Rescue dog finds love in lockdown after three years

It was a case of lucky lockdown seven for a rescue dog who will enjoy spending Christmas in his forever home after waiting more than three years for someone to fall in love with him. 

Poor terrier cross Cadbury had been adopted six times during his stay with Dogs Trust Ilfracombe but sadly it was not meant to be and as lockdown hit in March he was waiting for his seventh home. 

Lockdown indeed proved lucky for Cadbury as that was when Stephen and Amanda Willmott from Barnstaple spotted him and welcomed him into their lives. 

Amanda said: “We can’t imagine life without Cadbury! He is just wonderful and has totally melted our hearts. 

“We lost our 17-year-old Jack Russell over a year ago and when we retired just before lockdown, we knew then was the right time to bring a four-legged friend back into our lives.  

“We were told Cadbury had some behavioural quirks that we needed to work with, but seeing as we had all the time in the world, we wanted to put in the time and effort to make him feel safe and we weren’t going to let him down – we’re his lucky number seven." 

The couple spent a lot of time working with Cadbury, meeting him at the centre near West Down and taking him for walks, before having him for an overnight stay at their home. 

Amanda said: “He was a little anxious to be begin with, but eight weeks on, he is a completely different dog to the one we first brought home and within days it felt like he’d always been part of our lives. 

“Having Cadbury during this pandemic has been a real blessing – he gives us purpose and we’ve enjoyed getting out into the fresh air with him when there hasn’t been much else to do.” 

Centre manager Elise Watson said there were a few tears when Cadbury left for his final home, adding: "Cadbury struggled with various aspects of home life, including people leaving him and fear of other dogs.  

“But our training team spent many hours working with him, putting different training plans in place to help him cope when being left and his reaction to other unknown dogs, until they were confident that he was ready to have great adventures with a new family. 

“Amanda and Stephen have been amazing with Cadbury since day one and the bond they have with him is very special – we don’t think we’ll be seeing him again anytime soon – they are smitten!” 

To find out about rehoming visit https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/our-centres/ilfracombe or call 01271 812 709. If you would like to donate, go to dogstrust.org.uk/changethetale.  

If you are struggling to cope with looking after your dog, for whatever reason, contact Dogs Trust on 0300 303 2188.