One of the 250 poodle-cross dogs, whose photo showing them living crammed together in a filthy home touched the hearts of the nation, has been adopted by a reality TV star after he became besotted.
Love Island’s Bayley Mummery was the driving force in convincing his mother, Liz, to take in Dexter after they met the adorable pup for the first time.
The 28-year-old had taken family dog, Teddy, to meet ‘his new brother’ at the RSPCA in Millbrook, Chobham, Surrey, where the two instantly hit it off.
He documented their heartwarming first meeting on his TikTok page alongside the message ‘my heart is full’, with Dexter seen excitedly bounding around.
On the drive home, Bayley turned to his mother and said: ‘We’re definitely getting him.’
Dexter’s impact on the family of four has been immediate, and they have all fallen in love with the cross-breed who is visually impaired in one eye.
None more so than for cockapoo Teddy, who had become bereft following the recent death of the family’s 11-year-old Bichon, Casper.
Liz, 52, and Bayley are both at pains to stress that ‘cheeky’ Dexter is not a replacement for Casper who died from a tumour.
The mother-of-two exclusively told the Daily Mail he has come on leaps and bounds since moving into the family’s home in Surrey a few weeks ago.
‘He’s just loving life,’ Liz said. ‘He just reminds me of a little lamb just bouncing around when he’s in the garden.
‘He just loves everything and everyone. He’s just so good.’
Bayley lives at home with his mother, father, Simon, 59, and his autistic 24-year-old brother, Ethan.
The family has been hit by a double tragedy in the last year, with Liz’s father, Brian Ford, passing away last August.
The death of the former RAF police dog handler hit Bayley hard, and he often takes Teddy for walks in Wisley Common – the same woods where his grandfather would go with his canines.
In his heartwarming TikTok clip, Bayley told his 36,600 followers they didn’t want Teddy to feel lonely.
Liz, who works from home as an executive assistant, said Dexter had brought a different energy to the household since Casper’s death.
She said: ‘We knew we’d have to do something because Ted was so miserable. Now Ted is really happy. And everyone, when they come in from work, normally walked straight past the dogs to the kitchen fridge.
‘And now they’re going straight for the dogs. And, in fact, Dex has normally got there first. He’s normally heard them and bounded straight towards them. It’s lovely. It’s just brings people together as a family.
‘It just completes us again. Something that was really traumatic in losing the other dog… I never thought we would be getting a dog within three weeks of losing our other dog, because to me, it feels a bit disrespectful.
‘But it wasn’t about us. It was about Ted, and how he was feeling.’
Teddy and Dexter have became ‘best friends from the moment he walked through the door’, and the two play together all the time.
Liz said: ‘When Dexter’s crashed out, Ted’s kind of sat there with the ball in his mouth, going, “come on”, then Dexter’s like, “you joking?”.
‘They’ve been amazing for each other. Dexter’s pretty much saved Ted, and Ted has been exactly what Dexter needed to learn from as well, to learn how to be a household dog.’
Dexter has since been to ‘puppy class’ organised by the RSPCA, who Liz said had been absolutely amazing.
She first saw a picture of Dexter when a friend sent her a link from the RSPCA’s website and instantly thought he was cute and was contacted within hours of filling out a form.
Liz was aware he had come from a home with 250 dogs, but it was only last week that she saw the picture of them crammed together that had shocked the nation.
‘I was looking at the picture, because that is just, and this is what they told me, that is just one room in a two-bedroom house,’ she said.
‘That is one room, there was 250 dogs, so it doesn’t bear thinking what the rest of the house was like.’
Dexter had been in the care of an ‘extremely vulnerable, elderly owner’ who had become ‘overwhelmed’ and their living conditions had ‘rapidly spiralled out of control’.
‘Even my husband, he’s not really that much of a doggy person, he’s absolutely taken with him,’ she says.
‘And he says “every time I look at him, I just think where he’s come from”.’
The RSPCA told the Mail it had attended to provide help to the owner rather than prosecute, a decision Liz wholeheartedly agrees with.
The charity had carried out the rescue mission alongside the Dogs Trust, with officers understood to have been in floods of tears.
Kind-hearted dog lovers who adopted some of the poodle-crosses have posted images of the animals’ stunning turnarounds, though some still need homes.
One of the rescued pets, named Ravi, is seen happily lounging on a chair. Meanwhile, a healthy and adorable Dex had grown ‘in body and confidence’ in the three weeks since he had been adopted, his new owner said.
‘Ours is doing so well, the RSPCA did an amazing job helping him and now us as he navigates his new normal,’ they said.
Another sweet image shows one of the cute rescue dogs on a grey fleece blanket beside a tennis ball and toy.
While a poodle named Lily, described as intelligent and a quick learner, is seen snuggled up with her owner on the sofa.
