An RSPCA rescue dog who was found abandoned and tied to the gate of an animal centre in Kent has now found a loving forever home and has become a flyball champion.
Rufus, formerly called Rocky, a Plummer Terrier, was tied to the gate and abandoned outside RSPCA Leybourne Animal Centre in Kent in February 2020.
When the staff arrived at the centre, they just found a blanket and a dog coat on the ground and a collar and a lead attached to the gate as Rufus had managed to slip his lead and escape. Luckily, he was picked up by a passerby on the main road and brought back to the animal centre for care.
In April 2020, he was rehomed to Fiona and Ian Eyres in Chelmsford, Essex, who immediately fell in love with him.
Fiona said: “It was a strange time as it was at the start of the pandemic. We’d seen him and visited him and then we went into lockdown and we couldn’t rehome him. In April, the centre got in touch with us to say that he was really struggling in the kennels and asked if we were still interested in him, which obviously we were! Then due to Covid, they literally delivered him to our door.
“It did take a while for him to settle in. We know we were his fourth home and he was only a year old when we got him so he’d been passed around so much, it’s no wonder he had some trust issues. Now he’s absolutely lovely and he loves flyball. He really needs something like that to keep his mind and his body active, it’s brilliant for him.”
Poor Rufus struggled in kennels and he had some trust issues with men at first but taking part in flyball with Ian has been a real bonding experience and Rufus absolutely loves it.
Flyball involves teams of four dogs competing in relay. The dogs run over four jumps to a “box” that is spring loaded, then turn around on the box triggering a ball which they catch and then return back over the four jumps and the next dog takes their turn. The dogs that compete are often ultra-fit and the current British Flyball Association (BFA) record, set in August, is just 14.71 seconds!
Fiona added: “It’s a fast and furious sport and Rufus loves it. Rufus really enjoys walking in general and I love walking so he gets a lot of exercise but flyball gives him that high energy exercise he really needs and then he gets lots of time to chill afterwards. We stay in our campervan for the flyball competitions and being only a small club we were really excited to win.”
Rufus is part of a team called “Be Right Back” and they run a number of teams that compete in different divisions depending on their speed over the course. Rufus’ team is called “Be Right Back in a Mo”.
A few weeks ago, Rufus and his team mates won division 11 at the BFA national championships at Driffield, Yorkshire. They took home a shield that they can keep for a year and a rosette that is now displayed, alongside his others, at their home on the pooches’ achievement board.
Fiona said: “He’s an absolute superstar in our house and we are so proud of him. He’s such a lovely dog.”
Angelina Allingham, deputy manager at RSPCA Leybourne Animal Centre, said: “We are so pleased to see Rufus loving life in his new home. He had a sad start to life being passed around and then abandoned so it’s amazing to see him so settled and happy now. He’s always been a champion in our eyes but now he even has some rosettes to prove it!”
This month, the RSPCA has launched its annual Adoptober campaign encouraging prospective pet owners to consider giving a rescued animal a new home as new figures raise concerns that more animals are being relinquished to charities (animal intake is up 8.4% year-on-year) at a time when rehoming has dropped by 8%.
The RSPCA’s annual Adoptober rehoming drive will run throughout this month, promoting adoption and highlighting the many animals the charity has waiting to find their perfect match.
Could you offer a rescue pet a loving new home? Please visit Find A Pet to see all of the animals currently in our care who are looking for their paw-fect match.
To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit our website or call our donation line on 0300 123 8181.
