Nazli, which means “Beauty” in Turkish, was found in such a terrible state that even the local municipal kennel didn’t want to take her on. Luckily she found her way to Pointers In Need and without knowing had many people supporting her rescue from afar, including her now owner John from Liverpool. Nearly three years later and Nazli is living her best life and has supported John through ups and downs as much as he has her.
“I had been involved with Pointers In Need before I adopted Nazli, including helping with transport duties, conducting home checks, sponsoring some dogs and I got to meet Claire and the team at Pointerfest. So when I decided the time was right to get another dog as company for me and my eight-year-old Pointer, Arrow, it was an easy decision to adopt from them.
When I first read about Nazli I broke down seeing how tough her situation was, and she completely took my heart. I helped with donations before she was rescued and it took three months for Rabia and the team in Turkey to eventually get her into the safe care of PIN. Nazli was in a really bad way, so much so that it was touch and go that she would be rescued before it was too late. In the end she had to have a hip bone removed and it took 12 months to get her walking properly again, but throughout the rehoming process I was told about the injury so that I could read up on it and prepare for when she arrived with me.
Nazli finally arrived in Liverpool in June 2020, right in the middle of the first wave of the pandemic, after a tiring three-day journey from Turkey. She was being brought straight to my house and I was kept up to date with progress the whole time but that didn’t stop me pacing up and down the whole day in anticipation until the van finally pulled up at 11.50pm! As she was the last drop off the driver put her in the front cab so she wasn’t alone and as soon as I saw them arrive I ran straight outside with my daughter who was waiting with me. My first reaction when I saw Nazli? I felt upset and angry. She was so tiny, much more so than I was expecting, she also had a bit of a dodgy eye and her jaw was misaligned so that was difficult to see at first. But then we made eye contact through the window and when the door opened I was filled with love, it was like we already knew each other.
I took Nazli straight to my mum’s house with my daughter so that she didn’t get too overwhelmed meeting Arrow straight away. She was shattered and bewildered as you can imagine. We brought Arrow up the next morning, Naz was so excited and Arrow was made up – it was like he put his arm around her and immediately took her under his wing. As Nazli first settled in she was scared and defensive, she was very protective of her teddies and it took about six months for that to stop. My daughter and son were key to helping Nazli settle in, although now she is so at home that she regularly runs upstairs and steals Ellie’s clothes!
Thankfully we didn’t need to get physio for the hip injury but we do need to keep an eye on her weight – Nazli is still small but now a healthy 20kg, this is still half the size of big boy Arrow who is 46kg! We had to build up how much we were walking to get the leg moving but before long Nazli was wanting to run. She loves running – although it was a bit zig-zagged at first so we had to limit this. After a while I decided to put a belt on her so we could run together and over a year we built up to Canicross. It’s very much a hobby enjoyment level and nothing serious but it has been a great way to bond. Canicross takes us on many an adventure and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting other PIN adopters, including Susan Fraser who has competed for Team GB with her Pointer, Claire. We have plans to go to Scotland this year for a run and also always love visiting Wales.
Nazli and I really are a match made in heaven. As an ex-paratrooper I can struggle with anxiety and depression which she has helped with no end, I like to think that it’s a shared thing and I help her as much as she does me. I know when Naz wants me to go to her for comfort and when to give her space – I always think, put yourself in their shoes and it gives you perspective on life. Out of Nazli and Arrow she’s definitely the boss! Arrow doesn’t have a care in the world. Naz does have quite a high prey drive, she had no recall at first but I’d say we’re at 80% now. However if she ever ventures off for a bit of a hunt Arrow knows where she is and stands still crying if I start to walk the wrong way!
My advice to anyone considering adopting is to read up and do your research on the specific dog. I’ve known Pointers all my life but knew nothing about rescues so it was incredibly important to be prepared for how to best help the dog I was matched with. It’s important to know the breed but more so the dog’s behaviour and history. With PIN there is always someone at the end of the phone to help, even now, and that has been invaluable support that I’d not have managed without.
