Rhea
Rhea
My name is: Rhea
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: Fareham, Hampshire
My favourite things are: Walks and runs on the beach. Stealing other dog’s tennis balls. Dinner time! Finding and eating fallen figs. Chewing sticks. Sleeping on the sofa between my two humans on an evening, oh and a good shoulder massage.
Rhea’s story
As is the case for many the start of this rescue story is a sad one but I promise you it gets better so stick with me. Back in July 2022 we had sadly had to say goodbye to our beloved Beagle, Bella after almost 17 years. I was devastated and cried for almost two weeks solidly. My husband Ben, ever the practical one, had already started looking at other dogs, I couldn’t bring myself to, somehow it felt unfaithful to Bella (stupid I know!). Ben would show me pictures of dogs he had seen but it didn’t feel right. Then one day Ben handed me his phone, on it was a picture of Rhea. She was one of a litter of pups found on the roadside without their Mum in Cyprus. I can’t explain it but I knew she was going to be our dog, I just felt it in my gut.
Despite the gut instinct, we didn’t rush in to it. Ben got in contact with the wonderful Eve at Underdog International to ask a whole bunch of questions about Rhea’s temperament, breed characteristics and health, all of which were comprehensively answered. We were just about to go on holiday so decided to take the week to think it through properly and make sure we were 100% committed to this rescue. We knew it would be a very different experience to the one we had with Bella who we got at ten weeks old from a breeder. We expressed our interest to Eve and paid a deposit which we knew would go to the charity if we changed our mind so it was a win win whatever we decided. To be fair Ben was already sold, I am the cautious one and knew adopting a rescue was going to come with its challenges but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was meant to be with us.
We got home, confirmed we definitely wanted her and went through the home check process. I was hugely encouraged and reassured that Underdog International were so thorough in how they vetted us. Holly, who dealt with the home check, was fabulous, really well informed so able to answer all our questions and on hand with help and advice all the way through.
Fast forward to early September 2022 and Rhea burst in to our lives aged circa 4 ½ months. She was the first one out of the van, energetic, waggy tailed and excited (in hindsight a little frantic maybe). A Kong stuffed with chicken got her easily into the crate in the back of the car and kept her occupied the whole journey home. She seemed to settle in really well, we observed all of the advice given to us by Underdog International and I would strongly recommend others do the same along with looking in to ‘trigger stacking’ and how to ensure you avoid it, it will pay dividends later.
For the first two weeks, we didn’t take her out for a walk, didn’t have any visitors to the house and didn’t start any formal training, just the house training which actually she picked up within a matter of days. When she first arrived I slept on a camp bed next to the utility room where her bed is, moving further out of her sight each night until she was sleeping all the way through, thankfully it only took three nights, the camp bed was pretty uncomfortable! We gave her an area in the house that she could retreat to if it all became too much and just let her explore the house and garden at her leisure, gave her lots of kisses and cuddles, tried to make her feel safe and earn her trust and hoped for the best!
We then gradually introduced the walks, small ones round the block at first so as not to overstimulate her and gradually built it up introducing her to more people, dogs, sights, sounds and experiences as and when we felt she was ready for them. We had one hairy moment when on her first walk at dusk she was spooked by a runner putting on his high-vis jacket. Despite my attempts to reassure her she backed out of her harness and bolted down the road out of sight. Thankfully when I managed to catch her up around the corner she was sat on the pavement next to the main road and we got her home safely but my heart was in my mouth. Another piece of advice, invest in a good harness they can’t back out of, needless to say we did just that the very next day!
We introduced her to my Mum’s dog at a later stage, again following the advice of doing it on neutral territory. Mum has a seven year old Parson Russell Terrier who was less than impressed by Rhea’s puppy antics but he tolerates her and on the odd occasion will choose to lie next to her, so I suspect he is just playing hard to get.
So she was doing amazingly well, really chilled out and we thought we’d hit the jackpot!
Then she found her voice.
In some ways it was useful, she would bark to let us know she wanted to go out in the garden, or that she was ready to come back in. Most of the time however it was just outright challenging. She would consistently bark at us if we weren’t giving her attention or if we were eating, or if we happened to stop for 30 seconds to say Hi to a neighbour on a walk, or (and perhaps most irritatingly) when we wanted to call in for a well-earned pint at the pub after a walk.
The good news is it has almost entirely stopped. It has taken a few months, lots of patience, lots of ignoring her and avoiding eye contact when she is doing it to demand attention, lots of distractions when we know we are in a situation when she is prone to bark. Now we just get the odd chat, yawn and whistle (yep she whistles).
Rhea has been with us nine months now and it’s not been without it’s challenges, aside from the barking she has also destroyed two dog beds, two books, chewed the skirting board in the utility room, the foot of the coffee table, the foot of the rocking chair and dug about five different holes in the middle of our lawn but even I, the house proud fanatic, wouldn’t change a thing. We have come through the other side and Rhea has developed in to the most adorable dog, nearly always well behaved and quiet. She is happy, content, playful, curious, friendly with other dogs, people and children (if still a bit exuberant but hey, she is still young). She’s turned into a wonderful companion for both Ben and me. We’ve done some lovely long walks and once she reached twelve months I started running with her. We have just embarked on Canicross together which she seems to love and it’s also a great way for us to bond and keep us both fit.
She displays so many of the characteristics Greek Harehounds (or Greekies as they are also known) are renowned for. For example, she is ridiculously affectionate. We once had a small lunch with our closest family members and she walked round the table visiting each guest in turn to give them an equal share of Rhea cuddles and kisses before departing back to her bed and she loves to sleep with a paw resting on you.
Having had a hound before we had some idea of what we were taking on, but have since learned a lot more from the Greek Harehound Facebook group we joined. Hounds are bred to be independent, sent off and left to do their thing. I don’t think you are ever an owner of a hound, but if you can be the best friend that they will do anything for (in their own time and with a tasty morsel for reward) then you won’t go far wrong.
I am under no illusion that we have got it all sewn up, there is still work to do: the overexcitement at other dogs, stealing tennis balls and the recall which is not 100% reliable yet, but it’s all work in progress and we are getting there. Amongst all of the benefits that having Rhea in our lives has given us, it includes the art of patience and we have learnt not to expect everything to fall in to place straight away. It takes dedication, effort and time, but the best things usually do, right?