Bertie Perkin

Tragic news, 4 March 2021

Bertie’s mum, Liz said:

“This beautiful boy Bertie gained his wings and went to Rainbow Bridge on 4th March 2021. Sadly, Bertie had Lymphoma , he was only 5 1/2.

We collected him from Alan mid-April, 4 years ago . What a boy he was, naughty, funny , helpful , unhelpful, loving and a great big brother to Betsy. He gave the best kisses .It goes without saying how broken we are.

He will be with Max and Ollie, his golden brothers, pain free.

Poor little Betsy is really lost, followed him everywhere and did everything he did.
Be happy and healthy darling Bertie.”

HISTORY

Lord Bailey (now called Bertie) is an intelligent, golden coloured, male Golden Retriever. He is 18 months old and has been neutered and microchipped.  

Lord Bailey was advertised on Done Deal by his owner as the children no longer had any time for him.

When IRR contacted them the owners were unaware of the charity. The owners loved him very much and wanted to give him the best possible chance of getting the right home so they felt surrendering him to IRR would be the best way to make sure he would be safe and loved.

He is currently being fostered in the UK with Alan and Celia who are experienced fosterers

PERSONALITY

According to Kathryn, Lord Bailey is excitable but very affectionate. Apparently, he loves coconuts and can crack one easily.

Alan tells us “Bailey is tall with the most lovely golden coloured coat. He is a very loving and very affectionate boy who loves to cuddle up to you and shower you with kisses.

He is a lovely boy, bursting with love, and not frightened of showing it. After having his umpteenth play session with Darragh, he loves to climb up on the settee and cuddle into you. Given all the positive attributes he already has, as he matures, I am sure he will become a very well rounded boy”.

SOCIAL LEARNING

Bailey’s biggest fault is hanging round the table at meal times. He always tries to put his head in your lap which makes us think he has been fed from the table. He does have a tendency to put his feet on the worktop but he has never attempted to steal anything. He also jumps up now and again so, for this reason, we don’t think he should be placed with a family that has young children.

BASIC COMMANDS: Lord Bailey understands the basic commands and he does sit nicely but any other commands leave a bit to be desired because, as is usual with a young Goldie, he has very selective hearing.

TRAVEL: He travelled well in the car after pick up but he has not been in the car again since that day.

HOUSETRAINING: We have only had one accident and that was on pick up day and that was down to us not reading the signs. Bailey makes a little cry if he needs to go out and toilet. There have been no more accidents since pick up day.

LEADWALKING and RECALL: He is strong on the lead and his recall needs work but he will be a fantastic pet if a little training is put in.

I have been walking him on a harness with a short lead so I have more control. If you allow him to have the full length of the lead, he can be very strong if he sees anything that needs investigation. He gives the impression that he has not had much lead walking in his past life. Whilst in foster, there has been a slight improvement with his walking on the lead.

He has now been walked alongside the main road and, even though there was quite a bit of traffic, he wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

SEPARATION ANXIETY: Bailey shows no signs of separation or any other form of anxiety. There have been no nights on the settee or even a peep out of him when we have gone to bed.

RESOURCE GUARDING: There has been no evidence of food guarding. He is very happy to have us standing next to him and for the boys (two other Golden Retrievers) to walk past him whilst he is feeding. He loves to walk round with a toy in his mouth and is very happy to share toys with the boys. There have been no signs of resource guarding whatsoever.

CHILDREN: He loves children and is great with them and is a very friendly boy but he does have a habit of jumping up when he meets someone which we are trying hard to rectify.

The girls from next door heard on the grapevine that we had a new visitor so they came round to meet him. After an introduction, he was very happy to meet them and behaved like a perfect gentleman. He also met our oldest granddaughter and, again, behaved very well.

He has also met new adults this week and has been very friendly with them.

DOGS: Bailey seems to get on well with almost  all other dogs and fits in well. He has been very good with all the dogs he has met since he came to stay with us although he did meet 2 new dogs this week. With one, he had no problems but the other approached him barking and Bailey wasn’t very happy with this. As both dogs were on the lead, nothing came of it.

He loves his playing but a lot of this is at Darragh’s insistence.  If allowed, Bailey and Darragh would play non stop all day. To start with, their play consists of a low key bitey face but then evolves into chasing each other around the house. No doubt, he would be better settled if he was living with an older dog or dogs.

CATS: He has had no encounters with cats since he has been here but he did meet a chicken on the road outside our house today and just blanked it.

LORD BAILEY’S DREAM HOME

Lord Bailey loves other dogs but he would probably also be fine as an only dog provided there is plenty to keep him occupied and he has lots of company. He would be too boisterous for young children.

I am sure with the right adopter his little faults would easily be ironed out and he will become a fabulous member of a lucky family.

April 2017

Bertie has gone to his Forever Home.