My name is: Gulliver
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: Cornwall
My favourite things are: Snuggling and scavenging
Follow me on Instagram: @gulliverscornishtravels

Gulliver’s story

My family’s farm in South West Cornwall is home for us and our beloved dogs, horses, pet cows and pigs and our grizzly bear (/Syrian hamster). So, when I’d twisted my partner, Billy’s, arm enough to agree to a dog of our own I knew where we’d start looking as my mum and brother both have welcomed Cypriot rescues home here to Cornwall. 

I had been following Eve’s Instagram for a long time and waiting for a dog who might like life with us. Then, at the beginning of June 2020 Eve put up a story of a 2/3-year-old skinny black pointer/lab with dried mud on his ears and a big long tongue. The caption read: ‘I’m a boy, what’s my name?’... Eve had received a call from the police base an hour from her house and where they euthanise dogs after 14 days if no one claims them. Eve was only supposed to take the other two dogs at the kennel but she couldn’t leave the black boy. I thanked our lucky stars that Eve had rescued him and I thought; your name is Gulliver and you’re coming home to Cornwall.  

Dog rescue at the best of times is no doubt a logistical minefield but throw a global pandemic in the mix and we were stuck world’s apart waiting for our boy. The journey over eventually was long for the dogs then the doors to the transport opened and we could hear a singing (/screeching) black dog and he waddled out without a care in the world and ate all the chicken we’d brought for him.  

It’s been one year since Gulliver came home to us and Eve told me I should write the good, the bad and the ugly so quite literally here goes:

The bad: Gulliver. Eats. Everything! Perhaps he was starved at some point in his short life but gosh he’s caused us trouble with his scavenging. He’s had his stomach pumped at the vets after eating 6 mince pies at Christmas... Then the next day he ate two tubes of Smarties. Sigh. No matter what we do to stop him he finds a way to get to the food. Over the past year Gulliver has eaten; a pack of frozen wedges, X12 brioche buns, rice cakes, a Victoria sponge, a cheesecake, loaves of bread galore and his most dangerous steal (besides the raisin filled mince pies) was drinking the chip fryer oil. He even pierced a can of Guiness and drank the whole thing?! 

Gulliver also had severe separation anxiety to begin with. We are now completely over this but it certainly took months of patience and stress!

The ugly: Gulliver eats animal poo. I’ll say no more. 

The good: Gulliver is so very loyal, he loves his mummy and daddy and is oh so snuggly. He loves to sleep in and go to bed early. He is friendly with other dogs and people. Gulliver’s (selective) recall has come on leaps and bounds and his greediness has helped with this (though he still likes to run away to chase rabbits so we pick our battles), he is confident, he loves going to school (/kennels) once a week when we have a busy work day. Gulliver LOVES our walks and runs, he loves exploring and going in the car. He also enjoys swimming.  

Gulliver is a daft happy boy and, though there have been times I've almost booked him on a plane back to Cyprus, he has changed our lives for the better. He has my whole heart and we wouldn’t be without him. 

- Molly