Our names are: Aggy (Agatha) and Scooby
We came from: Cyprus
Now we live in: Epping Forest
Aggy’s favourite things are: Belly rubs and food
Scooby’s favourite things are: Squeaky tennis balls and birds

Aggy’s story

Aggy came to us as a ready made angel. She had been in foster for quite a while and had clearly been well looked after (and cooked for!). She had a little weight to lose but honestly she has been a dream since the day she came home. For the first week or so she just wanted to stay in her bed, and held her number twos for so long we started to get really worried! She was foot perfect with our little cat, she didn’t have a single accident, never cried when we went out and never chewed or destroyed anything. I’d really recommend adopting an older dog (she was five when we got her) as you can skip out on a few of the naughty puppy behaviours! 

She is my shadow and my side kick and absolutely everyone who meets her says what a sweet soul she is. She can be a couch potato when you need her to be or she’s up for every outing. She sprints around the forest like a youngster and we are yet to meet a dog she can’t socialise with. She will tremble with excitement just for your stokes and her absolute favourite is to be flat on her back getting tummy rubs in bed. 

She is perfect with all dogs, I think this is a benefit of being in foster with lots of dogs, she knows exactly how to handle any energy and even reactive dogs seem to relax around her. I just adore her, she is the best dog ever. 

Scooby’s story

It was recently Scooby’s first birthday and I’m glad I waited this long to write this. To give a totally honest view into adopting a puppy, it has been hard work! We are used to all sorts of dogs but Scooby really put us through our paces. I’m hoping this might give some hope to anyone who’s adopted a dog and is thinking “oh my god what have we done, can we change our mind”. This is hard for me to admit but I did have that thought several times! 

However, with a lot of hard work, Scooby has turned into such a fantastic dog. He is the life of the party, he LOVES everyone (humans or dogs!). He’s super smart, athletic, affectionate and kind. He’s become our cat’s best mate and they get up to no good together. He looks out for Aggy and she looks out for him. He can now be left for up to four hours and just sleeps on the sofa with Aggy while we’re gone. His recall is finally there and we’ve found what motivates him the most (his squeaky tennis ball obviously). He goes to a doggy day care once a week to get all his wrestling needs out of his system (Aggy is far too refined to entertain his playing at home). He’s learnt several tricks ‘paw/other paw, sit, down, leave it etc). 

We have now really bonded with him and love him to bits, but I wanted to share that this isn’t what we felt straight away, and it’s okay if it takes some time to really feel bonded to a dog. It’s taken us months to get to this point so I’d urge anyone who’s adopted to give it at least that long, it’s worth it I promise! They bring us so much joy and make us howl with laughter daily. We will always rescue dogs going forward as there are so many benefits to it, for owners and for the dogs! 

- Narni