These are the stories of two dogs that have come through NNC Welfare having had a particularly difficult start and found their ‘Happy Ending’.

Before Pictures

Blue came into NNC Welfare in July 2024, after the Police were alerted to Blue’s welfare by neighbours.  The Police arrived to find Blue’s owner deceased inside the house.  They quickly notified John Lloyd of the dire situation and he together with the help of John Austin, raced off to collect Blue keeping him safe overnight.

Blue was approximately two years old, he had been sold to an elderly, disabled man at approx. 18 months old, possibly younger.

Unable to cope or care for the dog, Blue spent his life locked outside in the back garden.  The situation had been reported previously to the RSPCA.  Neighbours regularly fed Blue over the fence and made sure he had water with one even building him a shed for shelter.

On immediate inspection, Blue was emaciated, severely matted from head to foot, so much so, that he could hardly move, resulting in muscle atrophy.

The next morning Blue was placed into emergency foster with a lovely experienced couple.  Aunty S took him straight to the vet where he was diagnosed with a severe ear infection.  Antibiotics were prescribed and Blue was brought up to date with all his immunisations, KC, flea, tick & wormed.  A further appointment was made to have Blue sedated and shaved, nails cut and ears flushed, it was during this sedation the vet discovered a retained testicle.  During this emergency foster, Blue became a real handful for Aunty S.  He was extremely overwhelmed, anxious, boisterous, almost feral, with no manners at all.  He continually counter surfed, jumped up and humped a lot.  He was clearly very frustrated with a lot of pent up energy, confused and frightened.  Despite him being underweight, he was still a very powerful boy.  However it was noted quickly, he had zero aggression, and was a sweet natured boy.  Blue had to be removed and placed into another foster home.  We found one who had lots of land where Blue could burn off some energy and start a training regime.

Blue was transported by one of our lovely supporters, another one of his accumulating Aunty & Uncles…  The lovely Aunty L.  He arrived at Uncle P’s, his 2^nd foster, early evening of the 17^th July.  On arrival Blue was allowed to roam off lead, this was the first time he had room to run for many, many months.  He had a somewhat unsettled night.  The following morning Blue was extremely difficult to handle regarding his very powerful jumping, but quickly calmed down.  He was placed in their large garden where he explored and soon tired.  Later in the day he was walked around the garden in preparation for a controlled meet with a family members dog.  The meeting went fantastic and to date they are best buddies.  Blue encountered many meet and greets with Uncle P, who confirmed Blue was definitely dog & human friendly, a real sweet boy at heart.

Uncle P spent every day all day with Blue, providing hours of training and enrichment which didn’t always go to plan and they had a few bad days.  Blue would get overwhelmed when you re-entered a room, sadly this was the psychological damage of being left, he couldn’t handle the human returning and it was heartbreaking.  One day Blue got so overwhelmed, he jumped at P’s wife, accidentally knocking her over and breaking a couple of ribs.  Morning greetings after bedtime were the worst therefore a plan was hatched.  Every morning ‘P’ would open the door which separated the kitchen/garden from the outside, allowing Blue to run into the garden.  This avoided entering the kitchen and getting jumped on.  This worked well and Blue soon learnt to trust that his human was coming back and the door would be open.

‘P’ immediately put Blue on RAW diet, his weight gain was slow and steady.  Castration and the removal of the retained testicle took place at the ned of July 2024 which was quite straightforward and all went well.  He recovered very quickly.  Training and obedience also went extremely well.  Blue was quick and eager to learn.  Being stimulated with plenty of enrichment and exercise, he became calm, loving and used his new learnt manners 95% of the day.  He was now ready for adoption.

When Blue’s adopter came forward, there was a 4 day window where he had to leave Uncle P’s due to a holiday, but couldn’t go to his forever home due to a holiday either and this was an unbearable situation, as the last thing we wanted to do was cause Blue any more distress and undo all the good work Uncle P had done and destroy Blue’s trust in humans again.  This is where Aunty A came in.  Aunty ‘A’ lived a few minutes ride away from his forever mammy’s house, she gladly took him in, and his forever Mammy collected him ASAP – sadly the mild disruption couldn’t be helped.  He was no angel at Aunty A’Ss house, but he had come such a long way.  The routine, diet and exercise was maintained and he coped really well.

In the middle of August 2024, Kathy, Blue’s now loving forever Mammy, collected him and fell in love.  Blue settled quickly without any challenging behavioural issues.  He is also getting on famously with his Newfie step brother Hugo.  They spend their days running free on the land, mucking out the horses, living like kings and are even allowed to sleep on the sofa.  He’s a real softie and gives the best kisses and cuddles.  He is loved beyond belief and has touched so many hearts.  Blue quickly owned Kathy and demanded to be adopted and as the news filtered through there were many tears of sheer joy and elation.  Blue was finally adopted in late August 2024.

Mr Blue was deservedly awarded the NNC OROVALES BIG BEN MEMORIAL TROPHY 2024.  This is an award presented to a dog that has shown ‘True Newfoundland Temperament & Bravery in Adversity’.

Blue’s Perspective

I might have lived in a few homes, but I can’t remember as I was so young but I do remember travelling a lot.  I remember living in an older man’s garden where I wasn’t allowed in the house because I was too big and strong  I was hungry all the time and wanted to play too rough.  I also knocked his fridge over and ate the contents, they were lovely, but boy I got it wrong.  Anyway… the door didn’t open for a very long time and the lovely people over the fence would give me food and water.  My body hurt because all my fur was matted and too tight, my ears hurt from infection, I was hungry, I was sick of getting too hot, cold and wet.  I was scared and lonely and wanted my human to come and cuddle me.  One day some people called the Police came, they were lovely and kind, they gave me food and water and arranged for a special Man to collect me.

The next day I went to a lovely house, ohhhh wow,  I was allowed inside, I even sat on the sofa.  They took me to see a vet man who prodded and poked me, even stuck sharp things into my sore body, apparently to make me feel better.. mmmm?  A few days later they took me back, I had a bit of a sleep and woke up with a skinhead fur cut.  It felt funny because I could move around without hurting, sadly though I moved a little too fast, and too high and I knocked my lovely lodgers over.

I was taken to another house, who said I could lodge there for a little while, and again (only by accident) I knocked over the lovely lady, I heard them say she had a few broken ribs…oops! (Please don’t judge).  You see, what you might not understand is, my human never returned, and I was always locked out alone and frightened, so when people left the room I would feel scared, but then when they returned I would feel overwhelmed with anxiety.  Uncle P said these were called meltdowns.  Uncle P took me to see one of those vets again, this time I had a long sleep and woke up with a couple of valuable items of my anatomy missing, apparently this was to make me feel better too.  I was so loved here, Uncle P took me everywhere, OMG he was the best, he taught me so many new things.  One day he had to go out and leave me, so obviously I wasn’t going to let that happen, so I jumped the fence to follow him, a fence that Uncle P said was impossible for me to jump, but I’d have done anything to stop him, and it worked….  Uncle P wished he could keep me, but it wasn’t to be, he explained he had places to go and I wasn’t allowed to go with him.

Just when life couldn’t get any better, I went on a special little holiday.  Uncle P explained what was happening and taught me how to be brave.  I stayed with Aunty A for a few days and I tried to be a good boy for her, I think I did ok, she got me all ready to go meet my forever Mammy.

The rest is history.  I try not to think of the past because I love my new life.  I love my newfie brother Hugo, we have the best time playing in our own fields.  We help muck out the horses.  I live indoors alongside my very kind humans and sleep where I want.  I’m no longer cold, wet hungry or thirsty.  I can run and play without hurting, but more importantly, I’m no longer scared.  I’ve never felt so safe or had so many kisses cuddles…I LOVE MY HUMANS.

After Pictures

Before Picture

Nancy was placed in Birmingham dogs home as a puppy/youngster – reported as a stray.  She was eventually rehomed.  Sadly at the age of 2yrs 8 mths she was relinquished back to the shelter with reports of being dog reactive and having separation anxiety, although this could have been circumstantial.  The home reached out to us here at NNC Welfare to see if we could help.  Staff had become increasingly concerned for Nancy’s emotional well being.  Nancy was becoming withdrawn and shutting down, she was not responding well whilst in the shelter.  The shelter was overcrowded and currently housing 96 dogs.  Nancy was desperate for help, she was a sad, depressed fearful little girl.

Following liaison with the Shelter transport for Nancy was organised ASAP and she was again fostered by our very special Uncle P!  We may have to start calling him St P.

Nancy arrived at Uncle P’s house at the beginning of October 2024.  She was warm and loving and responded to human contact immediately.  After a day to settle and roam around her new surroundings, Uncle P got to work with his assessment.  First for a lead walk in the fields with sheep…. That was a BIG mistake and P ended up getting taken for a little run and a slide.  So ok, she doesn’t like sheep, next, the streets and a cafe.  This went better than expected but she was definitely easily spooked and was fear reactive upon close encounters with dogs, but nothing too alarming.

Nancy did great around the home and was loving the attention – she was such a sweet girl.

Training then started where attention was put on calm, kind but assertive leadership.  Not too long after, P introduced the family members dogs and any other dogs he could borrow.  Nancy did great, she accepted sharing the house with them and even enjoyed a little playtime.  Nancy stayed with Uncle P for several weeks and during this time her confidence flourished and her reactivity reduced.  The most important thing is that she came out of her shell, learnt to love and trust again, ate, gained weight and made lots of new doggy friends.  It was time to be adopted.

There were several applications for Nancy but we knew we had to get it right.  This girl could never end up back in welfare, she was far to special for that and had endured far too much already – the psychological damage would have been catastrophic.

Along came Nancy’s, hopefully, for ever Mammy & Daddy but adoption had to be based on how she could live with her, would be, Newfie sister.  Thankfully they hit it off brilliantly and bonded quickly.  Her new Mammy & Daddy had previous experience in dealing with very similar issues to Nancy and felt very confident in their approach.

Nancy is doing incredibly well, she loves her sister and has stolen everyone’s heart.  Her Mammy and Daddy love her to bits.  Nancy is finally safe, happy and will never hit another shelter ever again!  God bless her heart.

Nancy’s Perspective

I’m 2½ years old and I’ve been put in a shelter twice during that time – I didn’t know what I’d done.

I was so sad I just gave up.  I didn’t like all the dogs barking and I was so scared.  The staff were lovely, they could see how sad I was so they rang the NNC to see if they could help me.  Their welfare officer Julia found me a gorgeous home where I could stay until my forever family came along, it was with Uncle P.  I loved it, he taught me so much, he made me feel so safe, I loved him so much, Julia promised I would only go to the best home, someone who could help me, you see I’m a little scared of dogs and will sometimes tell them off and chase them away.

The day came to go to my forever family, they are the best.  I live with another newfie step sister, and guess what! She used to feel like me, but they fixed her, ohhhhh my days, I’m going to get fixed, I can hardly control myself.  So school started, Mam and Dad are quite clear about what I can & can’t do, thankfully for them, I’m a quick learner.  Mammy says I’m getting better every day, I love living with my furry sister, she’s great fun and helps me calm down.

I’m not sad anymore, I’m happy, and the unimaginable happened guys, I’m actually loved, like really really loved.

After Picture