Testimonials

Darie arrived on 29th August this year, very scared and unsure of himself. We knew that Darie had a phobia of leads, so we had done some research and bought Darie a harness to attach the lead to. After his 48 hours quarantine, amazingly Darie willingly walked down our quiet cul-de-sac wearing his harness. Very slowly and always at Darie’s pace, we have introduced him to different experiences and socialized him meeting friends and their dogs on walks where lockdown has allowed. Darie has completely transformed from the timid dog that he was, tail down, walking close by my side and freezing when he saw another person or dog in the distance until they had passed – even freezing occasionally in the initial weeks for no apparent reason whilst on walks down the canal and in the park until he sensed he was safe. A good few times when Andy or Lewis and Emily tried to walk him in those early weeks, an SOS call resulted in me having to rescue them in the car and bring them home! Darie now likes to lead the way, tail high as a kite and wearing his signature silly smile! He now walks happily with collar and lead, which I’m pleased about as his harness had rubbed his hair a bit and I was worried he’d start getting sore. I wouldn’t say he’s ever over-excited at the prospect of a walk…. his favorite place is lying on his cushion on the sofa, nicknamed ‘Darie Daydream’, he won’t think of beating you to the door, tail wagging, until he has made you wrangle him into his harness (or more usually now his raincoat or winter coat) whilst he lies on his back, most incompliant, asking for tummy rubs with straight legs and silly smile!! The photo of Darie arriving at the park just about sums this up.. sporting his raincoat and stretching back and forth whilst yawning!! Darie was able to run free off the lead after only 2 weeks. He loves nothing more than chasing squirrels and running through the woods like a crazy thing! He loves playing with other dogs and will often instigate a game of chase, and boy is he fast!! The video is Darie and Blaze, the Staffy cross in all their glory making us laugh! Darie loves his stuffed toys and will wrestle with them and throw them about himself to chase after! He loves paddling and we were able to take him to the seaside in Devon for a couple of days where he enjoyed playing on the beach and even a ferry ride across the estuary, running up the gangplank like a pro! Darie is a bit of a chicken thief! Within 2 hours on the day of his arrival, he proudly strutted out of the kitchen carrying a whole roast chicken..thankfully cold but nevertheless whole!! He then proceeded to jump the 2 stairgates like mini hurdles! Another favorite pastime of Darie’s is watching what we jokingly call his ‘little chicken’. Rufus, the African Grey seems to revel in Darie’s attention but I’m not sure who’s antagonizing who! Rufus can often be heard calling Darie’s name!! Darie has grown in confidence and is a really happy and loving dog. He is always making us laugh with silly things he does. The other day he was staring at a cat whilst walking on his lead with his head at 90 degrees. Needless to say, he walked straight into a dustbin! Seemingly without even flinching and making it look like he meant it to happen he nonchalantly cocked his leg up on the bin like a reflex action and walked past! He also has a bit of a fetish for playfully nipping bums if he’s not getting enough attention! Now that Darie has settled with us so well and is so trusting, another little monkey popped out on the ROLDA adoption site bearing the name of Dan! We are so looking forward to receiving Dan into our home as a companion for Darie in the new year. Dan looks a bundle of mischief being 4 months old and is almost the spitting image of Darie! I think that Dan will definitely give Darie a run for his money and being young will be a wonderful playmate for Darie who is turning more into a puppy himself day by day!! We are looking forward to Darie’s first Christmas with us. He is sporting his Christmas coat and luckily the tree is still standing!! Thank you ROLDA for letting us adopt Darie and we are so excited for the arrival of Dan in January!!

Little Laika got renamed Nudge. She's doing amazingly and makes me cry laughing almost every day she's such a little weirdo. An absolute character, she loves sitting like a meerkat and wrestling Leti my huge rolda girl and singing to male dogs whilst out on walks (usually from bloody miles away, she's a bit of a tart).

Alexis is getting on really well, he's fully settled in and he's a totally different dog to when we got him. When he first came to us he was scared of everything, now he comes to pubs and cafes with us really happily and even takes the train sometimes! He has so much personality and we're both really glad to have him - he's sitting on my foot right now as I'm working from home. I must have millions of pictures of him by now, we're obsessed. She's definitely come out of his shell in some other ways, he now passionately hates cats, foxes, and the postman.