My name is: Pete
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: Hackney, East London
My favourite things are: Sleeping on my back and having a staring contest with squirrels

Pete’s story

I used to regularly scroll through the Underdog website and one day I came across a litter of puppies who’d been brought in with their mother and were looking for a home. Within a fraction of a second I’d already filled in the form in the hope that one of them would be considered to come my way. I was aware that living in a city wasn’t always the ideal for most of the dogs which came through their doors but I was adamant to try to convince them that I would be a good choice for shaping the lives and providing a home for one of their dogs.

I spoke about my experience with my previous dog, so when I got a response I felt confident that they believed in me but would still perform all of the thorough checks required. Although they have so many dogs and these numbers are on the rise and you’d think that they would want to rehome as fast as they could, I still experienced a professional, thorough and genuine background check, home check and interview to make sure that I was truly a genuine human being who would take good care of the chosen dog for the rest of their life.

They care about each dog like their own and you can see that even from simply reading the lengthy bio of each dog. They describe character traits and habits which must be quite hard to distinguish when they’re still young or still coming out of their shell. They suggested Peter who was the more confident of the litter and may adjust to city life best out of his siblings and they were right. He travelled with two of his siblings and amazingly one of the fosters coming to collect his brother at the same time only lived a few roads away. We were able to help his brother, who was more anxious, venture out a little further from their living room and this experience was great for him and Pete to both settle into new surroundings. Even more amazingly, a few months later we realised his sister was adopted a short walk from where we live also so sibling play dates and walks still occur, much to both of the dogs enjoyment.

The team still regularly checked in on the progress of Pete and I was more than happy to keep them inundated with images of him being a goofy young pup navigating his way around the world and showing me the ropes of our new lives together.

Before I went to collect Pete, I was regularly updated on his progress and a handy email with clear and concise suggestions for training and care was shared and adhered to respectively. A website to show local and professional trainers and behaviouralists was used and immediately booked so that I could set Pete up for a winner and the Underdog team were helpful with their guidance each step of the way.

I haven’t looked back and, although I feel I was lucky with managing to have Pete settle in relatively well compared to some dogs who’ve been adopted through Underdog who have shared their story, I continue to learn more about Pete’s character each and every day. He’s now one and a half and we celebrated our Gotcha Day at the start of August. Each day is a new day full of new possibilities and lessons but I would never change a thing and I’m so glad I went through the Underdog adoption process because it was straightforward, well communicated and I ended up with the love of my life and my boss, Pete.

- Charly