UGSR received a call came from a lovely gentleman who was having heart problems, in fact we had quite a few calls from him before he made his mind up. He had two Gordon’s, an older girl and a young dog, the older girl he could manage but they were moving to France to an area where lots of shooting went on and he was worried that if the dog went off he couldn’t run after him and the dog could get shot.

One of our regular homes said he would have him and went to collect him on the train! And quite a long way, another lovely couple was contacted and they collected Kipling and took him home for a walk and then took him to the station to hand him over to his new owner, Kipling now lives with two other Gordons.

This doesn’t happen often but these two boys had to go together as they were inseparable, as there was no rush and after trying several homes on the list we had “The Call”! This gentleman mentioned that he had had 5 rescues together, we girded our loins and said, would you take two? Certainly he said and so Louis and Brodie found their new home. Within no time at all Brodie managed to dislocate his leg and was referred to a specialist, Thank goodness for Agria Insurance! A £1500 bill avoided, Brodie is now going to hydrotherapy regularly. These two boys have found a wonderful home.

Duncan’s owner contacted us because she was ill and Duncan wasn’t getting enough exercise and was getting naughty, going off on his own and playing with lambs. A home was found with a Gordon family, a home check was carried out and all okay. Transport was arranged and with the help of a couple of Gordon owners, Duncan found his way to his new home. Duncan is beautifully trained and has done some rough shooting in his previous life.  Duncan came along to the fun day, another model Gordon! Although the new owners are used to the rough and tumble variety and can’t believe their luck.

Fhidliers owner had to go into residential care and the daughter couldn’t keep her.  With the help of a fellow Gordoner,  Fhidlier made her way to the south west to live on a stud farm and checks out the livestock twice a day around the fields and then makes sure all the grooming is done correctly in the barns. Fhidlier is very happy and so is her new owner who has had Gordon’s from UGSR previously so much that she has her name down again.F

We were contacted by Jacks breeders to say that they had been to fetch Jack back from his previous home, Jack had no tail and had to have an eye removed and had been left in a cage, when Jack was able to travel (after eye surgery) a home was found.  Jack went for a walk and we met other dogs and he seemed fine.

After he arrived at his new home he had an argument with the resident Border Terrier which upset the young son and Jack had to be rehomed. The next day Jack arrived in his forever home another argument ensued with the resident Labrador, no worries the lady said, they now curl up on the sofa together.

Hunter, aged 11, was owned by a lady that rang us to say that due to ill health she could no longer care for him. She also had a Border Collie and we were able to give her the information to help with this dog to.  It wasn’t long before we were able to find a new home for Hunter with a family who had been on our list for quite a while, they were looking for another Gordon as their’s had sadly passed away. They were in fact looking to take in a retired Greyound. The couple are in their seventies, so Hunter matched up well and they were delighted to see him. Hunter has settled in so well and his new owners have ended up with the breed they wanted and enjoying daily walks with Hunter. Hunter had not been walked due to his owner’s health problems and just left sitting on the lawn, the owner still able to go to work.

Aged 10 months, we received a call from the breeder to say this youngster needed a new home as one of his owners had been diagnosed with osteoporosis and whether UGSR could help – only small, the lady had been knocked over twice, unfortunately, the puppy taking her by surprise and pulling forward suddenly, even through on a halti. The lady’s husband worked long hours and couldn’t give much help. Further to a notice on our website last year, one of the families that contacted UGSR matched well with Rufus, after a successful home visit, Rufus was transported to his new home and is doing well. (Jan 14)

UGSR received a call from a breeder that a dog she had bred needed rehoming and could we help? Zeus aged 6 or 7 is a big fluffy dog who mixes quite well but can be bossy, no health problems, can be funny with little dogs but is a big softy. Zeus was currently still in his present home. The breeder gave us the address details and UGSR contacted the owner.  The owner had diabetes with the dreadful side effects this can bring. Could not walk at present and Zeus along with a Labrador and another dog had been fostered in kennels for nine weeks. However, the kennels needed the space, and as no charge was being made for the threesome she had asked the owner to collect them. The owner was difficult to get in touch with as he could not always reach his ‘phone.  However, in the meantime, we had matched a home up for Zeus, a committee member went immediately to visit the home who had had a Gordon from us before. They were pleased to have Zeus.  Once we had contacted the owner and sent our paperwork to him, he agreed it was the best for the dog if he was re-homed.   The new home then went to the kennels and collected Zeus. They found him in very bad condition and thin.   The people running the kennels were salt of the earth but using donations of any food to feed the dogs they were fostering at no charge. The new owners soon recognized that he was a lovely dog; he was so good with them in the house, but at times not good with other dogs. Nothing serious and this was soon managed.   However, Zeus has had a medical problem which needed an operation and a stay in the vets, and then having to wear a collar.   He managed well and is recovering. At the moment all is well and Zeus is settling in at home.

During December UGSR were alerted to George by one of our committee. George is 6 years and an entire dog. A piece on Facebook showed a Gordon Setter sitting and then asleep on a mat, the heading read URGENT FOSTER (Ireland) the information said George was a purebred Gordon Setter who is being surrendered because he’s no good as a hunting dog. His current owners took him on a month ago with the promise that he would be useful in the field….but, nope,……George was , quote, ‘to hunting what bicycles are to fish’. The piece went on to say that George was a lovely placid boy with a great temperament. He had been living outside so it wasn’t known whether he was house-trained. The request on Facebook was for a safe and warm haven until George could travel to a rescue organisation – about three weeks. A rescue address in Galway was given. As you can imagine lots of people saw the pictures and information about George and made offers and comments.

At one point it was said he was on ‘death row’ in a pound.   Once we read this and with no bona fide information being given on Facebook about the progress of care for George, UGSR had no option to make our own enquiries through Dorothy Park, our representative in Northern Ireland. As a result of her contacts, Dorothy was soon able to speak to George’s owner. He was not in a Pound at all.   The owner had had ‘phone calls about the dog and offers for him. When Dorothy explained who she was, how she could help and when (which was the same day) the owner agreed that his care should be in the hands of United Gordon Setter Rehome and Support and that he would be collected that day.   This is what happened and George was taken to safe kennels for the time being.  In the meantime, UGSR carefully looked through the diary of homes. We had a home who had been waiting some time took which took our eye for George, It was on a narrow boat moored in the Midlands.

UGSR has re-homed several dogs, at one time a brother and sister on a boat, and all of them have had very happy lives with company all the time.  Anthony Burke was asked to visit the couple, whose Irish had died a few months before, and his report back was that this would be a perfect home for George.  Arrangements were made, George’s place was booked on transport from Ireland with an Irish Setter.   His passport details were put in place, he was washed and trimmed and ready to go!   What a good boy he was, George travelled overnight in a large crate, clean bedding with water next to the Irish, we have a lovely photograph.  On the day he arrived his new owners met him, he jumped in to their car and was soon off to the canal, where he hopped onto the boat, had a sniff round like Gordons do, ate some breakfast and then fell fast asleep on a new white vet bed with a new teddy watching over him.   He has never looked back and we have photos of him running through the snow and thoroughly enjoying himself. George’s new owner sends regular updates and says he has settled in so well, plays games with the ball and just fits in and is already much loved.   A re-home UGSR have enjoyed very much being a part of.

We heard about Archie, aged 4yrs, the day before he was seen on Facebook and there were lots of comments about him as he looked so sad. Archie was in Ireland and having to be re-homed as his master’s home had to be repossessed. We soon had an excellent home for him near Harrogate, which had been visited by a UGSR representative. It is an experienced Gordon home and were glad to have another one Gordon to join them. Archie has settled in well and is having a lovely time.