The story of Rex

This began in early 2010. My roommate had moved out. The area I lived in wasn’t the greatest, and I felt a little vulnerable — especially after a group of lads tried breaking into my house... while I was in. My girlfriend at the time suggested getting a dog, and she offered to help me find one.

We searched the internet for local ads until I found one on Gumtree for a ‘puppy German Shepherd’ looking for a new home. The owner could no longer care for him. There was a picture — a black and tan German Shepherd puppy. He was beautiful! Adorable! So cute!

I got in contact with the owner, who explained he had become a little too boisterous for her... so we arranged a visit. On the drive there, we passed a pub that had advertised German Shepherd puppies for sale. Great, I thought — if this doesn’t work out, we can stop there!

We arrived at the house and were greeted by the owner. As we walked through the door, a giant, fully-grown Shepherd came charging at me and jumped up, paws on my shoulders, barking in my face...

I looked him dead in the eye and told him to get down. He did. This was Rex — not a puppy as advertised, but a two-year-old German Shepherd. He proceeded to knock over the bin and bring me a plastic bottle as a toy, as he had none. He was being fed chocolate biscuits and, besides a tiny 6‘x6‘ garden, he had never been outside... in two years.

We left the house without Rex. Back in the car, my girlfriend turned to me and said, “You either go back into that house and take that dog off that woman, or I will.”

So I went back to the house and got her to sign him over to me — and off we went.

We returned to my hometown and decided to take him to the park. That’s when we discovered he needed to be muzzled — he tried to attack everything and everyone.

I started walking him at night when it was quiet and gradually got him used to traffic noises and other stimuli. The first time he saw a plane, he jumped up barking at the sky.

I sought help from a local dog academy that specialised in rehabilitation. After doggy school, he still wasn’t fully cured and still needed the muzzle.

I decided to buy a few books on dog behaviour and body language and began teaching myself how to understand and recognise things.

After three years of working with him, he was cured. No muzzle required. We got into hiking, camping, and kayaking — basically, ADVENTURES.

We travelled up and down the country, exploring anywhere we could. We slept under starry skies in a forest or two.

We also got really into dog shows, and Rex became a number one prize winner in nearly every show we attended!

Eventually, old age caught up with Rex. He needed hydrotherapy, and the adventures stopped.

Rex passed away on 03/09/2024. Our final walk was in his beloved forest, where he ate the forbidden cheeseburgers.

He was a good boy — my bestest friend.

My heart has a hole that cannot be filled.