Ladybird Animal Sanctuary | Ladybird Animal Sanctuary

Alfie

STATUS: Adopted AGE AT ARRIVAL: Approximately 10-12 years old ARRIVAL DATE: February 22nd, 2020 ADOPTION DATE: November 8th, 2020 SPECIES: Dog BREED: Poodle GENDER: Neutered Male

* Alfie found his forever home with wonderful people! Yay! *

Alfie came into Hamilton Animal Services as a stray, and was not claimed by his owner. His fur was matted and dirty, his eyes were cloudy, and his teeth were horribly rotten and infected. Despite all these issues, Alfie is a very happy dog! He loves everyone he meets!
After a short time in his foster home, we had Alfie neutered, but his rotten teeth needed to be taken care of by a specialist vet. During the first dental surgery, Alfie had all his teeth removed It was quite an extensive surgery that involved the bones in his jaw and nose, because the infection had settled into both. Alfie had to endure several more surgeries to repair fistulas that were stubborn and would not close up. He still has one small hole that the specialist vet has advised will be okay as long as Alfie doesn’t chew anything that could possibly cause damage. No rawhide for this boy!
Alfie needs a forever home with no small children. We don’t know how he will be with cats, but he gets along with the other dog and the rabbits in his foster home.

Here’s a note from Alfie’s foster mom:

“Alfie is a very sweet and affectionate old man dog, somewhere around 10–12 years old. Like most seniors, Alfie is happy to have a soft place to sleep for most of the day and is very low energy, although he does still get the zoomies! Alfie loves to go for long walks, but often he prefers to be carried rather than do the legwork himself! Medically, Alfie has come a long way from the stinky, scruffy, lumpy, and frail little guy he was in the spring. After numerous surgeries to fix him up, remove all of his teeth, and correct two oronasal fistulas, he’s now healthy and ready to find his forever home. Unfortunately, one of his fistulas hasn’t completely healed, which means he has a very tiny hole leading from the inside of his mouth to the inside of his nasal cavity. It currently doesn’t bother him at all, and he may never experience any complications from it, but his adopter will need to ensure that Alfie is never allowed to chew on anything that might irritate or damage the hole (that means no access to hard or soft toys to chew on or hard treats/food to eat). Alfie eats normal senior dog kibble that has been softened in water overnight, and he also loves fruit and vegetables, so he eats cheese, cooked veggies, and soft fruit as treats. Alfie happily lives with house rabbits and another dog, although he can be a bit bossy around the latter. Being left home entirely alone is quite stressful for him, but he is fine for a few hours if he has a respectful dog friend to keep him company. Alfie is currently crated overnight and is used to that as part of his bedtime routine, but it is not at all required. Alfie is now perfectly house trained, but he is still given lots of opportunities to go outside for comfort breaks throughout the day. Alfie absolutely loves all humans, but he would be better suited to an adult-only home or a home with very gentle and understanding older children, as he is rather delicate and will sometimes use his mouth to communicate his feelings (he doesn’t seem to realize that he doesn’t have any teeth with which to back up his ‘bite’)! Overall, Alfie is an excellent and easy companion, and his occasional poodle-y stubbornness just adds to his delightful old-man charm. Whoever adopts him will be very, very lucky!”