Dog left blind and brain damaged by cruel former owner has time of his life after being unleashed on beach by caring Derbyshire couple

But Derbyshire couple Anne and Jon Ashmore’s pet lurcher, Angus frolicked without a care in the world on a vast empty beach this week.

Angus was full of the joys of life as he ran, rolled and jumped on the sand and sea on a remote Scottish island after he was taken for a special holiday by owners Jon and Anne Ashmore, both age 57, from Inkersall.

Although they don’t know exactly how old he is, the couple believe he is aged four or five.

They adopted him when South Yorkshire based Radar Dog Rescue were looking for a home for him after they had rescued him from a previous abusive owner who had left him with brain damage as a result of mistreatment.

He also suffers from seizures, and takes tablets hidden in a sausage three times a day to control those.

But the couple have discovered he is at his happiest on the beach, and this week took him to the Outer Hebrides to let him run free with them in the wide open spaces, safe from any accidents.

Anne, who taught at Westfield School in Mosborough for 25 years but now teaches PE in primary schools, said the couple had adopted Angus just over two years ago.

They were alerted to him by a friend who thought they could give him what he needed as their daughter, Becky, also had a blind lurcher, so they had experience of looking after blind dogs.

Anne said: “Angus can be quite anxious around new people and dogs, which isn't surprising given his horrible start in life, but once he gets to know you, he is the sweetest boy.

"He bumps into things quite often in the house, but it is amazing how he has adapted. His sense of smell and hearing is amazing. He will bark at a noise before we’ve even heard it.

"If we come across a step he will lift his leg up when we shout 'step'.

“We wouldn’t let him off his lead when we first got him. He had to learn to build a bond with us, and we did a lot of recall training with him.

"Sometimes he gets confused if there is noise and wind, and you can see him thinking where are they? But he knows when he comes back, we’ll give him a piece of sausage.

"But he can just be himself on an empty beach where there are no other dogs or people and we try to take him to them whenever we can.

"He loves it when he gets the feel of the sand between his toes, and that is when he is in his happy place. The joy on his face makes it all worthwhile.

"We don’t know how long he will live, and how long we will have him for. But we are trying to give him the best experiences we can for however long we have got left with him. We enjoy every day we have with him.”