Abandoned in a bin

We can’t imagine how petrified tiny Dennis must have been. Deaf, partially blind, and suffering from painful injuries, he was left for dead in a bin, aged just six weeks old.

Thank goodness the little terrier puppy was found when he was. With wounds at high risk of fatal infection and his little body growing weaker by the minute without food or water, he couldn’t have survived much longer.

Noosh Ashmead-Bartlett, Admissions Coordinator at Blue Cross Burford, says: “Dennis had been taken to a vet and then collected by the dog warden, who called and asked us to take him in.

“When I went to collect him from the stray kennels, I didn’t expect him to be so small. He fitted in a cat carrier – he was absolutely tiny.

“I’ve never seen a dog of his age quite so little and thin, and with so many injuries as well.”

Injured

We don’t know how Dennis sustained the wounds – they could have been caused by any sharp object in the bin he was abandoned inside, or it could have happened before. We’ll never know.

But one thing was certain: this tiny puppy needed love, warmth, and stability – and fast.

Dennis was petrified when he arrived at Blue Cross, but he urgently needed a bath as he was so filthy. So, our team took a careful approach.

“He was really, really worried,” explains Noosh. “So, we just had to get damp towels and kind of wash him down that way as he was so worried by the water and the noise of the shower.”

Bathing him revealed a large and painful wound on his side that had been hidden by dirt and fur.

As Dennis was also wobbly on his feet, he was taken for an urgent vet check. 

Antiseptic ointment was prescribed for his wounds, and his unsteadiness was put down to nerves caused by his limited vision and lack of hearing. The poor boy was scared to put one paw in front of the other.

Bewildered

“His eyes couldn’t focus on you very well, and he couldn't really hear what you were saying or work out where he was,” reflects Noosh.

“So, he would sort of go to the corner of the room or try to nestle into you in order to feel safe.”

Kennels are no place for a tiny, vulnerable puppy like Dennis, so he was placed in an expert foster home with one of our team members, who is experienced in caring for blind puppies, from the very first night.

He went there with specialist puppy food to build his strength, medicated cream for his cuts, a squishy bed, and some toys to play with and help him to build a bond with his carer.

But he still spent plenty of days in the team rooms at the centre to help develop his confidence further.

Noosh continues: “For those first couple of days, he was so shut down and so nervous, and obviously, poor Dennis didn't really have great eyesight and couldn't hear.

“So, we weren't able to do the normal things that you would do with a puppy. We had to teach him different cues.

Adapting

“If we came into the room, we'd sort of tap our feet on the floor so he would get the vibrations to let him know we were approaching. And when we’d go to pick him up, we’d tap him gently so that he knew what these things started to mean.

“It was a whole different thing for us to learn. We've dealt with deaf puppies and we've dealt with blind puppies - but putting the two together was such a different experience for us and something that we had to learn along the way."

In his foster home, familiar surroundings that Dennis could learn to navigate were crucial, explains Noosh.

“He would sort of charge around and within the first couple of days, he'd really sort of laid out a map of his foster carer’s home.

“I think he did have breed on his side in that terriers do something once and they go: ‘oh, right, won't do that again, that wasn't very fun’.

“So, he'd walk into the corner of a room and know not to do it again. He would sort of rush into things and learn as he did it.”

Transformed

With this stability, Dennis thrived. With daily care, his wounds soon healed. And, feeling safe, he became confident and steady on his paws in no time.

Noosh says: “He really just came into his own in foster. As time went on, he became quite confident, and his personality very quickly came out.”

It wasn’t long before his sweet face and cheeky character stole the hearts of a new family. After 24 days, he left Blue Cross care for a fresh start in a loving home where he is adored.

Noosh adds: “It’s wonderful and all we could ever have wanted for him. He's got a whole new incredible life ahead of him, but it could have gone down a completely different trajectory.”

Thanks to the person who found him clinging to life in a bin, the critical care he received at Blue Cross, and the love of his adopters, Dennis will be spending his first Christmas wrapped in warmth and happiness.