One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Helmand

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Nothing really prepared us for Raffles. From day 1 he was so loving, would really lean in like he wanted you to wrap him up and snuggle forever. It’s a good job, as after his initial settling in, he certainly found his feet, and I will not lie, he was a little bit of a challenge. We have a healthy, very happy little dog who’s previous life was a nightmare, 1 Dog changed his life and ours so much for the better. I joined the wonderful 1 Dog at a Time Family in March 17. A simple share on Facebook and my application to adopt Annabel Amber and Jessie was successful. We spotted a photo of Peppa (was Cora) and soon she was ours. We were kept up to date with photos and videos until she arrived. After four months they started playing together and are now best friends. After losing my dog at 15 years old, I vowed never to get another, but the sense of loss was overwhelming, and I knew I had to fill the emptiness.

The number of time I thought he had got there, let him off his lead and then his ability to cover the miles made Ussain Bolt look like the slowest snail! Dont be fooled – Lesson 3 In the year 2020, the decision was made we were going to get another Romanian puppy, but this time from 1 Dog At A Time Rescue UK. And what a great decision that was. We filled in the adoption forms and chose Rupert from the available dogs.I did not imagine for one minute that all this was going to evolve when I started looking for an older dog (I love the oldies) In 2012 I had just joined Facebook and was mooching around when I saw an old boy who looked a little like my soul dog Dillie. He was from Romania and I had just missed out on adopting him. I had no idea about all the cruelty over there and the plight of the street dogs. I have seen many street dogs on my journeys around the world but none so obviously loathed and treated as vermin. I started to read and became completely determined to help one of these poor souls. Tests for Leishmania, Anaplasmosis, Dirofilarasis, Borrelia (Lyme Disease), Ehrlichiosis and Brucella canis. Fostering provides many advantages and helps to give our dogs the best possible start to their new life. In a foster home situation, the dog’s true personality will have a much better chance of shining through, which is sometimes harder to see in a shelter environment. This foster home gives potential adopters a much more accurate insight into the dog’s temperament and character (the good and the quirks!). Foster also allows the dog to socialise in a family situation with other people, dogs and other types of pets, so that any quirks that need work become apparent. Looking through the many photos, we came across a sibling group of four puppies, three brothers and a sister. Maddie was just a ball of fluff, whereas the three boys were all short haired. Murray, the biggest of the group, had really sad eyes and a face just begging to be loved. So decision made, we’d enquire if either was available. Murray was, but Maddie had been reserved already.

Inclusion to our exclusive 1 Dog at a Time Adopters Group where you will receive 24/7 adoption support. Nana is our first ever Romanian rescue, but almost certainly not the last. We chose to adopt and later also fostered another dog with 1 Dog and would thoroughly recommend them and can guarantee the support given all the way through was exceptional. I felt reassured with the organised, friendly and professional approach. I spoke at length with people with all my concerns and questions, and they were happy to help. The moment I looked at the pictures, I stopped on our Mikka and fell in love. She was being looked after by who I feel is now our friend Sorrin, a fosterer for 1 Dog. Sorrin sent me updates, videos, and despite the language barrier we communicated, (it was a caring thing). My first Romanian rescue was my big boy Fozzy. A plea appeared one night on Facebook to help; he had been poisoned and beaten. Try as I might I could not get him out of my mind, his eyes haunted me. So I pressed the comment button and said… “please get him off the streets and to a vet, I will pay and help him…” little did I know this was the start of a lifetime commitment to helping the street dogs. The lady who had posted Fozzy’s appeal and I worked out how to get Fozzy to me in the UK, I then wanted to help more dogs there to find loving homes. I started helping the dogs that had been captured by dogcatchers and taken to the local public shelter to find homes, one at a time and 1 Dog at a Time Rescue UK started just like that… Helping one dog…I really wanted to be able to help this wonderful charity more, so I started doing some crafts to donate for the auction to help raise much needed fund. I was very honoured when I was asked to join the fundraising team. They couldn’t be more different – Jaimie is more nervous but so smart and knows how to get a treat when an action is requested. Kammi is obviously in charge of the 3 of us and likes to set the pace and direction! She is also quite reactive to other dogs, and so we don’t let dogs approach us, which can be difficult with some off lead dogs and not so helpful dog owners! But she is getting better all the time. In my experience, someone is always just a text or a phone call away, or you can ask the group chats: there is lots of help and advice. It’s great that other adopters and fosters love to hear about and see updates, and likewise, it’s great to see the dogs become relaxed and confident. We also have a monthly auction on our Facebook Group where you can bid on a wide variety of items. All proceeds raise money for us. But honestly, we wouldn’t have had even a tenth of the support and guidance buying a new puppy in the UK, that we have had with these wonderful, caring supportive people.