At the heart of all we do is Dexter - my amazingly gentle Labrador.
Sadly I lost my boy in September 2022, and I miss him terribly.
Dexter was my pride, my comfort, and my joy.
His original owner dumped him at the council pound when Dex was 13 months. He ended up with the rescue All Dogs Matter.
Within two minutes of meeting Dex, I was smitten. He came home with me that afternoon and was by my side for almost thirteen years..
Dex had never been walked properly, let alone trained. He was an intensely 'reactive' dog - he over-reacted to anything that seemed 'strange'.
And the list was endless: white vans, tall men, anyone carrying a newspaper, horses, cats, balloons,
umbrellas, motorbikes,, people sitting on the ground...
We tried three training classes. Dex disrupted the first one by falling in love with a pretty apricot Poodle who was also in the class; he howled and barked and after forty minutes we beat a hasty retreat.
The second class was worse. The 'trainer' knew that Dex was a nervous rescue - yet chose to walk over and abruptly squirt him in the face with water when he started barking! I walked out and later let him know exactly what I thought of his methods.
My walks with Dexter were pure street theatre. Neighbours would gather to watch as my front door would open and Dex would go hurtling out, with me clinging on for dear life.
The kids who lived in my road renamed Dex 'The Naughty Dog'.
I resolved to address Dex's issues myself. With the help of a wealth of online info, I started using a tennis court in our local park for training sessions.
Gradually, I was able to give Dex different coping strategies for when he saw something 'scary'. Every weekend we would head to the tennis courts at the local park and spend several hours training.
Other dog owners saw our progress and would stop to watch and ask questions.
One day someone asked if I might consider taking care of their dog when they had a hectic day. Then another owner also asked. Before long, owners were asking to leave their dogs with me when they went on holiday.
And so Dexter's Dogs was born.
Meanwhile, I attended ongoing courses with the Institute Of Modern Dog Trainers to ensure we remain up to date with the best and kindest approaches and techniques.
Dexter had the most kindly, and gentle nature imaginable. He was much loved by all of our guest dogs. He was also a wonderful ambassador for rescue, a cause about which I am passionate.
I will miss him forever.
Pearl
Five years after I adopted Dex, I became aware of the awful plight faced by dogs in Romania, when I saw a clip of a young female dog on Facebook.
Pearl was visibly traumatised. She had a home lined up here in the UK but needed a foster carer just for one week, in order to be brought over from Romania.
I offered and after a thorough home check, was accepted.
Pearl was the most broken dog I'd ever met.
She was literally unable to stand, so intense was her fear. I nstead, her way of greeting people was to roll over onto her back, and tightly shut her eyes, as though desperately trying to show that she was utterly submissive.
Watching her was heart-breaking..
Fortunately she was more confident around dogs and adored my beloved Dexter from the word go.
When, a few days into her week with me, the 'forever home' fell through, it was just as well - I was already attached to her and couldn't imagine her leaving.
Pearl is now almost thirteen and is a cheeky, complex little soul :)
