Wellard

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For the Perth suburb, see Wellard, Western Australia

EastEnders character

Wellard
Portrayed by	Kyte
Duration	1994—
First appearance	18 October 1994
Species	Dog
Owner(s)	Robbie Jackson (1994–2003) Gus Smith (2004–2008) Mickey Miller (2008) Vinnie Monks (2008) Tiffany Dean (2008—)

Wellard is a fictional dog in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kyte. He is a Belgian Tervuren, though Kyte is actually female.

[edit] History

Wellard's first appearance in Albert Square was on 18 October 1994. He was spotted by Robbie Jackson and his friend Kevin, who assumed he was a stray. Robbie named him Wellard (short for "well hard", meaning "very tough"). Wellard's owner, Mr. Hammond, demanded the dog back and Robbie handed him over. However, Wellard soon returned to the Square and Robbie realised he was being mistreated by his owner and had run away. Mr Hammond later admitted to neglecting Wellard, and allowed Robbie to keep him. The pair became best friends.

Wellard once fathered puppies with Grant Mitchell and Nigel Bates's dog, Frieda. Unfortunately, the puppies were stillborn.

When Robbie was due to leave Walford in February 2003 to live in India, Wellard was run over and delayed Robbie's departure. Wellard was looked after by Gus Smith.

In December 2003 he was involved in the mini bus crash and saved the day when he led Gus Smith and Martin Fowler to where they could call the emergency services

In October 2005, Wellard bit Ian Beale on the bottom in the café. Despite Gus's apologies, Ian reported Wellard to the police. Gus hid Wellard at the allotments, and later at the Slaters' home, however, Ian eventually tracked the dog down and turned up with the police who took Wellard away. In December 2005, Gus tried to make some money so he was able to visit Wellard in "prison".

The day after Deano Wicks arrived in the Square, he designed a t-shirt for Gus as part of the "Walford One Owed Freedom" (WOOF) campaign. The t-shirts were a huge success.

Ian and Gus appeared in court on January 12, 2006 for Wellard's trial. Before the trial, Ian's partner, Jane Collins, gave Gus character witness statements for Wellard written by Ian's children, Lucy and Peter. Although Wellard was found guilty, because of these statements, there was no order to destroy Wellard, so Gus was free to take him back home, as long as he kept him on a lead at all times.

In the week beginning 9 July Wellard was kidnapped after Mickey Miller left him outside the café. The kidnapper turned out to be Bert's Grandson Jay, and he demanded money for his release but since then, Jay's dad turned up out of the blue and let Wellard go, back to a relieved Gus.

On the episode shown on 17 April 2008 Gus was led to believe that he was eating Wellard in a spaghetti dish that Sean Slater had made. Later that month, Sean set Wellard free but he came back to Gus.

On May 1st 2008, Gus left Walford to travel with his girlfriend Keisha. He left Wellard in the care of Mickey Miller. Wellard was sold to Vinnie as a present for Shirley, but she did not want him. Whitney traded a pineapple for Wellard, so Tiffany could be happy, but Tiffany had already found another dog to love - Roxy Mitchell's dog Albert!

[edit] In popular culture

Wellard's, the internet company, was so-named in honour of the Belgian Shepherd Dog.

For Red Nose Day 2007, Aardman Animations created a Creature Comforts style short featuring Wellard asking for money for Comic Relief, along with selling his offspring and being put in prison.