(1).jpg)
Adopt a dog
As you’ll have seen on our homepage this month, we’ve been talking about Dogust. Dogust is an unofficial birthday celebration for all shelter and rescue dogs whose real birthdays are unknown. Some people celebrate the day they adopted their dog, or select a day at random but for those who haven't, Dogust celebrated on 1st August is a perfect choice.
Why Adopt a dog
- You’ll save two lives – The RSPCA took 10,564 dogs into their facilities in 2019. Shelters are massively overburdened. By adopting a shelter or rescue dog you will help dramatically reduce the number of dogs that need to be euthanised plus you’ll create a space at the shelter for another dog in need.
- Costs less than buying a dog – When you adopt a pet often costs such as spay/neutering, first vaccinations and sometimes even microchipping are included in the small adoption fee.
- Help fight against puppy farms – These horrible factory-style breeding facilities have poor conditions and little to no medical care. The mother dogs are kept in cages and bred repeatedly without any companionship or love until they are no longer useful and then they are disposed of.
Almost Home NI
As part of our celebration of Dogust we visited a local animal welfare charity based in Moira, Northern Ireland. Almost Home NI rescues and rehabilitates and rehomes dogs and other small animals. The facility is completely volunteer-managed, and all funds raised and donated are used to care for the animals there including food, vet bills, and grooming costs.
At the moment Almost Home NI has over 150 dogs waiting to find their furever home and the charity feels their most important role is to make sure they find the right home for these animals, many of whom haven’t had the best start in life.
Tori and Stephen from our Marketing Team visited the facility earlier this month to meet some of the volunteers and animals and see the work they do.
Annie (Ecommerce Manager) adopted Amelia from Almost Home NI – She says ‘We re-homed Amelia from Almost Home NI just over a year ago and would recommend the process to anyone. Almost Home was fantastic - Amelia was born there as her mummy Amber had been brought in as a stray while pregnant. We re-homed Amelia, who was the only surviving pup, at 11 weeks old and have been keeping up-to-date with Almost Home on Facebook ever since so we were ecstatic to see that Amber has been re-homed recently as well. All the volunteers put in so much work so it's great to be able to follow along to see all the happy endings.'
Olya (Key Accounts Executive) adopted Sasha just over 12 months ago from Almost Home – She says 'Adopting Sasha from Almost Home has been the best experience for us, she has changed our world and we love her so much'
You can Follow Almost Home NI on Facebook and Instagram.
SKYE
Gorgeous Collie Cross Skye found her furever home in August 2018. We chatted with owner Jordan about his dog adoption journey with the Dog’s Trust and why it was important for him to rehome a rescue dog.
Owner Name and occupation: Jordan | Photographer & Retoucher www.jordanhayesstudio.com Instagram @jordanhayes.studio
Dog Name: Skye Instagram @Skye_withtheears
Dog Age: Skye turned 2 on the 8th June.
Dog Breed: - Good question… still awaiting those results. But we are pretty sure Husky X Collie. We were told GSD X Collie when we had adopted her but based on personality and looks we see much more of a Husky in her as does anyone who meets her.
What made you decide you wanted to get a dog? I had always wanted a dog - I felt like I missed out as a child as we didn’t have a dog and as I got older the want for a dog remained… I had been following Dogs Trust as well as a few other dog rehoming centres and had seen such a variety of dogs that needed a forever home.
What were you looking for? We weren’t really looking for a particular breed. We knew that we wanted a younger dog so that we could easily train as we have young nieces.
When and where did you meet Skye? We met Skye at Dogs Trust, Ballymena in August 2018 - She had just arrived at the centre the day before.
How old was she when you adopted her? Skye was 9 weeks old but she didn’t look it - she was a big girl for a 9 week old puppy. She was bigger than a small breed dog.
Why did you decide to adopt a dog from the Dog’s Trust? We hadn’t actually planned to get a dog then and there - we initially inquired about an older collie who had been at the centre for a while but when we phoned we were told that he had been reserved but they did have a small litter of 5 collie cross pups that had arrived so we thought there would be no harm in visiting and we had never been to the centre before.
How did you find the process? Honestly the process of adopting Skye was super simple... of course as you’d imagine pups go much quicker than the older dogs in the centre. When we arrived two of the pups had already been reserved. There were three of us waiting to meet the remaining three pups. We got to have a cuddle with Skye who was named Yasmin at the time, it turned out the litter was in demand and another family was waiting to hear if we planned to adopt her, the staff were great and gave us till the next day to make our final decision as they know themselves the decision to get a dog isn’t one to be taken lightly. The following day we called and told them our decision and we visited the centre again that day and got to spend some time with Skye in a private room where we could bond. A few days later once the home visit was complete she was ready to be collected and the paperwork was signed.
What do you think are the advantages of adopting a dog over buying one? The biggest advantage for me personally is it helps to fight against puppy farms where wealth is put before health. It genuinely shocks me when I hear of people paying ££££'s for pups. Not to mention you are literally saving a dog’s life and creating more space in a shelter for another dog to be given a chance.
Did you face any challenges with welcoming Skye into your home and how did you overcome them? We had just moved house and we were only starting to settle in ourselves when we welcomed Skye into our home but it didn't take long for us all to adjust - we started on the training immediately as we couldn’t walk for another month. I was working and editing from home so we were pretty lucky that we could get the basic training perfected in the early days. With moving into a new house of course we did worry for our furniture and skirting boards but we never had any issues which we put down to having a variety of toys rotated daily and of course the training and feeding time with kongs, puzzle bowls and lick mats which all helped to keep her mentally stimulated.
What about Skye’s siblings, do you keep in touch? I had uploaded a few pictures of Skye to a page for the supporters of Dogs Trust on Facebook 6 months after adopting her and we ended up coming across one of Skye’s siblings Sadie who we have met up with. I’d love to organise a reunion for all 5 of the litter at some point.
Do The Dog’s Trust still keep in touch with you? Yes, they still keep in touch. The staff are honestly brilliant - they even offer lifetime support if we have any issues with training or behaviour they have a team dedicated to help where they can. We even showed up to one of their events last year and the staff from the centre and the Dogs Trust Dog School recognised Skye immediately and made a fuss over her.
Describe Skye’s Grooming routine – What are your favourite products to use at 
home? Skye isn’t a massive fan of the bath but luckily for her, she also does everything in her power to avoid muddy puddles and getting dirty so we tend to only bath her once every three months or so or we will send her to the groomers where she gets a wash and blowdry and gives the staff hugs. She gets brushed every other day and we apply
to her teeth every night to keep them looking great - we occasionally use the
too. We do use a spray of cologne every other week – we love
– the scent lasts for ages.
What are Skye’s favourite activities and toys?
Skye loves a good game of tug and fetch. She also loves hide and seek, ever since she was a pup we would hide treats around the house and let her “Go find them”... she gets so excited and it keeps her busy. We always refer to Skye as the slayer of stuffed animals as they don’t last too long in this house. Skye loves settling down with natural chews such as a tripe stick, an antler, or her yaks milk stick. When we are out and about Skye is very sociable and loves when she gets off lead to explore or to play with another dog.
Photos of Skye Credit: Jordan Hayes
