My name is: Trudy
I came from: Cyprus
Now I live in: London
My favourite things are: Cuddles (preferably on the sofa), wiggling my bum, sunbathing, and chasing cats

Trudy’s story

Trudy joined us back in December 2020, just a few weeks before Christmas and yet another UK lockdown!

Merely three weeks earlier I received a message from Trudy’s UK foster mum (and colleague of mine), Jess, asking if I’d consider adopting ‘Tiffany’ (which was her name back then). After speaking to Jess and learning more about her gentle and calm nature as well as seeing photos and videos of her, we immediately knew that she was perfect for us. We lived in a busy area of London so we needed a dog that wasn’t too sensitive to noise. We were reassured by her foster parents that Trudy had adapted well to life in the city after just a few weeks in the UK.

Knowing little about her background story, we believe she was abandoned by her previous family at just a little over one year old and ended up on the streets of Cyprus, where she was rescued and brought over to the UK by Eve and her amazing colleagues at Underdog. We know Trudy didn’t do very well in the shelter, and we quickly realised why: Trudy thrives around humans and is the cuddliest and most gentle dog we’ve ever met.

Having a rescue dog comes with a lot of responsibilities, so we quickly started introducing Trudy to weekly training sessions in our local park. It was important to us that Trudy learned certain commands and we needed the tools to make her feel comfortable around all sorts of city environments, such as riding the bus, crossing busy streets, or joining us for a meal out. Having now moved to a quieter part of London and finally having a garden for her to sniff around in, we see Trudy thrive even more.

We can’t imagine a life without Trudy: She accompanies us on long walks, rain hail or shine, she makes us smile and laugh, we get endless amounts of cuddles, and she greets us with such enthusiasm every morning.

Thank you to Eve, Holly and Jess who have been incredible throughout the adoption process. We will never stop telling Trudy’s story and advocating to Adopt, Don’t Shop.

- Alexa & Nick

Trudy’s story (by Trudy herself)

Hi! I’m Trudy.

I joined Underdog in 2020 after a failed relationship and having fallen on hard times. I’m not too proud to admit that things to that point had not gone to plan: sleeping rough in Cyprus, not knowing where my next meal was coming from, and generally having a shocker. Then I met a very nice human called Eve who suggested that I join Underdog. “Just go on a few dates”, she said, “what is the worst that can happen?” She also suggested that I call myself Tiffany, which actually worked quite nicely with the look I was going for at the time. Honestly, I’d never done anything like that before and was a little apprehensive, but thought I’d give it a go.

Things started slowly but Eve was great. She let me stay at her place while I set up my profile and gave me a few cuddles, which in hindsight was exactly what I needed. There were lots of other noisy dogs there, which was a little stressful, but all in all it was a significant improvement to the small one bedroom I was renting next to the bins outside the kebab shop.

After a few weeks, I received some positive news from England. Someone was keen for me to stay for a while, and even give me some food and cuddles while I went on a few dates with other humans. Perfect set up when you’re on the rebound. I’d always wanted to visit England and this seemed like the right moment, so I went for it. After a very bumpy and stressful trip to England, where I didn’t get a wink of sleep, I ended up at Jess and Ian’s house, which was lovely. Then out of the blue I met Alexa and Nick and I have to say things have never been better. At first, I felt a bit bad ditching Jess and Ian, because they had been so nice to me. I even spent a few days looking around for them so that I could dish out a particularly juicy goodbye lick. But after a while I started to settle into my new home and have never looked back.

Having a home is pretty great. I get all the cuddles I need and two square meals a day. We go on long walks every day in something called a “park” (who cares what they call it, the smells are exceptional). They seem to like it when I get a bit weird and excited in the morning or when they come home from work and don’t mind it when I lick them and wiggle. We recently moved which took a little adjustment, but there is a big garden and lots of green things (it’s probably best we don’t mention the squirrels and that damn random cat).

Every now and then I can hear them talking behind closed doors about how much they love me, which is obviously nice to hear. I’ve also met lots of their friends and get along with them, which is important in a healthy relationship. Alexa’s mother came over and was very nice (always stressful meeting the in-laws) and I haven’t met Nick’s mum but apparently, she keeps asking for photos (I’m choosing to ignore how weird that is).

Who knows what the future holds but I feel like these Alexa & Nick people might be “the one”. Things might change if Nick continues to expect me to sit down like a child before every delicious meal, but at the moment, things are great. And if everything goes to hell I can always just fire up my Underdog profile again. But I’m crossing my paws that won’t happen.

- Trudy