Alex Chudleigh

ALEX IS IN HIS FOREVER HOME (21.2.2015)

Despite a lot of interest from lovely caring people, it was proving impossible to find the perfect home for Alex as he had, inadvertently, found that perfect pad in his foster home with Lyn and her dogs in Bristol.

Alex is in a house totally geared up for dogs. He has plenty of doggy company from friendly dogs that he trusts. He has his own private field where he doesn’t have to meet new dogs in scary situations. His human is at home almost 100% of the time and she prefers being with her dogs to going away on holidays. What more could he want?

It just wouldn’t have been fair to move him again when he is so settled and happy and the dog’s welfare always comes first with IRR so, it is official, Alex is in his forever home.

People in his local area (Bristol) take a keen interest in all he does and he even has his own bank account for any medical emergencies.

ALEX’S STORY SO FAR

UPDATE FROM HIS NEW FOSTER HOME (19-1-15)

Alex is now settling into his new foster home in Bristol after having to move because of the unforeseen health problems of his previous fosterer, Joe. IRR can’t thank Joe enough and wish him well again very soon.

Undoubtedly, the brilliant training that Joe has put into Alex has made the transition as smooth as possible for him. This includes teaching recall, good lead walking and the important commands of “left” “right” “step up” and “step down” which have made learning the layout of his new garden relatively easy especially with the vocal help of his new fosterer, Lyn. Already, in only 24hrs, he is cleverly negotiating the garden well.

Being a typical Retriever, he adores people and loves getting gentle fussing from anyone prepared to spend some time with him.

He is fine with Lyn’s two “old girls” and they are being very gentle with him although he does bark at them when they decide to move and he trips over them.

Today, he rather liked the smell of a very young Lab x Setter visitor and decided she was someone to play with. Eventually, though, so much activity ended with him crashing out fast asleep and, no doubt, dreaming of his beautiful new young friend.

All in all, Lyn thinks he is quite an amazing dog and, with a little understanding of his needs, he will make someone a wonderful companion.

UPDATE ON ALEX (6.2.2014)

Alex has been with his fosterer in Bristol for 3 weeks now and he continues to amaze. What a guy!!!

We thought he had found his perfect forever home very locally and all was going well, with regular visits and even a sleepover, but then cruel fate dealt him another blow and a totally unexpected change of circumstances has left his prospective family devastated at being unable to adopt him and Alex again seeking his forever home.

Everybody who meets him agrees he is much more likely to be about 3yrs old not 6 yrs old as we were told.

Personality

Alex is extremely loving and likes nothing better than sitting at his human’s side with his chin rested on their knee. He is the complete opposite of what we imagined he would be because of his disability. He is extremely trusting and quite confident most of the time. To see him chasing round playing with one of his friends and negotiating the ups and downs of the garden is almost impossible to believe.

Joe did an amazing job with him during the time he spent with Alex when he and little Pixi first arrived from the Balkans.

He is not a needy dog but he is an extremely happy one and he seems to take everything life throws at him in his stride. He is a good boy when left although, of course, there has always been another dog with him for company.

Social Learning

House training: Alex is very clean although it is important to watch his signals for needing to go out.

Lead walking: He walks very well on a lead. He also has a harness and a very fetching coat which tells everyone he is blind. He has been off lead in a very safe place and is proving to have a good recall. He is very biddable and extremely intelligent.

Dogs: Alex is being well socialized with a lot of other dogs. He definitely prefers the ladies but is also fine with quiet, gentle male dogs who aren’t in his face which he doesn’t appreciate. With younger females he will play and play.

Children: He is very puppyish in nature and is always keen to play but he wouldn’t be able to cope in a house with a lot of children especially small ones. However, with one of two slightly older children, who would respect his disability, then he should be fine.

Cats: He is untested with cats

ALEX’S DREAM HOME

Originally, we thought Alex’s dream home would be somewhere not too big where he could feel confident and safe but he is proving to be much more proficient than we ever imagined. However, he does like to stick to routine and he does get fazed when faced with a situation where there are strange dogs about.

Alex would definitely like a home with another dog, preferably a youngish female, but not one who would try to be too bossy with him.

Ideally, he would like someone to be at home most of the time but, with plenty of loving, regular exercise in a safe environment and a best buddy as a companion, he would probably be just as happy if he had an owner who had to go out for a couple of hours.

An energetic retired couple would suit him well as would a family with one or maybe two quiet children but he couldn’t cope with a young family or a noisy, busy household.

Alex is a wonderful dog who has gained many admirers. He deserves a fantastic home and IRR will make certain he gets it no matter how long it takes.

ALEX’S EARLY HISTORY

Alex is a lovely, good looking neutered male Golden Retriever who is, sadly, totally blind due to the recent onset of retinitis pigmentosa.

We thought he was about 6 yrs old and he was very underweight on arrival but, with a good feeding regime, originally 4 times a day and then down to three, he went from 19kg to almost 22kg with his goal weight being about 24kg.

THE STORY OF TWO DOGS

We were told Alex and Pixi were seen being dumped out of a car on a busy main road in the Balkans. They were eventually found wandering along the highway. A man took them in but had no money to look after them so they were fed by people from a rescue who noticed a problem with Alex. He was eventually diagnosed by a vet as being completely blind. We had thought Alex & Pixi were inseparable but Alex only really followed Pixi for security.

In fact, Alex and Dixie (as he became) were not inseparable. It turned out Alex, in true Retriever style, was only following his little buddy so he could steal his food!!

INITIAL ASSESSMENT FROM JOE IN THE UK

Alex loves a fuss but, at the moment, is very uncomfortable being cuddled because he is fearful of what might be happening to him. Unlike a normal dog, he is unable to read body language and can’t be sure of peoples intentions.

Social Learning
There would need to be someone at home most of the day, especially in the early days of his adoption, to best assist in Alex’s orientation & training.

Alex is now fully housetrained but his adopter would need to learn to read the signs that he is asking to go out as he doesn’t do anything very obvious like barking or scratching the door.

He is being fostered in a small, one bedroom bungalow which is the absolutely ideal size for a home for him. He is very biddable and has quickly learnt where everything is (as long as his fosterer moves nothing) and he can already move around quite quickly and confidently. Anywhere too big would confuse and frighten him.

He walks quite well on a lead and doesn’t pull. In fact, he can be too slow sometimes because of his caution which would ease with trust. He is particularly wary near traffic but that makes sense as he was found on a busy road having been probably thrown out of a car. It’s possible it was because of his blindness which has only developed recently that he was abandoned. Pixi may not have been thrown out of the same car but they, no doubt, teamed up on the highway.

Dogs and cats As with people, he is unable to read body language and can’t be sure of the intentions of other dogs. Some also find it hard to read him too which isn’t helped by his permanent stare which can be taken as a sign of aggression, especially by some dominant dogs. Unfortunately, this has led to one or dogs in the village where he is being fostered not taking too kindly to him although, with the majority there is no problem.

Alex and Pixi do still cuddle up together and are friends but there are times when Dixie, being so young, is playful and takes liberties with poor Alex which he doesn’t appreciate. In the ensuing fracas, Dixie, who is so small that he can stand under Alex, could very easily get himself accidentally hurt even though Alex really doesn’t have any bad intentions.

Alex may do better without another dog as long as his human(s) are with him almost all of the time although he would probably be quite happy with a not too young, gentle, calm dog as a companion.

There is probably no reason why he couldn’t live with a cat as long as it didn’t booby trap him by getting under his feet.

Children Unfortunately, living with children would probably be out of the question because toys left about and furniture moved would totally confuse him and having cuddles, however well intentioned, would terify him.

ALEX’S DREAM HOME (from initial assessment)

Alex’s dream home would be somewhere not too big where he could feel confident and safe and where he can live happily for the rest of his life. This could be with an active retired dog savvy person or couple who have the time and patience to allow him to learn slowly. If they can do this, they will be rewarded by years of happiness with the wonderful dog who is lurking hesitantly just beneath the surface and who is just waiting to come out.

Experience of living with a blind dog would be an advantage but is not essential as Alison, who is supermum to our amazing and very famous Stevie is more than happy to have a chat with potential adopters about the joys, rewards and pitfalls of opening your heart to a blind dog.