What was the adoption process like for you?
Having tried several UK charities, we decided to look outside of the UK and came across Stray2me. From the start the team were friendly and informed us of the full process for adopting a Romanian rescue, explaining these were not like your everyday dogs and would need work and made sure we were fully ready for what would be a life changing event.
The day finally arrived when our fur babies were on their way. We were added to 2 message pages one for just our little group and one for various people who were adopting from various charities, this included the drivers who on each step of the way kept up informed and took pics for us. Finally, the van arrived and there were 2 very scared fur babies inside. We got them home and, as advised, gave them space. Raven seemed braver than Ebony and came out to eat, Ebony was hand fed. That night I slept on the floor beside them, so they knew they were safe.
Over the coming weeks each started to show their own personalities and it became clear that even though they are sisters they have very different personalities.
Over the past 12 weeks I have had tears of pride, moments of “Oh god can I do this!?” but most of all the joy of having 2 such special dogs in my life.
Ebony is a cuddlier and seems to be more sensitive than Raven, but that said Raven is very loving in her own way and although will not lay on the sofa she can be found at my feet and has been stepped on several times but still she loves to be near me.
Raven was the first to venture out of the kitchen, but Ebony has made the sofa hers. They can now be let off the lead to play in secure areas, but still need to learn to play with other dogs and not just each other. We still have the odd accident in the house, but they have now got into a routine of walks and I can pretty much set my watch to them.
What advice would you give to others considering a Romanian Rescue?
My advice to anyone adopting would be: don’t expect too much from them too quickly. All dogs are different and they will learn at their own pace, I never thought I would be walking them outside let alone allowing them to be off lead in 12 weeks but here I am.
But most importantly, use love and praise, not anger when training. My girls are not perfect, far from it, but each day I remember back to the first few weeks of 2 very scared and fearful dogs who would not even eat in front of me, to now – whilst writing this, one is laying on my feet the other head on my lap, who would have thought.
We still have a long way to go. They still react to other dogs and this can be hard with 2 on the lead but we are working on this and I am sure in no time they will learn other dogs are not a threat. Loud noises (fireworks the worse) also still scare them, but they know they are safe and recover so much more quickly now.
So we take each day as it comes and celebrate each milestone we pass.
Check out our Happy Tails page for more cute snaps of Raven and Ebony after their rescue, before arriving to their forever home in the UK.