Rescue dog demonstrates his incredible football skills

Alfie the two-year-old crossbreed, who was adopted from Dogs Trust Evesham two years ago, demonstrates football skills that many people could only dream of. He can dribble at speed, balance a full size football on his head while sprinting, bounce the ball off his body onto his head and even side step a ball to confuse his opponents.



Alfie arrived at Dogs Trust, Wickhamford, Evesham, as a young puppy with his mother and the rest of his litter. He was rehomed at 10 weeks old to the Simpkins family, who quickly noticed that they’d adopted no ordinary dog. Peter Simpkins, from Cheltenham, said: “Alfie truly is our wonder dog. Not only is he a fantastic family pet, he has football skills I rarely see humans possess, never mind a dog.



"We first noticed his one-of-a-kind talent when he took a shine to my daughter’s footballs in the garden, which at the time were the same size as him. It was so funny watching this tiny dog trying to control a ball, but within a few days he had mastered the art of dribbling and controlling the ball in one-on-one tackles. His skills are just amazing. He’s even been known to ‘nutmeg’ me and I can never get a ball off him. He’s incredible, especially as we’ve never trained him. It’s all natural skill!”


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Mr Simpkins added: “We always to try to keep Alfie’s paws firmly on the ground despite his incredible talent but we do like to spoil him occasionally. On his first birthday we filled our garden with 30 footballs and he was in absolute heaven, like a pig in muck!” Mr Simpkins hopes that by sharing Alfie’s talent with the world he can challenge the negative stereotype that some people still hold of rescue dogs. He also hopes to encourage potential dog owners to ‘adopt not shop’ when they decide to get a dog. Who knows, you might just rehome the next canine tennis star from Dogs Trust.