Raven
Raven
My name is: Raven
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: Cambridge
My favourite things are: peanut butter, my toy gibbon, cuddles, rolling in the grass, walkies
Raven’s story
We knew we wanted a rescue dog and after some searching we decided that we would like to adopt a dog from abroad as these dogs often have a particularly rough start in life. We also preferred the idea of a former street dog that is a wild mix of breeds, rather than a purebred dog, and definitely not a puppy. When we saw Raven online we thought we could give her the right home: long walks, the occasional run, hiking and other activities like agility or scent work.
So, in July 2023 a very scared dog arrived. We had been prepared to keep our expectations low, and we thought we'd have to start like with a puppy. In some ways that was true, we’re sure she had never had a home before: turning the lights on and off, going in the garden, coming back inside, car headlights and the bifold doors were all scary new experiences. She got used to those things really quickly and to our surprise she arrived house trained (with the exception of one accident the day of her arrival, but poor Raven must have kept it in for over 24 hours during transport!). It didn't take her long to get used to us and she has turned into the most loving and loyal dog, coming in for scratches and demanding her weekend morning cuddles in bed.
She loves training and we even did some pet-gundog training with her (if she was a hunter’s dog in Cyprus, we can now see why she may not have been very successful, she mostly likes to hunt flies and we see rabbits and ducks before she notices them). We are also very glad she is pretty calm for her mix of breeds (mostly pointer, German shepherd, beagle, Shar Pei), she certainly doesn’t have a typical pointer’s energy levels. She can get very excited and run around, but she is also more than happy to then settle on the couch or sleep in way past her usual breakfast time. After about six months she also started to understand what toys are for, reliable retrieving is still a bit of a mystery though (but running around shaking the toy is much more fun!). She is exceptionally good with other dogs, loves her two days a week in doggy daycare, and staying alone in a crate for a couple of hours is not a problem either.
Of course, there are still things we have to work on: Raven absolutely hates the vet and she is a bit afraid of strangers (she needs to see someone quite often to trust them) and children playing with a ball are very scary for her. She will probably never be very comfortable in a busy city environment, but she also won’t ever have to be, this is not something we expect of her.
We could certainly not imagine our lives without Raven sniffing our dinner every night, grabbing one toy after another every evening and shaking it, her grumbles and sighs of contentment on the couch and the excitement she shows when she greets us with the waggiest tail of them all, even if we’ve only been away for a minute in a different room.