By Cassie Burrell
We have 2 children, our eldest is 4 and our youngest 2. We were looking for a puppy for our family but in particular for our eldest son who’s autistic. He loves animals to the fullest and we were recommended by our specialists that a puppy/dog might be best to help him self regulate and calm a little easier.
When we came across Barry and Gilli’s site we just had a good feeling. The site was professional and knowledgeable and after getting in touch we knew that they were just lovely people.
We explained our situation and they recommended coming up to see the puppies and see if we or Sam got a feeling about any in particular.
Sam’s first visit wasn’t great as he was so overwhelmed but Barry and Gilli did everything they could to help such as a separate room, only bringing one or a few puppies out, letting Sam spend time with the dogs rather than the puppies. They were happy to help in any way possible to help support Sam through this.
With their support and guidance we decided that a female red lab was the best fit for our family.
They kept us updated with videos all the time which helped Sam so much. They even suggested weekly visits to help ease things. This worked such a treat.
By the time we came to pick up Rexy (perfect name for a dinosaur lover), Sam was totally at ease with not only the puppies and Rexy but Barry and Gilli too.
It truly was a full experience for us and helped with the transition of everything. Rexy went straight to boarding for basic training with a local trainer which included lots of visits from us and sleepovers at our house to help the transition.
2 months in and Rexy is due to come to her forever home. The bond between Sam and her and all the rest of the family including our youngest is just beautiful.
From the get go she had a beautiful nature and has been calm and confident. And she knows what Sam needs already. We honestly without a doubt don’t think we would be in such a great position and have created such an amazing bond with Rexy without Barry and Gilli’s support and knowledge.
We would recommend them in a heartbeat and can’t thank them enough.
