Donut now lives in his forever home with Vanessa Parratt and her family.
This is Donut’s story as told by Vanessa Parratt (September 2011)
“I lost my beautiful terrier Poppy 2 years ago to dementia, it broke my heart and I didn’t get another dog, I was just too upset. Time has passed and I think of her all the time but my family and I decided it was time to give a rescue dog a forever home.
I have my own equestrian tack and feed shop and thought having a dog in the shop with me would be a great idea, so I started to look. I went on so many websites and viewed so many dogs but I have a cat and a 7 year old boy called Luke and a lot of them couldn’t be re-homed with cats or children.
Then I came across SOS Animal UK. There were so many dogs that needed homes, it was mind boggling. I also noticed that there were more dogs that could be re-homed with cats and children with SOS, so my hopes started to rise.
Then I saw Donut. He looked so kind and he was the perfect size/type. I fell in love with him and he was fine with children and cats.
We had our home check and passed so me and Luke started on our journey to Kent to go and see him. We met Heather and her husband who were fostering him and they introduced us to Donut.
He was so funny, wiggling everywhere, he was so pleased to see us and he immediately took to my son; I was so pleased. We went for a walk with Donut at my sons’ side and they both seemed really relaxed with each other so we brought him home!
We got back quite late so no time for him to get used to everyone and his new surroundings. I spent the night with him on a mattress on the kitchen floor. He slept all night upside down snoring and then our cat joined us, so I had Donut one side of me snoring and the cat curled up on the other side, hence I didn’t get much sleep, but hey ho I had a happy dog!
On his first day he was introduced to two horses and a shop with people coming and going all day. He was a complete star taking it all in his stride. He has continued to be amazing since and he stays close to me as much as he can. He is getting more confident everyday and is sleeping happily without me on the floor with him (thank goodness!).
He will start his training lessons soon and I have a feeling he will be great at it as he already mostly walks to heel off the lead and his recall is great. He loves playing ball with Luke and they have great fun in the garden together.
I think Donut being fostered, rather than being in kennels, really helped him to come away with less scars from his ordeal and I want to thank Heather Bennett for opening her doors to him and giving him a great start. All fosterers are wonderful caring people. I would also like to thank Tania for all her help and advice. SOS Animal UK is a brilliant rescue organisation and I would recommend adopting a dog through them.”