It’s fair to say that 2016 has been an exciting but busy year which has seen the Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue evolve at an incredible pace.
On 5th June 2016 the rescue added to its Facebook page by launching its own website and to date we have had nearly 16,500 people visit the site.
To further evolve and ensure the longevity of the rescue it was decided that the best way forward was to put the rescue on a more secure footing and so in September 2016 the rescue was set up formally as a not for profit making organisation. By doing this it created a number of roles within the rescue. Mark Buckley became the rescue’s Managing Director and National Rehoming Coordinator, Bridie Moriarty became the Rescue Director, Emma Bendel agreed to be the rescue’s treasure and Jeremy Corke the Rescue’s secretary.
In November a further role was added for an aftercare coordinator which was duly filled by Judy Warner.
In December Gayle Don agreed to be the rescue’s Scotland coordinator and further regional coordinator roles agreed by Paul Busby and Nell Carter.
In December the rescue also introduced its own Instagram page as well to further modernise the rescue and broaden the rescue reach.
We would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped in the rehoming of any of the Kerrys. May we wish all of you a very happy New year and great 2017.
Many thanks from all at the Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue.
Kerrys Rehomed This Year
Since May of this year the Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue has helped 13 Kerrys to find their loving forever homes.
In addition we still have 2 Kerry’s in a loving foster environment awaiting their future forever homes and a further one coming into the rescue for assessment and rehoming. We have also provided support and advice to a further 4 Kerry owners who were considering rehoming their dogs but have since decided to keep them.
A selection of those dogs we've helped can be found below.
Kizzy's previous owner sadly passed away.
Suzi Barnes Kizzy has now been with us for almost 6 months and has settled in amazingly well. She and Alfie (our other Kerry Blue), whilst not best buddies, tolerate each other and live together quite happily. She respects his position as the elder statesman and he respects her joie de vivre. In November, we took Kizzy on holiday for the first time to the Peak District. I was a little nervous that staying somewhere different would be unsettling for her, but she took the whole experience in her stride and we all had a great time. Her walking on the lead is improving and so is her recall. She is more confident when left in the house, perhaps because she has the company of Alfie, but nonetheless, there have been no signs of anxiety. The last six months have been so rewarding and we just adore this little bundle of mischief who has taken over our lives. Thank you so much for letting us be her forever home.
Kerry was found being advertised on a rescue Kennel's rehoming page
Carol Thorn Kerry has now been part of our family for just over 3 months, and has found her own spot in our household. She has figured out that Moya the Jack Russell is old and deserving of some peace and quiet and that Fred the lurcher can be overly full of himself sometimes but can be put in his place quite easily by a Kerry Blue – there have been a couple of scuffles to achieve dominance….. but they both know that I’m in charge really!! Kerry has achieved such a lot, she has twice daily medication in her eyes, and although she doesn’t really like it (who would?) it is now a two minute job, with no muzzling required and lots of fuss (and Primula cheese) afterwards. She has also had a very successful vets visit for sedation to allow her ears to be plucked and lumps investigated. As she had been labelled as unrehomeable and vet aggressive this was a massive achievement as she came out of the vets minus her muzzle and had behaved beautifully. The only slight issue was her sitting down and refusing to move when I went to collect her – but as she does this when she is in unfamiliar surroundings and doesn’t know what is happening it was not unexpected. She soon moved when the receptionist opened the treats tin! Kerry still has some small issues to overcome – demand barking being one. She still likes the constant reassurance of being with us, preferably leaning against one of us, but is happy to be left with her friends and a treat for a couple of hours. Underlying it all Kerry has a sweet nature, and has been brilliant with the grandchildren – what more could we possibly ask for! Our thanks to Mark and the Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue team who introduced us to Kerry, they do a fantastic job helping kerries in need, and we are very grateful.
Harris was sadly found as a stray on the streets of Liverpool.
Angela Russell Harris 9 months on. He just loves being a country boy
Badgers previous owners had to make the heartbraking decision to rehome him
Caroline Johnson Badger is doing great, we couldn't imagine life without him now. He is booked in to be neutered in January, they all loved him at the vets as they don't see many Kerry blue's. We're looking forward to a great new year with our lovely dog.
Nelson's previous owners had to make the heartbraking decision to rehome him
Joe Sweeney Nelson has been with us now for nearly 4 weeks and has been an absolute star from day 1. He has immediately settled in to our household and it now seems as though he has been here for ever. I can fully understand how difficult it must have been for his previous owners to give him up, and how lucky I am that he came to me, as this boy is golden. Nelson is my first Kerry and having done much research beforehand on the breed I was expecting a battle of wills. Happily this is not the case. He is wonderfully well behaved and is very obedient to commands, which is a credit to the training that his former owners put in to him. I have taken him to the vets and the groomers and both have commented how relaxed he is for his breed. Going for a walk is a slower process than I expected. Obviously the territory is new to him, and as such his nose is permanently fixed to the ground and he insists on peeing on every lamp post, sign post, bollard, bin and nettle that he passes. He does seem to display the typical Kerry characteristics when we come across other dogs while walking. He is not aggressive but does let out a warning growl to some (not all) dogs that come too close. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have him and how grateful I am to the Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue for all of the help and guidance provided before hand.
Flynn's previous owners found that he ws too much for them and he was confined to the garden and tied to the tree for several months.
Becky Cuddihy (Rescued and rehomed by Deirdre Plant) Flynn has settled in extremely well into our family and is like one of our own. He has now learned how to play with balls, ropes teddies but his favourite is a little teddy of Bert from Sesame Street and he always has it in his mouth. Flynn has the appetite of a horse and will eat absolutely anything, he's great for eating his kibble and also gets some meat mixed in at dinner. He cheekily robbed toast from dad's plate one morning. Flynn doesn't like anyone calling to our house and doesn't react well when they come in so we are starting to try different methods to try to get Flynn to get used to visitors. Flynn loves his sleep and around 9pm he starts to get tired and lays down on his bed but he will sneak up to my bed to go asleep when everyone has gone to bed. Flynn has loads of energy and loves investigating on our walks. He is walked every morning and every evening although walking isn't a good time for Flynn if he see's another dog, jumping, pulling and barking and it can take a while for him to calm down. We have a behaviorist that visits us every Wednesday and he hopes to help us with this issue. Flynn is a cheeky little boy who loves to have fun and loves a tickle under his chin.
Murphy's previous owners had to make the heartbraking decision to rehome him
Mike Green Murphy has settled in really well, good in the house, great with people and other dogs. He has just been let off the lead and returns when called (even when a deer appeared in our walk recently). The only issue is at night when he won't settle in his bed In the kitchen which is something we're working on. The photo is of Murphy down in Torquay on the beach - displaying his xmas haircut !!!
Charlie's previous owners had to make the heartbraking decision to rehome him
Caroline Burrows Charlie's settled into the house well, he's been pulling on the lead and jumping on people quite a bit but we're working on that, as you can see we cut some of the hair away from round his face because he kept walking into stuff when he was out at night. He's booked in for a proper haircut on Saturday. He's been great since we got him.
The Captains previous owners had to make the heartbraking decision to rehome him
Laura Harding Hi guys just a quick update on the Captain . He has settled in so well . Captain and Rita (Our other Kerry Blue) are now inseparable . We took them both down to Barry Island over the Christmas weekend and he was loving it . If anybody wants to see the adventures that we have please feel free to follow us on instagram we already follow the rescue our page is @rita_the_kerry_blue we will be updating the name soon . Happy new year to all the guys who helped make captain apart of our family
Roah was up for sale on a selling page. Her owners had only had her for 6 weeks ans so little was known about her previous life
Mike A'court (Foster) Just small report on Roah She is doing really well and her personality is really beginning to come out, She pinched a sweet yesterday as Clare had her back turned! She will follow me about the house and is happy to sit in my office as I work during the day. She is incredibly loving and mazing with the children. She will make someone an amzingly loyal family pet.
Nobby was being advertised on a selling site but her owners were happy to let the rescue rehome him.
Leanne Edwards We've had Nobby for about 3 months now it's like he has always been here and I'd never swap him for the world ... even think Pepsi (Our other Kerry) would miss him now. Oh my he is a pain in the ass with his toys and balls....constantly wanting to play, you would think he would get bored of fetch. Pepsi actually gets up n takes all the toys off him lol. He's now put on some needed weight and eats well, loves to be groomed and bathed , loves his walks and especially loves to snuggle next to me on my bed .... move over Nick!!! Thank you all for finding and helping in the re homing of my lovely fur baby Nobbles the clown xxxx
Rex's previous owner sadly passed away and found himself in a rescue with one failed rehoming through no fault of the kennels
Helen Brown Although we weren’t looking actively for a dog despite the boys nagging us for on, there was something about him that meant we couldn’t stop talking about him! We shared the post but once our boys had seen him, their campaign to have a dog went to new heights! We contacted Mark and found out he had been at the Rescue Centre in Cumbria since February and had a poor history. Our heart went out to him when we discovered he had been rejected by the first family who had agreed to take him in, and in finding out about his socialisation problems. We were not deterred and on the 16th June we met Rex for the first time at Animal Rescue Cumbria and were taken through our paces by Ruth, the Manager there, and Tammie, one of the amazing volunteers. It was love at first site. What a lovely boy he was!! We had a small wait for him as the Centre got his training to the point where he was OK to leave and on the 22nd July Rex came home with us
At first Rex was hyper vigilant and was very wary. It was as if he didn’t trust us to stay being nice to him which made us so sad but he soon took to life in a busy house! He adores the boys and gets grumpy when they’re not there! He loves nothing more than to have lots of cuddles and kisses and four months in is coming into his own. His personality is showing through more and he is so much more relaxed and playful - he even plays now more than a couple of minutes. He will do anything for food which has helped with his training! We discovered by accident that he is partial to frozen Brussel sprouts and apples for example! His is still reactive to other dogs but so much better than he was. The rescue centre did amazing work with him and we are slowly getting there. We have days where we wonder if he is reactive or just being a Kerry!!! He has bought huge amounts of love and fun in our lives and we can’t imagine what it was like without him!