We found Ellie and Joey online and fell in love with them just by looking at their pictures! They were both too cute and loving with their wagging tails to not take them home.
Ellie was surrendered by an elderly lady who fell ill and was unable to take care of her any longer. Nobody really knew where Joey came from except that he spent 6 months in a shelter in Mildura and was due to be put down as nobody wanted him. He was brought to Melbourne to give him another opportunity to be rehomed.
We first adopted Ellie; she jumped up like crazy behind her shelter door like saying desperately “Take me, take me!”, so we couldn’t resist her. A few months later we rescued Joey. Ellie came as well to meet and greet him. Before we found Joey we actually looked at another dog, but Ellie did not show any interest in him, so we thought he might not be the right fit for her. When she met Joey, they played well together and Ellie looked really happy with her new friend and that convinced us to give him a new loving home.
Ellie and Joey are now very spoiled! They go for two walks per day and have a doggy door so that they can decide if they want to be outside or sleep inside next to the heater. On cold nights they sneak under our blanket for a cuddle, keeping us warm and comfy.
Ellie and Joey always make us smile, they keep us active and encourage us to do lots of outdoor activities. We usually plan our holidays around the dogs and love going bush camping together. They also helped us to make a lot of new doggy friends, they have taught us what unconditional love is and they have encouraged me to become a qualified dog trainer. We do advanced level obedience training and have recently started Dancing with Dogs and will give Dock Dogs a try soon (Ellie loves water)!
Our lives are so much happier with Ellie and Joey in it and their lives have been transformed too. Joey was fear aggressive when we got him and we have since been working with him to improve this behaviour. He had to learn to trust us and other people and has improved so much since we got him. He was the reason for me to become a dog trainer – to help him as much as possible to live a happier life.
Message to Rescue
Rescue groups and volunteers are doing an amazing job! I love how much they try to save and rehabilitate dogs, and try to keep them out of the shelter environment by finding them foster carers. Without them, so many dogs and other animals would not have the second chance they deserve!