George H

Border Collie · Male · Senior · 9 years

George is a lovely border collie, born in Feb 2014, who has found himself in need of a new home due to his owner's (our neighbour and friend) increasing poor health and frailty. Sadly his owner passed away less than 2weeks later. George has been used to a relatively free life, spending long periods in his large garden while his owner was busy outside. He has been a much-loved companion who didn't particularly go out mixing with other people and dogs but who is still friendly with new people and is good with other dogs when properly introduced. He hasn't had much to do with children, cats (he has ignored the sanctuary cats so far) or livestock up close but would still ideally be suited to a rural home with plenty of secure outdoor space. In the house he loved to snuggle up with his owner by the fire but could be a bit cheeky and chew cushions, newspapers etc if left alone indoors so he would be left in his secure yard if he couldn't be supervised. We have also found out that he finds the TV a bit stressful and will bark and spin if there's something noisy on (eg football or music). He also does this in the kennels when it's busy although he does settle at night if we leave his pophole open - he doesn't appear to like being enclosed in a small space. George is neutered, vaccinated, chipped and flea/ worm treated. He has been checked by our vet and found to have a very sore, inflamed ear - this was so sore that George needed a muzzle to tolerate examination and treatment. As soon as the treatment was over and the muzzle off he was back to his happy waggy self but it is clear that caution will be necessary when being handled around his head. He also had sore feet which needed regular bathing (again he needed to be muzzled when they were very sore) although the frequency of this has been reduced. Following a short course of steroids his ear is now clear and he has been started on a maintenance medication to minimise the chance of any recurrence. At first we thought he also had hip dysplasia as he was showing signs of pain in his back end but following x-rays we now know his hips and knees are good but he does have spondylosis which is a condition where the vertebrae grow abnormally and eventually fuse - it is currently at the point where the 2 affected vertebrae are beginning to touch and this is causing him some pain as well as making him sensitive to being touched around his back and back legs. He is on meds for the pain but when the vertebrae eventually fuse he may be able to wean off some of these. For all these reasons an adult only home is being sought. George is not doing well in the kennels and is beginning to show some kennel stress - he will snap when going back into his kennel and will then spin and bark - these are repetitive behaviours which we will work on but it does reinforce our decision that he will need a very experienced adopter willing to use a hands off approach and read his body language carefully. As he's used to having a lot of freedom we hope to find an adopter who will allow him plenty of time o just do his own thing - we think that being free to come and go from a large secure garden and choosing when to be in or out will suit his needs very well.

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