My name is: Bea
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: Germany (we’ve just moved here from the UK)
My favourite things are: Food! Being chased by my brother and sister, kissing my cat brother Murphy and stealing shoes.
Follow me on Instagram: @amy_flanagan1 (I’m the main star on my mum’s account)

Bea’s story

Bea arrived as a last minute foster dog when we were living in Chester. She was our sixth Underdog foster in the space of a year and I hadn’t ever considered having a permanent third dog. We already have Trigger, Peggy (who is also an Underdog we adopted) and our cat Murphy. Fostering was an excellent way of being able to help dogs and the charity but I also loved getting to meet new dogs from all different backgrounds.

Bea was tiny when she arrived, I can’t even believe she’s the same dog when I look back at photos of her. She also has a really scarred nose from being attacked by another dog in Cyprus before she was rescued. Eve pre-warned me when she arrived that I would fall for the ears and she wasn’t wrong! She was four months old and was literally just a pair of ears on legs! She arrived in the winter so to help her adjust from the Cypriot heat to the northern UK winters, she lived in jumpers and jackets when we went out.

Bea slotted straight into the family, as all of the other fosters, did but the main difference was that our resident dog Peggy fell in love with her instantly and was so much more tolerant of her boisterous puppy play which is something that I hadn’t seen before. It got to a point after a few weeks that I couldn’t picture Bea in another home. I knew she would make a great addition to someone’s family and this is the hardest part about fostering but I felt physically sick at the thought of her leaving.

When I approached the idea with my husband, it nearly ended in divorce, three dogs is a lot and being a military family, we move every two years so there was a lot to consider. In the end James broke and Bea became a permanent pup in the family and as a bonus cherry on the top, we still foster so there are times when we have four dogs! James now tries to convince me that keeping Bea was his idea as he’s absolutely besotted with her.

We are so lucky because Bea is the most affectionate dog and has been from day one, she loves everyone! She’s great with strangers, with children, she absolutely adores our cat too. She’s hilariously funny and such a character. She’s also finally filled out into those ears too! As she’s a beagle/hound mix though, recall is something that we are constantly working on, it maybe scarred up, but that nose of hers is something else and she gets very distracted by smells and will run off to wherever her nose takes her. She will come back eventually but we only let her off the lead in either an enclosed area or somewhere with her brother Trigger because he rounds her up and brings her back.

Bea can also be quite destructive, shoes, cushions and socks are at the top of her kill list but these are things that can happen with any dog not just rescues, especially puppies. Giving time for the dogs to adjust and settle is the biggest piece of advice I can give when adopting a dog.

We have just moved to Germany for a 2+ year posting, so obviously all of us moved. Bea has settled fantastically well and is enjoying the new smells and places to explore. We have a campervan so there are lots of Europe trips planned which the dogs will all get to go on too!

If you are thinking of getting a dog, fostering is such a great place to start. I didn’t think I’d ever be a ‘foster fail’ after having so many in the past but there we go, these dogs steal your heart!

- Amy & James