Pretty Penny – life after kennels!

Hello everyone! Today’s post is all about an incredibly special, previous foster dog of ours – darling Penny. As many of you may recall, Penny’s story didn’t have the easiest beginning, with our decision to foster her being based on a strong gut feeling that she had been entirely misunderstood and continually overlooked in kennels. Once this beautiful girl came home with us, she was an absolute dream and the brilliant success that we knew she would be, utterly shedding her kennel reputation! With thanks to so many of you, who supported this sweetheart’s search for her happily ever after, we found Penny her perfect forever home. So, now, we felt it was only right that Penny’s fabulous fans deserved to know what life after kennels had instore for her! After keeping in touch with her fantastic forever family, it fills me with joy to tell you all how her story continued…

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“Pretty easy” were the words her lovely forever humans used to describe how Penny settled in and she immediately relished in scrumptious cuddles and snoozy naps with them! (Sidenote: a bonus of adopting a fostered dog means that establishing routines can be a great deal easier. We try our best to prepare them for their wonderful future families.) Now, Penny did have one issue initially… bedtime. Her parents attempted to encourage her to sleep downstairs and even supportively volunteered to sleep downstairs with her, on their comfy couch, in order to settle her (with Penny loving this and attempting to often sleep on top of them!). Eventually, they gave up on this idea and instead placed her bed in the study next to their bedroom. She immediately settled and her humans tell me that everyone was much happier, particularly as they leave their bedroom door ajar in case she fancies a little night-time wander! In kennels, greyhounds are used to their other snoot friends being close by, so they can often need this reassurance once in a home. In the day-time, she spends all day close by to her humans and the loyalty she has shown them in such a short time is truly amazing.

Additionally, walkies were another area that, granted, needed ongoing work. Initially, Penny could still get somewhat triggered by cats on their daily travels and she would even occasionally scream like some banshee, lunging and jumping around… rather stressful! However, after six weeks, she learnt to respond to her humans and will obediently walk on when told to, making walkies far more dreamy. Time and patience equals fantastic development. Good job, Penny!

During her kennel life, Penny was considered to not be particularly fond of other dog breeds, as well as being very dominant with other greyhounds – traits that we felt were exacerbated by the environment of a kennel. Since finding her forever home, she now has two best doggie-friends – one of which is a fellow greyhound, called Jane, who she finds truly snootiful! Incredibly, she has also developed a close bond with a dog named Zara, who is not a sighthound and was adopted from the streets of Spain. She even enjoys zooming around off-lead in Zara’s massive back garden! Closer to home, she has a relationship with her neighbours’ labrador-dalmation puppy, who she seems to view as a little sister, and even has a lovely friendship with a local labrador puppy. Astounding progress, given Penny’s previous reputation, right?

Since settling into her new life, Penny has truly shown how adaptable and special greyhounds are when joining a home. It has been unbelievable how chilled and affectionate she is, having attended numerous social events, including a baby shower and a BBQ! Also (and this is a BIG one) she has been delightful and calm with the children that she has met! Penny’s parents have a friend whose little girl is rather scared of dogs and, by the third meeting, she was completely relaxed around her, giving her lovely cuddles. Penny’s mumma has family in Australia and they have even sent presents over for her – she is well and truly considered part of the family and she is even included on FaceTime! The children in their family talk about her constantly and are desperate to travel to London to meet her!

Pretty Penny has also experienced fabulous staycations with her new family already, including with bigger groups and her other dog friends, and her humans assume that she must have believed she was famous with how much fuss and attention she attracted! In true Penny-style, she was up for whatever her humans planned on doing – whether that involved eating in a dog-friendly restaurant, spending time relaxing in the hotel room, walking in the hills or sunbathing by a pool. What a fabulous ambassador she is for the greyhound breed, promoting their laid-back, loyal nature!

Now… to learn Penny’s new family’s “favourite things” about her:
Penny is her mumma’s first dog and, after desperately wanting a pooch for all her life, she feels in her heart that it was always supposed to be Penny. She is such a goof, making her family chuckle all the time, as well as a total love bug, always living for pats and affection. Her beautiful, brown eyes are truly irrefusable. Her humans simply adore how super brave she always is and they are incredibly proud of how she takes every new experience in her stride. Nothing seems to scare or faze this snoot!

And… what do we think Penny makes of all this?
Penny’s favourite thing is to be given double scritches from her humans, at the same time resulting in some pretty epic greyhound leans! She loves snoozing (even in seemingly uncomfortable positions!) and she absolutely adores her walkies, which makes her humans’ hearts melt to see how excited she gets about exploring the world. Seems like she is truly living her best life, and she deserves nothing less!

Time for the final question… Can her forever family imagine life without her now?
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
They recently travelled away for the weekend and left Penny with their trusted dog sitter (who Penny also adores – shock!). Apparently, they spent the entire weekend talking about her, as well as looking longingly at photos of her, and were so desperate to get back home to their sweet girl. What awesome parents.

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about the next stage of dear Penny’s life – the life she oh-so completely and utterly deserves. A hugely MASSIVE “thank you” goes to her forever humans, who have given her this smashing life! It fills our hearts with joy and we feel truly honoured to have been a stepping stone along the way.

Penny – you are a beautiful example of how time, love and kindness can entirely change a dog’s life. In you, we saw potential and… oh girl, didn’t you surpass even our expectations!

Until next time…

Love and snoot kisses,

Berry x