Dear Clair, first of all: I apologize if the English is strange, I had the text translated by an app because otherwise I wouldn’t have the words.
I’ve been meaning to write to you for a long time to give you an update. Penka has been with us for four and a half months now. We were in love right from the start and she has enriched our lives from day one. Nevertheless, it has of course been difficult at times. In November and December in particular, there were many days when she refused to go for a walk. It rained all the time and she must have really hated that. There was also a lot of gunfire in our area, even weeks before New Year’s Eve. That’s when we realized that she has a real trauma when it comes to gunshots. As soon as she hears a detonation, she tries to hide under the nearest car. It really broke our hearts to see her so full of fear. There were days when we worried whether she would ever be really happy with us.
At home, however, she was always like a new dog – cheerful, totally affectionate and cuddly.
Since mid-January, when it stopped raining so much and, above all, stopped banging, she has been a different dog. She is super self-confident and happy to meet other dogs outside and has even started asking to play! She is now really looking forward to going for a walk. In the apartment she is super fun and romps around with us. She also already knows lots of commands and tricks. She is so super clever!
In the morning she jumps into bed between us to have a good cuddle before getting up. (Especially at the weekend we like to lie down with her for another 1-2 hours).
Every visit is greeted in a very friendly and cheerful manner and she quickly gains confidence and makes new friends (animal and human) very quickly.
She is so sweet, smart and adorable. We love her so much! She is an absolute gift and we can’t believe how lucky we are with her in every way. All of our neighbors love her too and when a neighbor walks through the hallway, Penka stands behind the door wagging her tail because she loves all of our neighbors too!
She enriches our lives so much and we are incredibly grateful that you trusted us to adopt this special dog. We know it wasn’t easy for you (and especially Neil)!
Thank you, you great people 😘

Why we adopted from you:
We have been watching what you do for a long time. We are incredibly impressed that you have completely dedicated your lives to the dogs. This is something we want to support – with our monthly donation, but also with the adoption. We have wanted a dog for years and it was clear that it should come from you.
Because we knew that the rescued dogs are in such good hands with you. They get an incredible amount of love from you, you take them for walks, practise walking them on a leash, give them your undivided attention and observe them very closely so that you know all about their character traits. For us as newcomers to dogs, this gave us a certain amount of security that we weren’t getting a complete miracle bag, but a dog that had been well socialized with people and other dogs, had learned how to go for walks and had already gained trust in people. You wouldn’t have given us a dog that obviously needed an experienced dog owner.
And of course the opportunity to spend a few days with you on site was super important for us to find and get to know the right dog.

That’s a lot, but maybe you can make a statement about it. And you are welcome to write that Leonie and Timo say so 🙂