My name is: Apollo
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: the Wiltshire countryside
My favourite things are: in particular back scratches, special treats (mango, broccoli, pineapple), running around in big open fields sniffing for rabbits, sunbathing, sleeping and cuddling next to everyone, being clumsy and goofy, making us laugh, and treats from the postmen and postwoman. I particularly like having a big lean against anyone that strokes me

Apollo’s story

My girlfriend and I had been looking for a rescue dog for almost a year. Unfortunately it seemed that if you had no prior adopting experience then you had slim chances of being considered. Also, with it being the peak of the pandemic, we weren’t getting many email replies and the whole process of looking was prolonged. Until one evening, Megan sent me a link to Underdog International’s page with a picture of Apollo. I’d never seen such a handsome dog with an interesting mix of breeds. We fell in love with him and within two weeks, Underdog International had completed the checks and he was on his way!

He was very friendly straight away. After picking him up, he didn’t want to get in the car at all but as soon as I got in, he climbed straight up and sat next to me. It felt like he had trust in me straight away.

Apollo is very trainable, which is helped by his love of food. He jumped up on a counter on his first night, but I gently pulled him back off of it and rewarded him for calmly waiting for his food and he hasn’t jumped back up since. He has learned to sit, stay, wait at any form of threshold, wait for his food before eating and even to bark on command! We are currently training him to keep all four paws on the ground and not jumping up for cuddles.

Apollo doesn’t have the best coordination when running and trying to catch the football. We doubt he had much play time when he was a puppy with his owners who abandoned him in Cyprus, but we have definitely made up for lost time and love running around with him. This has led to a lot of laughs when he’s sprinting along beaches, stumbling into pools of water or trying to play with his favourite stick.

He does get overwhelmed by some other dogs when walking on lead if they approach him head on, but we can appreciate that after being a stray and spending three years in the rescue centre full of dogs, he has likely learned some behaviours that helped him survive. In saying this we have learnt to give him the space he needs and he is able to make friends with slow introductions and has been on off-lead walks with several other dogs. We have been on some beautiful rural walks together. It’s incredibly fulfilling watching him run free in open fields. I put headphones in and walk with him through large fields everyday, it’s amazing. I try to remember how far he has come and that he is a dog that someone else gave up on. I would make the same decision to rescue him an infinite amount of times over.

Eve described Apollo as having a big heart and I couldn’t sum him up any better myself. There are always ways I can help Apollo improve and things I can learn to help him with, but this has taught me not to expect everything to be perfect and enjoy the path as you walk it, not knowing what will be illuminated on the way.

I think Apollo helps me more than I help him.

- Kyle