After losing their last dog, Dora, Anne and Steve thought she would be their last dog, but before long they were missing a four legged companion. With Steve’s love of Pointers and some fortunate circumstances, the Pointer sisters Ruby and Pearl were soon to find their forever homes.
“Pointers In Need means a great deal to us so when we decided to rehome another dog I got in touch with Claire. Unfortunately, the one we had our eye on needed to live with another dog and we didn’t feel up to having two, we are getting old! But not long afterwards Claire got in touch about two young Pointer sisters, about five months old, in Benidorm who had been handed over to their care. After much discussion about the positives and negatives of adopting such a young dog we fell for Ruby after watching videos of her so decided to go for it.
But I then spent sleepless nights worrying about Pearl being left at the shelter in Benidorm. Thankfully along came my “Pointer Fairy”. Some years ago, because we had both had “demanding” Pointers, Debbie Harnett contacted me and we met at one of the Pointerfest gatherings. Following that we remained good friends and after seeing on Facebook that we were hoping to adopt Ruby, Debbie told us that she and her husband, Kevin, would be applying for Pearl! I felt so relieved as I would have worried about her forever. The fact that Pearl and Ruby would always have contact is wonderful. It then wasn’t long before the girls arrived in England at the end of May.
Debbie and Kevin have other Pointers and have had for many years, but Ruby is our only dog. Pearl has come on leaps and bounds with her new family, but Ruby still has a long way to go. Unfortunately shortly after getting her she became very ill and had an upset tummy for two weeks. Nothing agreed with her and the vets ran numerous tests. We were at the point of putting up a camp bed in the vet’s waiting room! In the end it turned out to be nothing serious other than a B12 deficiency and probably a nervous tummy. We also came to the conclusion that she was intolerant of chicken.
Ruby is frightened of her own shadow but she adores Steve! She is more than happy to trail around after him all day every day, which he of course loves. She was more or less OK with me, but after I went to see my sister for three days I became an “enemy” upon my return and Ruby is now very nervous around me. This is very upsetting but we accept it as know it’s still very early days. When she gets a little sturdier weight-wise we will sort out some training for her, and for us!
We attended the Pointers In Need Funday near Telford earlier this month. When Ruby was around the other dogs she was bright and bouncy, which was wonderful to see. Considering that in every video we saw of her with other dogs in the animal shelter in Benidorm she was a nervous girl, this has been a pleasant surprise.
It was also a delight to see the two sisters together again at the Funday. Ruby sadly remains very skinny following her illness, whereas Pearl is glowing with health. We just have to take one step at a time. It’s just so wonderful that the girls will always have contact with each other. We are also blessed that as and when we go away, Debbie and Kevin will have Ruby to stay with them. We feel that through this friendship we have won the lottery with the Pointer sisters!
Apart from our first Pointer who came from a lovely breeder in Surrey back in 1997, all our dogs have been rescues and all of them have had experience of living in a proper home. Ruby is completely different but she is adapting well. Nobody should expect overnight miracles and there are plenty of stories about dogs like her with difficult beginnings who deserve nothing more than a loving home.
For now, I just have to accept that her human Daddy is all that matters and my turn might come if I’m lucky! However whatever happens nothing will alter how much we love her.”
Adopters: Anne and Steve Chapman