Bertie and Basil

• Name: Bertie and Basil

• Age: 11 years

• Sex: Male

• Location: Cheshire

24th November 2024

Since joining the BRNGB family Bertie and Basil have done well; you will recall they were heavily reliant on each other for comfort.  

Bertie was incredibly anxious at night and would not settle, we tried adaptil plugs, his foster family tried sleeping with him, even with Basil there he would not settle at all.  Added to this if they were separated from their foster mum and dad, even for the smallest amount of time (just popping upstairs for a shower etc) they would both bark and howl until a human was back in sight.   

This was very stressful for both hounds and of course the humans.  After weeks of trying different techniques things were not improving; Bertie was also beginning to react to people and other dogs outside as well so their foster family, who were hoping to have the boys stay forever, decided with the team that the boys were not settled with them and we found a new foster home for them.  

We don’t like moving foster hounds around, but no one could continue with the situation, it certainly wasn’t fair on the boys or their foster home.  

The boys moved to a new foster home with a resident pack of hounds and almost immediately they changed, the power of a pack seemed to help them settled; even to the point, although they are still very much bonded and reliant on each other they do now separate and enjoy time with the other dogs.  They will go off onto separate beds to sleep independently and go off into the garden without each other.  

Basil has now been neutered, turned out he had one underdeveloped testicle, apart from that his surgery went well and Bertie was very calm without him at home for the day.  Basil also needs a dental once he’s made a full recovery from his surgery.  

We know that their first foster family tried everything they could to help the boys settled; we also know that sometimes it just doesn’t work for various reasons.  We have to make decisions that hurt hearts, and once we know all attempts have been exhausted (and in some cases everyone is physically exhausted too) we have to move hounds.   

We are incredibly grateful to the boys’ first foster family for trying so very hard.  There really was no rhyme or reason as to why they wouldn’t settle, but we hope it helps to see how much they've changed within the pack with their new foster family.  

Thank you to everyone who has helped the boys this far; we will update you again on how things are going for these wonderful brothers.  

21st October 2024 

Bertie, or Bertie Blue as he's affectionatly known, and his brother Basil joined the BRNGB family yesterday. 

They are both 11 years old and have grown up together.  Bertie, in case you hadn't guessed has one blue eye.  

The boys are very much bonded, Basil being the more confident and Bertie being more anxious.  They have settled into foster really well, the snores that come out of Basil could wake the neighbours next door but one! 

They are described by their foster family as "Dreamboats" even if they gave a very early morning warning they needed out at 4.30 this morning. 

They will be having their vet check in the next few days and we will update further then. 

In the meantime, they have a little wish list below.  As always everything will stay with them to their forever home. We have also included a link where you can donate to their care whilst with us if you would rather. 

Thank you to their transporters and their foster family for taking such good care of them.

https://brngb.org/support-brngb/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3MBG58XK6OBPR?ref_=list_d_wl_lfu_nav_3