Animal lover who rescued a puppy hurled in front of her car on a busy road says he saved her back when lockdown hit soon after her relationship ended

An animal lover who rescued a puppy that was cruelly discarded in front of her car on a dual carriageway says the dog saved her sanity when lockdown hit within months of a life-changing break-up.

Lexie Elliott, 26, first encountered cockapoo Wilf in December 2018, when he was hurled in front of her car from a passing van, as she took a phone call in a layby.

Lexie, who runs her own PR business where she lives in Bournemouth, Dorset, said: “It was dark and I had my headlights on.”

She added: “This blue van pulled up alongside me on a dual carriageway, obviously noting that I was there.

“The next thing I knew, this small fluffy thing was literally thrown out of the van in front of me.

“I thought it was a rabbit and, on the phone to my boyfriend at the time, I said I’d call him back, got out of the car and found a little cockapoo puppy – Wilf.”

Then living in Brighton, East Sussex, with her partner, she called the police, who gave her the number for The Dogs’ Trust, who booked them in at a local vet’s the next day, where Wilf was checked for a microchip and aged at around 10 weeks.

When no chip was found, they took his picture, which the Trust circulated – giving any potential owner two weeks to claim him in case he had been stolen.

Lexie confessed: “I think four hours into having him, he was already mine. I’d fallen in love!”

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She added: “So, when no one came forwards, I kept him.

“It’s definitely the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me.

“But I’m dog mad and, at the time, I was desperately trying to convince my boyfriend to have one.”

She added: “Then, out of the blue, I pulled up in the layby and a dog landed in front of my car – giving us both no choice!”

But the reason for him being abandoned so callously remains a mystery to Lexie.

She said: “Ten weeks is the age when puppies are often sold on, so it can’t have been a breeder.”

She added: “And, surely, if you had a puppy like him and you didn’t want him, you’d take him to a rescue centre.

“None of it has ever made any sense and it remains a mystery why they did it.”

But, despite being incredibly cute, Wilf – who is now nearly three – proved to be quite a handful.

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Lexie said: “Six months into having him, I was thinking, ‘What have I done?’

“He was a liability and he’s still not perfect”

“He clearly had a horrible start and I don’t know what happened before I found him, but he’s terrified of everything and everyone.”

She added: “Of course, the way he deals with that is by barking at anything he’s scared of.

“He barks at my dad, because he’s very tall, which scares him, or at the postman, because he’s walked past and unnerved him.

“He’s also terrified of other dogs. If we pass a dog on the street, he’s quite reactive, which is a lot of hard work in itself. That’s never a pleasure.”

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She added: “Once he’s kind of settled, then he’s fine. It’s just the initial meet and greet.

“Even with friends, if he hasn’t met them before, they have to go in quite calmly and let him sniff them and get used to them, or he won’t be happy.

“He’s adorable, but he’s also hard work!”

But Wilf came into his own in November 2019 when Lexie split up with her boyfriend-of-six years, after realising that they had grown apart and wanted different things.

With a flat to sell, possessions to split and the heartache of starting over – especially when she moved to Bournemouth, to be closer to her family in March 2020 just before the pandemic hit – she said Wilf became her “best friend.”

She said: “It was March 2020. I’d recently launched my business, I’d moved into a little one-bedroom flat, I didn’t really have friends nearby and I was trying to make money.”

She added: “When we were splitting our possessions, there was never any questioning the fact I was getting the dog!

“The split left me with an awful lot to cope with – especially when Covid hit – and the routine of looking after Wilf and taking him for walks really gave me a structure and the motivation I needed to keep going.

“Lockdown meant I couldn’t go out to meet new people, so he was my little bestie – and still is.”

She added: “There were times when I really hit rock bottom, emotionally, but Wilf saved me and kept me going.”

And with the world opening back up and the prospect of meeting someone new becoming a consideration, Wilf will be the deciding factor in any new relationship for Lexie.

She said: “It may sound ridiculous, but he is like having a child.”

She added: “He feels a bit like my son and I am incredibly protective of him.

“Also, he’s a bit troubled, so he’s harder work than most dogs.

“And if someone doesn’t like dogs – and in particular doesn’t like Wilf – I’m afraid it will never work for us.”

Meanwhile, Lexie – who with Wilf is an ambassador for the Woof & Well Awards being run by pet food firm Vet’s Kitchen, looking for stories of everyday heroism from owners who want to thank their dog for helping them through the last 18 months – is happy to bide her time.

She said: “There have been points during the pandemic when, without Wilf, I couldn’t have got out of bed, yet alone run a business.

“So, I am afraid he is far more important to me than any boyfriend.”

END