Success Stories
Zoey
Zoey was found on the side of a motorway; the noise of the cars had terrified her, and she looked bedraggled and malnourished. After an exhaustive search for her owner, we decided to find a new home for her. After a lot of love, care, time and attention, we managed to uncover Zoey’s true personality; as she became less nervous, it was clear that she was incredibly affectionate and loving. Zoey was lucky to find a wonderful new home, and we were delighted to recieve the following update from her new family who clearly adore her:
We agreed to foster Zoey but fell in love with her and the big news is that we have adopted her and she won’t be going to another home after all. She has settled in really well and although still nervous is making progress every day. She enjoys her walks and has met lots of dogs to play with. She is still not keen on strangers but doesn’t try to pull away from them anymore. Although she doesn’t approach them she stands by me calmly if I talk to them. We changed her name to Gracie by the way. Gracie no longer needs her indoor kennel to feel safe and now sleeps in her bed happily. She is even happier now because she has a little sister, Lily, a 9 week old Golden Retriever who arrived last week. Although Lily is very small at the moment the two enjoy playing together and they will be good friends as they are growing up together. In fact they already get on really well together. Gracie is a lovely dog and we feel blessed to have her in our family. She had an unlucky start but on the whole has been fortunate in the people she has met since. Thank you so much for caring for her so well and helping to make her the loving and affectionate girl she is.
Lola
Lola was brought into us in extremely poor condition. She had clearly been straying for a long time, as she was quite literally skin and bones. We were all worried about her, as she seemed weak, lifeless, and terrified of people. Rehabilitating Lola took quite some time, but was worth every minute as she developed into a strong, playful and extremely happy dog. We were amazed by her transformation; it was heartening to see that despite all she had been through, Lola had never lost her wonderful personality. She was adopted by a wonderful family around 18 months ago and her new mum Branwen very kindly sent us some New Year pictures to show us how well she had settled in – thank you so much to Branwen, Paul, the kids & Loki for welcoming Lola into their family – she is a very lucky girl!
Just thought that you might like to know how Lola has s…ettled in to Clonmel. I think the attached pictures are self explanatory. She is in great form and getting very confident. The kids love her and she is even getting neck massages from Paul. She is a real woman – loves heat, comfort and biscuits. Still not 100% thrilled with the car but is getting better. She and Loki have great wrestling matches and they are busy giving each other bad habits so the companionship thing is working out OK too.
Brambles
Brambles had been living wild in the fields for months when we received a call about him. He had become almost completely wild – he would run instantly at the sight of a human. It took weeks to build his trust, with our volunteers patiently spending hours in the fields building trust with him, letting him get to know us and slowly coaxing him towards us. When we finally rescued him, we had to spend weeks rebuilding his trust of humans further, to the point he was ready for a new home. He was lucky to find a wonderful home, and his new family were happy to spend time getting to know him and winning his trust. He now seems to be in doggy heaven – long walks, wide open fields to play in, a loving family to care for him, and as we can see from the picture, lots of sleeps!
Just a few pictures to let you see how Brambles is getting on. He is a lovely dog. Very energetic and loves his long walks and his food. He is great fun. He loves racing around the field nearby but the grass is a bit high at the moment and he gets lost. He is still frightned of men and gives the odd growl at strangers.He is now great friends with John, my husband – it took a few weeks to make friends! We love him to bits.
Dougal
We received a call about Dougal, and when we found him we were shocked – he was filthy and emaciated, and when we brought him to our rescue he was extremely nervous around both people and other dogs. Hours of rehabilitation and socialisation followed, and we were rewarded with a handsome, bright and affectionate dog who stole all our hearts! His family sent us this update, and we’re so happy that he’s getting on so well. Another little story for you that brought a smile to our faces – when his new family take him for walks, he refuses to walk past the local Centra until someone walks in to buy him a slice of ham. What a little character!
We got a dog from you through Lindsay. His name was Dougal and he is getting on great with us. I thought I might give an update and say a few words about adopting a dog. I also have a pic of him after his grooming.
He is a bit of a rascal and hes totally spoilt. Everyone loves him. In fact my parents want to adopt him! We got him groomed a couple of weeks ago and when I collected him, I thought it was a different dog. But when he came over, I knew it was him! He has his little toys and he loves his walks in the park. He also likes the water but he doesn’t get much a chance to go swimming. He is a bit picky with his food but loves roast beef!
To anyone who is thinking of getting a dog, I would recommend looking at adopting a dog. There are so many lovely dogs who just want a home. We had a great experience with West Cork animals and the Munster lost and found pet helpline, Lindsay gave us advice and we knew we could give her a ring if we needed. So thanks for all the work you do and especially to Lindsay for bringing Dougal to us.
