My mischevious foster boy Arthur has finally gone on the next stage of his journey to find a forever home. He has been with us for five months and while his behaviour was very challenging, he still deserves a chance to live a full and happy life with people who can appreciate his unique personality. Kent Greyhound Rescue kindly offered to take him into their care, as they have behaviourists in their kennels who can work with him to help him gain confidence and learn to accept other dogs and strangers without fear.

We began our journey by driving down to Kerry to meet with the volunteers and dogs from HUG as we were bringing five other dogs for rehoming in Kent, as well as two more to the Belgian rescue A Grey’s Home. We stayed overnight at the kennels HUG rent for our hounds awaiting adoption outside Killarney, Co Kerry.

We loaded all of the dogs into the HUG van which has fixed crates for traveling, while Arthur rode with me in the crew cab to so he wouldn’t antagonize the other dogs on the journey. He is especially nervous in cars, but we brought his duvet from home making a very comfy spot to ride and he gradually relaxed. The first leg of the trip was from Kerry to the ferry port in Rosslare, County Wexford, a 4.5 hour drive. We were able to take the dogs for a walk on the Rosslare beach to stretch their legs and have some dinner before boarding the ferry, and we were very fortunate to enjoy some rare sunshine for the evening.

The ferry departed Rosslare in the evening with a four hour crossing that brought us to Pembrokeshire in Wales around midnight. After a quick walk in the rain for the dogs, we were back on the road to Reading, where we had arranged to meet the other rescues after another 5.5 hour drive. Arthur was quite excited when we arrived at Reading, since the field where we walked the dogs was home to a number of wild rabbits and he was already anxious from traveling. He displayed his aggressive behaviour towards the folks from the other rescues, but I managed to get him loaded in the crate in their van without too much incident.

It is hard to let him go after so long with us, but I know he needs to be in a place where he has a better chance of being adopted into a forever home where he will be understood and appreciated. We received a message while on our way back to the ferry from Kent Greyhound Rescue reporting he had been quiet on the ride and they had been able to unload him at their kennels without difficulty. It appears that because he was so attached to me, he had become overly protective and viewed all other dogs and people as a threat to me, but once I was no longer around, he was able to relax a bit more and will hopefully be able to get accustomed to dealing with other people and dogs on a regular basis. I am so relieved that he is already making progress and signs appear positive that he can become a healthy, well rounded dog, maybe even trained to do a  task to utilize his energy and intelligence. A big thank you to Kent Greyhound Rescue for taking him on and helping him with the next stage of his journey!

Here are some of the other HUG dogs who came with us on the trip and are now off to new lives in the UK and Belgium.