Charlie & Barbara

Fetcher Dog rescued Charlie from a kill shelter in Bosnia when our rescuer fell in love with his happy, smiley face. He was in a very poor condition, with a lot of matted fur, covered in dirt and very underweight. He travelled to the U.K. kennels and spent a week with our trustees, Stephanie and Jordan and they immediately fell in love with him. Charlie went to live with his new family, Barbara and Eric and their other furbabies, Barry and Dave.

Charlie came to live with us from Bosnia 15 weeks ago in November 2018. He came to live with my husband Eric and I and our two Bernese mountain dogs Barry and Dave in the U.K. When Charlie first came he made his bed in the garden under a tree, Barry and Dave showed him that he could have a wee in the garden but he would sleep in the warm, dry house. He was quite unsure the first couple of nights at bedtime so Barry slept downstairs at his side. Now Charlie is in a great routine, he gets 3 biscuits, and a cuddle, then he jumps on the sofa to sleep all night. When the sun goes down so does Charlie, dark to him means bedtime literally. It’ll be funny to see how he adapts when it’s sunrise at 4.30am and dark at 10pm in the summer! Things like the tv, the hoover and the stairs seem to be new things to him but 15 weeks on you literally have to move him out the way or he will happily let you hoover over him. On Charlie’s second day it was bath time, it’s fair to say he is not too impressed with getting washed, a typical teenage boy! His fur was dusty and short and matted in places but it’s now longer and lovely and shiny with the help of good food. Charlie really loves his food and the only thing that has not met his approval so far is a satsuma! Charlie is a great food hoover, Barry and Dave are used to leaving treats like fish skins on the floor or in the garden to eat later but not since Charlie came to live with us. If you leave it unattended then it’s fair game. Bearing in mind Charlie came from another country to live with us as strangers and our two big male dogs and doesn’t understand a word we say we couldn’t be more proud of him and how he has adapted, from the minute we brought Charlie home he got on really well with Barry and Dave, watching and learning from them. We weren’t sure if Charlie was housetrained or had any form of recall before he came to live with us and he has been great! We have never had an accident in the house and his recall is good, his personality shows now. He likes the first cuddles and barks each morning and wags his tail constantly and loves to go for a nice walk and meet people for extra cuddles. He loves the company of people and is lost without Barry and Dave. He is a little wary of dogs he doesn’t know but he is gaining confidence each day on our walks. He walks exceptionally well on a lead, better than Barry and Dave! when we pass a dog he gets a treat, now he looks at me when a dog passes and he licks his lips in expectation. Charlie loves the pub as he gets tasty treats! He will be going on his holidays in the caravan soon so I’m certain he will enjoy it. We know very little about Charlies background. He is very eager to please. It’s safe to say Charlie has fitted in really well and we are sure if he could tell you himself he would say that he feels this is home. Charlie was our first adopted dog so we were a little apprehensive choosing to rehome a dog from Bosnia who we hadn’t met, the whole team were great, we put a lot of trust in them and likewise they were trusting us to offer the right home to Charlie. This was our first experience in this situation but it won’t be our last but at the minute 24 stone of dog to walk is enough of a handful. We have no hesitation in recommending Fetcher Dog to anyone who can offer a safe loving home to a pet in need.

Barbara Wall