Chester Midgeley-Lovell

HIS HAPPY LIFE WAS TINGED WITH SADNESS (March 2019)

With the new name of Chester, he settled well and was very happy but, in March 2019, the family were all devastated by the passing of gorgeous Bentley at the tender age of 9yrs.

Bentley had been a wonderful role model to Chester when he first arrived and showed him how to be a good Foster Brother, a tradition which Chester has carried on since Bentley’s passing.

HISTORY

In 2017, Buster was a beautiful 6 year old, dark gold, neutered Golden Retriever. He is a lovely young dog who has always lived as a much loved part of a family but, sadly, he was injured in an accident and contracted a broken elbow.

He had to have a plate to secure his elbow which must have caused him ongoing pain and, when a young child accidentally fell over him, he understandably growled. Unfortunately, this made the child wary of him and vice versa so, in Buster’s best interests, it was decided he would be much happier rehomed somewhere away from very young children.

In the UK, he went into foster with Keren.

FOSTER ASSESSMENT

CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT: Buster is very friendly with adults although, because of his past, young children need to be avoided. He makes a low growling noise which is him talking to you and not to be confused with aggression.

Keren says “Buster has a lovely temperament and has been the perfect house guest. After a good walk and play in the garden, he is more than happy to snuggle up & snooze. He will happily climb on your knee and go to sleep snuggled up with you or just take himself on to our settee for a sleep. He likes to push all the cushions off the chair / settee to make room for himself.

He is a lovely boy who is changing every day which is understandable having just left his family and trying to settle in. He loves his teddies and his most favourite toy is his squeaky chicken which we sometimes have to hide when it gets too noisy as he can be full on when playing with anything that squeaks”.

GENERAL HEALTH: He is very healthy apart from his leg but there have been concerns with his right front elbow

SOCIAL LEARNING

Keren says “Buster has won over our hearts. He loves people, has some good training in place (and is still learning). He knows sit, paw, leave, wait and, with a treat, he knows lie down. His recall is excellent”.

BASIC TRAINING: He is now well socialized. He stops, sits, goes to his bed, wait on command and lie down. He came on holiday with us in a cottage and went to the beach.

TRAVEL: He travels really well in our van and also in a car. He’s been with us on holiday to Cornwall and loved the beach. He gets excited leaving the house and goes straight to car / van to be taken on his walk even if he is not going out.

HOUSETRAINED: He is housetrained

LEAD WALKING: He does pull on a slip lead but is not too bad on a body harness.

RESOURCE GUARDING: At first, he would snarl and growl if you attempted to take a toy out of his mouth but, now, having gained trust, there is no evidence of resource guarding

SEPARATION ANXIETY: There are no real signs of separation anxiety although he does bark when he hears you coming in. He sleeps in his dog bed at night in our bedroom so we don’t really know how he would settle being left totally on his own at night. He is happy to be left alone during the day for short periods.

CHILDREN: He is very friendly with adults and children aged over 8yrs but, because of his elbow issues, young children would be a definite no.

DOGS : Being an only dog, he didn’t know how to play and didn’t interact very well with my dogs when he first arrived. He used to pull to get to any dogs we came across while on a walk and, because he was intact when he arrived, he wanted to mate with all the dogs.

Having been castrated and after him having 6 weeks to settle down, this has all changed. He is now such a lovely boy.

At the local IRR dog get-together in Gizzie’s field, he had a wonderful time and was very friendly.

CATS: Buster is very good with our cats if sometimes a bit over friendly.

BUSTER’S IDEAL HOME

He needs to be accepted as one of the family and to join in with them on all levels. As a young dog, he will need his reward-based training to continue.

Buster would be fine in a home without other dogs and with older children but, equally, he would fit into an adult home with one or two, slightly older, gentle dogs. Buster will make a special addition to someone’s household.

A REALLY NICE FAILURE (April 2017)

Keren and David fell totally in love with Chester so he will be staying with them in his Forever Home with his new siblings Bentley and Maisie.