Succesfully adopted dogs!

Harry adopted Oreo in July 2024

We adopted Oreo on July 1st 2024 and what a whirlwind it’s been since. I’d had my eye on Oreo for a while and was both happy and gutted that he was taken on foster to adopt in early June - but was shocked to see he was back in the care of NCDH after his week foster period. 

My partner had been asking me for a year to get a dog but after the loss of Buddy our family dog 5 years ago, I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. My partner had convinced me to go to an open day to see both Oreo and all the other lovely dogs at NCDH, and see how I felt afterwards.
We were the 1st people to walk in and when we were asked was there anyone we wanted to see, I immediately said “Oreo”. We were sat on the bench waiting for him to come out and as soon as we saw him, we were smitten. I’m not ashamed to say - I cried! He ran up to us so happy and jumped up at us, licking our faces and I knew he was the one for us. We had a 2nd meet the same day and filled out the application and were over the moon when we had the email two days later that we could have our 3rd and final meet before we could take him home.
From the moment he came into our home, it’s like he’s been here forever. He found a spot on the floor before getting brave enough to claim his corner of the sofa. He’s been an absolute joy in our lives. He’s recovered very well from his neutering which was very kindly arranged by NCDH and sponsored by Fonds.

 3 weeks later his personality is out in full throttle. He’s our very sleepy, clumsy, happy handsome boy. Our entire family loves him and he’s spoilt rotten with treats, toys, naps and all the cuddles he could ever want. He’s slowly getting used to playing outdoors with other dogs and has made some lifetime friends with his cousins Chip and Murphy!
As much as it’s been a challenging time, I wouldn’t change it for the world and we’re so happy to have the honour of being his forever home.

Lilian, member of Fonds, has adopted Liliah in May 2024

8 weeks ago today, beautiful Lilah came to live with us. She was a stray and came into the care of NCDH. 

As soon as we got home with her, Lilah explored every room in the house and did zoomies around the garden. She bonded very quickly with us and, within an hour, was on the sofa having belly rubs from Auntie Grace.

Like many rescue dogs, she has issues and it has been stressful at times. We love her and with invaluable input from Victoria, Pooch on a Pedestal,  these issues are being addressed.

Lilah is funny, loving, and adores Grace and I. She has a wonderful personality. We laugh every day at her quirky behaviour. She has enriched our lives.

This is her forever home, and we thank you Lilah for coming into our lives.❤️

Sasha adopted Cassie February 2024

We adopted Cassie in February 2024, and she has absolutely changed our lives for the better. The day she came home, she found her spot on the sofa and has not moved since! She has been going to training classes and now has a weekly group session where we are working on her focus to us with other dogs. She has learnt so much in the past few months and she now walks with us off lead without running up to other dogs to play. 

She loves sleeping at the foot of our bed, and saying hello to everyone when I work from home and have a meeting!

 Jason R. adopted Ozzy the Border Collie last year August 2023.

"I picked Ozzy up from Newport Rehoming Centre back in August last year, he is 1 year old now but was only a couple of months old when I picked him up.

Ozzy is the best thing to happen to me in years, I have had a few rough years and mental health issues and having Ozzy as an adventure buddy has been everything I needed. Despite being a pain on occasions I love the now big guy and I know the same comes in return.

I work from home but even when I go out I come back to a huge welcome, he comes with me everywhere and he loves to go on long hikes with me, as well as camping and running with me and friends.

 As mentioned Ozzy is the best thing to happen to me and I wouldn't let him go for anything."

Nicole has adopted Luna from Newport Dogshome in March 2023

From the first moment we saw the post and images on Newport city dogs home Facebook page of Luna knew we had to meet her. We instantly filled in the forms to try and get a viewing to meet her and see if we would be the right fit for her.

We met her on a cold winters morning and fell head over heels in love as soon as we saw her sweet little face. After taking her for a short walk we knew she was the perfect dog for us and asked to foster her with a view to adopt that evening! 

After a week or so Luna was neutered and moved in to her forever home with us that evening to look after her after her operation and shower her with love (which we have done ever since) 

Her first few weeks were hard, she was so happy to see us and would wag her bum and tail furiously. If we walked in to a room she was in or every time we came home she would wag her tail so enthusiastically that it would hit anything in sight and she ended up developing happy tail. Unfortunately it got worse and worse even after trying everything we could ,so the vets told us she would have to have it docked. NCDH helped us with everything they took her to her appointments and paid for the operation and we’re just the most amazing and caring support network. We honestly can never thank Marie and Sophie from Newport dogs home enough for all the help that they gave us, from helping with all the vets sides of things to just being an amazing support and helping us with luna’s healing process! 

Luna is honestly the best thing we have ever done, she is just the sweetest, cuddliest and most perfect fit for our little family! 

She is OBSESSED with a squeaky ball and insists on carrying one around on every single walk she goes on and adores her toy box. She waits while we cook desperate for us to sit on the sofa so she can jump in and cuddle us (we swear this is her favourite time of day). She is our little security guard and will sit in the window guarding the house daily, making our neighbours laugh as they walk past (She has quite a grumpy look sometimes which we find hilarious) 

We have had to work to find a perfect routine for luna but she has moulded so perfectly in to our lives, we have also had some dog training sessions as she is so terrified of situations because of her past that we wanted to work on these with her and a trainer so that she can enjoy her walks even more but we have found with patience and consistency she has really settled in the last few months.

We will never be able to thank Newport dogs home enough for choosing us to adopt luna 🤍

If you are ever thinking of rescuing a dog please visit NCDH the dogs there are so lucky to have such an incredible team but would really love to have a forever home too.

Rachel G has adopted Rosa from Newport City Dogs Home. 

Rosa is our baby and she's spoilt rotten! 

She is such a foodie and will eat anything you give her, including your fingers if you're not careful. 

She loves her walks and can't contain her excitement when you get her lead out. She was a bit hesitant to begin with and would stop midway through the park but now she loves nothing more! 

I've never known a dog so nosey which is why she loves her walks so much - she watches everything. 

Any cupboard/drawer you open, she's there like your little helper. We should have renamed her Shadow because she follows us everywhere we go in the house.

She's such a happy girly! She gets up on the bed every morning and rolls around on her back with pure joy, wagging her tail. She loves nothing more than a cwtch on the settee too, poking her little tongue out.

It's taken time and patience to get to where we are today and she has come on leaps and bounds.  She's so happy now and we are too - we're so glad we rehomed her! 

Hana has adopted Stan ( former Ace) from Newport City Dogs Home in 2023

 Stan came into our lives at a time when we needed him most. 

After my soul dog Odie passed away from Osteosarcoma in October 2021, I was lost. We’re long-term volunteers at Cardiff Dogs’ Home and that helped us to start healing. We fostered but weren’t able to adopt again. We were starting to think it wouldn’t happen for us, then I saw a picture of Stan (then Ace) with his massive eyes and Santa headband.

Stan had been in kennels at Newport Dogs’ Home for several months. We were told that his previously ‘family’ had wanted to euthanise him and get their £400 back from the breeder. When they refused, he was dumped in a farmer’s field. The team had been working on his rehabilitation for some time. We understand that Stan was initially too petrified to leave his kennel and they were unable to remove his harness. For some time afterwards, Stan became visibly stressed at having his harness put on. We both had a few (accidental) butts from his fat head as a result! Stan was frightened of most things at that point, including movements and inanimate objects but for whatever reason, he also came up to us on that first visit with kisses. Perhaps it was our experience with bull breeds that put him at ease.

He came to us as a foster at that point. It was clear that he’d not been fed well in his previous home and had been roughly handled at least, or at worst beaten. He ate all sorts of things like mud and even tarpaulin at one point. He counter surfed and would follow us constantly for food. We had to teach him ‘gentle’ but he’s a clever boy and he soon got it. Simple things like having a bath were terrifying. His pupils would turn completely black. It also turned out that he’d had a gland infection, potentially for a long time, so that must have been painful for him. 

Don’t worry, we soon fixed that.

Stan bonded with us both on a Bluetooth level but he was nervous around new people and at approaches from off lead dogs. We quickly realised that we needed a whole new approach to his training. We started sessions with Valleys Dog Training, where trainer Kahla quickly diagnosed him as a ‘wet lettuce’ and he discovered and learnt to destroy (expensive) Kong Jumblers! We started to introduce new people to Stan really slowly, like my parents, who came every week for a couple of months but didn’t even touch or look at him. Now Stan loves and trusts them because he knows he’s 100% safe.

We knew we couldn’t part with Stan and so of course we adopted him. He has a look of his big brother Odie at times but his personality is so different. This helps in many ways because he’s just himself. He’s very chatty. He loves to ‘woo’ every time he’s happy and will bring you a toy when you get home. He’s a pootler. He walks beautifully next to you on his lead but it helps if you have a pocket full of treats. He’s bright and loves to learn new things, even if he is a bit stroppy when you take too long to hand the treat over! He loves eating so much, that he now bounds around at the once terrifying bath time because he knows it means a peanut butter licky mat! He’s an excellent car passenger, tug toy connoisseur and a champion cuddler. He throws himself backwards, right into your arms.

We’ve learnt so much from our journey with Stan already. His quirks have brought their challenges but the reward far outweighs anything we’ve faced. I remember when we fostered Stan, one member of the NDH team said how worried they were that he might not find his people and they were shocked when we called before he’d even officially gone on to the website. I can only think it was meant to be. He needed us and we needed him. Now he’s safe and loved. 

Please foster or adopt to save lives like Stan’s. Follow his journey on Instagram @StanleyWooWah and subscribe to the newsletter for updates from all the dogs and their forever families! 

Paul Berrecloth has recently adopted Raven a black German shepherd from Newport City Dogs Home. 

So why did we decide to get a rescue dog?

"Well the answer is simple enough, the boy (he’s 28 but he’s still our boy and lives with us) wanted to get a pet dog after he’d got over the death of our last dog, and his mother and I both said that a rescue dog would be good as dogs need humans as much as humans need dogs and that it would be better than getting a puppy. Yes, I know, everyone loves a puppy, but older dogs need a home and to be loved too.

The boy was checking out various websites (dog ones!) for a while before he started to send us links/pictures. My wife wanted a smaller sized dog so I suggested a Great Dane, this did not go down well 😊. Anyway, eventually he found this one of a black German Shepard Dog that we all liked the look of. We arranged to go to the home, Newport City Dogs Home (NCDH) by the transporter bridge, Corporation Roadside, on a Saturday morning.

The boy and I took her for a short walk, and both agreed that she, Raven by name, was the one for us. The police had looked at her and said that she was too old for them to train at 2 and a half and a previous adoption had failed. This did not faze us at all as we were all expecting things like that.

We had to make changes to our garden as they said that she might try to escape. That was done. I will say that she is a jumpy dog, not like in the nervous way but like Tigger, Bounce, bounce, bounce. It took some more fence panels (that was OK but the company we asked to deliver them took more time than I was happy with) and a temporary barricade at the side out the house which will be replaced by some gates. All completed within a week.

I think now we should look at the pros and cons of Raven (clearly this does not apply to all rescue dogs but please go into this with your eyes open, your milage may vary)

Pros:

She is very affectionate and loves to play in fact she insists on it. She is unreasonably pretty. Loves people.

Cons:

She really does not like other dogs. Normal balls are not safe, basketballs, tennis balls, nope, all destroyed!

The first con may not sound like much, but it means that the boy and I have to walk her at the same time. I act as a scout, looking for dogs ahead of us and he uses all of his bodyweight to hold her back. We live very near to a park where walking dogs is incredibly popular, so this makes it harder.

I want you to understand that we all love this dog and are invested in her. Taking on a recue dog is a commitment just like being a foster carer for small humans but that is something that we are here for."