Meet Cleo (AKA Cleopatra, Cleekie, Cleeks, Cleo Bear and several other variations), she’s a rescue dog from Spain.

When Peanut died last year she left a big hole in our lives, albeit a less smelly one, and I’ve wanted a second dog ever since.  I knew I didn’t want a puppy again – having a puppy is like having a newborn; lack of sleep, carpet stains, repeating yourself over and OVER and I felt strongly about rescuing a dog.  I kept my eye on several websites in the hope that I’d see ‘the one’ … and three long months later I did. She popped up on the local vet page on Facebook, via a lady in our village, who we now affectionately refer to as ‘The Dog Fixer’.

Cleo popped up on The Asociacion de Animales de Berja’s Facebook page. A charity, they rescue stray dogs in Spain, foster them in local homes and once a month do a run over to the UK to re-home the lucky ones. We paid the charity £150 which included vaccinations, neutering, travel costs and really is nothing when you think about what goes into rescuing a dog, the vet bills and bringing her from Spain.

Cleo was found with five pups on some wasteland.  She stayed with C&J, a lovely couple, who foster dogs alongside their family pets. They gave her such a loving home and kept us updated regularly on how she was getting on which really helped us to bond with a dog we’d never met.

She’s been here just over a week and has slotted into our family without any problems. We had never heard of the Podenco breed before but she’s such a gentle soul who runs like a whippet and has the BEST bat ears. She was quite timid to start with but over the last week has come out of her shell. She’s not a fan of baths, loves walks, chasing squirrels and trying to infiltrate the sofa. The rest of the time she likes her sleep – the 11 year old thinks it’s because she’s Spanish and used to having siestas. She can be quite aloof in a mañana, mañana fashion and we have had to wake her to feed her and let her out a few times.

If you are considering getting a dog please think about a rescue dog. There are so many dogs out there who just need the right family.

We think Cleo has found hers.