A recue dog has landed on her paws during lockdown with a family from Crewe in Cheshire who say they have found their ‘friend for life.’
The Paley family, Anita and Trevor, son Matthew (19) and daughter Bekkii (20) had been wanting to adopt a dog for some time and a few weeks ago welcomed two-year Husky, Willow into their lives.
Anita said: “We had an elderly cat who passed away, so we felt now was the right time as with lockdown we had time to settle a dog in. We wanted to adopt a rescue dog and saw Willow on the Dogs Trust website. We really felt she was the dog for us. She was lively, happy to live with a family and have people coming and going and would benefit from lovely long walks and having a garden.
“We contacted the centre and had a detailed chat over the phone so they could assess if we were potentially right family for Willow. We then moved on to sending photos of the house and garden, some further questions and then as everything had gone well, we were given the thumbs up.
“By the end of it we felt they were confident that we were the right family for Willow, which gave us confidence too, and they were right. She is fantastic. She is really playful; we have started doing training with her too and she is very clever. We’ve got a friend for life.”
A few days later, two team members from Dog Trust Manchester drove Willow to the Paley’s home so she could meet her new family in their garden, before they took the excited pooch into her forever home.
Dawn Bishop, Dogs Trust Manchester Manager, says: “In normal circumstances of course, the family come to us, but at the time of Willow’s adoption we were taking dogs to families, as we still are, so it was quite unusual for us all, but it went really well. We stayed outside whilst Willow met the family and waited until she had started to settle in the house.
“When Anita came out smiling to tell us everything was going well, we waved Willow a fond farewell. It was lovely to find Willow for forever home despite the challenging times and we are sure she will be very happy.
“A dog is for life not just for lockdown, and although they bring so much joy into our lives, dogs are a huge commitment. We would urge everyone considering welcoming a dog into their life to think carefully and to do their research, then if you do decide the time is right, please consider adopting a rescue dog.”
Dogs Trust is still operating the ‘handover at home’ service and the charity is also now offering an appointments-based system for dogs that need to meet their new owners more often to build a bond before heading home. Potential new owners will be able to meet the dog they are interested in rehoming at the centre in an outside play area, or in a spacious area that is separate from the main rehoming centre, whilst keeping two metres distance. Dogs Trust’s rehoming centres are still closed to walk in members of the public.
If you would like to find out more about all the dogs waiting for their forever homes at Dogs Trust, or would like to make a donation, please go to www.dogstrust.org.uk
