Roxie Hearn

SADLY, PASSED OVER RAINBOW BRIDGE 11.7.2017

In 2009, Roxie came from Ireland and was adopted by a family but, after 2 years, due to a change in circumstances, Roxie moved back into IRR care. Claire wanted to foster and Lorraine delivered Roxie to her new fosterers in 2011. After about a week, Claire couldn’t let her go so they adopted her.

A very sad Claire told us “She has been such a wonderful dog, very characteristic and she opened both my husband’s and my heart. She was with us for 6 years.

When she came to us, she was quite unfriendly, distant and not seeming to want to be in the same room. It look a long time to train her and work with her but soon she felt at home. She was a great companion who would always give you her paw when she felt a little insecure. She loved water to the point she would try and swim in a puddle. Nearly every day, she was in the river and chasing ducks. She could even dive under the water and stay there for quite a long time. She was also a pro at opening presents.

Unfortunately, Roxie passed away after a short illness on the 11th July 2017. She is greatly missed by all the family but she has left so many wonderful memories with us.

We wanted you to know she was happy in the end with a family that loved her very much”.

A big thankyou to Claire and family for stepping up and giving Roxie six extremely happy and very special years. How can time fly in the blink of an eye like that?

Now have fun at Rainbow Bridge, lovely lady.

EARLY HISTORY

REPORT FROM HER FOSTER HOME

Trixie (now Roxie) came to us as a foster dog on 8 September. She was reported to have travelled very well from Ireland.

The first thing she did was to have a drink but then ‘dug’ all the water out of her water bowl. Fortunately, I had placed the bowl in the garden. I then gave her ‘digging tray filled with water’ and a separate drinking bowl and it only took her about one minute to figure which was which!

As she had been living outside, she wouldn’t come into the house at first but as it was a lovely day we spent all day in the garden. Gradually she gained confidence and began to explore more and more, entering the conservatory timidly at first but by the end of the day she had found her way into the lounge.

She was very badly matted and a bit smelly but by the afternoon she was letting me cut some of the knots out out. I think that she was just so grateful for the attention.

We took her out for a walk and she was very strong on the lead. At our mealtime she tried to steal a sausage from my husbands plate. It was at that point that we realised that she needed to learn some manners. However, she slept all night outside our bedroom door and gave us no problems.

The next day we had to take her to our vet because some of the knots were so large and so close to her skin that they needed to be shaved. Everyone there fell in love with her and she loved all the attention, the vet nurse soon had her on her back, legs in the air and half asleep.

The following day we decided to give her a shampoo in the garden. We were dreading this as our Goldie Bailey, who we lost last year, used to hate any water that was even remotely clean and would do anything he could to resist soap and washing – bath day had to be like a military operation! Not Trixie, we could have managed it without a collar, she stood perfectly still and absolutely loved every minute of it. She was filthy dirty and must have felt so much better.

We worked on her pulling on the lead and she learned very quickly what was expected of her.

We also did a lot of work with her at our mealtimes and eventually she learned so well that she actually practiced complete avoidance. A very clever dog !

Trixie is the most affectionate dog and would be happy to be cuddled all day! (suits me)

She clearly was missing children as she would actively seek them out during our walks. I had no worries about doing the ‘Children test’ with the help of my neighbours boys, the only problem that I foresaw was her letting them go home ! Needless to say, she passed with flying colours.

To sum up, The kindest of retrievers, a very fast learner and would make a fantastic family dog. I could have re homed her 3 times locally (including our own Vet). Every one that she met fell in love with her (including us) A very special dog deserving a very special family.

REHOMING DAY

It was time for Trixie to go to her forever home !

James and Julie and their two children arrived on Saturday morning to meet Trixie. It was love at first sight !! It was almost as if Trixie knew that this this was to be her forever family.

We had no qualms whatsoever, this was a match made in Heaven.

If we could have chosen the perfect family, this would have been the one that we would have picked.

It was very hard to say goodbye to our little girl, but we knew that this is what Trixie needed.

The family have been brilliant, keeping us updated by email and sending us lots of photos. She has settled in very well, eating and sleeping well and loving having the children to play with.

Thank you Irish Retriever Rescue for bringing them together.

UPDATE ON ROXIE

James says. “Roxie is fine and everyday that goes past she seems to have settled in even more. Our routine has changed a little as expected but Roxie has also begun to fit in around ours!! She has found ‘her spot’ in our hall way where she will now happily lay whilst we are eating and doing general stuff around the house. She loves a good play with the kids and still has her mad half hour!!!!”

Roxie is eating well and she is still happy to lay downstairs by herself during the night which has been fine. We have been giving her a walk in the morning and one in the evening however we allow her to determine how far she wants to go as sometimes she does become tired. I am sure this will improve. I think mine and Julie’s fitness is also improving!!!!”

“Roxie has taken to our bean bag now!!!!”