My name is: Pearl
I came from: Mauritius
Now I live in: Norfolk
My favourite things are: Walks, stealing food (especially butter!) and being vocal

Pearl’s story

Well where do I begin with this naughty little lady?! A bit of background - we are a family of four (kids of 16 and 15) and we adopted two mutts called Itchy and Scratchy from Bosnia a few years ago - and reckoned we could add some excitement to the mix by rescuing another dog!

I saw Pearl (then Abba) on the Underdog website, a poor skinny hairless thing found on the beach in Mauritius, and I pretty much fell in love with her there and then. We went through all the checks, passed all our tests and suddenly collection day arrived. I left the other dogs at home and went to get her. It was clear she was very gentle and sweet, even after what could only have been a brutal trip from everything she’d known back in Mauritius, to unfamiliar Norfolk. I took some chicken with me and she took it so gently from me I couldn't believe it. We had an uneventful trip home, she just nibbled my bracelets for most of it.

On arrival home she met the family and Itchy and Scratchy. They became great friends and were charging around playing instantly. I think it helped that she was a girl, there was much flirting! It was obvious that she was going to be a big character from the start. We’d bought her a crate to sleep in at night next to the other two (in their crate, which they love), but she was having absolutely none of that on night one - we literally couldn’t get her in it! So the crate was moved out and she now just has a bed. She settled so fast it was ridiculous and took everything in her stride.

Pearl knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want and it’s pretty hard to change her mind! She gets on to the kitchen table when our backs are turned to eat the butter or whatever other edibles we might have left there - and when you ask her about it she is defiant and squeaks and wags her tail, which is a disaster because all we do then is laugh! She refused to go for a walk with my husband for about a month - he had to initially carry her and then put a lead on her and basically drag her! If you leave the house for even five minutes the glorious vocal welcome you get on your return is something else! Deafening! And very high pitched! She totally rules the roost despite the fact that Itchy and Scratchy have been here for four years before her.

Pearl never stops wagging her tail and now she absolutely loves her walks. We are fortunate to live in the middle of nowhere and she just loves the freedom, she charges about and smiles from ear to ear. She knows the rules but tends not to stick to them unless you’re really stern, the problem is she tends to just make us all laugh!

I think having two dogs already really helped her settle into a routine very fast, she is clearly a very social dog and just loves whoever might be visiting at any time, four legged or two. I think in her past she had lived in a house - she settled in literally immediately and he has never made a mess indoors. Nothing phases her at all. The biggest problem we have is her stealing food, but we're pretty good at not leaving anything out now. She takes every new experience in her stride - she really is an awesome addition to our family and crazy life - so thank you to Underdog for the joy that she brings us all!

- Priscilla