13/12 – Tom peacefully passed away in his sleep yesterday evening. He will be much missed. He had been in our care since 2013. Run free little man x
Terrier Tom came into Oldies Club care in Autumn 2013. We had been led to believe that Tom was an ‘easy’ dog, but it soon became clear that this was not the case and Tom had to be moved from not just one, but two of our foster homes.
Oldies Club arranged for a behaviourist to visit Tom, who is 18 years old, in his second foster home, where he was suffering from a form of separation anxiety amongst other things. We decided that Tom should be placed in our sponsor dog scheme, meaning he will remain as a permanent foster dog, with Oldies Club covering the cost of his vet bills for the rest of his life.
We were extremely fortunate to find a very terrier experienced couple who were willing to take Tom on, on permanent foster. Much to everyone’s relief, Tom moved to his third and final foster home in December 2013 :-)
Tom settled into his new foster home really well and although he does still have his issues, his new family understand his ways and do not find his ‘quirks’ too much of a problem. His foster Mum is retired and home all day, so although Tom doesn’t like to be left, he doesn’t have to spend much time on his own these days. Tom has been destructive in foster and he does get worried very easily and can get into quite a state sometimes. He will pull at his lead to try to get free, but will calm down once he is.
Tom is now living with a number of other dogs, as you can see in some of these lovely photos. Of all the dogs in his new family, he gets the dirtiest, with a very muddy belly, but is not a fan of being dried! He loves his food and treats and likes to be fussed as long as he is not crowded. He doesn’t have a favourite toy at home, but on walks he shares a ball with his doggie friends. Although Tom does like to be in charge of the ball and usually ends up carrying it around for most of the walk. It’s a good job his new doggie pals are accepting of this :-)
In spring 2016, Tom’s fosterer noticed one of his eyes had suddenly gone cloudy so he was taken to the vets. Unfortunately, it was a form of retinal detachment and so our special boy had to have the eye removed.
In September 2017 dear Tom had to have his remaining eye removed :-( Thankfully he is doing well since his operation, has been out on walks
and taking it all in his stride.
Thankfully Tom’s foster family are well used to erm, characterful, terriers and cope well with his little tantrums. They say he is a lovely lad who likes to cuddle up to someone for a snooze. He likes to lick people as well, enjoying contact, but nothing forceful.
