My name is: Santiago, but call me Santi
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: Spain (formerly London)
My favourite things are: Sofas, apples, rolling in dust, sun and heavy cuddles

Santi’s story

In February last year, I received an Underdog newsletter, titled ‘Dogs Needing Homes’ and opened it to find a list of ‘shyer and overlooked’ dogs. Santi (formerly called Tiger) was the first one on that list, his eyes and description broke my heart. I immediately emailed Eve and a few weeks later, Santi joined our life.

My sister Clemence, and Maggie (our rescue Frenchie) felt ready to welcome a new family member after we had lost our dear Carlos. We are no strangers to dogs with heavy health issues and Santi’s leishmaniasis diagnosis made absolutely no difference to us. We were already familiar with the illness and just know leishmaniasis is manageable when well diagnosed and treated. No dog should ever be judged adoptable or not because of it.

A few days after we formally became Santi’s adoptive family, he started showing weakness in his legs/movements, nothing in relation to his leishmaniasis. But after a series of test and vet visits back in Cyprus that showed nothing alarming, Santi was fit enough to travel to us. His first few weeks were all about slow introductions to his new environment and ‘sister’. We listened carefully to Underdog’s advice and had also asked behaviourist, Louise Glazebrook’s, help in order to maximise our chances for a good understanding between Maggie and Santi.

To be honest, we couldn’t have had it easier. He straight away stole our hearts. We thought, after spending four years in a shelter where he got abandoned by his former owner, he wouldn’t know much about cuddles and indoor life (this was before we found out about how amazing and loving the shelter manager, Alex, is with her dogs). Well, he proved us totally wrong as he was super affectionate from day one and clean indoors (we still worked on it, in order for his habits not to reverse).

All was going so well until his body let him down again. We noticed his walk wasn’t like another, Eve was calling it his ‘swagger walk’ which truly is the best description of it. But after a month with us, it progressed and Santi developed symptoms of a rare neurological syndrome called polyradiculoneuropathy (PRN) which progressively and fully paralyzed him for four months. The syndrome is really badly diagnosed in animals, as most dogs affected unfortunately tend to get euthanized before owners can even find out what is happening. We were lucky he was diagnosed correctly from the start and so could hope for recovery. Although there is no deadline and no treatment for this condition, patience and determination are the only remedy. We did hydrotherapy and a lot of physio work with him. We built a wheelchair using PVC pipes and together with the help of all our loving relatives, a lot of love and affection, Santi started walking again.

He’s now walking and running around, the swagger walk remains, but he is not suffering anymore and living the life he always deserved to live.

Our adventure with Santiago has again proved to me how resilient dogs can be and the extraordinary creatures they are.
Rescuing is challenging but truly the most gratifying thing I have ever had the chance to experience. There is always work to put in when adopting a dog, no matter whether they are a rescue or not, it is what makes your relationship with your dog precious and unique. It isn’t ‘easier’ to get a dog from a breeder than to rescue a dog (trust me as I have done both things), the main difference is that, when rescuing you save a life and make space for more dogs that will eventually and hopefully get that chance in life too.

- Victoria