Copy of Rhona

This is Rhona.  She is a truly beautiful Pointer cross and we think she has some Border Collie, Spaniel and Greek Harehound mixed in as well. Rhona has the sweetest nature of any dog I have known and she truly would never hurt anyone or anything.  She is a much loved dog and is greatly admired by everyone that meets her.

She is approximately 4 years old and we have had her for 14 months.  We saw her promoted online and it was love at first sight.  We had lost our much loved dog in May 2015 and been searching for a new dog and were wanting a medium sized long legged and short coated mixed breed.  I spent months looking at English Rescue Centres and every time I enquired after a suitable dog I was informed they were reserved or had a number of issues which needed expert care and whilst I knew I could manage  a nervous or scared dog I knew equally I could not manage a dog reactive or hard pulling dog.

Rhona was in a super foster home and had been in the UK for three weeks.  I knew nothing at all about adopting dogs from abroad and was immediately impressed by the care given and the system for moving dogs into Britain.  I was told Rhona was one of 13 dogs living for two years in the Forgotten Kennels in Cyprus and she had very little human contact and as a result was extremely nervous of people and would need a very quiet household with no children with owners who had lots of time and patience.  We fitted that bill perfectly.  When we met her for the first time she had to be carried into the room and she shook violently throughout our visit. Luckily I had seen photos of her running off lead and I knew she transformed when outside and enjoying grass under her feet and when I took her for a proper walk I saw the transformation myself.

We took her home during the wettest winter on record so her first few weeks with us were wet and muddy and involved daily hosing down and drying and she was remarkably compliant.  She quickly adapted to walking on a lead on busy roads and came to life as soon as we encountered grass when she made it very clear she wanted to run.  Her recall was fantastic and I have never seen a dog look so happy as Rhona in a field and then in my garden.

Rhona quickly discovered the delights of squeaky balls and her behavior in my garden was puppy like as she hurled herself round the garden at top speed. She also learnt all her basic commands very quickly although she rolled over quite spontaneously and continues to roll over with great gusto every day.  Inside she was (and still is) very different as she is so quiet and introverted we forget she is in the house.  Our kitchen freaks her out possibly because the floor is slippy and we have given up feeding her in the kitchen as she much prefers to eat in solitude in the garage/dog room where her crate and toys are.  Rhona has a super bed in the kitchen which is never slept in and she always chooses the sofa in our study.  She comes into our lounge every evening and has another bed there!

Even though Rhona much prefers being outside her behavior inside the house is extraordinarily good.  She has never had any accident and is completely non destructive.  We can leave her for long periods and she probably would be very happy being left all day but new never do and as we are both retired we are at home most of the time.

Rhona took some time to bond with us and show affection.  She has always been more comfortable with women and although she clearly loved her walks and play time with me she retreated into her shell once we were back inside and it took 7 months before she actually wagged her tail inside. It was the arrival of our foster  dog Frankie that brought her out of her shell and at last we saw that beautiful tail wagging inside and since then Rhona has continued to show much more affection and interaction. It breaks my heart to think about the life that she led in Cyprus as she missed out on so much socialization and care

Rhona absolutely adores other dogs and has many doggy friends. I have never come across such a well-balanced dog and I love to see her play.

Rhona generally is much more confident and outgoing and this is generally a good thing but of course this can also mean she runs much further then we want her to and she goes at such speed she is soon out of our vision.  We are very careful where we let her off lead and try and find open spaces with a minimum of squirrels and pheasants.  Of course the beach is perfect and we had a memorable week in Northumberland where Rhona discovered the twin delights of sand and seaweed!

Finally Rhona enjoys regular meetings with her sister Sarah.  They clearly recognize each other and it is lovely to see them together. They are very different in personality as Sarah is much more friendly and sociable.

What I also want to mention is the actual experience of adopting from SPDC which is remarkably straightforward and professional and the forums are brilliant.  I have become disillusioned with facebook in general because of how people write and how little respect they have for other people but the SPDC contributors are different and the support and compassion feels very genuine.

It appears that some truly lovely people adopt from Cyprus!