Benson
Benson
My name is: Benson
I came from: The streets of South London
Now I live in: Hampstead, North London
My favourite things are: Pork rolls and pigs ears, peanut butter, belly rubs, and walkies… in no particular order!
Follow me on Instagram: @bensontherescuerottie
Benson’s story
My partner Joe and I vividly remember the day we saw Benson’s handsome face pop up on a Facebook post. Benson was then around 7 years old and had been found on the streets of south London and rescued from the pound, where he was one day away from being put to sleep. He was first given up at six months, and no one knows where he has lived since. We immediately fell in love with his cheeky eyes and decided to apply to be his foster parents. We couldn’t believe our luck when we received an email saying that we were the best match for him!
For the following days, our eyes were peeled on his kennel webcam, as we were watching Benson sleeping on his back. We couldn’t wait to meet him! As soon as he arrived, Benson laid down for belly rubs. Then, he jumped on the counters to steal some pasta, humped us non-stop, and knocked a huge glass of water over Joe’s work laptop. Our Benson was like a wild animal, who had probably never been given the chance to be a family dog. It often takes months before a rescue is fully settled - it took Benson three. It also takes patience, consistency, training, and lots of love. There will be times during the first few weeks or months when you think, what have I done? Persevere! Just like humans, dogs need time to settle into a completely new environment and process the pain they went through.
As Benson started to settle, Underdog was still on the lookout for the perfect forever home for him. For some reason, our sweet gentle boy was struggling to find the perfect home. So we started thinking, could that be us? It took us a few months and a few failed meet and greet attempts with potential adopters to decide that we just couldn’t let go of Benson. On the last meet and greet attempt, I even whispered into Benson’s ear ‘Please misbehave’. After formally adopting Benson, we’ve never looked back, and knowing what we know now, we’d have made the biggest mistake not keeping such a wonderful, funny, loving dog. All the hard work and training really were worth it. We’re so proud to say that we went from being Benson’s foster parents to his forever parents, from his foster home to the home where he’s grown old.
Benson spent most of the past two years with his belly in the air and making everyone he meets fall in love with him. Last week, two years since Benson came into our life, we were distraught to find out he has bone cancer. While our hearts are broken knowing we don’t have much time left with him, we know that the joy, love and laughter Benson has brought into our life every single day is worth all the pain. We’ve made memories with him that we’ll never forget. Amongst our favourite ones are having to drag him past his favourite pet shop on every single walk, because he stubbornly lies down, begging for treats. We smile as we remember him skilfully stealing a steak from a China serving plate without knocking the plate over on Christmas Day. We’ll never forget giving him peanut butter for the first time and him biting right into the spoon, or him covering his face in yoghurt. We remember running in endless circles through the house trying to get a package of Camembert back that he stole. And of course, we’ll never forget receiving a call from Joe’s dad, who was looking after Benson for the day, telling us that he just ate a kilo of raw sourdough and was being rushed to the emergency vet.
Every single night without fail we make sure to tell Benson that he is a good boy, and that he is so loved. Everyone who sees Benson living his best life with us tells us how lucky he’s been to find us. But really, it’s us who have won the lottery finding him. Benson taught us so many things, including how to love and be loved so purely. We’re forever grateful to Benson, and to the whole Underdog team for saving Benson, and considering us worthy of him. We will cherish however long we have left with him, and we know he will be waiting for us on Rainbow Bridge one day, with his chest out, laser focused. And until then, he will forever live in our heart.