Dexter -Now Adopted!
Dexter The Prince of the Highlands is Home!!
Double celebrations are in order for Dexter.
Not only has our stunning boy found his loving forever family, but he also celebrated his 3rd birthday on Thursday.
Dexter was collected by his new parents Michelle and Nick, and he wasted no time in sniffing out every corner of his new home and wrapping them both around his paws.
He has been such a good boy, and he enjoyed celebrating his birthday with his new family!
We would like to say thank you to Dexter’s amazing foster mum, Clair, and her family for fostering Dexter and preparing him for his forever home.
Well, done on an incredible first foster!
You have been fantastic, and we will be forever grateful to you
So, it is with an abundance of heartfelt joy that we ask you to join us in congratulating Michelle and Nick on their beautiful Prince, Dexter!
We wish you many wonderful years together, and we look forward to seeing all your adventures with your new Prince!
To Dexter, welcome to the rest of your life secure, loved, happy, and settled!
Previous adoption statement,
Dogs name: Dexter
Age: 2 years old.
Current location: Broxburn, West Lothian.
I CAN LIVE WITH
Children: Yes, dog savvy children.
Cats: No
Dogs: Yes, calm and laid-back dogs.
A BIT ABOUT ME
Personality:
Dexter is a character, he is playful, and affectionate towards his humans.
Dexter is extremely loving and will seek you out for attention.
And of course, he has the stubborn gene and a good deaf ear when he doesn’t want to listen.
Behaviour:
Dexter will match your energy, if you’re excited then he’s excited, if you’re calm then he is calm.
He has had anxiety issues, and we have found he is doing very well on 20mg fluoxetine daily.
Dexter hasn’t got a malicious bone in his body.
Dexter can’t live with cats as he doesn’t quite understand that they aren’t toys.
In typical bulldog fashion Dexter chooses if and when he listens and he hasn’t got a recall when there are lots of distractions.
Needs:
Dexter needs a calm but active family environment, preferably with someone at home with him or with another calm dog.
Dexter needs a good routine and a family who understands his needs and can put boundaries in place.
He thrives with structure and consistency.
Dexter would benefit from a calm and laid-back dog in the home to teach him and keep him company.
Walk/exercise:
Dexter loves his walks; In general, Dexter walks well on his lead. He can get distracted easily but will continue when he is redirected.
Dexter was fearful of traffic, but with his ongoing desensitising training and routine he has come on leaps and bounds.
Dexter enjoys meeting unfamiliar dog’s whilst walking and is always happy to greet them.
Toilet trained:
Dexter is a good boy; he may have accidents initially as he learns his new routine.
May have an accident in the night.
Travel:
Dexter loves the car, he can be excited, so we recommend using a seatbelt restraint or travel crate.
Because of this we will accept applications of up to 4 hours away from his current location.
We recommend using a seatbelt restraint or travel crate whenever transporting dogs.
Things to be aware of:
Dexter has severe environmental and food allergies; he currently gets bathed twice a week to keep up with his skin condition and needs to stay on his current medication and raw diet as this is the only routine that has brought him any quality of life.
For his allergies he is on 5mg Prednisolone and 16mg Apoquel daily
He is doing very well on a single protein raw turkey diet.
Dexter will be adopted on a “to be neutered” contract at a time deemed suitable with the charity at a vet chosen by and costs covered by the charity.
Sometimes Dexter is excited to play but doesn’t realise his size, any young children in the home must be supervised, as he has the potential to jump and knock children over.
Children must understand that bulldogs need time to settle in and have space to rest peacefully and uninterrupted.
Additional information:
Dexter is the most genuine human centred bulldog. He has had a long journey since coming into our care and he now deserves the very best forever home, where he can be treasured and adored. Any family who gets the honour to adopt this beautiful boy will gain themselves a very best friend for life.
A little of Dexter’s story below,
Dexter came to our GBSR family in desperate need of help.
Dexter is a 2-year-old entire boy that was clearly suffering from neglect BUT in this instance, we were the safety net, this is what we do.
When people can’t cope, we step in and throw a lifeline, this is Dexter’s story.
Dexter was a very much-loved dog, his owner had him from a puppy but had known for some time that she cannot and had not been able to care for him. Her health has declined in the past 12 months as had Dexter’s condition.
The owner reached out to us to ask for help and there have been several very emotional phone calls between the owner and one of our admins before Wayne Byrne went to collect him.
We knew by his owner’s admission that he wasn’t going to be in the best condition, but he was worse than we expected.
You could see he had several strange large growths, he had skin allergies, hair loss and scarring, overgrown nails and more worryingly there was blood in his urine. He had all this and he was only 2 years old, he was in a real mess, he was scared and we think he hadn’t experienced much of the big wide world.
BUT remember this was what we are here for, the neglect wasn’t intentional.
The whole situation was very very sad and we are so pleased his owner was strong enough to reach out with the intention of getting her beloved boy the care he needed, even if it meant breaking her heart.
She had also surrendered her little girl Bella and there was a separate post about her.
It was going to take time and veterinary care to sort this young boy out and we started it straight away with him seeing our vet later that day. He was very itchy, and he was making himself bleed by scratching he needed to start treatment ASAP.
Dexter in foster
Dexter spent many months in foster, his treatment was never straight forward this poor boy was practically allergic to himself. It was trial and error while we learnt what worked for him, with dietary, environmental and medication changes.
We were thrilled when his foster family wanted to keep him, they had been with him through most of his journey, and understood his anxieties and health needs.
But we knew we would have to stay hands on with him.
Dexter came back into foster after his family had struggled for months to get on top of his allergies. They spent hundreds of pounds as their vet prescribed various combinations medications and then decided all medications should stop.
Dexter was getting worse in front of their eyes and the final straw was when their vet advised to have their precious boy put to sleep. .. !!
Thankfully, Dexter’s family had been updating us as he declined and when we heard the vet had advised him to be PTS, we knew we had to get him back into foster with a vet that new how to deal with complex allergies.
* Warning Graphic Content & Photos *
This is what happens when a vet is out of their depth, change meds and then advise you to put your dog to sleep….!!!!
Dexter had come back into foster because his poor adoptive family were at their wits end with nowhere left to turn.
You may remember he came into foster with a terrible skin condition. His case is a complex one, there were several issues with him, and his immune system was on the floor.
We worked hard to get him well and he was looking amazing !
His Family had been beside themselves trying to help him, and had paid hundreds of pounds in bills but their vet has completely let him down, advising that they put him to sleep…. !!
He wasn’t even 2½ yet… and rather than deal with the problem, this was the recommendation…!!
So rescue back up for life means just that, and of course we stepped in again and taken him back so he can receive treatment from our vets.
His family are devastated but you put your faith in your vet to help and they haven’t.
Poor Dexter was literally scratching himself to shreds and after discussions with us it was agreed that he needed to come back into foster near a vet that we trust.
Dexter came back into foster with Jo Platt in the North East. We got him seen by a vet who listened to our experience and concerns. The vet started him on a course of treatment to get him back on track but it was going to be a long journey…. There is no quick fix when a dog has been allowed to become so flat, his immune system was on the floor.
But we did it, we got him well, on a treatment plan that worked with diet, environmental and medication he looked amazing and felt a lot more comfortable !!
We would like to say a massive thank you to his amazing foster mum, Jo Platts, for all her dedication to Dexter’s care. Thank you so much, Jo, for loving Dexter and nursing him back to health.
Also, a huge thank you goes out to Vets4Pets in Washington, for all their love and care they showed Dexter.
But sadly Dexter’s journey to find his happy ever after wasn’t over yet.
Dexter had sadly returned to our care again,
Due to no fault of his own , Dexter had been brought back into foster.
This is a very sad surrender so please no judgement!
Dexter’s family only want what’s best for him. Due to family illness and after many discussions with the charity, we all felt the best thing for Dexter was to come back to us.
Our gorgeous boy is now in foster with Clair in Scotland. He will be going through all of our normal assessments before going up for adoption.
We would like to say a big thank you to Clair for coming forward to foster Dexter.
He settled in really well and was of course being the true gentleman that he is.
Follow Dexter https://www.facebook.com/geordiebullies
For more updates on all our dogs please join our community group
