19/7/23 – Pixie has gone off to her new home!
——————-
Pixie is a 10-year-old Parson Russell Terrier who came into the Oldies Club rescue due to a relationship breakdown. She is in a foster home in Hindhead, Surrey, waiting for someone to offer her a lovely new home.
Settled gradually: Pretty Pixie settled at her foster home within a couple of days, but she has gradually increased in confidence and become more comfortable over the period she has been there.
Enjoys having company: Pixie is fine to be left for short periods, but she is definitely happiest when she has company. She likes to follow her foster carers around the house, cuddle on a lap, and generally be where there are people, or where she knows there are people nearby. She therefore wouldn’t be happy to live with people who go out to work. She has had historical issues with nibbling her paw pads, and only seems to do this when she is left alone, but otherwise she has been OK when left, and she’s happier when not confined to one room.
Generally OK with dogs: When she meets other dogs Pixie is a bit unsure at first; she doesn’t like to be sniffed and can growl. More recently, Pixie has become a bit more snippy with other dogs even though they’ve just given a very friendly-looking sniff and after she seemed keen on the idea of greeting them when she first spotted them. Her foster carers wonder if she’s just feeling a little short-tempered due to the hot weather. When her carers stayed with family who have a dog, she settled with him after a day or so and just defended her food and toys. We suspect that Pixie might prefer to be the only dog in her new home though.
Not suitable with cats: We were told that Pixie has lived with cats in the past and that she chased them and wouldn’t leave them alone. Pixie therefore needs a home without cats.
Fine with older children: Pixie has some experience of living with children and has been fine with the gentle, calm, older children she has met while in foster. We think that she might struggle with boisterous, loud situations, or rough and tumble, so would be happiest if children in her new home are calm teenagers.
Loves walks and having fun: Fun-loving Pixie is very good on the lead. In foster, the only time she has been off lead outside is in the garden, and she usually comes when whistled or called, though not necessarily instantly! When she has her favourite ball or squeaky toy she is very playful and more likely to want to run off with it, but treats work well to encourage her to bring it back. Information from her previous owner said that she’s had to be pulled out of rabbit holes etc., and there’s definitely no recall when she scents hedgehogs in the garden. Pixie is happy with anything from a short walk round the block or running around the garden, to longer hikes — the longest with her foster carers has been 7km. She can’t go far if she has been nibbling her paws and is on three legs, but she’s still able to go a little way and run on the grass. She usually has two walks a day, one longer and one shorter.
Good in the car: Yes she is!
Pixie’s favourite pastimes: She’s active and intelligent and loves playing, fetching a ball, challenges like a treat ball or finding treats wrapped up in an old towel etc. Her current favourite is a squeaky toy that’s very robust so she hasn’t managed to remove the squeak (usually she does that in a couple of minutes). She’s very agile and has done some agility with her foster carers’ daughters. She also likes warm places and snoozing in the sun!
Pixie’s dislikes: She gets very anxious at the vet.
Pixie’s ideal home: Pixie would love a home where she could be with someone most of the time, have plenty of attention and affection but also stimulation, walks, play and fun.
Health notes: Pixie has been vaccinated, microchipped, wormed and flea treated. She is not spayed and this will need to be done at the correct time after her next season. Oldies Club will cover the cost of the spay. Pixie has a longstanding history of nibbling her pads and has had lots of investigations into this, according to vet records. It’s assumed to be itch related, i.e. some kind of skin condition, and the vet thinks it is possibly auto-immune. She was on half a tablet of steroid daily when she came to us, and on our vet’s advice she now has half a tablet every other day (it was already a low dose, and this reduction doesn’t seem to have made things any worse). Her foster carer reports: “she hasn’t nibbled her pads at all over the past couple of weeks, although that could be because she has had company most of the time. We wondered whether the nibbling was due to anxiety/boredom because it only happens when she’s alone, but the vet thinks this could be because she has often been told off for doing it when someone notices, so possibly she only does it when no one is around. She also sometimes nibbles her genital area and makes it sore, and so the vet has given us wipes to use on skin folds and between paw pads, to help with any itching. Assume the steroids will be ongoing, although the vet was hoping to continue reducing the dose, at least until she can be spayed as they say it is not advisable to operate when a dog is on steroids“.
Foster carer’s summary of Pixie: She is active, affectionate, playful and intelligent!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
If you would like to offer Pixie a permanent home, please read our Adoption Procedures for information about the adoption process. You can then contact an Oldies Club Rehoming Coordinator as follows:
Email: rehome@oldies.org.uk
Telephone: 0844 586 8656
Pixie can be rehomed anywhere on the UK mainland – the closer to her foster home the better – subject to a satisfactory home visit. Note that you will be required to travel to the foster home to collect her.
——————————
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 one of the special oldies we are caring for that, due to health problems, are unlikely to be offered a permanent home.
——————————