Roxy

In 2008, ROXY was 7 years old and looking for a new home due to a change in family circumstance which meant that she would be left on her own for over 12 hours a day. Her owners therefore reluctantly decided to have her rehomed.

SO SAD TO LET HER GO

Her current owners say, “Roxy is our dog and we love her. Roxy is a very gentle, affectionate dog. She is also rather timid, both with other dogs and people she doesn’t know. She can get fairly boisterous playing with pull toys with the family. She enjoys a certain amount of nudging and pushing while you wrestle her for a toy. She is happy to be left on her own for short and long periods of time.

Roxy loves walking in woods, lying in muddy puddles and sleeping in sunspots. Although our garden is not enclosed, she does not wander off on her own. She is quiet although will bark if she thinks it’s time for dinner. She will also bark when told to ‘speak’ and bribed with a treat. She has a really lovely wuff. She has been part of our family for over 6 years and we will all miss her but feel that she needs to lead a proper dogs life. A year ago Roxy had a series of epileptic fits over two days, she now takes tablets for this and there has been no reoccurrence. Two months ago she had a hysterectomy following pyometra, She has fully recovered from both these events and is a tough old girl.

Roxy is currently in the Perth area of Scotland and will be moving down to Southern England around 7th September.

Roxy is now being fostered by Simon and his family in the Midlands.

SIMON’S INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Simon says. “It’s Roxy second night with us and she’s slowly settling in to family life with us noisy Midlanders. I’ve got to say she’s coping admirably with what must be quite a traumatic change for her and I know she’s missing her previous owners. That was evident on the first evening when she sat by the front door for most of the night and had a forlorn look that would melt your heart. However, that night she settled down in the living room and slept without any cries or whimpering and there were no accidents the following morning.

She happily takes her Epiphen tablets wrapped in a piece of wafer thin ham and then polishes off her morning or evening meal. Her appetite certainly has not been affect by the change!!!

She’s fabulous with my kids and their friends and has gracefully accepted any fuss they’re willing to give her. Thomas my 18 month old has been getting to know her very well and she has accepted him crawling around, under and over her with good humour. There’s only been one occasion where she’s had a little grumble at him.

She gets on with my other two dogs very well, however, she hasn’t really played with them just had a sniff and let Bruno lick her ears and that’s about it. At the moment she doesn’t seem too bothered about toys, she’ll just carry her ball from one room to another and maybe if you’re lucky she’ll bring the toy to you.

Her favourite spot at the moment is the sitting room, which is the quietest room in the house and she seems quite happy with her own company. She doesn’t do stairs and she doesn’t jump into the boot of the car either, she’ll put her front paws on the lip of the boot and then you’ve got to lift her back end.

When out for a walk, she plods along at her own very slow pace and no amount of encouragement is going to speed her up. Even off the lead she’s happy just to amble along and is phased by nothing – birds darting out of the undergrowth, squirrel’s leaping in the branches, cats, other dogs – nothings got her pulse racing yet.

To sum her up I would say she’s a very placid, quiet, easy-going dog that’s got deep sorrowful eyes that just say love me. She’s a beauty!! “

ROXY HAS GONE TO HER PERFECT FOREVER HOME

Simon says: “Roxy has only been with us for just over two weeks and has become a very special part of our family so today was one of many emotions as she left with her forever family.

I knew almost instantly that Roxy had found her new home, as she was very quick to return their affections which for her is unusual as normally she is quite a reserved dog. The walk that we took with their dog, Jaxs just confirmed that Roxy had found her forever home.

I wish all of them many happy years together and I look forward to receiving an update on how Roxy is settling in.”

ROXY AFTER THE FIRST WEEK IN HER FOREVER HOME

We collected Roxy from Simon, in Wolverhampton, just over a week ago when we were on holiday in Somerset for the last week in September, so she has had to cope with three different houses in just over a week, and a considerable amount of car travelling – from Wolverhampton to Somerset and from Somerset to East Sussex.

Despite this she has settled in amazingly well. The picture above shows Roxy and our other dog – Jax. They have not been friends from the start but have moved from outright indifference into toleration and now we are just starting to see some signs that they are taking an interest in one another. Jax however still looks indignant when Roxy makes off with one of her soft toys, but she just goes and retrieves it when the opportunity is right only, of course, for it to be taken again at a later point in time!

Roxy has not given even a whimper at night and has slept through until about 5am when, for the first few days, she would bring you a toy to the side of the bed and expect you to play with her! She now seems to understand that, at 5am, that is unlikely to happen and this morning she did not move until the alarm went off.

She is getting much more enthusiastic about her walks now and whilst for the first few days she tended to slouch along, she now has a bounce in her step – mostly we think driven by the need to demonstrate to Jax that she is not going to be the one behind!

ROXY – TWO MONTHS IN HER FOREVER HOME

Ellen and Phil said, “Roxy has been with us now for just over two months and it seems as though she has been here forever. She has adapted to our pattern of life so well and has really formed an attachment for our other rescue dog Jax. Roxy doesn’t let Jax get away with anything however and if Roxy thinks she might be missing out on something she is there in a flash, especially if food is involved!

She enjoys her walks but will move a lot faster when Jax is ahead of her. If for any reason she is out on her own with one of us then her pace is considerably slower – Jax seems to provide the incentive for her to keep going. She did surprise us the other day when she chased after some rabbits when walking in the woods. We didn’t believe she could move that fast. She came straight back when called however, in direct contrast to Jax who, once she has started a chase will be totally distracted and impervious to any calls to come back! Perhaps Roxy can teach her a thing or two in this regard.

We have also discovered that, although she is reluctant to do so, Roxy can jump into the back of a car unaided. She normally just goes to the back of the car and puts her feet up expecting you to lift the rest of her up into the car. However if you let her have a run up and give her a lot of encouragement she can manage the jump very easily. She had a blood test last week in connection with her epilepsy and we are pleased to say that she was bang in the middle of the possible range and so is able to remain on her reduced dosage of tablets, subject to further blood test once every twelve months.

Roxy is also continuing to respond well to her diet and has lost around three kilograms since she came to live with us – we are continuing, with regular trips to the vet to be weighed – to try to get her weight down by another few kilograms. She remains, we are pleased to say, very food centred and can get quite vocal if she thinks we have forgotten her dinner. Unfortunately, like Jax, she will also scavenge for food when out on her walk and neither of them is very discriminating when it comes to what to eat – cat mess seems a particular favourite for both of them!!!!

We are very pleased that Roxy has come to join our family and that she has settled in with us so well.

We would not be without her for the world – thank you so much IRR.”