Our Rescue - The Story of Bailey, Belle & Beau

The name All the B’s might sound a little strange to the casual passerby but the name originates from the names of our three gorgeous rescue dogs, Bailey, Belle and Beau. We thought today we would share the story of our dogs, their rescue and how they are getting on today.

Bailey

Bailey is a 5 year old mixed breed adopted in 2016 from the RSPCA. He was seized from a neglectful situation alongside his 8 other siblings and his Staffie-Cross mother. Not much else is known about his backstory other than the fact that his case ended up in court and that he had several skin issues probably from neglect.

We adopted Bailey when he was 4 months old. All his other siblings had already left the centre and his mother had sadly been returned back to the original owner much to everyone’s dismay. We fell in love with the scruffy black puppy with his tiny white teeth poking out over his top lip. He wasn’t conventionally the most beautiful dog but boy did he steal our hearts.

Nowadays, Bailey is the perfect companion. He attended training classes for a number of years that he did really well in, trained in agility for fun and regularly competes in fun dog shows. Bailey has taught the girls how to be a dog and is a good influence on the dogs that come through our doors. His early skin issues have continued throughout his adult life with a grand total of 27 allergies under his name and regular trips to the vets (everyone knows his name!) but thankfully his treatment hasn’t left any mental scars.

Beau

The second dog to join our family, Beau was adopted in 2017 from Many Tears Animal Rescue. She is a Shih Tzu who had been used on a puppy farm for 3 years leading to 4 litters of puppies who were taken from her at an early age. She spent those years over in Ireland where puppy farming for profit is quite prolific. Not much else is known about her early life but it’s not hard to imagine the horrors that she went through as a breeding machine.

Beau suffers with a condition called ‘Shut Down Syndrome.’ This is characterised by the feeling of hopelessness in a dog usually as a result of emotional trauma. Instead of displaying the typical fight or flight response, shut down dogs essentially give up as they feel like they can’t escape anymore. They often avoid eye contact, are unresponsive and are stoic, not displaying emotion or pain.

Beau thankfully didn’t take long to recover from her ordeal. She still exhibits symptoms from time-to-time but is otherwise a happy and healthy dog. Her favourite thing to do is go on walks and meet other dogs!

Belle

Belle was the last dog to join the family in 2018. She is also a Shih Tzu rescued by Many Tears Animal Rescue from a puppy farm, this time in Wales. Belle was too used to breed from although it appears she wasn’t such a good mother as the farm attempted to get rid of her at a younger age. She has clearly suffered the most mentally from her experience as she is by far the most nervous and still exhibits symptoms today.

Belle’s biggest fear by far is men and she will attempt to hide or run away from any male that comes near her. There is also a scar from a cigarette burn on the back of her neck. Belle didn’t know how to be a dog at all when she was rescued and spent the first two nights in her foster home hiding behind the garden shed. We had to completely start again with her training, teaching her to walk on lead, to sleep in a dog bed and most importantly to learn to trust humans again.

Unfortunately, there is still a little way to go with Belle and the truth is she may never trust all humans again but who could blame her after her treatment? However the happy wiggle dance she does the minute she hears us come downstairs in the morning and the huge tail wag and grin on her face when she’s able to run freely off lead is enough to fill our eyes with happy tears.

So that is the story of our three. Do you have a rescue dog? Please share with us their story in the comments below!