Ben Hack

GOODBYE TO AN AMAZING DOG (20 October 2015) 

Alicia tells us “Kev and I adopted Ben from IRR almost 10 years ago.It is with sad regret after years of all the joy he brought to our lives, he passed Tuesday night. He was rarely ill.

That night, he came and laid by my side and then he could not get up. We rushed him to the vet at midnight. She said he was very ill and we had to make a tough decision. He looked at me then laid his head in my lap and just went to sleep quietly and peacefully. I believe he told me it was time.

He was an amazing dog and we loved him very much.

With the horses, we moved to Wales from Basingstoke 3 years ago to a small holding and Ben loved it. He had a huge amount of freedom and loved following us around the fields. I want to thank IRR for the work it does and thank you all for making it possible for Ben to come into our lives”.

We are all dreadfully sorry to hear the sad news about Ben and our hearts go out to Lee and Kev. Thankyou to them both for giving him such a wonderful life after such a horrible start. He was a very lucky boy to have found them.

 Fly free with the angels now Ben.

History

Ben is a 3yr old Golden Retriever who was originally called Bonzo. He and a Collie called Max were no longer wanted when the children came along. They lived in a back yard and under the stairs and had become more and more neglected.

Fortunately, IRR found both Max and Ben the most wonderful forever homes although it was decided they did not need to be rehomed together. Max went to live with Sarah Smith and family and Ben was adopted by Lee and Kevin.

UPDATE on BEN (ONE YEAR ON)

Lee told us ” Ben Is a different dog now. He is slim and happy. When we got him he was very fat, smelly and scabby. He is now beautiful and the vet says he is chuffed to bits with his weight. He can still be smelly at times, though, after finding ripe things to roll in!!

My mum says he waits at the door when he knows it is time for me to come home. He follows me everywhere but now feels confident enough to play on his own in the garden sometimes. This is great as he found this difficult at first.

He loves the open space when we go to the horses and will often take himself off into the woods nearby but always keeps an eye on where we are. He returns when called but responds better to me than to Kev so I have been letting Kev take him on his own to do the training with him. This has worked well as he now responds to Kev a lot better.

Ben is very gentle and kind, he is brilliant with the cats and, even when he gets in their face, they are affectionate to him which is a testament to how they all get on. I love him to bits and although Kev is a little more reserved, I can tell he is also very fond of Ben and will often play with him. Kev has recently started to go for runs and Ben goes too. He loves it and is much fitter.

Ben is brilliant with children and will try to mother them which can be funny to see. He is inquisitive and is as bad as the cats when I come home with the shopping, wanting to know what is in the bags.

So, all in all, he is a very happy dog”.

They came to the Reunions in 2006 and 2007 and it was wonderful to see the huge difference in Ben.