Bob is a very friendly 9 year old collie cross greyhound lurcher, who loves people and other dogs. Bob likes nothing more than a gentle cuddle and someone to rub his ears! He came into the care of the Oldies Club as a stray from a council pound. It has taken a while to get Bob fit enough to be rehomed, but he’s now doing really well and should be ready to go home very soon. Bob has poor eyesight and is sometimes a little clumsy but it doesn’t affect his enjoyment of life.
Bob enjoys a gentle walk two or three times a day, and enjoys a walk of up to an hour or so. He’s generally more of a sniffer and a trotter than a dog that needs a lot of energetic walking, but he will sometimes have a little run and then his ears fly about!
Bob really loves affection and he was rather needy and demanding to start with, with a tendency to use his paws to demand attention! As he has settled in, this has improved, and he will now ’settle down’ when asked, and is happy to snooze most of the day away.
Good offlead when supervised, and onlead
Bob is very good off the lead: he comes when called and stays with his people. However, because of his poor eyesight, it is quite easy for him to accidentally lose you behind a bush, and because he loves meeting new people and dogs so much, he will sometimes be tempted to go bumbling off to say hello. He also loves to wriggle under gates to find out what is on the other side, so needs to be carefully supervised when off the lead.
Bob generally walks very well on the lead and doesnt’ pull. However, he will occasionally will find a fascinating smell and decide to use the lead to tow you over to have a really good sniff!
Can live with other dogs or as an only dog
Bob is living in his foster home with two other dogs, and obviously enjoys meeting other dogs, large and small. He seems to particularly like playful labradors and dalmatians.
Bob is more focussed on people than dogs, and we think he would be fine as an only dog as long as he got a chance to socialise out and about. He does have a bit of a tendency to push to the front wanting all the cuddles for himself, but this is improving as he learns that there will always be cuddles for him too!
Bob meets two Westie friends - including one 18 year old!
Good with cats and other animals
Bob is currently living in a foster home with six cats and has shown no desire to chase at all. He occasionally gets a bit too interested in sniffing at them, but doesn’t show the least aggression if one of the cats decides to tell him off. He can’t do stairs and doesn’t get on furniture, so it’s easy for cats to get out of his way.
Bob has also met some horses and shows no particular interest in them.
Good with older children
Although we don’t know anything about Bob’s past, he has met a number of children and seems to like them just as much as adults. However, he can be quite clumsy and pushy about asking for his cuddles sometimes, so he’s not suitable for a home with very little ones.
Bob’s perfect home
Bob tells us that he would like his new home to give him a beanbag and lots and lots of cuddles!
Bob is very afraid of stairs, and will not walk up them. Given his poor eyesight and clumsiness, this is not entirely a bad thing: he could easily fall down if he was upstairs in the dark. For this reason, Bob’s ideal home would be either in a bungalow, or a house where the people don’t spend too much time upstairs. He is quite happy to sleep downstairs when people go up to bed, but will sometimes cry if he can hear people moving about and talking upstairs where he can’t join in.
Will need a wet food diet
Although Bob was quite underweight, he soon made it clear that he really doesn’t like dry dog food at all. If he isn’t allowed anything else, he will eat just enough of it to keep him going, but not enough to really keep him at a healthy weight, even if it’s mixed with tastier things. Bob is currently eating a wet food with some extra mashed potato, and is doing very well on that : he also likes dried tripe and very much enjoys chewing a nice raw bone : his teeth are in excellent condition.
Fine when left
Bob is happy to snooze when you go out for a few hours, and doesn’t seem worried by that (though he is always very pleased to see you when you come back!)
Health notes
Poor Bob came into Oldies Club care in rather a state, and at first he was thought to be around 12 or 13 years old. He had cloudy eyes, was thin, and was crawling with fleas and also had worms. More seriously, he had a strange problem with his shoulder and neck area which made it difficult for him to stand up and seemed to cause him pain if he lay still for any length of time. He reacted to this by crawling rather than walking, and at first was not up to much exercise.
Bob has had X rays and has seen an orthopedic specialist vet, but there was no evidence what was causing him this shoulder / neck problem. We were quite surprised to discover from Bob’s ear tattoos that he is only 9 years old. Thankfully, after pain relief and a few weeks in the warm with plenty to eat, Bob seemed years younger, and his shoulder problem disappeared.
We have kept Bob in foster for some extra time to make sure that this wasn’t just a temporary rally, but he is still doing really well so we feel that he is now ready to go home.
Bob may need ongoing pain relief. At the moment he is taking Previcox : he will be having some time without this to check if he still needs it. We will update this information once we have more details.
Bob still has poor eyesight and will sometimes bump into things in poor light, but can generally get about with no problems. He will need regular gentle exercise to keep him mobile and fit.
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If you can offer Bob a loving home, please refer to our Adoption Procedures for information about the adoption process. You can then contact an Oldies Club rehoming co-ordinator as follows:
Email: rehome@oldies.org.uk
Telephone: 0844 586 8656
He can be rehomed anywhere in the UK, subject to a satisfactory home visit, but note that you will be required to travel to the foster home in Cornwall to meet him.
