Happy endings

"The grandmother with the string around her neck", that's what we called her in the beginning. For a while, each of us referred to her by different names each, until we ended up in Vaya (meaning wet nurse in Greek).

She is elderly. So old that her muzzle is whitewashed, and she was in a cage in the public pound of Sparta with at least 11 puppies. We found her in a small house, trying to protect herself. And at this age, she probably didn't know what to protect ehrself from. From the filth? from panic? from the hustle and bustle?

Imagine how much fuss, how much constant noise eleven puppies make in a cage, and imagine how intolerable this is for an elderly dog, who on top of that is also starved for who knows how many days.

Sarah is one of those dogs that have a calmness and a stoicism.

Maybe it's age, maybe it's just her character. She looks gorgeous when we look at her like that from afar, it almost makes you think that now that she is old she is more beautiful than she was in her youth.

She is currenlty available for virtual adoption only.

Toby is a child. As a happy child, he feels, behaves like a happy child, and rejoices like a happy child. If you like happy, innocent, pure dogs that give the impression they will never grow old, even if they live for twenty years, he is the ideal one.

He will always be eager, he will always be excited about whatever you do together, he will make you smile and think, 'I wish I were a dog too, and that things were that simple in my mind.'

He enjoys company, enjoys people, enjoys walks, has the smile of a small child and a pure heart. When we interact with him at the shelter, he is incredibly happy.

Sometimes he gets a bit brushed, in the summer he enjoys a bath just to cool off, and then he gets dried with a towel (accompanied by a petting like 'sorry for the trouble'), and all of this he does not for any specific reason, just because we want to spend a little more time with him.

In the midst of all this, he does a couple of commands he knows, a bit of the 'sit' that he does perfectly, and a bit of 'come back' that he also does perfectly, at least inside the shelter (when he hears his name, he comes running all happy and gets a treat).

Toby is the little dog that makes you laugh, that makes you want to play with him, the little dog that makes you forget anything unpleasant that might be happening to you, and simply enjoy the joy of life.

He is a butter dog, who allows you to scrunch him up, to lift him into your arms, to cuddle him. He has an incredible trust in people, as if they are all his friends from school and as if life is an eternal weekend. He loves walks, loves human companionship, and loves life.

It's as if nothing unpleasant has passed over him, neither a dog shelter, nor hunger, nor pain. Nothing. As if there is nothing in this world that could take away the joy he has inside him.

Among the many puppies we got from the public pound of Sparta was him. So we thought at least initially, but the little one was not a puppy.

Toby was a young teenager, about a year old, and when he first arrived, he was so small and cute that he looked like a 3-month-old puppy. His back legs looked very crooked then, but that didn't stop him from running and playing as if nothing was wrong.

One of his legs had a broken bone that was no longer operable, resulting in the bone healing incorrectly and the leg being shorter. This causes both of his hind legs to appear crooked.

Toby needs to exercise moderately to avoid pain, and since he is a dog that is people-oriented, he can go for moderate walks and expend energy gently with his owner for a few minutes each day. He enjoys working with his mind very much, and this can keep him happy without needing to run and play.

He takes some supplements for his joints and if his legs get tired he sometimes takes an anti-inflammatory.

It hurts us that this dog, who is truly a joy of life, has lived with pain since he was a puppy, but the pain has never managed to steal his joy and his smile, and that is the most important thing. He is truly a very companionable dog, who will love you and whom you will love.

He will bring you smiles every day and will give you his soul if you provide him with the care and love he needs so much.

This little girl there in the public pound of Sparta, along with the rest of the dogs that roamed freely in the front. She was emaciated, with dermatological problems, sad and quiet, but there.

At every moment, as we were looking from outside, and when we walked in, she was there. She was looking at the people taking the other dogs from the cages, at the volunteers who were cleaning up, at the people transporting the dogs outside. As if she was trying to participate without annoying us, just being present, trying to understand what was going on. She was so present that we have her in countless photos and countless videos from that day. We had already picked up most of the dogs when in the end we got her too.

She was one of the last dogs to come out of there that day, she saw the space she knew changing around her in a few hours, and sometimes we wonder what she was thinking as she watched us come and go, before she realized that she would not just be a spectator, but she would also leave with the others.

The thing with Mellie is not that she has recovered, that she has gained weight and that she has become beautiful. It is that she is the sweetest, most easy-going and tender creature in the world, and Mellie, which means honey in Greek, is the most fitting name for her. She has a kindness and a sweetness in her ways, which are rare, and she is an easy easy. Easy to love, easy to be around, easy to communicate and live with. 

VIDEO of her story

Alma in Latin means soul, and if we had to choose one dog with the strongest soul, it would be her.

Alma is elderly, and lived chained in the public pound of Sparta for four years. When we walked in, we found her curled up in a dog house, as if she had given up on life.

Despite her starvation and advanced age, Alma was healthy, with the exception of a huge tumor under her neck, which had come to be twice the size of her head. With a combination of cortisone and antibiotics the tumor was reduced to a third, and although Alma is very wakened, she refses to give up.

We have promised her to do everything for her so that she can live the years she has left with dignity. She has the most beautiful eyes in the world. She is currently available for virtual adoption only.

Apollo was in the public pound of Sparta, in a cage with other adult dogs and many puppies with symptoms of parvo.

He came with us to Athens and went straight into solitary confinement in the veterinary clinic, along with all the other puppies from that kennel. Only two of them recovered, Apollo and Artemis.

Now he has been discharged, and he never stops enjoying, playing and replenishing every moment of his lost childhood, which was wasted in the horrible kennel of Sparta and the infirmary. He is a luscious, cheerful, sociable boy. A puppy that is very cute and also happy.

It is currently available for virtual adoption only.

Artemis (in english Diana) was in the public pound of Sparta, in a cage with other adult dogs and many puppies with symptoms of parvo.

She came with us to Athens and went straight into solitary confinement in the veterinary clinic, along with all the other puppies from that crate. Only two of them recovered, her and Apollo.

Now she has been discharged, and she never stops enjoying, playing and replenishing every moment her lost childhood, which was wasted in the horrible kennel of Sparta and the informary. She is a luscious, cheerful, social girl. A puppy that is extremely cute and happy. She is probably an english setter mix.

She is currently available for virtual adoption only.