Pedro- stray dog happy ever after

We’ve had Pedro nearly 7 weeks now and I really couldn’t imagine not having him.  I never forget watching the tracker of the Happy Bus that left Spain with him on. The closer it got to where I live over the days the more excited I got…..couldn’t believe that the dog I saw the videos of from the pound and boarding the bus was soon going to be here with us in Cheshire.  He was officially called Marron in Spain but we named him Pedro – Pedro the Podenco! 

Pedro is an absolute dream – although not sure my cat thinks so as he does love to chase her but the novelty is starting to wear off now.  He absolutely loves his snuggles and just wants to lie on you – he’s a proper lap dog.  He responds to sit and paw better than my other dog and is so good out on the lead.  We haven’t let him off lead yet as we need to do lots of recall but slowly slowly and all that – that day will come.  Won’t be for a while though as the minute he sees a squirrel or a rabbit you can see him think ‘Yeah – I’m coming to get you’.  He did slip his harness one day when he saw a squirrel but thankfully he did come back – so that bodes well! He’s happy enough anyway on his lead having a sniff around and plays in the garden.

Pedro is really playful – he loves his post breakfast playtime with Ronnie and then curls up on my youngest daughters bed for a few hours where the sun comes through the blinds.  Both dogs now share the sunny spot at the top of the stairs.  He adores playing with fluffy toys and will happily amuse himself with them for ages.  He sometimes forgets my arm is not a chew toy when he gets over excited but he’s easy to calm down which is really good. We have a mad 20 minutes most evenings where he zooms around the lounge – everyone knows just to pick up any drinks or anything once that starts now!  Having said that he loves his morning lie ins too – it can easily get to 9am and both dogs are still fast asleep – but the minute I’m up he jumps on the bed for cuddles and tries to get under the duvet – he has been known to actually sleep inside the duvet cover on a few occasions!!  He seems to love burying himself under blankets and cushions.

Pedro has really picked up on his routine and toilet training well and it wasn’t half as bad as I expected it to be.  Don’t get me wrong we had our fair share of accidents but totally expected.  He is now learning to go to the back door when he wants the toilet and to do his business when we are out.
Each week we see something new, quirky and fun in him and he’s becoming even more confident with everything with each passing day.  He loves being outside listening to all the noises and smelling lots of new smells.  He really does know all the tricks though too – he has just the cutest face and knows how to work the sympathy when he’s after something (usually food)- it’s the eyes and ears combo I think! He is so food driven. This will help when we start recall although it has also taught me not to leave cakes and anything else unattended – even when it’s on the table! 

With two daughters its worked out great as Pedro and my eldest seem to have (in her words) ‘a special bond that nobody else could possibly ever have’ and he’s like her little shadow a lot of the time.  Whilst the other dog spends a lot of time with my youngest daughter.

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The way he looks at me absolutely melts me.  They say there’s no love like the love of a rescue dog and when I look at him I truly believe that.  He’s such a special part of our family already and I can’t recommend a rescue dog and Spanish Stray Dogs strongly enough to anybody.  Such a wonderful charity totally dedicated and committed to improving the lives of all those gorgeous innocent dogs who have been abandoned or abused.

Blog written by Pedro’s adopter Karen Siddall