For 6 months my husband had been looking at various breeds to see which were the best for families with children. We came across SeBPRA and started following posts on facebook and saw so many lovely dogs needing a fresh start!
I first saw Lan & Negu and wasn’t interested as we were looking for younger dogs. Lan & Negu are 4 & 5 year old English Setters who needed to be homed together. They had been adopted before and returned. I’d seen their story a few times and not really taken the time to look further.
Then one day I saw the most captivating photo of them both. With such character, and it pulled at my heart strings. We had already filled our forms in and Sarah responded to some messages and arranged a video call with us. Next thing we know we had arranged to go and meet the dogs at a shelter an hours drive away.
The boys were so excited when they met us and immediately friendly as well as quite bonkers!
Took them for a walk, they pulled a lot and were really strong so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle them.
We went away with our hearts and minds all over the place. We had lots to think about. We had not had dogs, our home wasn’t ready and our work commitments weren’t quite ready. We even visited a dogs home on our journey back home and we were disinterested in all the dogs there after meeting Lan and Negu!
Less than 12 hours later we had a video call with Sarah. She answered our millions of questions. Provided us with lots of reassurances and put me in touch with some lovely adopters and fosterers who were really supportive and I could see that SeBPRA was a great doggy community. I was more optimistic and confident that we could help these lovely dogs and keep them together.
We talked lots as a family. We were all very scared and nervous and unprepared but there are 5 of us and we have so much love to offer. We had to bring these boys home.
Sarah organised a home assessment and we met a lovely lady, Keri-Leigh and her dog. It was great to sit with her in our home and ask her loads of questions. We felt able to be honest and frank without being judged or discouraged throughout the adoption process.
The dogs were not able to come to us for 3 or 4 weeks due to work commitments.. Sarah was sure we were the right family for these lovely boys, so SeBPRA arranged for them to go to kennels. The kennels were an hours drive away and we visited the boys once or twice every weekend until they came home. We started to build a bond by taking them out for long walks and taking them treats, giving them love and attention. I’m sure they recognised us and looked forward to us going to see them. We didn’t want to go home without them. But the time soon passed and the day came to bring them home!!
SeBPRA sorted out the microchip change for us and Sarah kindly got us some new harnesses and leads as the ones the came with were frayed and no good. This was lovely for our daughter who picked the colours.
We invested in equipment for the car to fetch them. The kids and I waited excitedly to welcome them.
Within 5 mins of arriving they had wrecked our garden! They were totally bananas as expected, so excited and full of wonder.
We renamed them Lanny and Noodle. They seemed to like these new names and answered to them almost right away.
The first night they were left at bedtime we had barking for half an hour but the next night they were quiet although still not settled. No mess. Good boys.
By end of week 1 they had already settled in really well and were going to bed when told. By week 2 we had taken them out a few times to practice recall and they were responding to their names. They had clearly got to know and love us as much as we did them. They showed that they enjoyed being with us and came back when called. 10 days in and they were starting to walk to heel. They need lots of training and have to learn our house rules and boundaries which they test A LOT
Noodle (Negu) came to us with a skin condition. Sarah and the team have been really helpful in answering our questions and are starting to get to grips with it. Registered with a vets and trying to establish what’s causing it for him.
We are proud of all we’ve achieved so far with our new additions to the family. They have taken over our lives and turned our world upside down. They are hard work at times, but we persevere because they deserve it and we are passionate and determined to work it all out.
It’s not all lovely and fluffy all the the time . It takes hard work and dedication. But it’s so rewarding when we get their responses, see them learn something new and to see how happy they are. Our 8 year old daughter has built up such a lovely bond with them. Especially noodle who only walks to heel for her!
If you are considering adopting. You need to be fully ready for the challenge. With the support of SeBPRA & the Waggy Tails, it gets us through harder days & helps us see the good bits
Thanks for such a positive post.
Answers some of my concerns too.
We had a Setter when the kids were tiny. He was pretty thick! Loved us all though.
30 Years on Is love to have another and am thinking about an oldie.
Btw our guy… Chester, was an orange Beltan and had a skin problem.
Ohhh, thank you so much for the update.I follow Senpra and followed the story of LAN and Negu and was so curious to know what happened in the end it’s such a lovely story and ending or should I say beginning for them both.
Hoping you share many many wonderful blessed days with them .