10/02/2016 – Millie has sadly passed away :( Our thoughts are with her foster family
Millie is a 15 year old Jack Russell x Lakeland Terrier girl who came into Oldies Club care after her owner went into a care home. Originally Millie was set to go up for rehoming but the diagnosis of some health issues involving a stroke * some stomach problems along with her quirky nature it was decided it would be best for Millie to spend the rest of her days in her foster home where she feels secure.
Millie is a complex little lady who prefers to remain aloof until she is completely sure of you. She has a few little quirks – such as not liking to be watched when drinking, and not liking doors to be closed, and these quirks make her a very lovely and interesting character to get to know.
Millie is a quiet, private little soul who doesn’t like to be touched or handled too much, and she seems to get much of her comfort and connection from just having people around her and sharing space with them.
Millie loves walkies and a good sniff – she knows which direction she wants to go for the best smells! She doesn’t enjoy walks in the park after dark as the lighting isn’t great, so she has walks around well-lit streets then instead. She can pull a little on walks, but is only a little lady so it’s not a big deal. Millie has only gone off-lead in enclosed paddocks as recall is pretty impossible due to her hearing loss. Millie walks morning, midday and evening most days. Walks vary from 10 to 30 minutes and she just heads for home if she’s had enough. Millie would happily spend more time sniffing, so her fosterers could be out for longer if just pottering.
Millie’s favourite pastimes: Walks and sniffing, uninterrupted snooze times, rolling around on her back in the grass in the garden, and hunting out hidden food treats. If you are cooking sausages, bacon or fish she likes to let you know that you DO need to save her some. Her fosterers are always surprised how animated she becomes with her talking, barking, wagging, running back and forth and the occasional leap!!! She likes to look at you intensely and make grumbling noises if you are sitting eating and not sharing.
Her fosterers tell us: “we have witnessed precious little moments when she’s forgotten herself, like when she joined in playing with a deflated football during a half-hearted kickabout, or leaning in for nuzzle, before remembering ‘she doesn’t do that’, or out-of-the-blue euphoria of running around and licking all our hands and faces when someone comes home, but then indifference the next time. We reckon Millie is a bit of a mystery who will reveal more of herself as she begins to trust her forever family over time and with patience“.
Millie’s dislikes: Millie is frightened of loud and unexpected sounds, or people seemingly suddenly appearing next to her when she doesn’t hear you coming. She can be dozing and you sneeze/cough/laugh and she jumps out of her skin and runs into the next room, bless her. She tolerates and sometimes enjoys gentle strokes and rubs, but it needs to be on her terms and she gets frightened if picked up and may leap dangerously if she feels grabbed. Millie doesn’t like a completely closed door. She will bug you until you open it so she can go through it, look round, and then go back and lie down where she was. She likes to check who’s in and where they are and make sure she’s not missing anything. Closed doors perhaps make her feel insecure as she can’t hear most things that are happening in the house, so needs to feel free to check visually, and also to have somewhere to run to if a sound frightens her. She doesn’t often drink her water if the bowl is indoors. To begin with she wouldn’t drink if people were watching her, and was choosing to drink out of a puddle round the other side of the house! So her fosterers put her water bowl round there out of sight in the garden and have gradually brought the bowl closer to home. It’s next to the back door now and they bring it in overnight.
Millie is hard of hearing. Millie has a heart murmur, level 4 out of 5, and is on daily medication for this. Millie has the odd ‘doddering’ moment where she might be a bit wobbly on her legs for a second or two, usually after she’s just woken, and she has occasionally tumbled on a step or mound of earth, but her fosterers think this is just her age. Saying that, people often mistake Millie for a much younger dog when they meet her on walks as she’s pretty spritely when she’s out and about. Millie suffers with bouts of trouble with her stomach and can become very poorly. Her fosterers keep a close eye on her and any signs of trouble Millie receives the medical assistance she needs.
If you would love to offer a home to an oldie but your circumstances aren’t suitable, perhaps you would be kind enough to sponsor Millie, or one of the other special oldies we are caring for in our sponsor dog scheme.