My name is: Mila
I came from: Bosnia
Now I live in: Basingstoke
My favourite things are: Cuddling on the sofa, chasing my favourite squeaky ball, sausage and sunbathing 

Mila’s story

On 8th October I was scrolling on Instagram and saw a post by Underdog International of multiple dogs needing homes. I forwarded the post to my partner and we agreed we would enquire about number three, formerly known as Phoebe. Following a home check and lots of chats with the team we were ready to pick up our new family member on 5th November 2021, who we renamed Mila.

When we first picked Mila up she was a bundle of energy/nerves. I sat in the back of the car with her on our long trip home, she was unsure but trusting. We realised quite quickly she was afraid of men, when a man would come close she would cower, however with love, time and understanding this disappeared very quickly. Despite everything being new and never having the luxury of a sofa (or even being in a home) she made a beeline for it straight away and a year and a half later it’s still her favourite place to snuggle and nap.

Mila has made our house a home, she has challenged us but also brought us so much joy. The early days were tough with toilet and crate training but with persistence we got there. She is a very intelligent dog who is eager to please and given the time and training she is a lovely companion.

Some of the challenges we have had, some of which have been overcome are separation anxiety, reactivity to cats and chewing things (usually expensive items like AirPods or glasses). Separation anxiety still partially exists but mountains away from where it was, she can be left for up to four hours and during the night outside of a crate. She does however love company so will always choose company over none. Chewing has massively decreased along with her separation anxiety I believe these were linked. Our toughest challenge is cat reactivity due to having our own who is unfortunately blind and lives his best life upstairs. If circumstances were different we would do training but unfortunately this wouldn’t be fair due to the cat being blind, therefore the problem is quite prevalent when out on walks. This is probably the only thing we would want to change.

Without a doubt we are so happy to have found Mila, she has recently become a big sister to our son and has been incredible with him, we can’t wait to watch them up together to be the best of friends. Underdog provided so much information prior to getting Mila and in the early days, and if needed still are. We’re grateful to them for rescuing Mila and bringing her into our lives.

- Hannah