Page 19 - SPRING 2023

MY LIFE AND OTHER DOGS

However, two weeks later I was showing no His tail didn't work and just hung down

signs of improvement when a phone call behind him. There was something different

came through from BTRF HQ, a dog in an about this dog in the way he communicated,
emergency situation needed a place to rest I knew almost immediately, and it was
his head for a couple of days could we help? confirmed the next day by our vet, he was
That's when Bert came into my life, and completely deaf. So hardly surprising that
everything changed again for me. he was scared when he first arrived – not
being able to hear too would have been so
24 hours later on a cold wet and windy difficult for him.
evening, our doorbell rang and that's when I
met Aunty Trish, a behaviourist from BTRF. We spent the next couple of days getting to
Aunty Trish had come to oversee Bert’s know each other with lots of advice from
introduction to me and his new foster Aunty Trish and for all his blustering, he was
carers, I was very excited but on my best really a sweet old guy without much life
behaviour. experience, he just didn't know how to react
when presented with new situations.
About an hour later a specialist pet
ambulance arrived with Bert on board. At For example, meeting other dogs because
this point I should say due to data he was deaf it was difficult to reassure him,
protection, much of Bert’s history can't be so I started to go out front on our walks and
spoken about but this is what we know. He meet other dogs showing him there was
was kept in a kitchen almost permanently, nothing to fear. If I met a dog I wasn't sure
never walked and fed a diet of human food about I would block it with my body and
.
burgers, pizzas, chips etc so not good. gently ease it past Bert. He very quickly
stopped reacting to other dogs and began to
When Bert came into the house, he was settle down.
clearly a very stressed dog and barked
constantly at me. Now, I speak fluent dog In other news the
but even I hadn't got a clue what he was top team at BTRF
trying to tell me. I did sense that he was no HQ formulated a
threat to me, so I did not react and just let healthy diet plan for
him get to know me at his pace. It is always him to get some of
a very difficult and stressful time for a new the excess weight
rescue who doesn’t know where he is or off.
what has happened to him, I remember how
I felt but I knew that Aunty Trish would have We were on the right path to get him back
a plan to help him settle! to full fitness but then just when we thought
we could relax, Bert’s health took a nose
What was apparent was the dreadful dive.
condition he was in, a Bedlington of his
height would probably weigh around 12kg,
Bert weighed nearly 20kg and his back legs
could hardly support him. He was like a
barrel. He would sit on his tail with his back
legs in a ten to two position, it was very
strange.

info@bedlingtonrescue.co.uk www.bedlingtonrescue.co.uk