Left in front of a town’s sewage and water treatment building as a 2,5 m old, small and crying out loud.
Read her story here
,,We spent a frustrating two years trying to adopt a rescue dog in the UK. Then, by chance, I found the Misi’s website and spotted a mischievous looking little creature, all legs and ears… “owner of the sweetest personality”.
….Hilli, we didn’t change her name, was the one!
The registration form was filled in immediately followed by videos of our home and garden, , as requested. The Misi’s girls kept in regular correspondence with us, asking detailed questions about our experience with dogs which demonstrates their commitment to the welfare of their dogs.
Then…we had a 4 way-Zoom call…myself and my daughter, Martina, Hilli at the shelter, running around like a nutter with the other dogs and cats and my partner Dan, on his lunch break, at work!
It was the craziest interview I’ve ever experienced.
The adoption process is well organised and thorough - each dog is matched perfectly with their prospective family.
Eventually, we were delighted to have been chosen to adopt Hilli.
After a lot of excitement, tracking the Paws4Hope van as it travelled across Europe, who sent updates about Hilli’s wellbeing during the long journey, she arrived at 1.30am, 11/09/21.
The sweetest dog was delivered right to our door and on my daughter’s birthday!
Hilli was nervously excited, running around - sniffing everywhere. She was very hungry and very smelly! We slept with her downstairs for the first 3 nights, but she settled into sleeping on her own, in the kitchen quite quickly. After a few days she was happy to go on short walks on the lead.
It was interesting observing Hilli take in her new surroundings. She was unsure of stairs, bridges, trains, bin lorries, crows, foxes, planes…and not surprising either!
~ 1st encounter~
Hilli has made us very happy and we know the feeling is mutual. She is loving, confident, playfull, quite stubborn and ridiculously friendly to all humans and dogs! She’ll lay down to have her tummy tickled, in all sorts of inappropriate situations.
Just after Hilli arrived, my son left home to go to university. Hilli keeps my 15 yr daughter Alice, excellent company and has helped us acclimatise to our new family dynamic. We enjoy spending time together, taking Hilli on long walks on The Wansted Flats in East London. Since having Hilli, we’ve met SO many new people, and their dogs… and lots of people who can’t resist Hilli’s endearing nature.
~1st walk~
Just before Christmas we sent off Hilli’s DNA and found out she was 65% Akita 7% Dalmation amongst other breeds. A big surprise!
We’ve recently started taking Hilli to training, as she sometimes runs up to strangers, when off the lead and jumps up in excitment. She has grown a lot since she arrived, so for some people this is quite daunting. We’ve bought a long line and we are working on her engagement whilst also setting stricter boundaries regarding space. All work in progress.
~cheese training~
On 5th May it will be her first birthday.
Thank you Misi’s Animal Rescue! We are so happy to have found you and to have become part of the Misi’s Family!”
by Zoe Flynn, UK