Birmingham Couple find 'love at first bark' at The Dog House

Birmingham couple, Richard and Justin, appeared on the latest episode of reality television series, The Dog House, in search of a four-legged friend to join their family, and found exactly what they were looking for. The couple from Midlands were featured on Channel 4’s The Dog House, series 7, episode 7 in which they headed to Wood Green, the Animal Charity in Cambridgeshire which matches rescue dogs with new loving owners and forever homes.

Justin, Richard & Bear the Yorkipoo (Channel 4)

Richard and Justin who – at the time of filming – had been together for over three years were searching for a scruffy-type dog who could potentially be renamed Bimini Bon Boulash (after the drag queen of the same name), and who might be able to join them for Sunday lunches at a Birmingham Gay Village bar mentioned (that we can only assume is The Loft).

"There's a bar in the Gay Village that you go to for your Sunday lunch, and they encourage you to take your dogs. So, it'd be brilliant, it'd be like gays, pop music and puppies. What's not to love?" explained Richard on the show.

Prepared to make a commitment to training if the dog needed it, Justin and Richard were matched with Bear, an adorable Yorkshire Terrier Poodle cross. Bear had been handed into the charity by his previous owners who could no longer handle the animal’s obsessive barking.

“When a dog doesn't really know how to act in a situation, its go-to response can be barking. That's their coping mechanism. It's noisy behaviour that's cost Bear, the Yorkipoo, his home,” Sadie from the rescue centre stated.

“It can be hard to live with a dog that barks a lot. But, they’re talking through their barking and it's about understanding what they're trying to say.

“It's not necessarily that the dog is being angry, it could be frustration, it could be fear. And it's just about giving them other outlets to kind of managed their emotions. It's definitely something that can be worked on and improved.”

Despite the noisy arrival, Wood Green Charity found Bear to be a friendly dog, and with some help from Behavioural Specialist, Sue, to work on his social skills and reactivity the staff decided he was ready to be matched up with a potential new home. Bear was eager to meet his new matches right from the start, and quickly found his way into the hearts of  Justin and Richard; finding his forever home in Birmingham.