Leo relies on Lola (quite a bit we think).


Leo is a now a little wary of other male dogs because, unfortunately, he was attacked while in his Irish foster home.  But he tries to avoid them, rather than pick a fight.


Leo to me looks like he needs a bit of TLC, and confidence-building and so we are looking for a loving home, perhaps with an older  confident bitch for guidance.


He has now been neutered.


UPDATE 25/7/10

Leo arrived with Lola last week and is such a sweetie! You can definitely see collie ancestry in how he looks (he even has rear dew claws), but he is very retrievery in nature - a soft, cuddly boy who loves nothing more than to snuggle up to you on the sofa and snooze.  He’s a lovely-looking boy, obedient, submissive to Lola and quieter than she is.  Don’t be put off by the fact that he’s a bit scraggy looking at the moment (it’s been a stressful time) or that he has grey on his muzzle - it’s common in collie crosses and doesn’t necessarily indicate great age - although we do think that Leo is a bit older than the two years old we were told.  Like Lola, he shows signs of a previously hard life - when foster mum Robin took two stick-shaped treats out of a bag with a “da-dah!”, they both legged it. But he is soon persuaded to come back to you for a cuddle.


He is a bit nervous of some male dogs when he is on a lead and will growl, but we’re confident he will be fine once he’s found his feet and trusts whoever he is with to keep him safe.


Leo plays really  nicely with Lola and he walks pretty well on a lead. He has good recall off-lead, too, and he is great in the car, too. Although he and Lola get on really well together, we think they are fine to be separated as long as his in a home where he has human company all day and, perhaps ideally, the company of a nice female dog. He would really suit someone who wants a slightly quieter, really devoted companion - this boy is the friend-for-life type. Although we haven’t tested him with children we think he would be fine - not too boisterous at all. This boy really touches me - bright and loving, Leo would follow you to the ends of the earth.


Leo is being fostered with Lola in Wiltshire (many thanks to foster mum Robin!) and is now ready to receive visitors!


UPDATE 29/8/10

We are totally delighted to be able to say that Leo and his best friend Lola have been rehomed to Mick and Ann and their three children Andrew, Hannah and Daniel, in Gloucestershire.  It is a fab home for these two - a lovely garden, a lot of love, someone around almost all the time and also exactly the  boundaries they need. In fact, the pair of them have barely put a paw wrong since they arrived with their new family two weeks ago.


A huge thank you to Mick, Ann and family for opening their hearts and home to this very deserving pair. Leo and Lola are undoubtedly two of the nicest dogs you could ever hope to meet but of course it is a big undertaking to take on two at once and we were so very worried that we would have to separate them. Miracles, however, do happen.. Now all I need to do is bully them for some pix...



























































(added 22/4/10)