My name is: Bubico
I came from: Romania
Now I live in: North London
My favourite things are: Wagging my tail so hard my bottom nearly falls off, cheese, sniffing every tree in Finsbury park and meeting new people so they fall in love with me.
Follow me on Instagram: @bubico_

Bubico’s story

To say I was a little obsessed with dogs would be an understatement, every Christmas & Birthday I could almost guarantee I would get something with a dog on it, the only problem was that I was dogless and my obsession was getting slightly embarrassing.

So in 2020, we decided we were finally ready to welcome a REAL dog into our home and we saw Underdog International on a TV programme about helping people out with their dogs during the Covid lockdown. I remember visiting the website and seeing a leaping little dog who was described as a wiggly dream that would be good with children, cats and was incredibly adorable. I messaged Eve and asked if we might be considered as adopters and she suggested Bubi (said booby) and it felt like it was meant to be.

Roll on a couple of months and Bubi was due to arrive in London, there had been a couple of setbacks with paperwork and covid restrictions but our boy was FINALLY on the bus on his way home, I couldn’t wait crying with excitement every time something small and adorable arrived through the post.

On the evening of his arrival every few minutes I was convinced I could hear a van full of dogs coming down the road sitting right next to the window like a kid at Christmas, finally at 1am Sunday morning he arrived. We took our slip lead outside to the transporters and they bought us Bubi and placed him in my arms. He was a bit stinky, shaking and overwhelmed, wide eyed with the stress of the journey, but I was smitten. The driver took a photo, handed us the paperwork and drove off to his next dropoff….we were dog parents and he was really here!

We took Bubi straight inside, not even putting him on the floor as we’d heard horror stories of dogs running off from confusion when they arrive. In retrospect this was a bit silly as he had an accident on the rug as soon as I put him down, the poor boy was absolutely desperate for a wee and looked at us horrified as he had to do it as soon as he arrived, certainly not the first impression he’d planned to give his new parents. We cleaned it up and he desperately wanted comfort, giving his dog-dad his first ‘leg-hug’ where he stretched up and wrapped his paws around dad's leg. We were both amazed by this seemingly instant bond and couldn’t believe our luck.

He scratted around the flat like a bit of a mad thing but came for occasional comfort and even ate a little meal, we settled him in his crate with a treat and tried to go to sleep finally at 3am. He slept for hours, I kept checking on him and hardly slept but he definitely needed to decompress. I will admit that I was very anxious too, the reality of having him home was exciting and terrifying in equal measure!

At this point I thought we had been blessed with an Angel dog and he could do no wrong, his big beautiful eyes and soft floppy ears didn’t prepare us for the naughty ‘Bubi snap dragon’ who we met on the following evening. First lesson learnt, let sleeping Bubi lie. We have since trained him to wake up by saying his name, followed with the command ‘down!’ And he now politely leaves the sofa or bed without a grumble – I don’t feel this was his fault at all, he was in a brand new home and probably been used to sleeping with one eye open. He was definitely still coming down from a traumatic journey too, but something to remember when welcoming your new dog into your home.

So next, his first few walks (after two weeks of 5-10 minute street walks for wees!) were a little stressful with barking at every dog that came near. Our initial worry was that he had small dog syndrome and wanted to scrap with every dog. Fortunately we found this wasn’t the case, when one day when we walked into the park a lovely little king Charles cavalier pup strutted by and Bubi was in love. The owner didn’t mind a calm hello and we walked together for over an hour, letting them sniff and explore together. We realised that Bubi is what is termed a ‘frustrated greeter’ this has mostly subsided with each walk we go on but occasionally an especially delicious smelling dog over the road means Bubi has to have a shout…we will keep training!

We have had Bubico 5 months now, he loves his walks and snuggles on the sofa. We still have some issues to overcome like resource guarding over food and his most treasured toys, scavenging whilst out on walks (chicken bones are his favourite…). We know this is a long term training goal and have been working with the Underdog trainers and puppy Sunday school to overcome these cheeky areas.

Mostly though, we love the little guy with all our hearts. He has provided us with so much joy and love that it’s impossible to imagine our little home without him, even if his toys and snacks take up a quarter of the living room. 

I would wholeheartedly recommend an Underdog as Bubico is my perfect dog. We have some work to do together as we understand each other more but, each person that meets Bubi can't help but fall in love, I mean who can blame them, with a face as adorable as his!

- Rhian