Joey Richardson

FAREWELL TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BOY (22.3.2018)

A distraught Mike and Gina tell us “We adopted Joey our beautiful boy from you in March 2009. Unfortunately, after nine wonderful years, we lost Joey last Thursday, 22nd March – he was 13 years old. Joey was the love of our life and we are numb with shock and sadness.

He had a very healthy and happy time with us but started to get seizures about six months ago. These were very distressing and our vet did her utmost to control them. Sadly, Joey had a very violent seizure out of the blue and, although recovered to a certain extent, next day he tore ligaments in his back leg whilst out walking and could not stand.

Joey was our fourth Retriever, our first with IRR, and we feel absolutely lost without him. He loved other dogs and enjoyed our large garden and all the fabulous walks nearby. After his initial poor start in life, he got to trust people again. We know we could never replace Joey but we would love to try to find a similar dog with his wonderful temperament”.

HISTORY

In 2009, Joey was a young neutered Golden Retriever who was fostered by Val and Andy in the West Midlands.

INITIAL REPORT 23/02/09

Andy said. “He came to stay with us on Friday morning, after being handed in to the dog pound for apparently running away. As you can see he’s a big handsome dog with a gorgeous deep gold coat. Since he got here he’s shown no inclination at all to move further than a couple of yards away, let alone run off.

He’s quite timid, and I suspect he’s been treated quite roughly in the past, as he flinches, and cowers if you make any sudden movements. He’s very affectionate, and the big cuddle monster loves to be made a fuss of.

He’s good in the car, jumping in quite happily, walks perfectly on the lead, is house trained and seems to be OK to be left, although he’d prefer not to be. I haven’t had chance to test him with children and other dogs yet, but will do so asap.”

UPDATE MARCH 2009

Joey has now gone to his forever home.

UPDATE ON JOEY FROM MIKE & GINA

Just to let you both know that Joey is a wonderful, fantastic boy. He was marvellous in the car, a little nervous in the cabin when the ship sailed, but soon settled down as the sea crossing was smooth.

We feel that he has been with us (on the Isle of Man) for months, not just a couple of days. He is a delight to walk on the lead and has not shown any fear towards visitors or other dog walkers in the park. We love him very much and are so pleased he’s part of our family. He is very clean and just loves his grub

Thank you to Val & Andy for giving him a great start for us. Without your kindness, I think our job would be a lot more difficult.

UPDATE APRIL 2009

We had to put Joey into our regular kennels as we had a holiday booked abroad. Jennifer, the owner who has looked after our previous Goldies said he was wonderful and thinks we have really struck lucky in adopting him. We think so too! Jennifer always texts our mobile if we’re away with ‘messages’ from the dogs, just to put our minds at rest.

We got him home and he certainly felt at home, tearing around the garden, chasing after his ball but never retrieving it, and finally eating his breakfast. He is now asleep in the lounge with us.

Joey is coming with us on Wednesday for the Easter holidays. Our family are dying to meet him. They’re expecting a quiet, placid, perhaps frightened little dog but they are in for a surprise! Joey has really come out of his shell – Mike wants to rename him ‘Pickle’ as he is into everything, picking things out of the waste bin, getting socks etc. out of the linen basket, we don’t think Val and Andy would recognise him now. A lot of people have told us they think he is younger than four, maybe eighteen months or two years old.

Thank you once again for finding him for us. He has eased the pain of losing Riley.
Mike, Gina and Joey

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2010

Gina says “Joey is doing absolutely great and we often think of Val and Andy. We moved to our new house in September and have been very busy but Joey now has his own secure paddock of nearly an acre, together with a garden nearly the same size.

Joey was initially a nervous dog who did not like strangers in his home, especially men, and he flinched with sudden movement. He is a lot braver now and just barks at them until we give him the o.k. He still acts like a two year old, he is so lively and doesn’t go for walks, he goes for runs! I do find it hard to get him to walk on the lead at a comfortable pace until he is on the homeward stretch and then he slows down. He has filled out considerably but it is mostly muscle.

We are only now 3 minutes drive from a beautiful beach with sand dunes that stretch for 5 miles each way and Joey goes there twice a day. His main interest is chasing rabbits, there is a massive out of control number by us, but he has never caught any, thankfully. He does find the odd ‘corpse’ and runs around with it in his mouth. He is so happy all the time, has never chewed anything he shouldn’t have, never been destructive, in fact he is the perfect dog and is also a lot of fun and makes us laugh!”