LABRADOR RETRIEVER RESCUE
SOUTHERN ENGLAND

Paddy MaGinty
We do not know Paddy's original name, however he now answers quite happily to 'Paddy MaGinty'! He was abandoned on the streets of Dublin, taken into the pound, and given just a few days to be collected before he would have been put to sleep. The Ash Animal Rescue removed Paddy, and several other 'death row' dogs from the pound and asked LRRSE if we had a suitable home for him. As we could not ascertain Paddy's history, area co-ordinator Sue Birmingham took him in to her home for assessment ... and he has never left! When he arrived with Sue, she realised that Paddy must have been really loved by someone at some point - and as you can see from the photo, he took no time at all to settle in and bond with his new family! Although perfectly clean within the house, Paddy prefers to spend most of his day in 'his spot' in the garden, soaking up the sunshine and playing with his now vast array of old footballs, before retiring to the house in the evening with his new family.

Lottie
Hi Sue!
Just giving you an update on Lottie (who was known as Flo). We adopted her in early December.
She's still a lively, manic girl who loves to run off lead but is becoming far better mannered! She walks to heel on the lead (most of the time!) and even off lead sometimes, comes back when called (again, most of the time!) and is a happy little beauty!
She's fantastic with the kids who all adore her, and she is currently enjoying the warm weather - sitting out in the sunshine every day looking like a princess!
We did have some early problems with her such as chewing but seem to have overcome that. Training is ongoing as she's a bit dizzy sometimes but she's absolutely fab and friendly and we wouldn't be without her. She's brought so much joy to our family.
Thanks ever so much for all the hard work you do to find good homes for dogs such as Lottie.
We are currently considering adopting a friend for her (and like the look of Annie who's gone on the web today!) and will undoubtedly come to you if we do!!!
Many thanks
Shelley

Mikey
Dear Sue
It is a month now since we came to Chessington to meet Mikey and take him home. The time has really flown by and we cannot believe how well he has settled in with us, and what a change in him in such a short time. When we first got him home he was so stressed, and absolutely terrified that we would leave him every time we just went to another room. Now he is relaxed and happy, he is very affectionate and intelligent.
He has started training classes (which he finds very exciting meeting all the other dogs) and is making really good progress. We are so pleased to have given him a loving home and to see him happy and flourishing. I have attached a couple of photos for you.
Best wishes
Denise and Laurie

Orla
Dear Julie
Orla (Chola) is doing really well, she is such a super dog and we feel very lucky to have her. We enrolled in dog training lessons today which I think will be really good for her - she seems to have picked up what we have taught her really quickly - she can now sit, down, up, wait and sometimes drop! The dog training lessons will hopefully get her used to being around other dogs and mentally stimulate her. The training school also do agility classes and heel work to music - which I am very keen to do once we have mastered the beginners class! I have attached some photos of her in the kitchen and the field at the back of our house - we certainly all have a lot of fun together. Wishing you a very Happy 2007.
All the best
Louise

Sammy
We got the email! The email to tell us a bit about Sammy, the golden labrador we were going to adopt, and a picture of him. He was a beautiful dog. We had to go and pick him up and Sammy popped his head round he corner of the van and tried to run to me and mum. We took him for a little walk, so he could spend a penny and then we put Sammy in the car and he sat nicely cuddled up to mum and before we knew it we were home.
When we got home Sammy went from room to room exploring his new home and then he found a quiet place and he just slept and slept. At night he jumped on the bed and lay flat out, he was at home and felt safe. So the next morning we started our new life with Sammy and before we knew it, it was Christmas and it was snowing, Sammy loved the snow and lay down in it and rolled around before running off again and lying down again and kept doing this for ages as he was having so much fun.
Sammy is feeling right at home now and loves us all. He is very clever and knows who takes him out at what tiime of the day as he always pesters my brother, Brad, in the morning when he's getting ready for school as he knows that he takes him out then, mum at lunch time, me after school and dad in the evening. We all love Sammy very much and he has made a big difference in all our lives.
By Josh Bunce Age 12

Teddy
Hi Julie,
I have sent some photos of Teddy enjoying his new home, and a muddy walk! He has settled in well and starting at the Dog Training School tomorrow. Thank you so much for the opportunity to adopt Teddy.
Kind regards, Peter

Rufus
It's been a month now since we collected him and he is a real pleasure. He has changed considerably over the last 5 days, enjoying his food, yes it has taken us this long to get him to get him to eat more than small amounts. He now chases a ball in the garden and has some really mad moments when no one would believe his age. We always thought his tail wagged but it now WAGS!

We just want to say a BIG thank you to you and the Sanctuary in Ireland for rescuing him and giving us a chance to make the rest of his life comfortable and loved.
Thanks again
John and Pauline

Jack
Hi Sue, Just a short note to let you know that Jack has settled in as if he had always been here. He is perfect and the kids adore him & he loves them. He has made friends with the dog next door & they go for walks together along with Twinkle the cat!!!! Thank again for finding him and placing him with us he is such an affectionate old softee who behaves as if he has always been here.
Love Sally

Hi,
We have just received the Labrador Lovers News - what a great magazine!
We rescued Wendy - renamed Willow, from the Surrey Centre on 20th March. Sue had brought her over from Ireland. She was a very chubby 1 year old who sadly did not know how to play or really be a dog! We brought her home to meet our 14 year old black Labrador Bess and we haven't looked back. Bess and Willow slept together within 3 days and she really looks out for our old girl! In this short space of time, we already know we love her to bits. Willow is the most gentle, loving girl and is so laid back and calm. Her obedience training is coming along well and she is a much slimmer version! She is patient with Bess, wonderful with our children , however, the cat is a working progress! Willow is still suffering from separation anxiety and by 6 am every day simply cannot wait for a cuddle with her Dad anymore - pass the match sticks please! She has finally learned to be a puppy and her most favourite toy is 'killing' the naughty red space hopper but look out when she has a mad moment! I have enclosed a picture of our girls posing and of Willow with that hopper!
Can I also just mention a special thank you to Elsie and Trevor who were lovely and their help was greatly appreciated.
Lisa and Rod, Kelly and Joanna
Kent
Update Sept 06

Sally
As it's almost a year since Penny brought us Sally we thought we'd send you a picture of how she looks today, hopefully you'll notice that she's quite a few pounds lighter than when you knew her. She's been absolutely brilliant and we couldn’t have wished for more. In fact fellow Lab owner freinds of ours looked after her overnight a few weeks ago said she was so well behaved and got on famously with theirs that they’d happy to have her anytime.

Max
An email from Max's new owner:
Max has his paws firmly under the table! He is a lovely affectionate dog and a hit with all the family. We are enjoying taking him out for walks and he is loving all the smells and fresh air. His favourite thing is watching the frogs in our garden pond, but he hasn't caught one yet!

Sally
We just thought you would like an update of how Sally is doing, or probably how we are doing with her!! She has completely taken over, in a good way. She’s mastered the art of getting all of us to open the back door, by jingling the keys, so she can go out and play (if we don’t move quick enough the jangling becomes a small earthquake), she is very different to Prince in her mannerisms, she loves to dig and bury things, even on the sofa, which then appear at a later date. We have trained her to sit and give a paw. She has learnt to swim, when we walked down by white bridge and across the fields, she stayed in the water for ages and then when she came home had to sleep for at least 2 hours! Tomorrow we are going to open up our caravan for the summer, so Sally will be having a trip to the new forest and the seaside, with her big "brother" Prince. We will take some photos and email a copy to you. Everything is going well with Oscar’s foods, both Prince and Sally’s coats look great.
three days later.....
You were right, Sally did like the sea, the sand and the caravan, she had a quick trip into the new forest, a bit wet so not too long!!!. She was in the water like a little sea-lion. Absolutely brilliant.

Angel
Hi I am Sarah, the owner of Sheeba (now called Angel),Lab X border collie I got from LRRSE in september. Angel is doing great. she has completed her first dog training class (with a certificate!!!) and is now onto intermediate! We hope to do agility with her as she is a quick learner. We have worked on socialising her with dogs and people and has now made a friend with a dog we meet in the park each morning. She is getting 2 walks a day and loads of attention and has really settled in. She seems really happy and has made me even happier! She's very funny and loving and I hope we will have many more years of fun together. Thank you to everybody who helped me get my best friend!

Berty is a 'Senior Citizen' Labrador who took the move over to England from Ireland in his stride. His happy new owners are delighted with him, and say he has not put a paw wrong!

Young Lab-cross Holly lived in Cork with a family with young children until she was handed into the pound. She now lives in a lovely Surrey home with a new family and new children to play with.

Handsome young Sam was turned out of his home in Ireland when the 'novelty' of having a new puppy wore off. Sam has now been rehomed with a couple who had recently lost their beloved Lab, who'd been their companion for 15 happy years. Sam has really helped this couple to come to terms with their loss, and has also found himself a very loving home for the rest of his days.

Poor tail-less Jack's Irish family decided that they didn't want him anymore, and so he was brought over to England. He is now delighted to have found a loving new home, where he has become a constant companion for the family's son. When his young master is out at school, Jack sits by the door waiting when he knows it's time for him to return home!

Bingo thinks his number has come up now he's found a great new home in England! His new owner had been recently bereaved of her husband of 40 years, and her previous Labrador of 15 years, so Bingo's arrival has made one lonely lady very happy. Given patience and kindness, Bingo has overcome his difficult past and is now a much loved companion.

Two-year-old Barny was brought over from Ireland when his original owners decided that he was 'too big' for their new house. He has now found a fantastic new home in England through LRRSE, complete with a new 'best friend' in the family's 10-year-old daughter.

Chad
Here is a lovely letter from Chad's proud new owner, Barbara Pettet:

We had owned a yellow Lab previously but when he died we thought that we would never find another one like him and decided to have a different breed. Several years on we knew that two of our dogs were getting older and thought this would be an ideal time to get another dog and decided to offer a home to a Labrador. We discussed it as a family and having been through the puppy stage many times decided that this time we would like to adopt an older dog, especially as we were always hearing that no one is interested in older dogs. We contacted LRRSE and were in the process of being vetted when, sadly, one of our older dogs collapsed very suddenly and within a week we had lost him. This left us with two other dogs, one GSD and one Jack Russell-Patterdale cross. Within a very short period of time our co-ordinator, Maureen Saunders, contacted us and said that there was a dog needing a home, an eldery yellow Lab of about seven-years old, would we be interested? It was a difficult time because we had lost Trent so suddenly and I was not sure how my other dogs would cope with a strange dog arriving, but we discussed it as a family again and agreed to give it a try.
Saturday morning we set off to New Malden to collect our new dog from the area co-ordinator's home in New Malden. The house was full of Labradors and there was one walking, unsteadily, around the back garden which I just assumed was another of the family dogs. It was not until I was asked what I thought of him (no name at present) that I realised this was our new dog! Within a short period of time, we were leaving the house and our "new dog" calmly climbed into the back of our car and off we went.
During the two and a half hour journey home the dog was asleep, unsurprisingly as we had been told that he had travelled from Ireland by boat, landed in Wales and had been driven up to New Malden to be collected by us and then we were driving him to Sussex. I had not heard about the plight of Irish dogs until we embarked on this journey of adoption and I have to say that I have become increasingly disturbed by the stories that I am now discovering. Our dog, who we named Chad, had been picked up and put in the local pound, where apparently they are kept for only one week and if no one claims them they are destroyed. He had been collected from the pound by a rescue centre with contacts over here, literally the day before he was due to be destroyed. He was vaccinated and kept for the obligatory ten days and then sent over to become our dog.
Having arrived home with Chad the first priority was a bath and defleaing process. Ideally I would have left this as he had had such a long journey but it was very necessary. What a test of a dogs temperament - the turmoil of the pound, then kennels, then the journey, then to our house and insult of insults - a bath. Did he complain? Never. Chad has not stopped wagging his tail from that day to this! Tracy Lister commented this weekend when she met him that he did not stop wagging his tail the whole time we were talking and that is what he has been like since day one.
His hind legs were very weak, our vet thinks probably from the conditions he had been living in previously. He had obviously spent his life on concrete because of the bare patches and hard skin on elbows etc. He would not come in the house unless invited - obviously had lived out in a cage. He was said to be seven but is probably ten. He had a cyst on his eye which we decided to have removed as it was irritating him dreadfully.
You may think now, problem dog! You would be wrong - he has more than repaid us over and over again. He has never shown any aggression to us or to our other two dogs. Our Jack Russell-Patterdale thinks she is a GSD and is boss dog and he tolerates her all the time. He hears our voices and the tail starts banging on the door and never stops. His hind legs have strengthened with walks and his overall wellbeing is now excellent. He had a couple of teeth removed when his eye was operated on and he had abscesses which must have caused so much pain. He is a typical big hearted, loving labrador.
The other labrador trait he exhibits is his love for food and so far he has managed to run around the garden with a frozen leg of pork, and to reach a box of dog biscuits which he did share with the other dogs and ate most of the box as well.
Thank you LRRSE for our wonderful Irish dog! Anyone thinking of doing what we did - please give the Irish dogs a chance and also especially older dogs.They know it all - been there, seen it and got the T-shirt - no need for toilet training and no chewing. Although time with them may be short lived they more than repay you because they appreciate a loving home. Not a day goes by without Chad giving us a smile and our other dogs love him.

The lovely Benson now lives with a nice family in Oxfordshire. He has children to play with, an old sofa all to himself and all the bones he could chew - what more could an Irish Lab want from life?!