Our names are: Prince and Amara
We came from: Cyprus
Now we live in: Gloucestershire 
Our favourite things are: Our bedtime routine, Squeaky Jeff (our best toy), walks in the countryside, chasing pigeons in the back garden, and being wrapped up in blankets

Prince and Amara’s story

We both grew up with dogs, fostered a dog in the US, and both love them so, so much. So as soon as we moved back to the UK and had a garden, we knew it was time. We started looking around online at various dog shelters and charities, but because everyone else was looking for a dog in lockdown too, we were struggling to find “the right” dog for us. That’s when I heard about Underdog on Instagram. We knew from fostering in the US that we wanted a dog “no one else wanted” so we could save a dog from spending years in a shelter, fully prepared to invest the time and love needed into helping it overcome the past. 

We saw Amara’s profile and both fell in love with her sweet little face. She had a really tough start in life, having been rescued from an awful, abusive situation, and understandably didn’t trust anyone. I was a bit hesitant, worried she would be aggressive, but Eve and Stef put our fears to rest, assuring us she was just shy and scared of people. They were confident with a lot of love and time, she would learn to trust us. The only thing was her profile suggested she would be best suited to a home that had an established dog, and we didn’t have that. We were open to adopting two dogs, though, so we had another browse of the Underdog website. We had our eyes on two other dogs, and had fallen in love with both of them. Eve recommended Prince of the two dogs, and it’s so lucky she did, because these two were meant to be best buddies for life.

I actually saw Prince’s profile the day he was added to the website (okay, fine, we were obsessively refreshing the page every six hours) and immediately loved him. He had a totally different backstory. He was someone’s beloved pet for his entire life but had recently been surrendered. Eve felt confident that they got along well at the shelter, and that Prince would be a good role model for Amara, and she could not have been more right! 

Their journeys with us have been so contrasted. Prince immediately settled in with us from the day we picked him up, but Amara was terrified when we adopted her. We spent weeks not being able to make eye contact with her, touch her, walk her, or love her the way we so badly wanted to. But we loved her the way she needed us to. We walked backwards into rooms so we didn’t scare her, we let her eat under the kitchen table until she felt safe venturing out, we didn’t push her to do anything she wasn’t ready for, but instead encouraged her and waited for her to let us know she was ready. And oh, how our eyes welled with tears at each and every milestone; The first time she let us pet her, the first time she snuggled with us, the first time she learned to sit, the first time she climbed in our laps, I could go on and on, because she has progressed so much in such a short time. And it has been so worth it. I can’t tell you how rewarding it has been to watch her learn to trust and love. She has gone from an anxious dog who hid under the table every chance she got, to a confident, brave little adventurer who wakes up with such a zest for life every morning.

And we have Prince to thank for so much of that. He has loved us unconditionally from day one. He’s our silly little spud of a dog that always has a smile on his face and let us smother him with enough love for both dogs before Amara was ready. He taught her how to love us, how to trust us, how to put your paw up and get a treat, and how to sleep in funny positions. He has the best, most amusing personality and we got so much more than we bargained for with him. He’s nearly ten years old now, so we expected a sleepy, grumpy old man, but he’s just the same little puppy with a big ole personality that I imagine he’s always been. He is the best big brother, role model, cuddler, and funny face maker. We can’t imagine our lives without either of them, and even though it has been a difficult, long journey, we wouldn’t trade it for the world. They're our underdogs, and we love them more than words can describe. 

- Skylar & James