Sherlock arrived with us in October last year, at the age of 1year and 1month.

He was much loved in his previous home but being picked on by the other dogs in the household. When Sherlock arrived he was very nervous meeting our 4 dogs, a pack of mixed hounds and a collie, but soon realised that these boys just wanted to play and be friends.

Our initial assessment of Sherlock showed that he was housetrained, knew basic commands and some tricks, such as tapping your hand with his paw on a ‘give me 5’ command, walks well on a lead and has excellent recall. He is a friendly, happy boy getting on well with all our dogs and cats. He is good around our goats but will chase our ducks and chickens, however, his has never harmed them.

Sherlock is now 16 months old and at the ‘I can do what I want’ stage of his development. Like many teenagers, he is testing his boundaries. At the moment this involves opening internal doors, finding the smallest gap in the fence to squeeze through to get out into the field or into the front garden, climbing on furniture, bin raiding … the list goes on. His behaviour is never nasty, just mischievous and he always comes back when called (especially if the reward is better than the quest he is on).

He can also leap like a cat, he likes to leap into your arms for a cuddle but also likes to leap onto a table or work surface. We are continually working to correct his misdemeanours and this is something that his forever home will need to reinforce as he grows into an adult and grows out of his delinquent teenage stage. He is such an intelligent, happy, life-loving boy and very much the comedian. Sherlock is very active and will need lots of mental and physical interaction. He enjoys his walks and is happy snuffling around or playing chase with his foster pack.

As for sleeping, Sherlock naps well during the day and will go through the night, although initially he didn’t and it took a few weeks to get him to settle. Now that he has mastered sleeping in the living room with the rest of the pack, he is allowed on occasions to sleep in his humans bed and loves nothing more than curling up against the small of his chosen humans back (under the duvet!) – he makes an excellent hot water bottle.

When it comes to meal times, Sherlock can be quite noisy during preparation, barking encouragement for his humans to hurry up! He has two meals of kibble a day and is fed with the other dogs but slightly away from their bowls. He is a fast eater and likes to bash his steel bowl against the tiled floor to let everyone know he has finished. He has not shown any signs of food aggression and loves to have a natural chew on occasions. Every night before bed all the dogs have a dental chew, and he will wait his turn for the treats to be handed out.

Sherlock’s was initially said to be a pure Basset Hound but it is very apparent that he is crossed, probably with a beagle. He has a slight frame and weighs around 15kg. His arrival check-up with the vet found him to be a healthy boy with no apparent medical issues. He does become very nervous if he thinks his claws are going to be cut. We are working on desensitising him and this will need to continue in his forever home.

Sherlock loves his pack, human and hound, he adores being part of the family and greets strangers with a friendly welcome. He doesn’t like to be left for too long but will settle with the other dogs for two or three hours. Around the house and garden, Sherlock is not fazed by anything. He doesn’t mind the vacuum or other noisy appliances and will happily follow you around whilst housework is taking place to see if he can help! He travels well in the car, jumping in and out with ease and settling down for a snooze once the journey is underway.

Sherlock is an amazing foster, he is one in a million, funny, mischievous, loving, cuddly, intelligent, active, a little pocket rocket. There will definitely be a Sherlock shaped hole in our hearts when he finds his forever home.

Sherlocks needs, do you fit them?:-

- A playful, confident resident dog or dogs 

- A dog savvy cat with careful introductions

- Other animals he can live with but small furries need to be safe as he will chase

- Someone home most of the time as Sherlock doens't like being left for too long

- Someone who can carry on with Sherlock's ongoing training

- Children will need to be over the age of 6 as Sherlock is fairly lively 

- Active family with plenty of space or long walks to burn off Sherlock's energy

- Full resuce back up is given for life

 Sherlock's journey with BRNGB

Sherlock is very much a puppy, but he's settled in well to foster life from being a very nervous boy on arrival, to running riot, and when we say running we mean, running, jumping, flying, headbutting his way thorugh life!