Parade of Dogs
Parade of Rescue Dogs at IRR’s 2nd Reunion 2006
Ricky, affectionately known as Ricky 3 legs, 4-5yr old retriever cross owned by Julie Granger. His original owners wanted him put to sleep after his accident but IRR paid for his operation and brought him to England. He was fostered with Sandra in London where he proved to be a bit of an escape artist. Fortunately Sandra is one of our most experienced fosterers and took it all in her stride, literally:)) Ricky now lives happily with Megan, his golden retriever girlfriend. He is a very handsome boy and, despite only having 3 legs, he recently won first prize at an exemption show. Well done Ricky & Julie!!
Guy, 5-6yr old lab X, owned by Maggie Hardy King. He was surrendered to the pound by a priest after his owner died. Sandie happened to be there at the time and simply could not bear to leave him to his fate. He has had several operations for entropion and, through no fault of anybody’s, he has had several different foster homes including Lucy and Margaret and Kay who has kindly worked very hard on our website for us but, sadly, due to ill health has had to hands the reins over into the capable hands of Donna, another of our fosterers. Guy has maintained his wonderful nature throughout and, luckily for him, his last fosterer, Maggie could not bear to let him go and he now lives in the luxury he deserves with his little Yorkshire terrier friend, Chico, and several cats.
Kelly, was one in May, and is a golden retriever owned by Rosa who now also fosters for us. She was one of 8 dogs from an ISPCA raid on a puppy farm. Kelly (originally Kerry) was renamed after her mother Kelly who came to England in a dreadful state. They were both in foster together with little brother Bouncer at Joys house where she carefully and gently socialised mum and pups and nursed them to good health. Joy helps Pauline organise all the foster homes as well as 101 other things. The other dogs were Aine, who needed tremendous amount of love and care from her fosterer, Jane who is marvellous at caring for the most severely traumatised dogs and always has excellent training tips to share. We also had Aines older puppies, Ciara and Shannon, who were in a very poor state too. There was also another bitch called Lily and the stud dog, Rooney. Happily, all 8 dogs are healthy, happy and in wonderful forever homes now.
Sophie, 18mths old golden retriever owned by Carol Collison. She was rescued from a puppy farmer where she was tied up all day. She was fostered by Rosa who fell in love with her. Fortunately, Sophie still lives close by so she can still meet her friend Kelly when out on walks.
Jumble, 11mths old, golden retriever X, owned by Anne & Alistair Jones. Anne has recently started to help us with the transport of new dogs over which means some very early morning starts:(( Jumble (originally called Teddy) was one of 3 puppies born prematurely to Alice the day after she arrived in England. Alice, Lisa and Carrie were 3 golden retrievers, liberated by the ISPCA from a puppy farm, and who were absolutely terrified. Carrie was fostered by Carol who also has Molly, the chocolate Labrador who she rehomed from us in 2005 and Travis the GSD. Carol is now Carries forever mum. Sandra, in London, fostered Alice and Lisa and was a wonderful grandmother to Teddy, Rupert and Rory.
Jasper, 2yrs old dachshund, owned by Joy & Victor Whyte. Sandie happened to be at training class when his owners arrived, handed over his lead and said that they were going on holiday and did not want him any more. They then walked out leaving Sandie holding his lead. He was fostered by Pat & Dave until his forever mum came along. Apart from fostering and transporting, Pat does a brilliant job of finding homes for the non golden retrievers that come our way.
Kimba, 4yr old golden retriever, owned by Pam Morris. She was a brood bitch handed over to Sandie with her son, Toby. Her male owner had accidentally run over one of his other bitches and said he wished it had been her instead. She used to be terrfied of men but is absolutely fine now, a wonderful ambassador for her breed, and is adored by Pam and her husband.
Silver, an elderly (over 10yrs) golden retriever also owned by Pam Morris. He was originally dumped because of his medical problems, which is, unfortunately, quite common. Pam fostered him, nurtured him and fell in love with him. He now lives very happily with Kimba and their other rehomed golden retriever Casey.
Molly, 3yr old golden retriever owned by Karen Burdett. She was chained up all day by a puppy farmer and had many behavioural problems. Another fosterer who became an adopter, Karen continues to work with Molly who now lives happily with Kerry, her golden retriever friend. Kaz and her son Luke work tirelessly for IRR both fundraising and fostering. They also did a lot of the ground work for the Fun & Games at our show
Casey, 5yr old golden retriever owned by Gwen Flynn. He was originally called Sam and came to us with his brother, Ben. They had lived in a small yard all their lives. When their owners moved house, they no longer wanted them. Sam was bullied by his brother Ben so we decided to separate them. He now gains his confidence from his friend Cracker. He was one of more than 25 dogs successfully fostered by Andy and his mum,Val. Andy has been running the Fun & Games section today and is always willing to muck in and help with anything when asked.
Twinkle, 6yr old golden retriever owned by Christine Astor. Originally a brood bitch for one of the top breeders, she was rehomed after spaying. She had to have operations to remove lumps but now enjoys good health again. Twinkle was fostered, amongst many others, by Denise and Phil who also helped tremendously with transporting dog and organising visits for them to their vets.
Lola, 18mths old golden retriever owned by Lynne Jones. She is undersized due to having puppies at her first litter. Problems with the puppies meant she was no longer required. Lynne first fosterered and then adopted Lola and, with love, natural remedies and determination, has now almost completely overcome Lolas phobias with the help of Jilly May (the Bernese Mountain Dog) and Sammy (the GSD X who was also rescued by Sandie). Lynne provides all the flower essences and lots of good training advice for our adopters and fosterers. She has also arranged the Sponsored Down Stay to raise funds for IRR and the Cinnamon Trust.
Gizmo, 11mths, retriever X hound owned by Steve Jefferey. He was found scavenging on a rubbish tip when he was about 6mths old. He no longer hoovers his food and his circling and screaming when stressed have almost disappeared now due to gentle retraining and lots of love. He was taken into the parade by Jan who regularly fosters for us and gets up at unearthly hours to meet new dogs.
Danny, 7-8yr old golden retriever owned by Pauline Jefferey. Yet another fosterer failure and the one who bosses poor Joy about. Danny was a stray who ended up in the pound and, unbelievably, this lovely, gentle dog was never claimed. He was clearly once well loved and knew many commands. We suspect his owner may have died and the other family members did not want him, a very common story. He was taken into the parade by Sandie, our inspiration.
Sandie has rescued golden retrievers from Ireland for over 10 years. She has never been known to refuse help to a retriever in trouble and will drive the length and breadth of Eire to save one. A small group of us got together in January 2005 to try to help Sandie with what we thought would be a few dogs in distress and that is how Irish Retriever Rescue was born. So many beautiful dogs have been saved. Irelands loss is truelly Englands gain
Ben, 4yr old golden retriever owned by Lisa Kirton. He was handed over to Sandie when Vi, his elderly owner fell ill with cancer and could no longer look after him. Fortunately, he has struck lucky again with owners who love him to bits. Ben was fostered for us by Mary Lea and her family.
Ben, 3yr old golden retriever owned by Lee Hack. Ben was called Bonzo and he and Max were no longer wanted when the children came along. They lived in a back yard and under the stairs. The good news is that Max, like Ben, also has a wonderful forever home now with Sarah Smith and family after being fostered by Nicola and her family in Somerset.
Paddy, 1yr old golden retriever, in foster with Pat and Dave and then Jan (has now been happily rehomed). He was surrendered to Sandie, being no longer wanted due to the arrival of a child.
Nugget, 8yr old yellow Labrador owned by IRR but in forever foster with Amy Hyde. Amy and Bryony have fallen in love with Nugget who has had to have several serious operations. The state of his health was probably the reason for him being abandoned. He now lives happily with Chance the collie and Willow, a beardie X, and any foster dogs that Amy happens to have both for us and other rescue groups. Apart from being a brilliant fosterer, Amy often meets dogs for us at the crack of dawn and transports them for us.
Darcy, 12yr old golden retriever owned and spoilt rotten by our UK co-ordinator, Lorraine Cannon. He was the first rescue dog to be rehomed by Irish Retriever Rescue although Sandie had been single handedly rehoming dogs for 10yrs. Darcy was a stray taken by Sandie from the pound. He was, no doubt, dumped in favour of a younger model as it was near Christmas. He lives very happily with his Labrador girlfriend, Martha. Lorraine finds the best homes possible for all the golden retrievers and is the UK boss of our outfit
Max, a 2yr old golden retriever owned by Ronnie Bergenthal. He came over earlier this year with Kerrigan, Barnaby and Buddy all of whom are now rehomed. A very handsome boy, Max was surrenderd to Sandie due to the illness of his owner. He was fostered for us by Tracey in Kent.
Duke, an 8yr old golden retriever owned by Julie, yet another failed fosterer. His owners were emigrating and requested he be put to sleep but he was saved by the vet and Sandie. He is a lovely boy who will, hopefully, have many more happy years ahead of him.
Gilly, a young Labrador X, only just rehomed by Nigel Dracup. Gilly had a few strange behaviours like toe nibbling but she left her fosterer, Fran, a reformed character and is now happily living with Nigel, Belinda and their two other lovely dogs.
Emma, a young golden retriever owned and loved by Ali Green. She was another of the 25+ dogs successfully fostered by Andy and his mum, Val. She now lives happily with her lurcher friend, Faith. Ali raised money for us by organising and playing at the Rock 4 Retrievers concert on 5th August. Thankyou very much Ali.
Rupert, 11mth old golden retriever, brother of Jumble owned and loved by Anne Marie Hoppitt. Jumble and Rupert are looking forward to their first birthday party reunion on 15th October when they will be reunited with their other brother, Rory, their mum, Alice, and with Lisa who is probably their granny. This will be at Alice’s house where she lives with Brenda and her springer spaniel friend Sam (pics and report of the birthday bash to follow).
Ben, was Reuben, a young golden retriever owned by Michael Horne. As is often the case, Ben had not been well socialised and was not good with other dogs but, with lots of love and hard work, Mike was able to bring him to the Reunion although, unfortunately, they were unable to stay for the parade. He was, initially, fostered in Wales by Emma, another who has met dogs in the early hours for us, and then by Pauline.
Tom owned by Sarah Shore also missed the parade. He came from a good home in Ireland but they could no longer look after him due to a change in family circumstances. He was fostered by Joan in Surrey who also regularly homechecks for us.
Tara and Goldie, 4yr old yellow labrador sisters owned by Doug & Brenda Puffett. They had to be rehomed due to work commitments and lack of time for them. Unfortunately, they also missed the parade but it was great to see the 2 happy girls at the Reunion. They were fostered by Regina who has been quite poorly recently so could not come to the Reunion with Bouncer and co: We all miss her very much and wish her well again.
Some of the people who have fostered, transported dogs and done homechecks etc for us were unable to come to the Reunion this year but we are extremely grateful to them and hope that they, and more of our doggy successes, will be able to come to our 2007 Reunion.